President Bush, without so much as issuing a press statement, on May 9 signed a directive that granted near dictatorial powers to the office of the president in the event of a national emergency declared by the president.

I posted about this on May 22, after hearing Thom Hartmann's discussion on our local Air America station. It bears repeating. Here's more (emphasis is mine):

"Translated into layman's terms, when the President determines a national emergency has occurred, the President can declare to the office of the presidency powers usually assumed by dictators to direct any and all government and business activities until the emergency is declared over.

Ironically, the directive sees no contradiction in the assumption of dictatorial powers by the President with the goal of maintaining constitutional continuity through an emergency.
-snip-
The language of the May 9 directive appears to negate any a requirement that the President submit to Congress a determination that a national emergency exists, suggesting instead that the powers of the executive order can be implemented without any congressional approval or oversight."

So, Bush can define "national emergency", choosing anything from a natural disaster (meaning, he could simply point to his own offspring), to an economic "crisis" (mission already accomplished), to any disruption that "affects the U.S. population" (e.g.: the last 6 years) that occurs to him in what's left of his deranged little mind.

For some reason, the direct link doesn't work on Blogger, but if you go to the whitehouse.gov page, click on Homeland Security, and go to press releases on the right side of the page, you'll find the link to the directive. There has been no comment on this from the White House. However, IMHO there should be plenty of comments from us, to them.