War everlasting

The Bush legacy, as it is to date, will already leave a minefield of disreputable characters and ugly offspring for whichever poor bastard next punches his card into the Oval Office, but Bush isn’t content to rest on his withered laurels. Which is why, buried in a proposal on hearing legal appeals from the assorted disappeareds at Guantanamo, the exiting shitheel has planted a provision stating that the U.S. is at war and needs continued elbow room to deal with its enemies. Critics, however, fear the provision would allow the White House to continue operating outside the boundaries of what the little people like to call “the law.”

Similar to a resolution passed three days after the September 11 hubbub, the present provision looks for confirmation that the U.S. is embroiled in ongoing armed conflict with al-Qaeda, the Taliban and “associated organizations.” But the scope of the language allows for broad interpretation; interpretations already used by the Bush administration to justify indefinite detentions, illegal wiretaps and other insidious manoeuvrings.

Those within the Bush crew say the provision is a necessary reminder of America’s agenda in an atmosphere where people have grown falsely confident after seven years without an attack. The cautious say it’s an unnecessary bit of fear mongering that hands too much power to the commander-in-chief.

by SCOTT SAXON