Stories like this restore my faith in America’s powers of reason. A federal judge has ruled that Bush’s claim that he can blacklist any groups he wants by calling them “terrorists” is unconstitutional.

The Humanitarian Law Project had challenged Bush’s order, which blocked all the assets of groups or individuals he named as “specially designated global terrorists” after the 2001 terrorist attacks.

“This law gave the president unfettered authority to create blacklists,” said David Cole, a lawyer for the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Constitutional Rights that represented the group. “It was reminiscent of the McCarthy era.”

…

She also struck down the provision in which Bush had authorized the secretary of the treasury to designate anyone who “assists, sponsors or provides services to” or is “otherwise associated with” a designated group.

A lot of Bush’s presidency seems to center around him being allowed to do whatever he damn well pleases whenever he damn well pleases. He wants to be able to name anyone he so chooses a “terrorist”, wants to be able to spy on them with no need for a warrant or oversight, and wants to be allowed to declare wars without Congress.

One of the beautiful parts about America is that for the most part, no one is allowed to do anything on a whim. The country is structured so any such measures require someone else’s approval and can be turned over to someone else in the event of a disagreement. But that’s not how Dubya wants it. I applaud any judge who strikes this crap down.