President can order assassinations within the U.S.

This is amost beyond belief. According to Newsweek, the Thuglicans are now claiming the President has the wartime power under the Constitution to order the assassination of people in the U.S. without trial.

Feb. 13, 2006 issue - In the latest twist in the debate over presidential powers, a Justice Department official suggested that in certain circumstances, the president might have the power to order the killing of terrorist suspects inside the United States. Steven Bradbury, acting head of the department's Office of Legal Counsel, went to a closed-door Senate intelligence committee meeting last week to defend President George W. Bush's surveillance program. During the briefing, said administration and Capitol Hill officials (who declined to be identified because the session was private), California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein asked Bradbury questions about the extent of presidential powers to fight Al Qaeda; could Bush, for instance, order the killing of a Qaeda suspect known to be on U.S. soil? Bradbury replied that he believed Bush could indeed do this, at least in certain circumstances.

That, of course, is the logical implication of the White House claim that the president is the law. So, tell me, would you trust this president to make those decisions? Would you trust any president to make those decisions ?

Firedoglake wonders how this differs from Stalin.