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247 Comments
- jeff419, on 10/12/2007, -13/+195This is complete madness. Our mail is one thing that has always been held to a higher standard and Bush thinks he can just right a few words on paper and change all that.
It's time to ***** IMPEACH NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! - treelovinhippie, on 10/12/2007, -5/+85Why is American democracy such a dictatorship? ... has there been any complaints from the other political parties about this and other bills that have seemingly passed straight through?
If something like this tried to pass through the Australian government, there would be a *****-storm from all the different parties and the media... and it wouldn't go through. - XopherMV, on 10/12/2007, -5/+75Impeach Bush.
- CanceledCzech, on 10/12/2007, -12/+62Here's a signed statement for you:
***** Bush.
Signed: CanceledCzech - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+31Now the real test will be when the next president gets elected; will they keep the power with the government or give it back to the people. Then you will know if you can trust them.
- burningbush, on 10/12/2007, -0/+29An innocent remark, but sitting and waiting for things to get better is exactly how things get worse.
Bush needs to be dealt with sooner rather than later, in order to avoid any more unnecessary international incidents. - anteyekon4myst, on 10/12/2007, -4/+32Why are you Americans taking this sitting down? I find it hard to believe you all traded your balls in for iPods
- DoctaStooge, on 10/12/2007, -2/+29This is outrageous. The Government should never be allowed to go through mail, personal or business. They also shouldn't be excempt from the Geneva Convention, allowed to wiretap phones without a warrant, etc.
That said, this is a "Signing Statement". Signing Statements are not technically law, so we still have grounds for getting after Bush since he can not legally do this.
Also, I thought Congress had convened? How did this law just get signed? - jeff419, on 10/12/2007, -1/+26Yeah, but who do you think is going to define "exigent circumstances"??? Also, Bush has already said that with his "executive powers" he can wiretap phones and monitor e-mails of American Citizens as authorized by law for foreign intelligence collection.
Maybe you should think about this President's track record for using definitions.
And besides that, signing statements are now laws. It's Congress' job to write the laws, not the President's. A President that says he will interpret the law however he sees fit is by definition a Dictator, or Decider, as he likes to call himself. - twisterX, on 10/12/2007, -0/+24Im sick of that ***** terrorist excuse.
- macgabriel87, on 10/12/2007, -3/+20i hate his guts
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+19Dear Republicans, If anyone questions Bush's integrity or agenda you all scream, "conspiracy theories", or "put on your tin foil hat".
You can all now open your eyes and ears and see who is really living in fantasy land.
Step 1 - Elect Bush
Step 2 _ ???????
Step 3 - Fascist New World Order - Soldan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+16"why worry I have nothing to hide".... famous last words before being shipped to some gulag.
- groovychk, on 10/12/2007, -3/+19@diggrific
"NONE OF YOU HAVE READ THE PROVIDED LINK!!!!!
The link provides a .pdf file you must download to see. Do that and you will see that it states nothing about opening your or anyone's mail. It's about pension benefits for postal workers."
Do you know what a signing statement is? It isn't the bill. It is what the President adds when he signs it. - siszam, on 10/12/2007, -2/+15I can't stand Bush either but you can't seriously think anything will change when he leaves office? Everyone has stood around and let him get away with his evil schemes so far. You don't think the Democrats will undo the patriot act and all the other assaults on our rights do you? I hope so but I wouldn't bet on it. Both sides want total power and they are getting close.
Look up knock and search on Google. Who do you hear putting up a big fuss about our rights being violated? No one really, from either side. - mdnash, on 10/12/2007, -3/+16@ gbyte
"based upon a voting system that surpasses anything that this world has ever seen in terms of accuracy and accountability."
except when Diebold supplies the voting machines - jeff419, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10That's assuming there isn't another major attack and they decide to cancel the elections. At this point I won't put anything past them!
- noahbk, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10Dear Mr. President, why have you done this to our country?
- hackwrench, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution
I think that somehow it requires a definition of 'papers' to exclude mail. - black|math, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9I hate it when the government reads my junk mail before I do.
- digginestdogg, on 10/12/2007, -5/+13All you foolish fools who are reading just the text of the law and stating you don't see the problem are blissfully ignorant. The key word here is 'Signing Statement'. that's right: Signing Statement. Leran that word for it is a concept that is stealing your freedom without you knowing it. That is a statement the President attaches to a law he signs which _ADDS_ his _INTERPRETATION_ of the law, not as it was wirttien, but how he (and he alone as if he were an absolute monarch) intends ot _INTERPRET_ the meaning of the law. The law he signed could say 'black' and his signing statemtn could say 'white' and 'white' then becomes the law. So it is his Signing statment you need to read you fools.
Read the link below and pay very, very careful attention to its note that GW Bush is by far the most active presidentt in re-interpeting the laws he passes. People of America, your freedoms and rights are being taken away by one single individual acting as if he is above the law just as George III did with the original coloies. This swaggering ignorant Texan thinks he is a King. Be very, very, very afraid for your children and what this country has become. The Founders wouldn't recognize it any more. I'll bet his father is secretly ashamed of his son at this point.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signing_Statement - netsui, on 10/12/2007, -13/+21Saddam was hanged. I think it's time we hang one more dictator.
- qbyte, on 10/12/2007, -9/+16"Why are you Americans taking this sitting down? I find it hard to believe you all traded your balls in for iPods"
I find it curious that so many people from other countries find it so easy to bash the Americans who have shed their blood to free so many of you from the likes of Hitler and countless other dictators. It is one thing to have a dislike for the current administration of the American government but don't be ignorant and call the American people cowardly.
Unlike so many of the other countries in this world, ours has a peaceful transfer of power every four years based upon a voting system that surpasses anything that this world has ever seen in terms of accuracy and accountability. We don't run around shooting our guns and threatening civil war in times like this because we don't have to. In a short time, elections will take place and a new leader will be in office.
So, please don't dishonor the people of this great country who have done for many of you what you could not do for yourselves .. give you the freedom to post at websites like this without fear of death. - anteyekon4myst, on 10/12/2007, -7/+14My Country was in WI and WII longer than your country was and we did a pretty good job of handling Hitler ourselves thank you very much. Our Prime Minister came up with the idea of UN Peace Keepers and have fought along side you and increasingly without you since our history to maintain peace across the world.
My country also has a peaceful transfer, 5 years max, by law.
You're country has nothing to do with my freedom.
If anything, the fact that many of your countrymen must disguise yourselves as us when traveling stands testament that we are well respected in the world.
So go ahead defend your government as it strips your rights away in front of you.
I'm Canadian and you ain't got ***** on me. - lyingwhiteman, on 10/12/2007, -4/+11I am getting the ***** out of this country.
- Pause, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7first homelnad security and now this, just go ahead and throw all of our rights out the window. what a jackass he probably didn't even realize what he was signing. we need to get this retard out of the white house.
- littlebylittle, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6"but the Democrats also passed this bill."
Signing Statements are written for and by the Executive Branch AFTER the full bill is submitted to the President. Bush has used them to an obvious extreme. Look it up in Wiki. - XopherMV, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6No kidding, that's almost as bad as the excuse "for the children".
- ddegner, on 10/12/2007, -3/+9The executive branch shall construe subsections 202(a) and 502(a) of title 39, as enacted by subsections 501(a) and 601(a) of the Act, which purport to limit the qualifications of the pool of persons from whom the President may select appointees in a manner that rules out a large portion of those persons best qualified by experience and knowledge to fill the positions, in a manner consistent with the Appointments Clause of the Constitution. The executive branch shall also construe as advisory the purported deadline in subsection 605(c) for the making of an appointment, as is consistent with the Appointments Clause.
...read it and kiss a little bit of freedom goodby - black|math, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6I could not find any info in the pdf either until I saw the link underneath http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/12/20061220-6.html
- sonofabush, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7gbyte, my fellow American,
I had to digg you down...
With all due respect to you and everyone who truly deserves honor for protecting and fighting for the freedom, either in their own or any other country in the world, please do not get upset when someone points out the fact that a lot of us became too comfortable these days to fight for our own freedom(s).
I do not believe that anteyekon4myst is trying to disrespect and bash you, though his funny comment might have offended you and made you feel uncomfortable. Though, I do not agree his is right to disrespect either, neither are you. Please take it from him and others who are trying to help you to get serious about the situation in United States. Please do not make yourself sound like you know the best and that the United States is the best country in the world. Sure it may be, but people in Germany thought the same before it was too late. And although many have shed their blood, I find it also CURIOUS that you yourself are so blind to the fact that so many did in other parts of the world. You think there weren't any Germans and people from other nations who did not agree with the what was going on and did not up rise and shed their blood and lost their families just like soldiers from united States did?
It is not just about disliking the current administration and/or calling American people cowardly. When was the last time you went to the streets to show how serious you really are?
And let's talk about the peaceful transfer of power every four years. I am sorry but many in this world have seen and experienced in the past what is happening in U.S. these days. Two companies controlling counting of the votes and Americans not doing anything about it is no different from corruption and slow deterioration of governments that have happened in the past. How can you believe in a new leader, when today half of your fellows are not so sure about the outcome of last couple elections and are losing trust in their own government? It is a dishonor to allow this! You should be the first to demand the votes to be counted fairly and with a paper trail (heck, there's thousands of people in U.S. that would do it in a minute volunteering or perhaps for minimum wage and it'd be still cheaper than paying Diebolt...) because you may not see the transfer of power you wish so much ever happen again...
Nobody is calling you a coward, you are a part of a great nation with a lot of people unlike anywhere else in the world, unfortunately there are plenty of cowards that will take away your freedoms, slowly, ad if you do not protect them now and uphold the values this country was built on, one day, could be a year, could be hundred, could be half a century... the history will repeat itself...all because we think we are the best in the world, and that this could not happen to us, yet all this is going on and the propaganda and schemes that are being fabricated by this government here in U.S. are unmatched to what has ever been done for the very same reason (because you are a great nation)...for Hitler once said that it "What good fortune it is for those in power, that common people don't think!"
So please, get your balls together, start thinking and maybe gbyte knows better...I do not know him, but maybe he comes from country that has seen what can happen if you become a common man who trades his own balls and freedom for a an iPod and the comfort to do anything about where he's headed... - jeff419, on 10/12/2007, -3/+9[quote]
Unlike so many of the other countries in this world, ours has a peaceful transfer of power every four years based upon a voting system that surpasses anything that this world has ever seen in terms of accuracy and accountability.
[/quote]
Actually 80% of our votes are counted by Diebold and ES&S. Do you trust them?? - JonForTheWin, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6While we're talking about bush, this is the same globalist who signed us into the North American Union (if you don't know what it is ***** Google it right now) dissolving our national sovereignty and nullifying our Bill of Rights. Forget the impeachment, HANG him FOR _HIGH TREASON_ NOW.
- mfratt, on 10/12/2007, -12/+17As someone who supported Bush in both elections (and would do so again given the alternatives - Gore and Kerry), I must now say for the first time (yes, I have never said nor supported this before): Impeach President Bush.
He and other big name Republicans must have mistook Orwell's 1984 for the Constitution. (Not to acquit the Dems of their Socialist policies)
Bush, like it or not, will not be impeached, though. The Democrats just dont have the balls to do it.
All we can do is wait for 2008 and elect someone who will actually follow the Constitution (I'm liking McCain so far - at least he is not tied down to strict party lines. Left or right, that is a virtue imho) - SIRBERUS, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6@Nitron...
Did you even click the link, or did you just consult google and find that?
The link shows a specific section of the law. i.e. small print
You copy and pasted a summary of "major provisions" of the law. i.e. what someone has compiled for you to read.
I'll take it you don't deal with contracts much, eh?
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/12/20061220-6.html
3rd paragraph. Happy, is that good enough of a source for you? - noahbk, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5where in the law does it give the executive branch to search our mail? I look briefly but couldn't find anything. Please help. Thanks.
- groovychk, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5@jdibiase
The bill that the dems and repubs passed doesn't have the signing statement in it - so they aren't at fault for it. The President added the signing statement to the bill when signing it into law - so he alone is responsible. - darkstar949, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4The first part of the statement is fairly benign due to the fact that they can already open and inspect (i.e destroy) mail that they have reasons to believe contains an explosive device or the like. However, the second part about "and the need for physical searches specifically authorized by law for foreign intelligence collection."
Here's the original source of the statement - http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/12/20061220-6.html - groovychk, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4@qbyte
"I read the bill. Did you? It says nothing about reading private citizens email anywhere in the bill. The poster of this story and the blog author are misleading people into believing that the president signed a new law stating that he can read our mail. That is inaccurate. This story should be deleted as a hoax."
Not inaccurate or a hoax. Signing statements aren't in the text of the bill. They are what the President attaches when he signs it.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/12/20061220-6.html for the text of the signing statement for the bill.
The executive branch shall construe subsection 404(c) of title 39, as enacted by subsection 1010(e) of the Act, which provides for opening of an item of a class of mail otherwise sealed against inspection, in a manner consistent, to the maximum extent permissible, with the need to conduct searches in exigent circumstances, such as to protect human life and safety against hazardous materials, and the need for physical searches specifically authorized by law for foreign intelligence collection. - OBKenobi, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Hang the thief!
- freff, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3They've actually been used for a very long time mostly to clarify a President's understanding of a new law, but the way that Bush has used them to essentially invalidate portions of laws that he doesn't want to enforce is brand new, and may not stand up in court. But then again, due to long standing precedent, it just may. This new Supreme Court is hard to gauge Regardless, we may need a Constitutional amendment to truly clarify this issue, but in the meantime, Bush's powergrab has to be checked.
- qsucvatz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3The congress is republican until January, bub.
- Atomic1fire, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5full article in comment on digg or it didnt happen
(yeah its a joke but since people didnt click the pdf and actully read it i guess thats whats called for) - Protean1, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4
I will never leave America.
But America is leaving me...I live in the same town, know the same people, but the
America I was taught existed, seems to fade more each day.
Where's the freewheeling, peaceloving, honorable, respectful, mature, America?
Where's the outward bound, frontier-pushing, optimistic, idealistic America?
Where has my country gone...and how will I follow. It's not a direction I can
walk in, I'm headed towards a dimmer, smaller future than the Atlantis I dreamed of. - Popbot, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Hmmm... where have I heard this "us-or-them, with-us-or-against-us" philosophy before?
You are dangerously close to making the same mistakes of the man you hate so much, and doing just as much damage to our country. Extremism got us into this mess, I doubt it will get us back out. - forgiste, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Oh, he knew what he was signing. At first I wouldn't believe that anyone, not even Bush, could be so evil. Now, I'm learning more and more by the day that this man is outright insane! My mouse hand has been twitching for my tin foil hat for days now... I beginning to think that maybe Bush is actually a cyborg...
What proof do we have that he's not? That's ALL I'm Saying! - littlebylittle, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3"I was waiting for this one!! THIS is the move that will get the "church lady" crowd to wake up and smell the coffee."
They won't think it applies to them. They'll think it only applies to "Terrorists." They won't care. Someone in the House or Senate needs to explain what all these sneaky little stealing of Liberties really means to the American People.
It's all giving Dictatorial powers to the Executive Branch of the US Government. Obviously never intended in the Constitution. Actually expressly forbidden.
There will always be "Terrorists" in the world. George Washington was a "Terrorist" to the crown.
Basing our lives around a "War on Terror" is insane. Such a war by it's very reality and definition will NEVER end. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Here is the bill. (PDF warning)
http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/77xx/doc7709/hr6407pgo.pdf
If you had read the blog entry, Bush supposedly made a signing statement. The text cited was not actually in the law. Signing statements are not de facto law by themselves btw. (see Lacanuck below) - atlex2, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5Dear Bush,
kiss my white american ass -
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