In a sane media landscape, i.e., one drastically different than the real existing one in the US, Jules Witcover would be considered The Dean of American pundits. And the long-reigning "Dean" David Broder would be a distant memory on TV and op-ed pages. Then he could spend his time watching pols on TV and snoozing through most of them and babbling his inane ramblings and pantie-sniffing fantasies to himself.
But that's not the media we have.
But we do have Jules Witcover, even if he's not called The Dean. He writes about the Hamdan v. Rumsfeld decision in A Major Victory for American Justice Tribune Media Services 06/30/06:
In what may be the most momentous and significant judicial decision on the limitations of presidential power in years, the Supreme Court's rebuke of President Bush's plans to try detainees at Guantanamo Bay by new military commissions could have far-reaching ramifications beyond the fates of the prisoners involved.
The 5-3 vote, with only the Court's most conservative justices dissenting, calls seriously into question Bush's sweeping declaration of almost unlimited constitutional power to wage the war on terrorism without regard to established restrictions under both American and international law in wartime.
He also notes that:
... the Supreme Court's decision appears to go far beyond the fate of detainees, to challenge the Bush administration's implied contention that the president's designation as commander in chief of the armed forces gives him a virtual blank check to carry on the war against terrorism.
In other words, it opposes the Unilateral Executive theory (aka, Unitary Executive theory by its advocates) of unlimited Presidential power.
And Witcover concludes that:
... this decision is the first truly major rebuff to Bush by a Court on which he had recently managed to place two new judges - Justice Samuel A. Alito was the second after Roberts - the significance of the ruling cannot be understated.
No comments:
Post a Comment