God Bless America

Sidney Blumenthal, a prince among men, writes about how Bush has created the imperial presidency that Nixon was dreaming of all those years ago:

But now George W. Bush is building a leviathan beyond Nixon's imagining. The Bush imperial presidency is the highest stage of Nixonism. The commander in chief has declared himself by executive order above international law, the CIA is being purged, the Justice Department is deploying its resources to break down the wall of separation between church and state, the Environmental Protection Agency has been ordered to suppress scientific studies, and the Pentagon has subsumed intelligence and diplomacy, leaving the United States with blunt military force as its chief foreign policy.

But no one cares. In fact, at this point, is it even possible to bring this man down? The polls show that everyone hates Bush’s policy; no one feels safer; few of us trust the Republicans. Bush’s statements on Iraq would be increasingly laughable if the outcome wasn't so tragic. But what, really, is going to bring Bush down? It’s not going to be a creepy Hal Holbrook (or a cute Kirsten Dunst) in a parking garage. It’s certainly not going to be anyone in the press who are afraid to ask Bush the most straight-forward question about legitimate news such as the Downing Street Memo. So who’s going to do it?

Constitutional scholars are even debating whether or not Bush’s crimes clear the bar necessary for impeachment. The consensus? No. But that sure as hell didn’t stop the Republicans in the Clinton era.