Look Out, David Addington's Head Just Exploded

[BurtWorm]

This is assuming David Addington (and Dick Cheney) give a shit about what the Supreme Court thinks, which is not a bet I'd take.


http://glenngreenwald.blogspot.com/2006/06/look-out-david-addingtons-head-just.html

By Anonymous Liberal

As I read through the opinion in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld today, I couldn't help but picture David Addington sitting in his office, steam pouring out of his ears as he scanned through Justice Stevens' 73 page opus, looking for some evidence that his theories of executive power were taken seriously by the Court. I can only imagine his reaction when he got to page 29 and realized that the Court had dismissed his entire theory in a single, one sentence-long footnote:


Whether or not the President has independent
power, absent congressional authorization, to
convene military commissions, he may not
disregard limitations that Congress has, in proper
exercise of its own war powers, placed on his
powers.

But if Addington was vexed by the majority opinion, he probably had an aneurysm when he got to Justice Kennedy's concurring opinion, which seems to have been directed specifically at the David Addingtons and John Yoos of the world. Kennedy wrote:


Military Commission Order No. 1 . . . exceeds limits
that certain statutes, duly-enacted by Congress
have placed on the President's authority to convene
military courts. This is not a case, then, where the
Executive can assert some unilateral authority to
fill a void left by congressional inaction. It is a case
where Congress, in the proper exercise of its
powers as an independent branch of government,
and as part of a long tradition of legislative
involvement in matters of military justice, has
considered the subject of military tribunals and set
limits on the President's authority. Where a statute
provides conditions for the exercise of
governmental power, its requirements are the
result of a deliberative and reflective process
engaging both of the political branches. Respect for
laws derived from the customary operation of the
Executive and Legislative Branches gives some
assurance of stability in time of crisis. The
Constitution is best preserved by reliance on
standards tested over time and insulated from
the pressures of the moment.

If that wasn't enough to make Addington's head explode, the next paragraph probably did the trick. There, Kennedy discussed "the importance of standards deliberated upon and chosen in advance of crisis, under a system where the single power of the Executive is checked by other constitutional mechanisms." Kennedy noted, in closing, that "as presently structured, Hamdan's military commission exceeds the bounds Congress had placed on the President's authority."

[xchrom]

1. i should hope it exploded -- if only it hadn't taken -- what?

2.5 years to get this decision.

[Gabi Hayes]

2. it did

[leveymg]

3. I hope he had his affairs in order before he read the decision

For the lawyers who wrote and approved the notorious "torture memos" -- Gonzales, Addington, David Yoo, et al. -- this decision contains a clear message from the Justices of the Supreme Court:

When the World Court Comes With a Warrant to Try You at the Hague for War Crimes and Torture, You Can't Hide Behind Our Robes.

Appeal Denied.

[BurtWorm]

4. From what I understand of Addington, he probably "knows" the SC is wrong

because he is right and the SC disagrees with him. I don't believe Addington and Cheney are going to let a little thing like a landmark Supreme Court decision get in the way of their objective to remake the government after their own image.

[Supersedeas]

5. eh, i don't think it bothers them much that their policies are

unconstititional

next assignment - find another work around

[robbedvoter]

6. "When not installing Preznits, SCOTUS should STFU " BFEE