This criticism of the administration buried in an oped arguing for modifying the laws governing domestic surveillance is worth noting:

This is not to play down the damage done to our war aims by the executive branch's repeated appearance of an indifference to law. A president does have an obligation to assess the constitutionality of statutes, but when he secretly decides a measure is unconstitutional and neglects to say so (much less why), he undermines the very system of public consent for which we are fighting.

And on the issue of the epic struggle to contain the White House's efforts to expand its executive powers, I recommend again this Newsweek cover story.

Posted by Laura at January 30, 2006 07:39 AM