A Cheap Spinoff: Truth-in-Legalese

The truth-in-politics concept can usefully be extended to what we might call political law.

All legal opinions cited by the Bush Administration in support of policy positions should come labeled, as per the following scheme:

  • Established in law and upheld by the Supreme Court*
  • Established in law, not tested in court
  • Unanimous legal opinion
  • Consensus legal opinion
  • Custom-made legal opinion
  • Harriet Meirs and Alberto Gonzales fought to sign this one
  • Brought to you by John Yoo or equivalent closet-fascist legal-prostitute
  • Dictated by Karl Rove, rubberstamped by a random White House counsel
  • * Some categories added for completeness, even if they may never be used in practice.