We should have learned from Vietnam not to let the legislature encroach on the duties of the executive branch and run wars. We also should have learned from 9/11 that passing legislation to hamstring intelligence was less than a brilliant idea.
Apparently, we have learned neither, to judge from the Senate vote for the so-called “torture bill.” And if that weren’t enough, for the first time in US history, we now have the judicial branch sticking its nose where it doesn’t belong and trying to run the war.
Leftists are fond of claiming that Bush is trying to claim too much power for the executive branch, which shows that they have little historical perspective. Bush is trying to take back the powers of the executive branch, which Jimmy Carter gladly gave away to a power-hungry, left-wing Congress. At least Reagan put up a fight.
During the same decade and presidency, Congress did everything but abolish the CIA, passing all the legislation they could to cripple our intelligence. Congress also did what they could to weaken domestic law enforcement by passing “privacy bills” which, fortunately, the Patriot Act is partly undoing.
We have a history, then, of Congress trying to grab power for themselves, away from the executive, as well as doing everything they can to weaken the United States. We do not have a history of the courts ruling on prisoners of war or enemy combatants.
The point at which I decided I no longer wanted Reason coming to my home was when I picked up a new issue and read the following:
I’ll leave it to the smart boys with the courtly expertise over at The Volokh Conspiracy and Overlawyered to suss out the legal details in full, but there seems little doubt that, overall, the recent Supreme Court rulings in three War on Terrorism cases (Rasul v. Bush, Hamdi v. Rumsfeld, and Rumsfeld v. Padilla) and two Miranda rights cases (Missouri v. Seibert and U.S. v. Patane) are good for civil liberties.
No, when the judiciary oversteps their bounds and takes over the role of the executive, that is not good in any sense. Nor is it a good thing when terrorists are treated as if they are in traffic court.
Congress has no business doing further damage to intelligence, no matter how good it makes them feel to pass a “torture bill,” and whether we should or should not be torturing prisoners is irrelevant. Likewise, the judicial branch has no business hearing these cases, much less ruling on them, no matter how much good press it gets them in the New York Slimes, and the rights of these prisoners is, as above, irrelevant.
Destroying the balance of power is the issue. Congress and the courts need their wings clipped before they do more damage, and we end up with another, worse, 9/11.
