When Bush Signs Legislation the Joke's on Us

Magnanimously, George W. Bush appeared to concede and sign into law new legislation banning torture even though he'd fought the measure for more than a year. But, unnoticed, he simultaneously reserved the right to completely ignore the new law and continue unabated his program of secret renditions and admitted torture.

He accomplished this sleight of hand while secluded on his Texas ranch during the New Year's weekend by issuing a "presidential signing statement" setting forth the conditions under which he was willing to sign the new law. In other words, Bush was signing the legislation on the condition that it would be interpreted exactly the way he wants.

In the twisted logic of the Bush regime this means that if anyone even dreams that the new law might curtail Bush's expansive view of presidential power then he will simply insist that his signature is invalid because it violates the conditions he announced when he signed it ... and if the anti-torture law wasn't signed then it must have been vetoed ... and if it was vetoed then it never became a law ... and therefore, he's not in violation of the law since it never became law in the first place.

Presidential signing statements are not new. Ronald Reagan adopted the strategy and signing statements have proven useful when an administration needs to clarify what it believes the legislature's intention was. What is different now is the sheer number of times the Bush regime has issued its own interpretations of legislation. Reagan issued 71 signing statements in his eight years, George H. W. Bush 146 in four years, and Bill Clinton 105 in eight years.

However, George W. Bush has found it necessary to challenge the U.S. Congress' intent and re-state legislation to his liking more than 500 times in the six years of his regime.

"It's good to be the king," exclaimed the dim-witted Louis XVI as portrayed Mel Brooks in his film History of the World, Part I. Audiences at the time thought it was a comedy. But America under the rule of George W. Bush is no laughing matter, and it is clearly not a democracy.

White House Letter: How Bush tries shaping new laws to his liking - International Herald Tribune