208.104.253.190

Please remember that in order for something to be "illegal" there first must either be a specific ordinance in existence, codified by either governmental procedure or standing historical precedent that makes the act or process in question subject to legal scrutiny; and second, the governing body in place must recognize the law as being valid and as equally applicable under all circumstances as the imperfect human condition allows.

The philosophy to which Bush in particular and the Republican Party more generally ascribes in their application of Federal governance (at least beginning with McCarthy leading up to Nixon in modern times) may be objectionable; it may be in more specific cases immoral; and in the broadest possible sense might almost be considered treasonous in nature when taken in the context of what the authors of the Constitution had in mind when they drafted the document. It is not, however, specifically illegal because no codified legislation, precedent or context currently exists that provides for legal recourse against a person's "opinion". And therein lies the rub: thanks to the rampant ineptness that has characterized this administration for 8 years, there is simply far too much damage control to accomplish to give proper focus on this question.

In the sense that Bush fabricated the Department of Justice to apply the veneer of jurisprudence for the sake of outward appearances while surreptitiously packing the system through cronyism and political intimidation, he was very clever to select people who were aware of this imperfection in the structure of Federal Law. Doubtless there will be some who do not regard this as a "bug" but instead a "feature" of the Constitution that ostensibly allows for changing times and circumstances. The problem with this thinking, however, is that when people lose the original vision of why this particular government and its philosophy of law was instituted to begin with- for the provision of common defense from foreign and domestic enemies, securing liberty and the right to worship, think and believe in anything one chooses within the auspices of one's community; to provide support for the weakest among us while empowering the strongest to succeed, and protecting our common good from predatory behavior - it then becomes a simple matter for complacency to infiltrate the people while opportunists use every weakness to their advantage. Left in the wake is a confused and rudderless population, vulnerable to every predatory whim that comes their way and unable to place trust in anything or anyone.

Will Obama do anything about this should he become President? He certainly will have the legal authority to rescind any Executive Order, signing statement or Directive he deems out of line or contrary to his philosophy of governance. Given all the rhetoric of late, it's been somewhat lost in the noise that Obama has studied the Constitution on a graduate level, and the man has to be keenly aware of both the subtleties and the consequences of swimming in the kind of murky legal waters that have filled Bush's ocean of incompetence. We will simply have to wait and hope for the best.