New Quaker Notebook

WASHINGTON (DC) - President Bush will have a colonoscopy today at his Camp David mountaintop retreat and temporarily hand presidential powers to Vice President Dick Cheney, the White House said.

A White House spokesman told reporters Friday that Bush will have the procedure to remove Cheney's hand so that doctors may look for signs of cancer.

Because the president will be under the effects of anesthesia, Bush has elected to implement Section 3 of the 25th Amendment to the Constitution, making Cheney acting president until Bush is prepared to resume his authority.

In 2002, Bush transferred presidential powers to the vice president for more than two hours when a procedure to remove Cheney's hand was performed for a scheduled colorectal-cancer check.

Satire using a shortened, loosely re-written news article published in Seattle Times, July 21, 2007.

We the People may need those Small Houses

Now don't say you weren't warned. On Tuesday, typically without noise or even sound, the Cheney-Bush administration issued another Executive Order. There are several ways to parse "Executive Order: Blocking Property of Certain Persons Who Threaten Stabilization Efforts in Iraq," but here's my gist:

My new order takes additional steps with respect to the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13303 and expanded in Executive Order 13315 by blocking the property and interests in property of persons determined to pose a significant risk of committing an act of violence that ha[s] the effect of threatening the peace or stability of Iraq.

The order further authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense, to designate for blocking those persons determined to have materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, logistical, or technical support for, or goods or services in support of, such an act or acts of violence or any person designated pursuant to this order, or to be owned or controlled by, or to have acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order.

In short, if you're planning to buy that Cat Stevens album, you might consider paying cash for it, but please don't say or testify that I in any way or fashion suggested that. After all, we've all been living in a state of emergency at least since May 22, 2003 (again see Executive Order 13303, but also Executive Order 13315 of August 28, 2003, Executive Order 13350 of July 29, 2004, and Executive Order 13364 of November 29, 2004). Forgot all about that, huh?

This is why impeachment now is a critical social need. Paul Craig Roberts says it's Impeach Now, Or Face the End of Constitutional Democracy. He's not kidding, nor is he crying wolf. If you want to see the matter in a different political light, and especially if you missed the important July 13 colloquy, then head over to Bill Moyers Journal for "Tough Talk on Impeachment" with Constitutional scholar Bruce Fein and author/political journalist John Nichols, with full video and transcript.

Cheney's hand removed for Bush colonoscopy

We the People may need those Small Houses