Monster of a Lawyer: Nominee for Attorney General Even Worse Than Ashcroft: The new Attorney General Gonzales is the author of the infamous 'torture memo', that articulated the Fuehrer principle in US politics:

"The president, despite domestic and international laws constraining the use of torture, has the authority as commander in chief to approve almost any physical or psychological actions during interrogation, up to and including torture, the report argued...

"A military lawyer who helped prepare the report said that political appointees heading the working group sought to assign the president virtually unlimited authority on matters of torture - to assert "presidential power at its absolute apex," the lawyer said...

"The working-group report elaborated the Bush administration's view that the president has virtually unlimited power to wage war as he sees fit, and neither Congress, the courts nor international law can interfere..."

"To protect subordinates should they be charged with torture, the memo advised that Mr. Bush issue a "presidential directive or other writing" that could serve as evidence, since authority to set aside the laws is "inherent in the president.""

Coupled with the resignation of Powell, the appointment of Rice as the Secretary of State, and the partisan purge of the CIA, this is a clear signal of the future direction of the Bush Administration. The neocons, by eliminating alternative or dissenting sources of information, such as the State Department and the CIA, have closed their grip on the mind of the boy emperor Bush. Rice's role, as before, is to be physically close to Bush and ensure he only gets the 'right' information. Cheney, Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz appear to be running the Administration.

Monster of a Lawyer: Nominee for Attorney General Even Worse Than Ashcroft: The new Attorney General Gonzales is the author of the infamous 'torture memo', that articulated the Fuehrer principle in US politics:

"The president, despite domestic and international laws constraining the use of torture, has the authority as commander in chief to approve almost any physical or psychological actions during interrogation, up to and including torture, the report argued...

"A military lawyer who helped prepare the report said that political appointees heading the working group sought to assign the president virtually unlimited authority on matters of torture - to assert "presidential power at its absolute apex," the lawyer said...

"The working-group report elaborated the Bush administration's view that the president has virtually unlimited power to wage war as he sees fit, and neither Congress, the courts nor international law can interfere..."

"To protect subordinates should they be charged with torture, the memo advised that Mr. Bush issue a "presidential directive or other writing" that could serve as evidence, since authority to set aside the laws is "inherent in the president.""

Coupled with the resignation of Powell, the appointment of Rice as the Secretary of State, and the partisan purge of the CIA, this is a clear signal of the future direction of the Bush Administration. The neocons, by eliminating alternative or dissenting sources of information, such as the State Department and the CIA, have closed their grip on the mind of the boy emperor Bush. Rice's role, as before, is to be physically close to Bush and ensure he only gets the 'right' information. Cheney, Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz appear to be running the Administration.