Bush Appointee Yoo Besmirches Legacy of Jefferson

March 15, 2010, Arlington, Virginia (Consortiumnews.com) - Initially I was shocked at the thought of the University of Virginia welcoming former Justice Department lawyer John Yoo to the “Academical Village” founded by Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence, which denounced tyrannical acts by King George III, including ones that fell far short of waterboarding.

February 20, 2010 (Newsweek) - The chief author of the Bush administration's "torture memo" told Justice Department investigators that the president's war-making authority was so broad that he had the constitutional power to order a village to be "massacred," according to a report by released Friday night by the Office of Professional Responsibility.

Seven Paragraphs

February 15, 2010 (New York Times Editorial Board) - There are times when governments fight to keep documents secret to protect sensitive intelligence or other vital national security interests. And there are times when they are just trying to cover up incompetence, misbehavior or lawbreaking.

Constitutionally illiterate: When even politicians are ignorant of the founding documents, our system is in trouble

On Nov. 5, Representative John Boehner (Republican - Ohio), the House minority leader, took the podium at a Republican rally, waved a document defiantly and declared:"This is my copy of the Constitution, and I'm going to stand here with the Founding Fathers who wrote in the Preamble, We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed with the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness …" Mr. Boehner was encouraging participants to protest the pending House vote for health care reform by demanding their constitutional right to make medical decisions.