The Birth of the American Emperor?

With President George W. Bush now implicated in the scandal to out a covert CIA agent, his presidency is at a crossroads of perpendicular angles. The president most certainly broke the law and endangered national security, and being that the U.S. is a constitutional republic, the law necessitates that he be impeached, convicted, evicted from office, and brought up on criminal charges.

All the above actions are not automatic, however; they are based on political processes, and Bush's political response team has already implemented Operation Undermine Democracy in an effort to get away with the crime. Yes, that's correct, I said "get away with", not cover up, confuse, confuzzle, obfuscate, or contort. George W. Bush wants to be explicitly, overtly, directly and beyond reproach, above the law. And if he gets away with his role in the Plame Scandal, he will be. He will be both pharaoh and fuhrer.

Even under a constitution, the actions of holding our leaders accountable is not, as REM titled one of their albums, "automatic for the people". We have to have the collective will to stand up for ourselves. We have to be willing to be the quiet man in the balcony, calmly rebuking the Man Who Would Be King to a chorus of catcalls and boos from the royalist cheering section. We as a nation have shown little heart to stand up to King George, and our media, the quintessential Fourth Estate, has heeled to the master's feet, as have the legislative and judicial branches.

Truthfully, we may have lost the collective will to be a democracy. The acid test is now underway. If we hold the president accountable, we may sustain. If we do not, the message will be clear: there is no limitation on your power; the people will not resist your will. When Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon with his army, few dared complain because he was a war hero, a conqueror for the Republic. When Octavian took over the new Roman Empire of his uncle, few dared complain because taxes were low and wealth was increasing. But in that shortsighted moment, the Romans lost their dream. They traded in their grand republic for a succession of petty tyrants, and they eventually lost the will to be an autonomous entity, and allowed themselves to be destroyed. It's been said to the point of cliche, but surely it's never been more true: if that happens, the terrorists will have won.

This moment in history will tell if the American republic will continue, or if it will spin off into some corrupt autocracy, until the mere threat of barbarians at the gate causes us to slink off into the night, with only the memory of the Dream That Was America.

From Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar":

CASSIUS: Well, Brutus, thou art noble; yet, I see,
Thy honourable metal may be wrought
From that it is disposed: therefore it is meet
That noble minds keep ever with their likes;
For who so firm that cannot be seduced?
Caesar doth bear me hard; but he loves Brutus:
If I were Brutus now and he were Cassius,
He should not humour me. I will this night,
In several hands, in at his windows throw,
As if they came from several citizens,
Writings all tending to the great opinion
That Rome holds of his name; wherein obscurely
Caesar's ambition shall be glanced at:
And after this let Caesar seat him sure;
For we will shake him, or worse days endure.

:7

My favorite Shakespeare play.

cause if you do, a terrorist is liable to nuke Los Angeles". It's what it comes down to.

K&R You have honed the very frightening question we are faced with and I hope that we will not give in to fear and fatigue and hopelessness but continue to media blast and contact congress that this has gone way to far and bush must be stopped NOW!!! not after the ficticios elections.

http://www.tomharkin.com/nl/CensurePetition.htm
Dear Friend,

No American – and that must include the President – is above the law.

Sign the Petition for Bush Censure

That's why I co-sponsored Senator Russ Feingold's resolution to censure George W. Bush for breaking the FISA law with his illegal, warrantless wiretapping of American citizens.

Sign the Petition for Bush Censure

It is not enough for me to stand up for what's right. I am working hard to build support for this important resolution.

That's why I ask you to sign the Censure Petition today

Be sure to listen in when I take the case for censure to the airwaves. Catch me on the Bill Press show Thursday morning, and on Air America this Sunday from 2-3pm EST when I talk with David Bender, the host of Politically Direct.

Together, we can make a difference. Thank you for your support.

Best Regards,
Senator Tom Harkin

Petition in Support of the Resolution of Censure

Yes, Tom! Please let your colleagues in the Senate know that the American people demand accountable, law-abiding democracy here at home, not just rhetoric about democracy abroad! I want you to mobilize support for Senator Feingold's Resolution of Censure so that when the Senate returns to session after the Easter recess, a vote on the Senate floor will tell President Bush that no American can be above the law!

Please use the form below to sign the petition.

===Dear Senator Harkin:

We, the undersigned, support your principled stand with Senators Russ Feingold and Barbara Boxer in favor of holding President Bush accountable, and we urge you to bring the Resolution of Censure to the floor of the Senate for a vote. The President has brazenly, arrogantly and unapologetically broken the law - the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which prohibits warrantless wiretaps of American citizens. Despite getting caught red-handed, he refuses to stop.

Government must protect Americans' security, and that's why the FISA law allows intelligence services to listen to terrorists' conversations legally - by going to the secret espionage and terrorism court to get a warrant AFTER listening.

We are a nation of laws, not of men. No American is above the law. That most certainly includes the President. If Congress fails to hold him to account through censure, then he will believe that he can continue breaking laws with impunity. This is profoundly dangerous to our democracy.

We admire your courage in standing up to President Bush and saying enough! Now, we urge you to take the next step. We - ordinary Americans deeply concerned for the country we love - ask you to work with your colleagues to support and pass the Resolution of Censure in the Senate.

=
"Have you no decency" - Executive Branch collapse Watch this hit the media tonight....

Bush is toast. So is Cheney.

Impeachment needed now before Bush forces a military coup. The Military could refuse to follow bush on Constitutional grounds at this time.

The Executive Branch has collapsed.

I really thought the effort would go forth to rig the 2006 elections, and if that didn't work perfectly, to follow the course you lay out in 2007. I was wrong. It is happening now. Your quote: "George W. Bush wants to be explicitly, overtly, directly and beyond reproach, above the law. And if he gets away with his role in the Plame Scandal, he will be. He will be both pharaoh and fuhrer." It's correct. We may stand at the gates of Armageddon right now, ahead of any expectation we may have had. Fasten your seat belt. It's going to be a bumpy ride.

The inexorable remnant of justice has been enough to tip the scales but not yet the throne. The independent judiciary represented by Fitzpatrick and others, being crowded out daily by Bush cronies, is allowed its work without fanfare, support or parallel duties by the legislative branch.

If someone showed up outside the CNN studios with a tape showing Bush shooting someone for sport what are the first emotions while the "shock" and calculations start to set in? First, they will believe it and fear it because it could very well be true of their little Caligula. Second they will be looking for a way out of touching the story. Third they will call Rove for guidance. They will feel a chill and dismay because they are part of the props for this dictatorship but are supposed to have professional "cover" for being something other than a corporate propaganda outlet. they will in fear and dread await the people's reactions as they try to downplay the "trouble" and worry more about how this will hurt poor George and how he might recover.

Those ideas and emotions in too many quarters up there will be always present in each new scandal as darkness drives its wedge deeper into indolent democracy, into betrayed national forums.

And the ordinary or even extraordinary citizens look at their checking account and out their window. Job still there. Sun still shining. My kids not dead in war. America still great. And the cynicism and despair rival resentment over having nasty truth casting a pall and threat over all. Our first thoughts when the system seems to be sputtering, the wires to the rest of the justice machine unplugged, our delegated leaders talking about the weather, is "well, there is nothing I can do. Maybe write a letter. Take an online poll or sign a petition. Maybe see if there is a protest out here in the sticks."

What the situation calls for, without the prompting of manipulative slick media, is getting mad dog mad and demanding the law work, or else. And if the "or else" makes anyone queasy about being alone, it boils down to this. Shutting down the false system, demanding our representatives to act by their duty even more than by our demand, directing all voices toward the top and not quibbling with each other. the or else then moves into the streets with sterner protests than the uplifting street opera going way past the standard set by the threatened Latino masses. Then nonviolent resistance, etc.

And some are right that back in the sixties, with tens of thousands dead in a blatantly futile war, these casual high crimes would not have stood and they would not have dared public awareness no matter if the media soft-pedaled them and if a large chunk of the public hated the anti-war movement. Today is the death by inches then feet then miles on cruise control of all law and democracy and overall the reaction of the vast American public, inwardly horrified and repulsed by the boyking, is to sit there like a huge pile of cold mashed potatoes, helplessly wistful for gravy and not wanting to think about the forks wielded by the rulers.

I fear that history may look back with wonder at this time as the example of an unpopular leader still usurping power. Even with his numbers circling the toilet bowl, he may yet pull of this coup if we do not find the will greater than the will to his imperial power. Even if Bush survives this scandal and is brought down later, we will have lost. History demonstrates that subsequent leaders do not give up power, they only expland it. In that case, the Bush Dynasty will not necessarily survive, but the emperorship will.

Vlad Tepes was known for being such a frightful ruler that no one dared to stand against him or commit crimes where he ruled. For every crime bush dodges is just another turk on a pike to bush...frightening off anyone to decrown him.

But forgive me for comparing him to Vlad the Impaler, as I actually respected Vlad.

long live bullshit.

that talk'd of Rome, that her wide walks encompass'd but one man?

pass it on!

They can sure go after Bush for breaking the law AND probably 9 out of the ten comandments.