From an interview with Mark Crispin Miller:
Theocracy aside, that authoritarian posture - "I am the king, and therefore I'm the law" - comes naturally to Bush himself. He gave a startling demonstration of his kingly attitude at his press conference last month, when a reporter asked him an entirely reasonable question: "If the global war on terror is going to last for decades, as has been forecast, does that mean that we're going to see, therefore, a more or less permanent expansion of the unchecked power of the executive in American society?"
His Majesty was most annoyed: "First of all, I disagree with your assertion of unchecked power," he said, and then elaborated:
BUSH: Hold on for a second, please. There is the check of people being sworn to uphold the law, for starters. There is oversight. We're talking to Congress all the time. And on this program, to suggest there's unchecked power is not listening to what I'm telling you. I'm telling you, we have briefed the United States Congress on this program a dozen times.This is an awesome responsibility, to make decisions on behalf of the American people. And I understand that. And we'll continue to work with the Congress, as well as people within our own administration, to constantly monitor a program such as the one I described to you, to make sure that we're protecting the civil liberties of the United States. To say "unchecked power" basically is ascribing some kind of dictatorial position to the president, which I strongly reject. I just described limits on this particular program, and that's what's important for the American people to understand. I am doing what you expect me to do and, at the same time, safeguarding the civil liberties of the country.
Clearly, Bush doesn't know what "unchecked" means, not just because he's ignorant, but because he cannot comprehend the notion of some entity beyond himself, some entity outside "his" branch of government, exerting any influence at all upon his actions. As far as he's concerned, it's his job, and his alone, to "safeguard" our civil liberties, just as it's his job to wage war against the Evil Ones. He thinks that "oversight" means that His Majesty tells Congress what he wants to tell them, and does so when he feels like doing it. ...http://tinyurl.com/8cvcc
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Theocracy aside, that authoritarian posture - "I am the king, and therefore I'm the law" - comes naturally to Bush himself. He gave a startling demonstration of his kingly attitude at his press conference last month, when a reporter asked him an entirely reasonable question: "If the global war on terror is going to last for decades, as has been forecast, does that mean that we're going to see, therefore, a more or less permanent expansion of the unchecked power of the executive in American society?"
His Majesty was most annoyed: "First of all, I disagree with your assertion of unchecked power," he said, and then elaborated:
BUSH: Hold on for a second, please. There is the check of people being sworn to uphold the law, for starters. There is oversight. We're talking to Congress all the time. And on this program, to suggest there's unchecked power is not listening to what I'm telling you. I'm telling you, we have briefed the United States Congress on this program a dozen times.This is an awesome responsibility, to make decisions on behalf of the American people. And I understand that. And we'll continue to work with the Congress, as well as people within our own administration, to constantly monitor a program such as the one I described to you, to make sure that we're protecting the civil liberties of the United States. To say "unchecked power" basically is ascribing some kind of dictatorial position to the president, which I strongly reject. I just described limits on this particular program, and that's what's important for the American people to understand. I am doing what you expect me to do and, at the same time, safeguarding the civil liberties of the country.
Clearly, Bush doesn't know what "unchecked" means, not just because he's ignorant, but because he cannot comprehend the notion of some entity beyond himself, some entity outside "his" branch of government, exerting any influence at all upon his actions. As far as he's concerned, it's his job, and his alone, to "safeguard" our civil liberties, just as it's his job to wage war against the Evil Ones. He thinks that "oversight" means that His Majesty tells Congress what he wants to tell them, and does so when he feels like doing it. ...http://tinyurl.com/8cvcc
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posted by Dan at 9:07 AM
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