BUSH has mail...It's yours

[LaWood]

"WASHINGTON - President Bush has quietly claimed sweeping new powers to open Americans' mail without a judge's warrant, the Daily News has learned.

The President asserted his new authority when he signed a postal reform bill into law on Dec. 20. Bush then issued a "signing statement" that declared his right to open people's mail under emergency conditions.

That claim is contrary to existing law and contradicted the bill he had just signed, say experts who have reviewed it."

exclusive story at: http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/ ... 8789c.html

[Barbara Fitzpatrick]

One more reason to get the "100-hours" legislation done quickly so we can start investigations. Signing statements are NOT constitutionally permitted to allow the president to do anything he wants. The constitution was very careful to limit the powers of a position the founders rightly saw as a potential threat to personal freedoms. First the investigations, then hopefully the truly conservative Republicans and the Libertarians will start demanding impeachment. When I say "we can't impeach W" - what I mean is the Democratic Party cannot impeach W. If we did, it would be a bipartisan but hollow "victory" as the country - even some of the Dems - would still regard it as "tit-for-tat" on Clinton. W would not be removed from office, and he would consider that vindication and a mandate to get even worse. "We, the people" - the nation, can and should impeach W, but only if the Dems carryout a demand to impeach from the Rs and Libertarians.

Then we need to turn him and all evidence over to the World Court. The national divide Ford created with Nixon's pardon can only be truly healed by strong evidence that presidents - even Republican presidents - are truly not above the law. The R's claim that's what they were doing with Clinton's impeachment was totally bogus and even more divisive because Clinton's impeachment was the culmination of a partisan witchhunt. A true model of justice is a nonpartisan (NOT bipartisan) investigation and presentation of evidence in front of an international court, with any punishment meted out at a conviction no more - and no less - than the world court would assign to any other convicted head of state.