Bush says he doesn't have to obey the newly-signed Patriot Act

You've gotta be kidding me.

Bush added an addendum (which he legally can't do) when signing the Patriot Act this time around, saying that he doesn't have to obey its language requiring him to keep Congress informed.

That is illegal. It's unconstitutional. You can't do that. A president can't just say he's going to ignore the law.

Every senator who voted for the Patriot Act is a chump.

When President Bush signed the reauthorization of the USA Patriot Act this month, he included an addendum saying that he did not feel obliged to obey requirements that he inform Congress about how the FBI was using the act's expanded police powers.

The bill contained several oversight provisions intended to make sure the FBI did not abuse the special terrorism-related powers to search homes and secretly seize papers. The provisions require Justice Department officials to keep closer track of how often the FBI uses the new powers and in what type of situations. Under the law, the administration would have to provide the information to Congress by certain dates.

Bush signed the bill with fanfare at a White House ceremony March 9, calling it ''a piece of legislation that's vital to win the war on terror and to protect the American people." But after the reporters and guests had left, the White House quietly issued a ''signing statement," an official document in which a president lays out his interpretation of a new law.

In the statement, Bush said that he did not consider himself bound to tell Congress how the Patriot Act powers were being used and that, despite the law's requirements, he could withhold the information if he decided that disclosure would ''impair foreign relations, national security, the deliberative process of the executive, or the performance of the executive's constitutional duties."

The man is dangerously incompetent so of course he thinks he can do this. He thinks he can do everything. And the Republicans who control the US House and US Senate simply don't care, they refuse to conduct any oversight at all. It's sickening.

Oh, and by the way, this is what Bush did with McCain's anti-torture bill. Bush signed it and said he didn't have to obey it. McCain's response? Absolutely nothing. Profile in courage that man.