yes, virginia, there is a constitution

Hooray for U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor. She called the de facto Bush Administration on its absurd claims that Presidential power is essentially unlimited. Ruling on the NSA's bugging program, Taylor called it unconstitutional. She wrote:

"It was never the intent of the framers to give the president such unfettered control, particularly where his actions blatantly disregard the parameters clearly enumerated in the Bill of Rights . . . There are no hereditary Kings in America and no powers not created by the Constitution. So all 'inherent powers' must derive from that Constitution."

Well said. Somebody has called King George on his power grab. But no doubt, the Administration will issue a quasi-signing statement ignoring Taylor's ruling, and for all I know she will meet with an unfortunate accident quite soon.