Bush Unplugged

As the election season ramps up, Bush is out there still repeating the same progaganda that scared a nation into keeping him in office one term too many. Shorter version of his latest speech: If you don't play the game by my rules, I'm taking my ball and going home. And without me, and only me, there to protect you, the school yard bully will beat you up and take your lunch money. In a longer translation, the NYT nails the substance of Bush's latest fear mongering diatribe.

On Friday, President Bush posed a choice between ignoring the law on wiretaps, and simply not keeping tabs on terrorists. Then he said the United States could rewrite the Geneva Conventions, or just stop questioning terrorists. To some degree, he is following a script for the elections: terrify Americans into voting Republican. But behind that seems to be a deeply seated conviction that under his leadership, America is right and does not need the discipline of rules. He does not seem to understand that the rules are what makes this nation as good as it can be.

Does our president ever listen to himself? Does he even realize he's declared open season on the Geneva Conventions when he says he hopes other countries who are hostile to our interests will follow his lead in ignoring them? Or worse yet does just not care that he's opened the door to our own soldiers being subjected to inhumane stress in order to coerce "confessions" since he knows no one in his family is in danger of being called to service in his crazed plan for world domination?

A civilized society depends on the rule of law to establish and maintain order. In the world according to Bush, there are no rules except his own. But if he's so sure he's acting under the call of God's will, why is he so hellbent on having mere mortals codify his illegal conduct into acceptable behavior? Shouldn't he just be praying to the Lord to save him from being charged with war crimes?

Maybe he really believes he is answering to a higher calling, but it looks to me like he's just high on his own "war powers." The Times notes rightly that Congress should let Bush's torture bill die and leave the matter to the courts but perhaps it's time to rescind the war powers that form the source of his intoxication.