More Construing by Your President

Just because the President says certain things in a document doesn't make them legal - especially if he uses words like construe to justify his illegal behavior. Have a gander at this snarky legalese from our fair W.

The Supreme Court of the United States has stated that the President's authority to classify and control access to information bearing on the national security flows from the Constitution and does not depend upon a legislative grant of authority. Although the advance notice contemplated by sections 8007, 8011, and 8093 can be provided in most situations as a matter of comity, situations may arise, especially in wartime, in which the President must act promptly under his constitutional grants of executive power and authority as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces while protecting certain extraordinarily sensitive national security information. The executive branch shall construe these sections in a manner consistent with the constitutional authority of the President.

If you review the document that this quote is lifted from, and you were to count the number of the times the word "construe" is used, you might have the same flash back I had to a certain movie (bonus points to the blogger who can identify it) line: "You keep on using that word. But I don't think that word means what you think it means."

Let's have a look at the definition by means of dictionary.com: Construe: As a verb - 1) To adduce or explain the meaning of; interpret: construed my smile as assent. Or as a Noun: An interpretation or translation.

Well, Mr. President, I am certain you have every right to continue to construe the law in your favor, but I choose to construe your action as whittling the very foundation of our constitution out from under our civil rights such that the tripod that our Nation sits (the system of checks and balances) has one leg slowly chewing another such that our fair Nation is teetering on the brink of disaster.