Friday, June 11

BUSH ALWAYS SAID IT'D BE EASIER IF WE JUST MADE HIM DICTATOR...


Via Smirking Chimp, this from Bernard Weiner:

We used to make light of Bush's jokes about his fondness for running the show as a dictator; little did we know that shortly after 9/11 (and perhaps even before), his Administration would begin moving precisely in that direction.
The underlying philosophy behind the legal briefs and memos in question can be summarized thusly: The President is the Commander-in-Chief. The President says we're in a war. The Commander-in-Chief in a time of war can lay aside all laws and treaties, and do whatever he feels he has to do, in the name of national security.

What this means in practice is: Since in a war against terrorism, there is no definitive end, what the U.S. is waging is permanent war -- against the Al Qaida network and against those nation-states that the president deems worthy of being invaded, for real or invented reasons. Since the president is permitted to establish his own set of laws for the duration of the war, it follows that anyone who criticizes his actions ipso facto is giving aid and comfort to the enemy, and can be dealt with at any time by the police agencies of the state. Don't mess with us.

Can't get much closer to dictatorship than that. This is the world, and philosophy, of Pinochet, Stalin, Hitler. Or, closer to home, Richard Nixon, who claimed that when a president takes any action, because he is the president, by definition his actions are not illegal.
...
The ways they came up with, while morally and legally reprehensible, were ingenious. 1) We won't have "prisoners of war," which are covered under the Geneva Conventions; we'll invent new terms not covered, such as "enemy combatants." 2) We will claim a new universal right for the president: acting under his authority as Commander-in-Chief during "wartime," he can authorize whatever he wants, whenever he wants, and all will be justified under his oath to protect the national security. Therefore, whatever he authorizes is not unlawful, because he IS the law.


There's no question in my mind that Bush was not joking about wishing for a dictatorship. He might know that's not possible, but it surely is his preference. Dictators don't have to answer to anyone, dictators can retaliate against any opposition with impunity, dictators GET THEIR WAY -- and Bush, the spoiled son of privilege, doesn't like not getting his way. Be very sure, if this administration gets a second term, democracy as we know it in the United States is in great peril, because the Grover Norquists and Bob Frists of the world would be more than happy to support the Shrub in whatever it takes to help increase his power because that helps consolidate their own.

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