... And that's the bottom line: In the peculiarly paranoid mind-set of the Bush administration, every threat has a single solution: Give them more power.
Forget border security — they want more power to spy on American citizens, freed of any constraint of law that Congress or the courts might impose. Forget about FEMA — give them more power to torture and abuse prisoners, regardless of treaty, morality or international law. Forget about alliances and treaties and declarations of war— give them the power to attack anybody they choose, whenever they choose.
And if Congress and the courts refuse to grant all that power? They'll grab it anyway.
Just last week, President Bush reluctantly signed a law restating a ban on torture by U.S. personnel. But even as he signed it, Bush also signed a statement announcing that he may not choose to abide by that law ...
http://www.ajc.com/opinion/content/opinion/bookman/stories/0109bookman.html