Page 6 Commentary President Or King? Tucked away in the depths of the many presidential powers that come with the oval office is a power that allows the President to write his own interpretation of any bill that he signs into law. Signing Statements, as they are called, allows the President to influence the future success of the legislation by giving it either a positive or negative spin. A recent article published in TIME magazine by Andrew Sullivan, titled "We Don't ~ Need a New King George," sited concerns regarding this "power" of the President that seems to have been overlooked. He says that in eight years in office for- mer Presidents Clinton and Reagan issued a total of only 176 signing statements. Our current President George W. Bush has already surpassed the 500 mark! Now you'd think since it's technically a time of war that this isn't all that unusual but Reagan did it 71 times and that was during the Cold War! Sullivan sites the McCain anti-torture law recently passed by Congress by a 90-9 vote as an example of the President's careful tip toeing around the law. As you may recall Bush and Cheney attempted to block this law from being passed. A Republican President blocking a fellow Republican Senator! But let's face it McCain's approval ratings are twice as good as the President’s. After months of fighting over whether or not to keep the bill from becoming law, suddenly the President signed the bill. But, the President wrote this signing statement at the end of the bill: "The executive branch shall construe Title X in Division A of the Act relating to detainees, in a matter consistent with the constitutional authority of the President to supervise the unitary executive branch and as Commander-in- Chief and consistent with the Constitutional limitations on judicial power." In English this means that the President has given himself the authority to ignore cer- tain parts of the McCain law whenever he deems it necessary. Sullivan said it best in the article: "Translation: If the President believes torture is war- ranted to protect the country, he'll violate the law and authorize torture. If the courts try to stop him, he'll ignore them too." Let's be honest. There have been only forty two lucky people who have been the leader of the United States and we are only beginning to understand the fight we've gotten ourselves into in the Middle East. If you were Bush and the clock was ticking on a nuclear bomb somewhere in the country, what would you do? Is one man's right not to be tortured worth millions of American lives? The answer will always be the same; it depends on who's the President. This President has decided to exercise the full weight of his office. But has he gone too far? Judging from the polls some peo- ple think he has. Now you ask who was the idiot who came up with the idea that the President should be allowed to create loopholes in the bills he signs into law? Prepare your- selves. It was none other than recently confirmed Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito!! Yes the rabbit that Bush pulled out of a hat and put on the high court is the man who first suggested this concept. Did we elect and then re-elect a President, or a King? America was created under a flag of democracy not a monar- chy. Yet look what America has become today. We do not have a solid healthcare system, taxes are way too high, the economy somewhat sucks, oil and gas prices are ridiculous. We're in a war that perhaps we cannot win. We are trillions of dollars in debt. All of this hap- pened under Bush but oh, wait a minute, there is hope. There are congressional elections coming up soon. Its time for the American people to stick it to their gov- ernment because they have done nothing but serve themselves and not you! : -John Miller The Lion's Eye February 27, 2006 Opinion | believe in free- No, becuase it was They had every They did nothing No, it wasn't the Shouldn't have done specifically done to right to do it. Free wrong. People are right thing to do. it. dom of speech but cause protest and press, free country. over-reacting. that was a little relied on the disunity over the top. of the Muslim world. Leah Dan Procacci Devon Zuczek Jen Collins George Thompson Semmelhaack Anya Takos Communications IST IST HRIM HDFS English Cheese Danish Anyone? The other night on the television, I was watching a show spoofing “The Passion of the Christ.” I must admit that if I were a devout Christian, I would have probably been offended. But this is what freedom of speech is all about: being able to say what you want and not having to worry about consequences. So, perhaps the main problem is that people in the Middle East don't have a concept of freedom to say what they want. In this entire situation, I have to give the most respect to the Danish government. Throughout the entire ordeal, they stood by the right of their press to print what they saw fit, even though as a government they did not approve of the cartoon that was printed. Ultimately, I believe that this continuing incident is a perfect illustration of what hap- pens when we take religion too seriously. It isn't just Muslims. Throughout history, people of many different faiths have been all too will- ing to kill each other over what their religious beliefs are. Personally, I think this is absurd. Why would you want to kill or harm someone who makes a derogatory statement about your beliefs that If you live in the Middle East, chances are that you haven't been eating any of those, or having anything else related to Denmark. "Why," you ask? Some time ago, a cartoon was published in a Danish newspaper. This car- toon depicted the prophet Mohammad with a bomb on his head. Not only does this insult the most important figure in Islam, this also visually depicts Mohammad, which is strictly forbidden by the Muslim faith. So, perhaps is was indeed in bad taste on the part of the news- paper. As a result of this cartoon, there have been protests in the streets, boycotting of Danish goods, and increasing violence in the Middle East. First, it was directed solely at Denmark and has since spread to increase hatred towards other parts of the Western world. However, here in the West, we pride our- selves on freedom of speech and freedom of the press. Everyday, in newspapers all over, there are cartoons making fun of politicians and even Christian figures. The fundamental: difference is that western cultures understand freedom of speech and mostly are able to laugh at political and religious humor. Even if you don't laugh, you respect the right of the person to express what they revolve around a book that was written over 1000 years want. ago? Practically every religion preaches tolerance What I find most striking about this situation is that towards those around you. I like Tom Clancy novels, but practically every night on the news we see pictures of peo- that doesn't mean that I'm going to assault someone that ple throughout the Middle East burning American flags makes a joke about him or his books. and similar symbols of the West. This is something that I don't have a solution for this problem. The Danish our culture finds very disrespectful. However, we don't press certainly had a right to publish the cartoon, and start burning down the embassies of the people who burn Muslims most certainly have a right to be upset with it. : our flags. Is a burning flag or a cartoon a reason to kill However, if you don't like something that's being said, people or even be violent? NO! there's no one making you listen. Paul Michael Hurych The Lion’s Cpe Contributing Staff John Miller, Jessie Rowland, Kat Specht, Michelle Roche, Neil O’Connor, Joe DiAntonio, Dan Baer, Ray Fredricks PENNSTATE Delaware County Lions Eve Editorial Board: Contact : e-mail: saal92@psu.edu, telephone: 610-892-1258, office: 202 Commons STAFF ADVISOR: Professor Lynn Keyser Editor in Chief: Andrew Walter - Photo Editor: Frank Friday - Copy Editor: Dan Delaney - Features Editor: Mike Bruder - News Editor: Amar Ganti - Managing Editor: Sharon Achilles- Associate Editor: Dave Hardeison - Layout Manager: Gerry Dungan Corrections: We apologize for the misspelling of “Thon” in our last edition.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers