Your Highness, the President of the United States

George W. Bush--or whoever whispers in his ear--continues to issue signing statements declaring his ability to dispense with certain sections of laws. I have blogged about this in the past. What Bush has clearly done is create a precedent which, for better or worse, is now part of the official record.

The dispensing power in executive authority is not new. James II claimed it in 1685 when he became King of England. Parliament called him to account by ousting him from the throne. The resulting constitutional settlement--the Glorious Revolution of 1688-89--crimped executive royal power for good.

The president is, in many ways, an elected king. The president wields a powerful veto on legislation, commands the armed forces, and directs the execution of our nation's laws. We have seen the powers of this office grow in the twentieth century. The president now commands armies in peacetime as well as in war, and sets policy and often times the agenda for Congress. If the president can add to his list of powers the ability to dispense with parts of laws, we may have moved backward in time to the seventeenth century conception of a monarchy.

We are watching constitutional change in its incipient form. The signing statements have not the force of law unless courts begin accepting them as authoritative. The next president has not yet been elected, so we do not know if the practice will die away or continue unabated.

So, stay tuned.