MB Civic

To the Editor:

Re “Read the Fine Print” (editorial, July 25):

Years ago, in a discussion of the origins of the Vietnam War, my political science professor informed us that a president of the United States had the power to perform mischief not only in foreign policy but also in matters as yet undreamed of.

It seems my professor’s vision has found reality in President Bush’s profligate use of “signing statements” to nullify Congressional laws he doesn’t like, a practice that the American Bar Association now calls, 800 signings later, “contrary to the rule of law and our constitutional system of separation of powers.”

The practice explains why Mr. Bush did not find it necessary, until the religious right forced his hand on stem cell research, to attract unwanted attention by exercising his right to veto. But his expansion of presidential powers at the expense of Congress and the courts may have exposed a potentially nullifying effect on the people.

Many who have long suspected their frailty in the political process now have evidence that neither their votes nor their opinions have to count. If we work to get a law passed or support a certain issue or candidate, winning the day can mean losing the victory. Since the president can reverse our successful efforts at will, why make the effort in the first place?

Ann Derland Frost
Winter Park, Fla., July 25, 2006