Notes and Jottings

たぶん今週ニュースがあります。

Do not be fooled. This election is not about the sexual misdeeds of a Congressman, or even about a hideous and unnecessary war. It is not about national security. In the long sweep of American and world history, this election is about the same issue that Americans believed they confronted in 1776: whether or not we shall live in a state defined by unchecked tyrannical power.

What am I talking about? Bush Junior’s attempt to rewrite laws enacted by Congress, completely, through the use of signing statements.

In the law Bush signed Wednesday, Congress stated no one but the privacy officer could alter, delay or prohibit the mandatory annual report on Homeland Security department activities that affect privacy, including complaints.

But Bush, in a signing statement attached to the agency’s 2007 spending bill, said he will interpret that section “in a manner consistent with the President’s constitutional authority to supervise the unitary executive branch.”

Or how about this…

Bush’s signing statement Wednesday challenges several other provisions in the Homeland Security spending bill.

Bush, for example, said he’d disregard a requirement that the director of the
Federal Emergency Management Agency must have at least five years experience and “demonstrated ability in and knowledge of emergency management and homeland security.”

His rationale was that it “rules out a large portion of those persons best qualified by experience and knowledge to fill the office.”

Another attempt to ignore or alter the law, as enacted by Congress. Shouldn’t US citizens be up in arms about this? What happened to the separation between administration, legislation and judiciary? The Legislature creates the laws, the Administration carries them out, the Judiciary rules on legality/illegality, right? Have I missed something?

While cleaning out a room in the apartment yesterday evening (other person in apartment leaving), I came across an unclaimed copy of “Peanuts”. One of those little booklets with stories of Charlie Brown and Snoopy and the others.

I started reading for a page or two, and had a feeling that things weren’t really making as much sense as they should. 1. 2. 3. Ah, I had been reading in right-to-left mode! Right-to-left is the traditional Japanese writing style - 縦書 - and used in all manga drawings. Recent manga imported to the US, in an attempt to stay “authentic” have also followed this format, rather than mirror the pages horizontally.