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Thursday, December 22, 2005
Erosion of Democracy
S
crooge is alive and well in the form of Vice President Dick Cheney, who flew halfway around the world to break a Senate vote and assure that the rich get their tax cuts and the poor get cuts in healthcare, food stamps and student loans.
C
heney's statement that Watergate and Vietnam served to erode the authority he believes the president needs to be effective moves one to no small irony: It is precisely because of the excesses of Richard Nixon's imperial presidency that presidential powers were congressionally -- and necessarily -- reined in.
M
eanwhile, President George W. Bush seeks democracy for Iraq, yet he stifles it in his own country. As American citizens, we are empowered to hold our government up to scrutiny; yet anytime anyone questions Bush's actions, he or Cheney insults, berates or questions their patriotism. This response is an insult to the very spirit of democracy, our Constitution and to the character of the American people.
H
istory may indeed record Bush's imperial presidency as rivaling, if not surpassing, Nixon's in terms of its hubris. Let's hope that the Bush presidency represents the nadir of the imperial presidency.
Posted by fm on December 22, 2005 at 12:39 AM