George Will gets shrill:
By on Feb 16th, 2006 at 9:13 am
George Will gets shrill:
“[T]errorism is not the only new danger of this era. Another is the administration’s argument that because the president is commander in chief, he is the ’sole organ for the nation in foreign affairs.’ That non sequitur is refuted by the Constitution’s plain language, which empowers Congress to ratify treaties, declare war, fund and regulate military forces, and make laws “necessary and proper” for the execution of all presidential powers.”
View Most Popular
Advertisement
What We're About
What We're Fighting For
What We're Fighting Against
Featured
Subscribe to the Progress Report
Topic CloudView topics sorted by popularity
Afghanistan
Bachmann
Beck
Boehner
Business
Cheney
Civil Rights
Congress
Corporate Ethics
Dobbs
Economy
Education
Election
Energy
Environment
Ethics
Fox News
Gingrich
Glenn Beck
Global Warming
Health Care
Immigration
International Relations
Justice
LGBT
Lieberman
Limbaugh
Media
Military
O'Reilly
Obama
Palin
Pelosi
Politics
Race
Radical Right
Religion
Sports
Steele
Stimulus
Tea Parties
Tea Party
Terrorism
Veterans
Women's Rights
Visit Our Affiliated Sites
Reports
In-depth studies on select topics
Got a hot tip?
Have a hot news tip? We'd love to hear from you. Use the form below to send us the latest.
ArchivesBlog Roll
Old George Will speaks the truth more often than not.
February 16th, 2006 at 9:16 amWow, a REAL conservative speaks.
February 16th, 2006 at 9:21 amBut THIS Congress isn’t up to its duties and responsibilities…
…because THIS electorate is too g’da*n stupid to hold anybody ACCOUNTABLE!
The criminal traitors George W. Bush, L’il Dick et al. should all be in shackles right beside Zacharias Moussaui…
…but noooo…
…these are AMERICAN GOOD ‘OL BOY WASP males….
February 16th, 2006 at 9:27 amWatch it George before long they will accuse you of being a antipatriotic Osama supporting liberal .
February 16th, 2006 at 9:31 amIt isn’t often than I agree with George Will, but now and then, he does add some reasonableness to the conservative columnists. GW and his cabal apparently believe that he has unlimited, unrestricted power as CIC, contrary to the stipulations of the Constitution and the balance of powers intended to prevent this very occurrence.
February 16th, 2006 at 9:32 amThe above “GW” is intended to be GWB, please.
February 16th, 2006 at 9:33 amI think this is more Will’s libertarian side than his conservative side, but I do agree that the President is wrong if he thinks he has the final word on as many subjects as he thinks he does. If the Congress doesn’t fund it, he can’t do it.
I also believe that this is just the kind of topic for Think Progress to post a link to the US Constitution and Amendments, so we can see for oursleves what our revered document says.
Peace on Earth.
February 16th, 2006 at 9:40 amGeorge Will looking for his fill($), willing to be a (R) shill and wallow in the swill.
February 16th, 2006 at 9:41 am“Immediately after Sept. 11, the president rightly did what he thought the emergency required, and rightly thought that the 1978 law was inadequate to new threats posed by a new kind of enemy using new technologies of communication. Arguably he should have begun surveillance of domestic-to-domestic calls — the kind the Sept. 11 terrorists made.
But 53 months later, Congress should make all necessary actions lawful by authorizing the president to take those actions, with suitable supervision. It should do so with language that does not stigmatize what he has been doing, but that implicitly refutes the doctrine that the authorization is superfluous.”
This will be the end result of this scandal. Congress will authorize warrantless domestic spying in statute.
Maybe, just maybe, there’s enough principled folk left on SCOTUS to overturn it…
February 16th, 2006 at 9:42 amA bit off topic here, but related to abuse of power. Check out this tidbit from
February 16th, 2006 at 9:45 amhttp://timesonline.typepad.com/mick_smith/2006/02/did_the_adminis.html#more
This isn’t the first time I have heard that Plame was intricately involved in the covert surveillance of WMDs in the middle east.
I am officially quitting the blogosphere
The Captains Quarters guy said George Will is not conservative!
“Normally I enjoy George Will’s columns; he isn’t exactly a conservative, but he usually covers the center well enough.”
February 16th, 2006 at 9:51 amMarie! How can anything be posted here that is not in some way or another relevant to The Administration’s abuse of power? That is there M.O. great link BTW. Bring it on.Thanks TFM.
February 16th, 2006 at 9:54 amJust Curious but -Did TP hire OPrah Winfrey to start Writing Articles?
YAWN
February 16th, 2006 at 9:58 amWayne,
February 16th, 2006 at 9:58 amIt goes ‘way beyond funding re the Congress vis-a-vis the Executive. As Will correctly said, the Constitution gives the Congress a whole lot of power whereas the President has little–the principal power being commander of the military in wartime.
Roland glad to see you have been to the other side. The Captain’s quarters I’m sure will have their own candidates in the next election. NOT! That’s the beauty of living in a vacum. All you have to do is take some idealistic goals and say that’s what your for, knowing that all you’re really trying to do is move the line closer to the side you want and moan and groan about the other side’s failure to try to actually solve the problem. Sorta like Steve Forbes saying the economy can grow at 7-8%. It ain’t gonna happen. I think the Democrats should run on maybe one or 2 goals of their own and keep it simple. Get control First, then do what you want. Pretty simple, huh?
February 16th, 2006 at 10:01 amMr. Ho at least it’s not about Dick and his depth perception failure.
February 16th, 2006 at 10:03 amGeorge Will isn’t the only conservative that is dissenting in this situation. Frankly, this administration has grown drunk with power. They have become so arrogant that they are beginning to offend the very people who have propped them up for so long.
Thinking conservatives see the writing on the wall. Republicans will not control all branches of government forever. The thought of a democrat or third party candidate having all of the powers that this administration is claiming has to be a frightening thought.
This administration needs to be reigned in. It is not above the law and it still has to answer to the american people, not just those that agree with their policy decisions. It is going to take true conservatives joining in the effort in order for it to happen. Otherwise this administration will continue to claim every issue is partisan and democrats merely want to complain because they’re angry. Everytime a true conservative dissents it weakens the partisan argument. Just my humble opinion.
February 16th, 2006 at 10:13 amOh my God! I am agreeing with George Will!
Perhaps it is a sign of the end times?
February 16th, 2006 at 10:27 amGeorge Will is a bonehead. Even a stopped clock is right twice a day. The “cabin boy” getting buggered in the Captain’s Quarters wouldn’t know a real conservative if one buggered him up the arse!
February 16th, 2006 at 10:38 amHm, I guess George Will missed out on the NeoCon money gravy train and is showing his pique.
I’m not going to give this dork credit for integrity. He’d take the money and run like the rest of the Gauleiters but must have fallen through the cracks.
February 16th, 2006 at 10:40 am#9 Congress can pass a law, but it still has to be within the constitution and the way this program is going it does not fit that mold. The problem is the probable cause that is non-existent.
Agree with Will or not, he usually is at least interesting to read. The CQ response to Will dovetails nicely into the notion that to criticise the president or his policies in any way makes you a liberal, even when you are a through and through conservative like Will.
February 16th, 2006 at 10:47 amBush and his band of fanatics are either too stupid to understand the points that George Will makes or they are deliberately doing this in order to transform the USA into an authoritarian regime.
February 16th, 2006 at 10:54 amsome reason from the unreasonable right… Bush’s house is caving in quickly…
February 16th, 2006 at 11:12 amCan anyone comment on this from Cheney:
“I have certainly advocated declassification. I have participated in declassification decisions,” Cheney said. Asked for details, he said, “I don’t want to get into that. There’s an executive order that specifies who has classification authority, and obviously it focuses first and foremost on the president, but also includes the vice president.”
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060216/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/cheney_cia_leak_15
If this is all true, then Wilson’s wife was fair fames, legally. Knowing Cheney, this could be all made up.
February 16th, 2006 at 11:25 amWell, if VPres. Cheney can decide what information can be declassified, then he’d have no problems declassifying the names of who worked with him on the energy task force.
Since the name of an active agent with the CIA is fair game, the names of the energy task force members should be fair game as well. Double standards, anyone?
February 16th, 2006 at 11:59 amI thnk when the crap really hits the fan we will see who the true conservatives are. Bush-Cheney and the neo-cons have nothing to do with conservatism. I can live with and work with a conservative. It is the radical fundamnetalists I can’t work with. The neo-con movement is a poorly veiled attempt by coporatists and the religious fundamentalists to subvert the constitution for their own ends. It is going to come down to the Constitutionists vs. the corporatist/religious(havent been able to come up with a good name for them yet). Those are going to be the new political sides in the new battle. Many liberals and conservatives will be allied on the Constitutionist side. The fight for the Constitution has already begun. Now people have to pick sides.
February 16th, 2006 at 12:09 pm#26, Bruce,
You are too optimistic. Most of the country does not even know what constitution is or its role. This is a permanent divide accelerated by essential lack of curiosity among its citizens and very well aided by poor education in US.
February 16th, 2006 at 12:18 pmA bit off topic here, but related to abuse of power. Check out this tidbit from
http://timesonline.typepad.com/ mick_smith/ 2006/ 02/ did_the_adminis.html#more
This isn’t the first time I have heard that Plame was intricately involved in the covert surveillance of WMDs in the middle east.
Comment by Marie #10
Marie! How can anything be posted here that is not in some way or another relevant to The Administration’s abuse of power? That is there M.O. great link BTW. Bring it on.Thanks TFM.
Comment by the fly-man #12
Marie and fly-man,
Wow, what a revelation huh?
Now it all definitely makes sense…
…why the career CIA’ers/NSA’ers are leaking/whistleblowing like crazy (most recently with the domestic spying program)…
…I KNEW there was a hate-fest btwn the Bushites and CIA/intelligence communities, but didn’t realize how bad it was…
Here are a couple of questions for the both of you…
…How do you think Cheney’s “disclosure” during his Faux hug-fest with that “swallower” Brit Spume…
…that he (Cheney) has the authority to “declassify” sensitive classified information by virtue of an executive order…
…will fly?
Why was this brought up in an “interview” about his having shot a fellow hunter?
Finally, what will this “disclosure” do for the Scooter Libby defense/Plamegate affair as a whole?
February 16th, 2006 at 12:31 pmGood for him.
Now if he’d come out against massive deficits and against empire building, I’d almost believe Bush hasn’t destroyed conservatism.
February 16th, 2006 at 1:30 pmI’ve said this for a long time–conservatives aren’t problem, it’s this new breed of neo-cons with their self-serving ‘biblical’ interpretations and Wilsonian belief in interventionism (aka manifest destiny) who are dangerous. They are the al Queda of our American culture.
Right after WW1 (1920), Woodrow Wilson said:
“This is the time of all others when Democracy should prove its purity and its spiritual power to prevail. It is surely the manifest destiny of the United States to lead in the attempt to make this spirit prevail.”
Old Woodrow’s policies promoted interventionism, and reawakeened the old ‘City on the Hill’ concept of Manifest Destiny. Serving as America’s worldwide ‘mission,’ it eventually led the us into WW1. Wilson once said, “The world must be made safe for democracy.”
Now, where else have we heard that?
February 16th, 2006 at 1:30 pm#27/28 – As Eric Alterman has pointed out before: isn’t it tragic that the American public does nothing while the spooks to lead the battle to prevent the triumph of American fascism over the Constitution?
February 16th, 2006 at 1:38 pmLet’s not be too quick to heap praise upon Mr. Will. I was right there with him, up until his final two paragraphs:
Mr. Will still gives the Administration a pass on its illegal activity. He is right in his objections to the blatant power-grabs of this White House, and his thought that Congress needs to address this situation legislatively. But to stop short of holding this bunch accountable for their intentional violation of law is akin to a tacit approval of those illegal – and punishable – acts.
February 16th, 2006 at 2:45 pm#32, Bob P,
I am glad I am not the only one who noticed it. I thought this to be crap and giving Bush a pass. He wants to make sure all checks and balances are in place for the *next* president and indirectly wants to absolve Bush of any wrong doing so far.
F**K him.
February 16th, 2006 at 3:11 pm#33, So Will gives a sop to the reader then he takes it all away in the last paragraph. Even if he makes reasonable arguments along the way, he cannot refrain from standing behind Bush in the end. Bush can do no wrong.
February 16th, 2006 at 3:38 pmThis is all so demoralizing.
#28 bigpapa
February 16th, 2006 at 3:47 pmCertainly, Cheney was laying a paving brick down on the road toward his defense in the Libby case. He is grabbing power and authority for himself (and he will have the aid and legal support from Gonzales)with his claims of having executive authority. In another post, I noted that he has executive power to classify material according to the law, but he does not have the same to declassify material, which is far more complex. Revealing the identity of a CIA operative, covert or not, working undercover or in public, or in any combination is also unlawful for more reasons than simply declassifying the agent’s identity. All persons and operations affiliated with that agent, in the past, or in the present are compromised, endangering any number of them. It’s no wonder that the CIA became enraged when Plame was outed. We may never know who and what were lost by the reckless and political machinations of this self-serving White House.
[...] Even George Will is fed up with the administrations utter disrespect for the Constitution. Terrorism is not the only new danger this era…. The administration, in which mere obduracy sometimes serves as political philosophy, pushes the limits of assertion while disdaining collaboration. This faux toughness is folly…. [...]
February 16th, 2006 at 4:38 pmTHE ENEMY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE IS NOT SADDAM OR OSAMA, BUT GEORGE W. BUSH AND HIS NEO-NAZI SYCOPHANTS. WE MUST RESIST AND OVERTHROW THESE FASCIST BASTARDS BY WHATEVER MEANS NECESSARY. THE REVOLUTIION HAS COME, IT’S TIME TO PICK UP A GUN.
February 16th, 2006 at 5:22 pm