America no more

Philip James comments on the "Bush administration's defence of unauthorised phone taps shows a chilling disregard for the rule of law," in a Guardian piece, The American nightmare, which is worth reading in full. He aptly notes that:

While the rest of the world may have lost faith in America long ago, President Bush is counting on the continued support of Americans. He has calculated that, after 9/11, the American people are prepared to trade some constitutional liberties for personal safety. It is a cynical calculation that has worked so far. So far fear has triumphed over hope.


Another article to check out is this one by Steve Chapman of the Chicago Tribune, Beyond the imperial presidency, in which he says:

President Bush is a bundle of paradoxes. He thinks the scope of the federal government should be limited but the powers of the president should not. He wants judges to interpret the Constitution as the framers did, but doesn't think he should be constrained by their intentions.

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But the theory boils down to a consistent and self-serving formula: What's good for George W. Bush is good for America, and anything that weakens his power weakens the nation. To call this an imperial presidency is unfair to emperors.

And I'd add, at what point is it wrong to refer to us (U.S.) as a Democracy?