The real issue in Bush’s speech Wednesday night is not the additional troops he intends to send to Iraq. The real issue is his nearly open proclamation of dictatorial powers.
Apparently, once a president lies a nation into war, he is entitled to absolute power for as long as he chooses. Regardless of how many Americans die or how many hundreds of thousands of foreigners are killed, the president’s prerogatives are sacred, at least as long as he recites the proper phrases regarding the spread of freedom and democracy. American voters made their will on Iraq clear at the polling booth last November. But they, like the Constitution and the federal statute book, don’t matter.
We have already heard from Bush or his lackeys about how the president is entitled to violate laws regarding wiretaps, renditions, torture, mail privacy, etc. The latest “surge†is just another example of how Bush rules by decree.
Will Bush, like other aspiring dictators, be able to cow opposition long enough to consolidate the powers he has seized?
And if the term dictator is offensive – then what is a better term for a politician who claims to be bound by no law or Constitution?
Comments/condemnations on this blog are welcome at my blog here.