Bush's attack on the Constitution.

Americans cannot afford to overlook the attitude of this White House. To do so could imperil our entire democracy. This is not hyperbole.

Bush's recent "bill-signing statement" which said he can torture anybody he feels like anytime he feels like (ostensibly for "national security") is the wake up call. As it turns out, Bush has issued some 500 such signing statements in just 5 years declaring he doesn't have to obey the new law. That's over three times as many as his dad, GHW Bush, who signed 146 in 4 years. (Clinton signed only 105 and Reagan 71 in their full 8 year tenures.)

Bill-signing statements are basically the President's comment when he signs a bill into law. It offers his opinion about the law and provides clarification and/or direction for the administration's agencies to go by. This administration has taken the practice to a whole new level, both in frequency and subversive intent.

The Constitution provides a provision for the President to reject a bill passed by Congress. It's called a veto.

But Bush wants no part of a veto. By using a Constitutional veto, Congress then has the option of overriding that veto by a 2/3 majority vote. Instead, Bush uses a tactic that force the issue into the courts. A process that would take years instead of weeks to resolve, giving Bush plenty of extra time for his torture-spree. (And don't get me started on the obvious hypocrisy here, where the GOP is always crying about the courts deciding the law.)

Bush defenders will say these signings are nothing new. True, but Bush took us to war to (allegedly) end Saddam's torture of the Iraqi people. (Apparently, it's not the torture that Bush wanted to end, but that it was Saddam doing the torturing.)

That said, this isn't about torture per se. It's about the Constitutional process. Are we going to protect it? Can we let a president unravel the fabric of our democracy simply because he wants ever so much more power for himself?

Or is Bush right when he says the Constitution is "just a goddamn piece of paper"...?