I am the law and the law is secret

By Capt. Fogg

I wrote the other day about Bush's directive giving himself nearly unlimited dictatorial powers following an "emergency" but now it seems that my horror was not at all excessive because there is a section of that directive the administration deems too secret for anyone to see: even if you are a US Congressman on the Homeland Security Committee with the power and duty to see it.

"Maybe the people who think there's a conspiracy out there are right,'' said Congressman Peter DeFazio . D-Oregon after his request to examine the classified sections of the May 9th Presidential Directive.

Imagine a president writing law under an authority he grants himself. Imagine that the law gives him unlimited power when he decides and for as long as he decides and imagine that the lawmaking branch of government is forbidden to see it. No, don't imagine it, it's true.

Will these last two months be seen by future historians as the turning point; the cliff American Democracy fell over, the beginning of an American Dictatorship? Who can call this conjecture irresponsible in light of a President's declaration by fiat that he has the power to be an absolute ruler when he decides it's necessary, that he can destroy anyone who gets in the way and now that we can't even have an elected representative inspect the documents?

Now what is the difference between a president with unlimited power that may not be challenged and may not even be examined and a dictator?

(Cross-posted at Human Voices.)