Read it ... and be PROUD! We are still America!

I recommend that every American read the entire 44-page opinion handed down by Judge Taylor yesterday.

It reads like a new Declaration of Independence. Judge Anna Diggs Taylor will be dissed by the Republicans -- they already have (an uppity African American woman talking down to a middle-aged white man -- the President of the United States, no less) -- but she and her words will prevail even if the Bush Supreme Court ultimately rejects her decision.

Simply stated, Judge Taylor ruled that the administration's eavesdropping program is both illegal (FISA Act) and unconstitutional.

Specifically she wrote that "It was never the intent of the framers [of the Constitution] to give the President such unfettered control, particularly where his actions blatantly disregard the parameters clearly enumerated in the Bill of Rights."

She took direct aim at President Bush with, "Citing Youngstown again, the court made clear that even in times of war, and even with the President's Commander-in-Chief powers, the President is subject to Constitutional restrictions -- a proposition long unquestioned in our system of government until the Bush administration began inventing radical theories of executive power ..."

And the only real answer so far is that she was put into her job by President Jimmy Carter (a cut-and-runner, they say) and was once married to an African American congressman -- obviously a radical left-winger, right?

Probably the most noteworthy statement written by Judge Taylor -- and which will be memorized by schoolchildren in the 21st and 22nd Centuries was, "We must first note that Office of the Chief Executive [the President] has itself been created with its powers, by the Constitution. There are no hereditary kings in America and no powers not created by the Constitution. So all "inherent powers" must derive from that Constitution."

Amen ... and that certainly showed itself to be true in the Hamden vs. Rumsfeld case that ended the eternal interment of prisoners at Guantanamo -- but ruled on when Sandra Day O'Connor was the "swing vote."