Bush Says He Can Read Your Mail

On December 20th, 2006 Bush signed into law the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act. The act itself is fairly standard, however, the six-paragraph Signing Statement he attached to it is not.

"The executive branch shall construe subsection 404(c) of title 39, as enacted by subsection 1010(e) of the Act, which provides for opening of an item of a class of mail otherwise sealed against inspection, in a manner consistent, to the maximum extent permissible, with the need to conduct searches in exigent circumstances, such as to protect human life and safety against hazardous materials, and the need for physical searches specifically authorized by law for foreign intelligence collection."

That's right. Despite the fact that examples of "exigent circumstances" are given, which others are considered "exigent circumstances" is solely up to the president. And "to the maximum extent permissible?" You can guess who decides what the "maximum extent" is too... All of this without a warrant of course.

Bush doesn't exactly have a good track record when it comes to definitions; one purpose of the atrocity that is the Military Commissions Act is, after all, to give him the power to define "torture" and "human dignity," since these words are just too unclear for him as present in the Geneva Conventions.

For the record, Bush has issued more signing statements and has challenged the interpretation of more laws than any president in US history, with over 750 "opinions" within over 230 statements. It is not the job of the executive branch to interpret the law.

For those keeping score, Bush (through laws, statements, or pure illegality) can now read your mail, search your financial records, listen to your phone calls, and/or hold you indefinitely as an enemy combatant.

Have we given up enough privacy? Are we safe yet?