Just when you thought Bush could not possibly come up with any more new and innovative ways to wipe his ass with the Constitution -- VOILA!
Just before Christmas Bush slipped a little present to himself into a bill to reform Postal Service operations -- a signing statement that asserts he can open anyone's mail any time he wants. The New York Daily News produced the story, but hasn't posted it on its website, so here is a version from the Denver Post.
UPDATE: Here is the story on the Daily News website, which is front and center on their site now.
By James Gordon Meek
New York Daily News
Washington - President Bush has quietly claimed sweeping new powers to open Americans' mail without a judge's warrant, the New York Daily News has learned.
The president asserted his new authority when he signed a postal reform bill into law on Dec. 20. Bush then issued a "signing statement" that declared his right to open people's mail under emergency conditions.
That claim is contrary to existing law and contradicted the bill he had just signed, say experts who have reviewed it.
Pretty slick, huh?
So what if the experts say this usurpation of power is in direct conflict with the bill. When has Bush ever let that stand in his way?
Experts said the new powers could be easily abused and used to vacuum up large amounts of mail.
"The signing statement claims authority to open domestic mail without a warrant, and that would be new and quite alarming," said Kate Martin, director of the Center for National Security Studies in Washington.
"The danger is they're reading Americans' mail," she said.
"You have to be concerned," agreed a career senior U.S. official who reviewed the legal underpinnings of Bush's claim. "It takes Executive Branch authority beyond anything we've ever known."
You see, we're at war. And war is hard work. So we need to know if Al Qaeda is sending messages to its operatives in Sioux Falls tucked inside of credit card offers.
Yet in his statement Bush said he will "construe" an exception, "which provides for opening of an item of a class of mail otherwise sealed against inspection in a manner consistent ... with the need to conduct searches in exigent circumstances."
Bush cited as examples the need to "protect human life and safety against hazardous materials and the need for physical searches specifically authorized by law for foreign intelligence collection."
That's vague enough to pretty much cover whatever piece of mail he wants to open.
So, let's review .... our phone calls are monitored, our bank records are available, our mail is to be opened, our library preferences are the FBI's business. What's left?