I've got some good news and some bad news

In an attempt to counter recent revelations of torture and other mistreatment of detainees at US prisons in Afghanistan and Iraq, AP for June 22 says, the White House has released a pile of documents proposing to show that while various harsh measures - such as stripping prisoners and threatening them with dogs - were authorized in Afghanistan, they were later retracted and never authorized for use in Iraq.

The Justice Department, meanwhile, disavowed a memo written in 2002 that appeared to justify the use of torture in the war on terror. The memo also argued that the president's wartime powers superseded anti-torture laws and treaties.

That 50-page document, dated Aug. 1, 2002, will be replaced, senior Justice Department officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Yeah, yeah, right, sure, apparently starting to shift from the "few bad apples" defense to the "poor internal communications" defense. Interesting that they never saw the need to replace that August 2002 document until it caused them a political problem.

But what I find most telling was this:

Bush outlined his own views in a Feb. 7. 2002, document regarding treatment of al-Qaida detainees from Afghanistan. ...

"I accept the legal conclusion of the attorney general and the Department of Justice that I have the authority under the Constitution to suspend Geneva as between the United States and Afghanistan, but I decline to exercise that authority at this time," the president said in the memo....

Now, the Shrubberies are going to be harping on the "decline to use" phrase, ignoring the "at this time" part. More importantly, though, Bushleague clearly stated that he accepts that he is above the law, that he can on his own authority "suspend" the Geneva Accords when and where it suits him. That, of course, renders them meaningless because what value can they have if a signatory nation, no, not even a signatory nation but one official of a signatory nation, can "suspend" their provisions at will? What weight do they carry when treaties, the laws, do not apply to George Bush?

I frankly doubt it was hard to convince him.