"It's not illegal because the President can declassify anything he wants"

[Jane Austin]

I have just watched - - or skimmed through - - all my TiVo'ed shows from yesterday: Jim Lehrer, Countdown, Lou Dobbs, Hardball, and Bill Maher, and I am truly weary of hearing that Bush has done nothing illegal because he has the right to declassify anything that's classified.

I'd like to hear some pundits say it this way: It's not illegal because according to this administration, nothing is illegal when the President does it.

Or put another way, nothing the President can do is illegal, according to his interpretation.

Isn't that really what's going on here? If any other person on God's Green Earth did any of the crap this guy pulls, he'd be locked up for years, if not executed for treason.

[BrklynLiberal]

1. In other words, he can do anything he damn pleases because he says so.

He's the Chimperor!!!!!

[Jane Austin]

5. I'd just like them to say that on TeeVee.

That he's immune from everything.

[HereSince1628]

2. Yeah, but if it DID happen, we'd expect there to be a paper trail.

Hell, if I was Libby _I'D_ want a paper trail so I wouldn't be hung out to dry two or three years later.

Until I see some document with a date/time stamp that can be faked I'm just gonna believe that the declassification took place 10 days later than Libby claims.

[Lasher]

3. Yes, that is exactly what's going on here

Dubya hasn't done anything illegal because none of our laws apply to him. That is their argument.

[Jane Austin]

6. Then why don't they start saying that the President IS above the law.

People keep saying "No one is above the law."

Bush, apparently, is.

[Lasher]

11. Because these liars are just saying what suits them at any given moment

You can not expect consistency from the Liar in Chief or any of his cronies. Case in point:

"I think I made that very clear last week. The topic came up, and I said that if anyone in this administration was responsible for the leaking of classified information, they would no longer work in this administration. This is a very serious matter. The President made it very clear just a short time ago in the East Room, and he has always said that leaking of classified information is a serious matter. And that's why he wants to get to the bottom of this. And the sooner we get to the bottom of it, the better." - Scott McClellan, October 6, 2003

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x861326

But wait, let's check in on Scotty's current version of the truth:

"There were irresponsible and unfounded accusations being made against the administration, suggesting that we had manipulated or misused that intelligence," said White House press secretary Scott McClellan. "Because of the public debate that was going on and some of the wild accusations that were flying around at the time, we felt it was very much in the public interest that what information could be declassified be declassified. And that's exactly what we did."

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0604080121apr08,1,3362979.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed

So one day leaking classified information is "a serious matter" but more recently the very same act is "in the public interest"

[wurzel]

4. Bush can "declassify" anything. But can he then "leak" it?

The question is not, nor has ever been, whether or not Bush can declassify information. But once he has declassified it there is a procedure for making that information public. But that procedure is not giving (leaking) the information to a single reporter for political purposes. That is what is being totally ignored by our so called media.

[Jane Austin]

7. Actually, I don't understand why the President can declassify any and

everything.

Because his is a politica office, it stands to reason that he might do something for political reasons.

Seems like somebody else ought to sign off on it, besides the President.

[wurzel]

8. He can declassify anything that is not classified by Congress.

That is why the Plame scandal is such a problem for Bush. CIA covert officer names are covered by law. Ironically thanks to Bush Sr.

[Jane Austin]

9. That's still too much power, to my way of thinking.

But thanks for that explanation.

[Poiuyt]

10. Ah yes, the Nixon Doctrine

"Well, when the President does it, that means that it's not illegal." May 19, 1977

[B Calm]

12. Bush: "If There Is A Leak Out Of My Administration, I Want To Know Who It

Is! Then he said originally that anyone involved in leaking the name of covert CIA operative would be fired.. "This is not only about the credibility of the president of the United States, but whether or not he's a traitor too."

[sandnsea]

13. Just say it 10,000 times

and it'll become true. And we'll have said it half those times, and then wonder how it got to be conventional wisdom.

:crazy:

[bklyncowgirl]

14. So if Bush decided to give his pal Pootie Poot the nuclear launch codes.

Because he looked into his eyes and saw his soul then that would be cool too.

Alright that's a bit extreme but so is blowing the cover of a secret agent who was working on monitoring weapons of mass destruction in the very countries that we're so concerned about today is pretty extreme too.