About that, Woodward told Mike Wallace in the 60 Minutes interview, "(At) the end of July 2002, they need $700 million, a large amount of money for all these tasks [related to planning for Iraq War]. And the president approves it. But Congress doesn't know and it is done.
"They get the money from a supplemental appropriation for the Afghan War, which Congress has approved. ... Some people are gonna look at a document called the Constitution which says that no money will be drawn from the treasury unless appropriated by Congress [Art. I, sec. 9]. Congress was totally in the dark on this."
The President disrespects constitutional values to promote his own agenda, secrecy, and so forth? Ignores Congress' key constitutional role (Art. I, sec. 8) in military policy, such as by regulating its funding? [sentence added] Shocking!
As is this article, that notes: The president said that as United Nations envoy, Mr. Negroponte had done an admirable job "speaking for the United States to the world about our intentions to spread freedom and peace." Not a word in the article on the strong protests to the appointment based on "Negroponte's record of support for death-squad activity, evasion of legal restrictions, and deceit as Ambassador to Honduras." Or his lack of knowledge of local languages. "Freedom and peace" indeed.
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Conflicting Gorelick Memo Views: here and here. Her selection might have been ill advised, but this is separate from the whole "wall" issue, which has been exaggerated, the "anti" side here notwithstanding. I hold to that opinion.
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Legal: I give my views on death penalty case with soap opera particulars but all too typical legal themes here. Another interesting ruling was handed down by the Supremes today. U.S. v. Lara allows the federal government to prosecute a person for attacking a federal officer after an Indian tribe already convicted -- separate sovereigns.
Maybe so, but I hold true to my belief that it's still double jeopardy. The person still was twice put in jeopardy for the same offense. The tribe let the guy off pretty easy and a federal employee was involved. This is a problem, but one that can be dealt with an agreement between the tribe and the federal government to give the U.S. the option to have the sole right to try the offender because their interests are clearly at stake. If we accept the idea of dual sovereignty, Justice Stevens' brief pro-Indian concurrence is well said.
Sports: Lousy weekend for NY teams, who were 1-6, but fun for Lori Brown on hand with friends for a special bacholorette party. Sounds like my sort of woman.
Note ... I was going to discuss George Soros' lastest book, but too much on my plate! Will deal with it later on. Also, Get Fuzzy and Doonesbury have similar war related story lines this week. I found this article right after posting this day's entry. Warning, it has a spoiler. The Get Fuzzy storyline is noteworthy given the strip is usually not as serious.