Because He Can

Andrew Sullivan has wasted many column inches being a medacious prick. But, maybe not so much now. A strange change has been coming over Mr. Andy in recent months. He says things that sound almost, well, normal, like he shares the concerns of ordinary people. Concerns about the abuse of dictatorial power. Huh, whooda thunk it?

You may have heard of the tactic. As a way to leverage information or capture an enemy, terrorists sometimes kidnap innocent women and children in order to put pressure on their husbands or relatives. It's called kidnapping and blackmail. Except that in Rumsfeld's military, the United States now uses the tactic. Sure, it's against the Geneva Conventions. Sure, those Conventions are supposed to apply in Iraq. But this is the Bush administration. King George doesn't have to obey the law; and his military can do anything they want. The Pentagon has gotten used to denying hard evidence of abuse - and no one, of course, has been disciplined for following the instructions given ultimately in Washington. "It's very hard, obviously, from some of these documents to determine what, if anything, actually happened," says the Pentagon spokesman. No, it isn't. And so we slowly descend toward the level of the enemy. Because King George can.

Getting Their Wives

Because he can. That's the lesson that we decadent fifth-columnists of the coasts have been saying all along, Mr. Andy - King George's War has never had anything to do with keeping America safe and everything to do with expanding the operation of arbitrary power. The Alito nomination is part of this as well, by putting people on the court who are already down on paper as supporting a monarchial style executive and a strong-man state. BushCo has had fun running the experiment in Iraq, and is now trying to extend it in the US itself.

What are the tactics that King George and his cronies think appropriate to use? Just look at Iraq. Kidnap. Rape. Torture. Murder. Disappearing people. And lying about it. But also kickbacks, payola, bribes, white collar theft, insider contracts, and slush funds. Oh, and for the men and women of the armed forces, inadequate supplies, inadequate weaponry, inadequate troop strength, reduced pay, reduced support services, reduced medical care, and being sent home in the dead of night. Dead.

George Bush does what he does because he can. The question remains, dear readers - do you consider yourself one of the insiders or one of the scum people? Hint - all the insider slots are taken.

Anglachel