Court ruling on Bush’s power over detainees

Re “High Court Rejects Bush’s Claim That He Alone Sets Detainee Rules,” June 30

Well, now that the president has lost two cases related to his administration’s treatment of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, do you think he gets the message? I wish I could say yes, but apparently he figures he can get Congress to change laws so he can continue in the same mode.

What he hasn’t figured out yet is that his policy violates international standards of decency, and he should be embarrassed, as an American, to continue with the policy.

What troubles me most is the position of the three justices who voted with the administration: Anything the president wants to do is OK as long as he claims it is in the security interest of the country.

This administration’s policy undermines the president’s basic premise that democracy and freedom are principles that should be promoted throughout the world. What hypocrisy!

JAMES W. CRAFT

Torrance

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At last, conservatives are acting like conservatives. The Supreme Court’s decision to limit President Bush’s power over detainees only proves that there is more distance between true conservatives and Bush conservatives than there is between true conservatives and many liberals.

The Bush administration has taught liberals something conservatives always understood: It is important to limit the powers of the federal government through checks and balances and a strict interpretation of the Constitution. Could this be the beginning of an alliance in which true conservatives and liberals find common ground to protect our Constitution from overreaching Bush conservatives who are determined to tear it asunder?

DENNIS M. CLAUSEN

Escondido

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Let’s see Bush “signing statement” his way out of this one!

EVAN PUZISS

Mar Vista