Upholding the law

"I will make this point," Bush said. "That whatever I do to protect the American people — and I have an obligation to do so — that we will uphold the law, and decisions made are made understanding we have an obligation to protect the civil liberties of the American people."

First, today, I saw an interview with Gonzalez on CNN in which he was questioned about torture. We should trust that the US will uphold the law, he said, avoiding anything more substantive than that. Does waterboarding count as torture? "We will uphold the law." Second, Bush won't talk about the NSA eavesdropping on its own citizens. Trust us, he says, "we'll uphold the law."

Now, the question is: what is "the law"? How is it interpreted? The fact is that we have seen this administration bend, break, and torture the law. Here's the answer: "I cannot comment on a national security issue."

Does this matter? Torture and spying on citizens are legal issues to a certain extent, but their force and content as juridical comes from the normative ethical claims that support or don't support them. "We do not talk ethics; that's our own secret. Bugger off."

UPDATE:

See also this in the LA Times.