Part VII: Imperial Presidency
Bush's tendencies seem to reflect a broader trend. America has developed an imperial style of diplomacy…Apart from the resentment that the imperial style produces, the aloof attitude means that American officials don't benefit from the experience and expertise of foreigners.
"An Imperial Presidency," Fareed Zakaria, Newsweek, December 19, 2005.
Two London papers have speculated this weekend that complaints by President George W. Bush forced a British minister from his post because of his opposition to the use of nuclear force against Iran...The Independent and the Guardian suggest that a phone call from the U.S. president to British Prime Minister Tony Blair led to the removal of Foreign Secretary Jack Straw Friday.
--"Did Bush Force British Minister Out?" CBS News, May 7, 2006.
In other words, not only does Bush repress freedom of speech in our own country while professing to be advancing the cause of freedom elsewhere in the world, but he also represses freedom of speech in other free countries.
Do you remember how, in the days following the tragic events of 9-11, there were street demonstrations all over the world--even in countries like Iran--in support and sympathy for the United States?
Now look. Bush has taken that universal well-being and not only squandered it, but basically destroyed it. Tony Blair is now in very serious trouble within his own party and is looking to be forced out soon, in large part because of his loyalty to George W. Bush.
Recently, no less a conservative bastion than the Cato Institute published a scathing criticism of their own golden boy Bush's "ceaseless push for power, unchecked by either the courts or Congress…"
Republican Congressmen are coming out of the closet and speaking out as well, as Bob Barr, who called on Congress to exercise leadership by putting the Constitution above party politics and insisting on the facts.
Furthermore, the paper published by the Cato Institute says, "The Constitutional text will not support anything like the doctrine of the presidential absolutism the administration flirts with…"
But, ultimately, the responsibility does not lie with Congress or with the courts.
It lies with us. You and me, babe.
The American people have got to realize what is taking place, both in secret and in public, that is slowly dismantling the government so carefully structured more than 200 years ago so that we would never, ever again have to suffer the indignities foisted on us by another mad King George.
While we've still got a democracy…while we've still got freedom of speech…we'd better speak truth to power. We'd better speak out at the ballot box.
In no uncertain terms, it is up to us, the American people, to see to it that the concepts our troops really are fighting and dying for overseas are not just words in a civics textbook or political flag-waving speech, but really, really mean something.
"An Imperial Presidency," Fareed Zakaria, Newsweek, December 19, 2005.
Two London papers have speculated this weekend that complaints by President George W. Bush forced a British minister from his post because of his opposition to the use of nuclear force against Iran...The Independent and the Guardian suggest that a phone call from the U.S. president to British Prime Minister Tony Blair led to the removal of Foreign Secretary Jack Straw Friday.
--"Did Bush Force British Minister Out?" CBS News, May 7, 2006.
In other words, not only does Bush repress freedom of speech in our own country while professing to be advancing the cause of freedom elsewhere in the world, but he also represses freedom of speech in other free countries.
Do you remember how, in the days following the tragic events of 9-11, there were street demonstrations all over the world--even in countries like Iran--in support and sympathy for the United States?
Now look. Bush has taken that universal well-being and not only squandered it, but basically destroyed it. Tony Blair is now in very serious trouble within his own party and is looking to be forced out soon, in large part because of his loyalty to George W. Bush.
Recently, no less a conservative bastion than the Cato Institute published a scathing criticism of their own golden boy Bush's "ceaseless push for power, unchecked by either the courts or Congress…"
Republican Congressmen are coming out of the closet and speaking out as well, as Bob Barr, who called on Congress to exercise leadership by putting the Constitution above party politics and insisting on the facts.
Furthermore, the paper published by the Cato Institute says, "The Constitutional text will not support anything like the doctrine of the presidential absolutism the administration flirts with…"
But, ultimately, the responsibility does not lie with Congress or with the courts.
It lies with us. You and me, babe.
The American people have got to realize what is taking place, both in secret and in public, that is slowly dismantling the government so carefully structured more than 200 years ago so that we would never, ever again have to suffer the indignities foisted on us by another mad King George.
While we've still got a democracy…while we've still got freedom of speech…we'd better speak truth to power. We'd better speak out at the ballot box.
In no uncertain terms, it is up to us, the American people, to see to it that the concepts our troops really are fighting and dying for overseas are not just words in a civics textbook or political flag-waving speech, but really, really mean something.
posted by Deanie Mills at 7:54 PM
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