I have been watching Sunday morning news programs all morning, as I so very rarely do these days, and I am watching now primarily only because I’m sick. But as I watch, I am reminded of a running thread in the argument not only on wiretapping, but indeed presidential power generally since Bush took office.
This thread ~ which is so subtle in the conversation that I’m not sure many people, least of all the journalistic community, are really hearing it ~ is perhaps the most aserbic to the institution of American democracy. I am sure I have talked about this on any number of occasions before, but it’s too important not to say it again. Many people seem to be discussing this issue of presidential power in terms of the rights “granted” the president in the Constitution, when indeed the Constitution does quite the opposite.
Continue reading The Constitution: a Harness of Power