Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Compare and Contrast
201k.com, January, 21, 2004
- Should [Democrats] be worried that, having lost the election, George Bush will not step down from the presidency?
Bush himself, in last night's State of the Union address, said this:
"...now we face a choice. We can go forward with confidence and resolve or we can turn back to the dangerous illusion that terrorists are not plotting and outlaw regimes are no threat to us."
Taken on its face it's a purely political statement, made to set the terms of debate on Iraq, and distinguish Bush from how he hopes to characterize his opponents. But it's not hard to see how such a position could be extended as a matter of "national security", particularly from the man who, in his previous speech to the nation, strongly suggested that Americans disagreeing with his policies were aiding terrorists.
Bush's refusing to step down may sound unthinkable, but it's certainly no stretch to imagine such an act well within the capabilities of Tom DeLay, John Ashcroft, Karl Rove, and Dick Cheney. Indeed, many of the steps these men have taken since Bush took office set the table very nicely for it.
It's also likely not beyond military minds like that of Generals G. Jerry "My God is Real and Yours Isn't" Boykin, and Tommy "One More Attack and the People will Support a Military Coup" Franks. How many more in uniform are there like Jerry and Tommy, we wonder?
The question remaining, we suppose, is: how many members of the media would have no problem with it either? They are, after all, the people's eyes and ears to power.
Perhaps the question to pose to our media gatekeepers is this: If George Bush lost the election but refused to step down citing national security concerns, would you support it?
- Maybe we've been too lenient with enemies of the state. A period of stark repression might be a rich and rewarding experience for all of us. But when the Current Occupant signed the Act last week, the difference between freedom and terror did suddenly shrink somewhat. It makes you wonder: What if Mr. Cheney does not wish to give up power two years from now? Maybe he has other priorities. If an enemy of the United States -- a Democrat, for example -- appeared to be on the verge of election, perhaps Mr. Cheney, for the good of the country, will be forced to take the threat seriously and head for an undisclosed location and invoke his war powers and shovel a few thousand traitors into camps and call up his friends at Diebold and program the election results that are best for the country, or call the whole thing off.
OK by me if it's OK by you. I don't imagine that coffee sales will be affected or that Paris Hilton will be, like, "Whoa, this is so not cool," and, like, text-message her buds to join her on a hunger strike. The greeters at Wal-Mart will still smile and the football season will go on. They might flash a bulletin at halftime, "Terror Threat Forces Postponement of Election," and most people would be OK with that. If Mr. Cheney thinks it necessary to suspend the Constitution for a while, surely he has his reasons. The man inspires trust.
