A Hefty Assignment On A Dark Prince

It's a long weekend (for me anyway) and one celebrating our Freedom at that! So, after you review The Supreme's Decision against our Pres' 'tribunal' policy (best reviewed here and then here) go over to the New Yorker and check out the article on David Addington. Addington most recently made the news as the replacement for Scooter Libby. But for years he has hidden from the spot light as he fulfilled the role of 'Cheney's Brain'. Most of what the Pres calls 'Our War On Terror' and what we call 'Unlimited Lifting of Civil Rights and Judicial Process For The Duration Of A Never-Ending-War On A tactic' came not from poor stupid Alberto Gonzales but from Mr. Addington. An amazingly timely article.

Some of the Good Bits:

"On December 18th, Colin Powell, the former Secretary of State, joined other prominent Washington figures at FedEx Field, the Redskins stadium, in a skybox belonging to the team's owner. During the game, between the Redskins and the Dallas Cowboys, Powell spoke of a recent report in the Times which revealed that President Bush, in his pursuit of terrorists, had secretly authorized the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on American citizens without first obtaining a warrant from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, as required by federal law. ...

According to someone who knows Powell, his comment about the article was terse."It's Addington," he said. "He doesn't care about the Constitution." "

"Bruce Fein, a Republican legal activist, who voted for Bush in both Presidential elections, and who served as associate deputy attorney general in the Reagan Justice Department: ... [Bush and Co.] staked out powers that are a universe beyond any other Administration. This President has made claims that are really quite alarming. He's said that there are no restraints on his ability, as he sees it, to collect intelligence, to open mail, to commit torture, and to use electronic surveillance. If you used the President's reasoning, you could shut down Congress for leaking too much. His war powers allow him to declare anyone an illegal combatant. All the world's a battlefield, according to this view, he could kill someone in Lafayette Park if he wants! It's got the sense of Louis XIV: "I am the State.""

"...Bruce Fein said that the Bush legal team was strikingly unsophisticated. "There is no one of legal stature, certainly no one like Bork, or Scalia, or Elliot Richardson, or Archibald Cox," he said. "It's frightening. No one knows the Constitution,certainly not Cheney."

"...[Another] former high-ranking Administration lawyer said that Addington regularly attended White House legal meetings with the C.I.A. and the National Security Agency. He received copies of all National Security Council documents, including internal memos from the staff. And, as a former top official in the Defense Department, he exerted influence over the legal office at the Pentagon, helping his protege William J. Haynes secure the position of general counsel. A former national-security lawyer, speaking of the Pentagon's legal office, said, "It's obvious that Addington runs the whole operation.""

"...[Richard]Shiffrin ... left with the impression that Addington "doesn't believe there should be co-equal branches." Another participant recalled, "If you favored international law, you were in danger of being called 'soft on terrorism' by Addington." He added that Addington's manner in meetings was "very insistent and very loud." Yet another participant said that, whenever he cautioned against executive-branch overreaching, Addington would respond brusquely, "There you go again, giving away the President's power.""