The rule of law
I'm not sure I've ever actually said it, so I'm going to say it now. There are lots of truly horrific things that George W. Bush & Co. have done to America, and this blog along with many, many others has spent a good deal of time pointing them out, but there is one primary abomination from which all the others ensue. It is the President's claims of unlimited and unchecked power which neither the Congress nor the Courts have the right to impede -- a President completely above the law. This threatens our very existence as a free society. This President has deliberately and repeatedly violated various laws of the land to prove his power to ignore the law.
Among his illegal acts are a) the illegal invasion of a soverign country without provocation (Iraq), b) the illegal use of torture on both citizens and non-citizens, c) the permanent or near permanent incarceration of both citizens and non-citizens without right to counsel, to trial, or to any form of hearing to contest their imprisonment, d) the illegal warrantless spying on Americans by the NSA (and possibly other groups), the illegal refusal to inform Congress of critical governmental actions, and on and on. These are the symptoms of the underlying abomination from which they all ensue.
Interestingly, lesser figures in government have taken their lead from the president and decided to ignore the law willy nilly -- witness the stench of corruption that characterized the last year of Republican control of the Congress.
Unfortunately, I fear the Democrats may attack the symptoms without actually trying to correct the underlying problem. Indeed, I fear that Democratic aspirants for the Presidency may secretly want to retain the powers that Bush has assumed. If that happens, we may never recover our freedoms, and we can kiss the very foundations of our Democracy goodbye.
It is rather interesting that even the new pilot test for immigrants seeking naturalization has the question, "What is the rule of law?" Among the acceptable answers are; a) Leaders must obey the law, and b) Government must obey the law. Yet, our President claims to be above the law.
We need a few more voices crying in the wilderness for this to stop.
Among his illegal acts are a) the illegal invasion of a soverign country without provocation (Iraq), b) the illegal use of torture on both citizens and non-citizens, c) the permanent or near permanent incarceration of both citizens and non-citizens without right to counsel, to trial, or to any form of hearing to contest their imprisonment, d) the illegal warrantless spying on Americans by the NSA (and possibly other groups), the illegal refusal to inform Congress of critical governmental actions, and on and on. These are the symptoms of the underlying abomination from which they all ensue.
Interestingly, lesser figures in government have taken their lead from the president and decided to ignore the law willy nilly -- witness the stench of corruption that characterized the last year of Republican control of the Congress.
Unfortunately, I fear the Democrats may attack the symptoms without actually trying to correct the underlying problem. Indeed, I fear that Democratic aspirants for the Presidency may secretly want to retain the powers that Bush has assumed. If that happens, we may never recover our freedoms, and we can kiss the very foundations of our Democracy goodbye.
It is rather interesting that even the new pilot test for immigrants seeking naturalization has the question, "What is the rule of law?" Among the acceptable answers are; a) Leaders must obey the law, and b) Government must obey the law. Yet, our President claims to be above the law.
We need a few more voices crying in the wilderness for this to stop.
posted by walldon | 10:25 AM
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