A new year. A new U.S. president.
An editorial by Aziz Huq on The Nation website offers a prescription for “Dismantling the Imperial Presidency”, with a warning reminiscent of Lord Acton’s famous quote:
Radical change is needed to re-establish legitimate bounds to executive power. We must again place beyond the pale Nixon’s famous aphorism that “when the president does it, that means it’s not illegal.” But radical change—as early appointments and policy signals from the Obama transition team suggest—comes easier as campaign slogan than governing practice…
No matter how decent, any new president is tempted by the tools and trappings of executive authority. However tainted the Oval Office is now, Obama’s perspective will change dramatically on entering the White House…
He goes on to offer measure Obama can take in three important areas: torture, the law that the executive follows, and accountability.
Always watching!
-TimK
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