An Imminent Threat (to the Constitution)

The report states that as of July 11, Bush had raised objections to a total of 807 provisions in more than 100 laws, on the grounds that they infringed on his prerogatives.

Robert Pear writes in the New York Times: "The panel said Mr. Bush's signing statements often used the same formulaic language, with 'no citation of authority or detailed explanation.' It urged Congress to pass a law requiring the president to 'set forth in full the reasons and legal basis' for any signing statement in which he says he can disregard or decline to enforce a statute.

"In another recommendation, the panel suggested legislation to provide for judicial review of signing statements. It acknowledged that the Supreme Court had been reluctant to hear cases filed by members of Congress because lawmakers generally did not suffer the type of concrete personal injury needed to create a 'case or controversy.' But the panel said that 'Congress as an institution or its agents' should have standing to sue when the president announces he will not enforce parts of a law."

Other Ways to Say No

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Sheryl Stolberg writes in the New York Times: "Conventional wisdom holds that Mr. Bush went more than five years without exercising his veto power simply because he did not have to: the Republicans who control Congress gave him everything he wanted.

"That is, for the most part, true. But Mr. Bush has also found ways of exercising control over (or circumventing) Congress without using the veto. When Mr. Bush wanted to empower federal authorities to monitor the international communications of suspected terrorists, he did so by issuing a secret executive order, avoiding a possible legislative battle -- and the potential veto that might go along with it.

"And when Congress last year passed a legislative amendment barring cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment of detainees in American custody, Mr. Bush -- who had threatened a veto but ultimately backed down -- tacked a 'signing statement' onto the measure, asserting that he could interpret the amendment as he deemed fit with his constitutional authority as commander in chief.

" 'President Bush has vetoed things without vetoing them,' said Julian Zelizer, a professor of history at Boston University. 'He's kind of found alternative ways in which he can basically say no to Congress without publicly saying no, or publicly having the confrontation.' "

And David Cay Johnston , also in the New York Times, illustrates yet another way Bush can act unilaterally: "The federal government is moving to eliminate the jobs of nearly half of the lawyers at the Internal Revenue Service who audit tax returns of some of the wealthiest Americans, specifically those who are subject to gift and estate taxes when they transfer parts of their fortunes to their children and others. . . .

"Sharyn Phillips, a veteran I.R.S. estate tax lawyer in Manhattan, called the cuts a 'back-door way for the Bush administration to achieve what it cannot get from Congress, which is repeal of the estate tax.' "

Diplomacy, Bush Style

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For its cover story this week, Newsweek was granted unusual access to Bush during his recent trip -- including "four free-wheeling interviews and hundreds of candid photographs" -- even as yet another corner of the Middle East erupted in violence.

So did the magazine emerge with a case study in White House decision-making? No such luck. Apparently, that remained off limits. (Or happened off stage.)

There is some interesting stuff here, however. My takeaway from Richard Wolffe 's piece is that Bush's worldview has not evolved one bit since Sept. 11, and that while the president may have gotten better at giving the impression of being diplomatic, true diplomacy still eludes him.