Play close attention to Bush’s speeches and words and you see this obsession with being a wartime President. Whenever he wants to justify an action that pushes the envelope he refers to himself as the “commander in chief,” not the President. In Bush’s world, being commander in chief gives him greater latitude in pursuing actions that may or may not be “legal,” writes Doug Thompson in the Web news site Capitol Hill Blue.

In Bush’s mind, his role as President is limited by the constitution, the same constitution that he feels gives him greater authority as commander-in-chief so he can “do everything in my power.”

The question that must be resolved in coming weeks, in probes demanded by both Republicans and Democrats in Congress, is whether or not President Bush exceeded “everything in my power” when he authorized both the Pentagon and the National Security Agency to spy on American citizens.

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Tags: Domestic Surveillance

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