Republican Control At Risk

Time Magazine finds that:

If the midterm elections were held today, top strategists of both parties say privately, the Republicans would probably lose the 15 seats they need to keep control of the House of Representatives and could come within a seat or two of losing the Senate as well.
Republican incumbents are having a hard time figuring out how close they want to be to the White House. Voters have plenty to take out on Republican candidates this year—ethics scandals, the g.o.p.'s failure to curb spending, the government's inept response to Hurricane Katrina, a confusing new prescription-drug program for seniors and, more than anything else, an unpopular President who is fighting an unpopular war.
Newt Gingrich, who masterminded the 1994 elections that brought Republicans to power on promises of revolutionizing the way Washington is run, told Time that his party has so bungled the job of governing that the best campaign slogan for Democrats today could be boiled down to just two words: "Had enough?"

Bush Grants Himself More Powers

Although nobody knew it when President Bush renewed the Patriot Act March 9, he had his fingers crossed.

Later, the White House issued a signing statement in which Bush stated he wasn't bound to tell Congress how the Patriot Act's powers were being used and that, despite the law's requirements, he could withhold the information if he decided that disclosure would "impair foreign relations, national security, the deliberative process of the executive, or the performance of the executive's constitutional duties."

This marks another instance where the President claims he doesn't have to obey the law of the land. The issue reached a peak recently when it was revelealed that Bush authorized wiretaps on emails and phone conversations without first getting a warrant. When confronted, Bush said he could ignore the warrant law while the country was in a state of war.

The signing statement ploy gained public recognition when Bush signed off on a law prohibiting torture of detainees in US custody, but then issued a statement saying torture was allowed if he believed it was necessary for national security.

The Constitution gives the legislative branch the power to write the laws and the executive branch the duty to "faithfully execute" them.

"The president's signing statements are not the law, and Congress should not allow them to be the last word," Leahy said. ''The president's constitutional duty is to faithfully execute the laws as written by Congress, not cherry-pick the laws he decides he wants to follow," said Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee.

Bush May Have Started WWIII

Los Angeles Daily News, Sunday 3-26-06 carries an interview with Delta Force founding memberRetired Command Sergeant Major Eric Haney. Haney has written a book, "Inside Delta Force," the basis for CBS series "The Unit," where he serves as technical Director.

Haney calls the war in Iraq "Utter debacle." And he uses even stronger language, "We have fomented civil war in Iraq. We have probably fomented internecine war in the Muslim world between the Shias and the Sunnis, and I think Bush may well have started the third world war, all for their own personal policies."

As for the torture scandal, Haney says, "That's Cheney's pursuit. The only reason anyone tortures is because they like to do it. It's about vengeance, it's about revenge, or it's about cover-up. You don't gain intelligence that way. Everyone in the world knows that."