Politics on the Hudson

Democratic Attorney General Andrew Cuomo took a hard line against the Bush administration during Law Day today, saying that the respect toward the “rule of law” has eroded.

“It creates a vacuum and the vacuum allows the personal prerogatives of our leaders to govern,” Cuomo said.

“You need to look no further than Washington D.C. for evidence. In recent years we have seen the president of the United States say he doesn’t need to enforce laws passed by Congress which conflict with his own personal interpretation.

“We’ve seen Justice Department officials opine the unthinkable: that torture is
legal, and American citizens may not have a right to habeas corpus.

“And we’ve seen Congress itself abdicate to the president its constitutional obligation to declare war.

“These occurrences represent a departure from the rule of law, and evidence of the diminishment of the institution charged with its preservation.”