The Patriot Act Signing Statement

Briefly, Bush has been issuing signing statements with alot of the bills he signs into law. The theory is that these signing statements indicate the executive's position and understanding of the law, and they've been around for awhile.

But George Bush has taken to issuing legal arguments within this administration's signing statements, most famously on the torture amendment. Effectively, that statement argued that Bush was not bound by the torture amendment that he was signing into law.

We've got another one here reported by Charlie Savage of the Boston Globe.

WASHINGTON -- When President Bush signed the reauthorization of the USA Patriot Act this month, he included an addendum saying that he did not feel obliged to obey requirements that he inform Congress about how the FBI was using the act's expanded police powers.....

In the statement, Bush said that he did not consider himself bound to tell Congress how the Patriot Act powers were being used and that, despite the law's requirements, he could withhold the information if he decided that disclosure would ''impair foreign relations, national security, the deliberative process of the executive, or the performance of the executive's constitutional duties."

Bush wrote: ''The executive branch shall construe the provisions . . . that call for furnishing information to entities outside the executive branch . . . in a manner consistent with the president's constitutional authority to supervise the unitary executive branch and to withhold information . . . "

There is no law but Ceasar.

Or, maybe better said paraphrasing Al Gonzales, "we look forward to working with Congress in their advisory role."