A Nation of Laws

"As the result of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, there are no Constitutional limits on the power of the U.S. Presidency."

It's a story line that would make Sinclair Lewis proud with logic so twisted logic that it would make even Lewis Carroll blush.

First the he gets caught violating his oath of office and breaking his solemn promise to defend the laws and constitution of the United States. Immediately he denies the whole thing. But two days later admits that he's done it, but not very often, and he then defiantly boasts that he will do it again, reasoning that he has an obligation to protect us all and, besides, the law is stupid.

But in the following weeks the usually flaccid media reports that there has been massive spying on Americans ... millions of phone conversations and e-mails, and not at all limited to a few "terrorist suspects." And it emerges that it would have been remarkably simple to just comply with the law that he's broken and that he'd almost never have been denied the legal authority to do as he wants.

So why pointlessly break a law that's easy to follow and really doesn't get in your way at all? And why do it on such a massive scale, not just an accidental transgression her or there? The vice president knows the true objective: to restore presidential power to pre-Nixon levels.

But then, for a whimsical Alice in Wonderland style twist, yesterday the resources of our government of the people were deployed to launch a criminal inquiry to determine who leaked the truth in the first place.

Ah, but that's just the cliffhanger ending. In the distance you can hear talk of "impeachable offences ..."

Cheney and His Patsy, Bush, Face Impeachment Furor
-- Mathba