Salon: The curse of Bush II

<snips>

Nov. 8, 2004 | At some point in the next four years there will be a great scandal that will make Watergate look like a fraternity prank. All the elements are already in place.

During its first term, the Bush administration took the approach that its policies were divinely inspired and above reproach even though George W. Bush had lost the popular vote in 2000 by over half a million votes. During the current election administration officials began to crow about Bush's having received more votes than any other president in history before the polls had closed. The fact that his opponent got the second highest number of votes of any candidate ever won't slow the incumbent down for a moment.

In his acceptance speech, Bush spoke of his "duty to serve all Americans." Vice President Cheney, however, noted that Bush ran on a clear agenda and the nation responded by giving him a mandate. Therefore Bush's statement that "a new term is a new opportunity to reach out to the whole nation" will last as long as the echo of those words did in the auditorium where he gave his victory speech. At one of his rare press conferences, a day later, Bush said: "I've earned capital in this election, and I'm going to spend it." It's clear Bush and Cheney see this mandate and their moral certainty as all they need to justify anything they do.
...
But any abuse is permissible if the administration decrees someone an enemy of the state because we are at war -- and we will be at war until Bush decrees otherwise. According to the White House's lawyers, the Geneva Conventions and other laws of war do not apply. Any obligation, be it law or international treaty, can be ignored if it is inconvenient. Torture can be outsourced and, even when done by Americans, is permissible as long as the intent is not to murder. Since the intent of torture is to extract information, murder is never the goal, and so the circular logic winds up back where it wanted to be. The ends justify any means and the ends can be defined to be whatever is most convenient for the government.

Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of the coming scandal, whether financial or merely moral, is that it may well go undetected and unreported. With solid majorities in both houses, a partisan Republican Congress will cease to provide a check or balance on the power of the executive branch. To call the Republicans in Congress the lap dogs of the White House is to insult Chihuahuas everywhere -- they at least bark on occasion. It is no surprise that Bush has been the first president since the earliest days of the republic not to use his veto power. With ethically challenged Majority Leader Tom DeLay having an even larger majority in the House, there will be no challenge to the administration from that quarter.


it goes on
http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2004/11/08/scandal

my little girl (on my lap) would have been most displeased to be associated with GOPigs.

This sounds worth reading. Thanks for the link.

I liked that part too. :D

with the right side of his mouth?

Also note that he has had some sort of treatment to keep from smirking.

He will go down. They all do. Even the Red state people do not like rulers.It wears thin for most people fast.

the significant fact that in the cases of Nixon, Reagan, and Clinton...there was an opposition party running Congress.
Now they're part of the Reich!
And don't expect our Dinner-party Pundit infested media to help!

Don't forget, the Repukes have it all, Senate, House, Judiciary, Executive...Absolute power. In the last four years more scandal and lies have been covered over than in the last four presidencies combined, and that was when they didn't have the majorities they have now. We will see abuses of power the likes of which haven't been seen in our lifetime...they will likely go unpunished.

because we are going to take back congress in 06 and THEN we'll impeach the bastards!!