Bush makes plan to extend Presidency

The Bush US Department of Justice (DoJ) and the office of the White House Counsel Attorney General's office are preparing a draft Executive Order to extend Bush's Presidency beyond the normal handover date in January 2009. This is from The Register (UK):

"First, the fact that this proposal is in the works so far in advance of the 2008 elections suggests that real care is being taken, which in turn suggests that President Bush is, for the moment, anyway, quite serious about attempting this coup d'état.

"If it ever becomes public, I suspect we'll find that the proposed executive order will postpone the 2008 elections - citing the exigencies of war - rather than attempt to do battle with Article II Section 1 and the 22nd Amendment," Jamison explained.

"But, Constitutionally speaking, Bush hasn't got a leg to stand on. Article II Section 1 states plainly that the president is elected to a four-year term, and the 22nd Amendment states plainly that he can serve only two terms. He's looking for weasel room, and he thinks that merely extending his second term, rather than declaring a third term, will give it to him. He's mistaken.

"I can't imagine even a sympathetic Supreme Court going along with this - although I'll admit that I was surprised when they handed him the Florida election in 2000. Still, what's being proposed here is literally a coup d'état; the Court is not going to sanction it, even if key members of Congress do.

"If you think about what would happen, it quickly becomes a reductio ad absurdum, Jamison explained.

"Consider the practical problems: the election might well go on in defiance of the executive order. That might leave Bush no alternative but to declare martial law. He would need support from the military in that case, and I doubt he would get it. Remember, military personnel swear an oath to the Constitution first, and to the President second. Where the two are in conflict, most will consider the Constitution paramount.

I don't know the credibility of The Register, but I have no doubt at all that the Bush administration is thinking along these lines. Considering the way the White House has attempted to take on supreme powers and eliminate the checks-and-balances of the Constitution already, this is not a new idea for them.

I would bet that there is such a draft plan in the works, but most likely it is simple a case of contingency planning at this time. It is probably rather like way the military prepares contingency plans for highly unlikely situations. But with this White House, one never knows. This needs to be prepared for, much as political opponents need to have lawyers on hand to contest efforts to miscount ballots after elections.

I see no reason at all to trust anyone in the Bush administration. They have already done or attempted so many things that no one ever considered a reasonable administration to do that when another unreasonable action is warned of, we should prepare for them to do it.