#9 What strikes me the most about this speech, is not the closing of Gitmo, but Di's "administrationÂ’s attempts to hold and process detainees at Guantanamo as another example of its efforts to expand presidential authority."
Congress has fought with Bush from day one about this. I've attempted to mention these thoughts before.
Bush, since the beginning, has been in a battle with Congress over the real separation of powers between Congress and the executive branch. Cheney had watched this happening, and if I remember correctly, he would even mention it. So, when a commenter at Bill Riggio wrote this, I kept it, and so sorry I didn't also copy the name and date. If the author reads it, email me!
From day one, the Bush administration's political strategy (authored, I believe, by VP Cheney)has been to re-establish executive parity with Congress that was lost during Nixon, Ford and Carter Administrations.
By aggressively asserting executive privilege, reclaiming the constitutionally exclusive role of the POTUS as CINC, etc., Bush has flexed executive powers like few before him, bringing congress to heel.
In the case of Gonzales, he has defied enormous pressure to jettison his AG- at great political cost- thus rolling back the perceived powers of Congress to influence the executive cabinet.
Brilliant strategy, stubbornly executed, with far-reaching results. The next POTUS will owe this administration a huge debt.
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A leading US senator has described the administrationÂ’s attempts to hold and process detainees at Guantanamo as another example of its efforts to expand presidential authority.