Matt Corely at Think Progress brought up a chilling historical parallel:

When asked by David Frost if there are certain situations in which

the president can decide that it’s in the best interests of the nation or something, and do something illegal

former President Richard Nixon claimed that:

When the president does it, that means that it is not illegal.

(That little snippet is actually showing as the commercial for Frost/Nixon, which means someone in movie marketing is paying attention!)

On Sunday Chris Wallace asked Vice President Cheney:

If the President, during war, decides to do something to protect the country, is it legal?

 Cheney replied:

I think as a general proposition, I’d say yes…

So as long as there is a war, the Constitution can get bent, twisted, discarded? Ugh. Our Founding Fathers will be haunting Bush and Cheney like Duncan’s ghost because their hands are pretty damp with blood:

Is this a WMD I see before me?

[H/T Think Progress]