american bar association

That according to Tom Ridge

The first secretary of the Homeland Security Department says waterboarding is torture.

"There's just no doubt in my mind — under any set of rules — waterboarding is torture," Tom Ridge said Friday in an interview with the Associated Press. Ridge had offered the same opinion earlier in the day to members of the American Bar Association at a homeland security conference.

No wonder why the administration got rid of him - he sounds like a silly liberal.

The Boston Globe has an interesting article today that talks about the American Bar Association's recent decision to investigate Bush's signing power:

The board of governors of the American Bar Association voted unanimously yesterday to investigate whether President Bush has exceeded his constitutional authority in reserving the right to ignore more than 750 laws that have been enacted since he took office.

Meeting in New Orleans, the board of governors for the world's largest association of legal professionals approved the creation of an all-star legal panel with a number of members from both political parties.

They include a former federal appeals court chief judge, a former FBI director, and several prominent scholars -- to evaluate Bush's assertions that he has the power to ignore laws that conflict with his interpretation of the Constitution

It should amaze and scare any American that believes the President has this kind of power. This is a pure attack on the power of checks and balances and it is no wonder that Bush has never vetoed a bill since he became President. Instead, Bush just rewrites the laws as he see's fit instead of doing his true constitutional power of veto or allowing them to be decided upon by the third level of checks and balances - the judicial branch.

I didn't know the American Bar Association was into polling but I find the
results very interesting and possibly the most accurate to date:

According to a poll commissioned by the American Bar Association and
released today, 52 percent of respondents said that in the fight against
terrorism, the President of the United States alone cannot suspend
constitutional freedoms, with an additional 25 percent saying he must obtain
authorization by a court of law or Congress. Thus 77 percent of Americans
express deep reservations about the president’s secret surveillance program.

The telephone poll conducted by Harris Interactive® over the past weekend
found that only 18 percent of respondents believe the president can suspend
constitutional freedoms "anytime the President thinks it is necessary to
protect the country."

"While everyone agrees on the need for aggressive deterrence of
terrorism, the disclosure of unchecked domestic spying by the president is
deeply troubling to many Americans," said ABA President Michael S. Greco,
who released the poll results today in a news conference during the ABA’s
2006 Midyear Meeting in Chicago.

"Our Founders gave us a government that can act swiftly in times of
danger, but also protect our basic freedoms. It’s very encouraging that
Americans understand and insist on preserving that balance," he said.