The unitary executive doctrine arises out of a theory called "departmentalism," or "coordinate construction." According to legal scholars Christopher Yoo, Steven Calabresi, and Anthony Colangelo, the coordinate construction approach "holds that all three branches of the federal government have the power and duty to interpret the Constitution." According to this theory, the president may (and indeed, must) interpret laws, equally as much as the courts. (FindLaw)
Basically, the administration wants us to believe that the executive (i.e., Bush) should perform oversight on himself, which is completely irrational. Our government was created with a built-in system of checks and balances to avoid this exact thing.
The Judiciary branch of the US government has the duty to interpret the Constitution?the Executive does not. Any high school freshman who has taken United States history can tell you this much.
But our President believes he has the right to operate above and outside the law, without oversight. In his six years in office, he has issued more Presidential ?signing statements? than all previous Presidents combined.
Apparently, Tom Vilsack believes this as well. Of course, this might have something to do with his own possible Presidential ambitions?he is widely speculated to be a candidate for the Democratic ticket in 2008.
More likely, this is just another cheap and easy way out of a tricky situation for the DLC. They can come out and say ?if it is illegal? and never have to make any attempt to hold the administration accountable. Yet another pathetic shtick meant to attract moderate voters who are worried that the Democratic Party doesn?t have the proverbial balls to keep Americans safe from terrorism.
You sure showed ?em, Tom?keep on shying away from standing up for our rights, and watch us sweep you into the oval office in 2008. Better yet, keep it up and watch us sweep you and the rest of the DLC out next time we exercise our right to vote.
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