Signing Statements

In case you weren't aware.. one of the chief principals of the "new conservatism" is the practice of ignoring the law.

Federal agencies ignored 30 percent of the laws Bush objected to in signing statements last year, according to a report released today by the Government Accountability Office. In 2006, President Bush issued signing statements for 11 out of the 12 appropriations bills passed by Congress, claiming a right to bypass a total of 160 provisions in them.

In a sample set of 19 provisions, the GAO found that "10 provisions were executed as written, 6 were not, and 3 were not triggered and so there was no agency action to examine."

And the conservatives are frothing about the Islamic boogeyman coming to "change our way of life" - where in fact it is conservatism itself that is doing that.

What do you call a president who simply decides he doesn't have to follow the law?