Presidential signing statements

Dahlia Lithwick breaks down what the president (hswib) is doing with his signing statements. Those are the documents he attaches to the legislation he signs explaining his own peculiar interpretation of it.

It's tempting to believe that with these statements he is merely asking that the courts take his legal views into account. But President Bush never asks anything of the courts; he doesn't think he has to. His signing statements are not aimed at persuading the courts, but at reinforcing his claim that both courts and Congress are irrelevant.