What does Congress do when the president decides he is a dictator?

Ian_rd

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Thu Jan-18-07 01:35 PM
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What does Congress do when the president decides he is a dictator?

Current events offer a rather interesting scenario about the state of our democracy. Previously, if a president was found to be overstepping his bounds and/or acting illegally, Congress was able to perform their role to check the power of the Executive and, if needed, initiate proceedings to remove the president from office. In all previous cases, this system, with hiccups to be sure, worked. Presidents responded by submitting themselves to Congressional authority where the Constitution grants it, and in the case of Nixon he removed himself when it appeared that impeachment was unavoidable. This is because we are a nation of laws. This is what has given us such stability in circumstances that would drive many nations to revolution and internal violence.

For example, when George W. Bush stole the election of 2000 from the will of the American people, we did not revolt. Why? Because the Supreme Court (the law) approved his election. We hated it, but accepted it as something we had to live with until the next election. In other words, we submitted ourselves to the rule of law even though we disagreed with it.

But this president is different. Like the American people in 2000, presidents submit themselves to law because the USA is a nation of laws, not rulers. President Bush on the other hand, acts as if he is a dictator with no limits to his authority. He has violated the Constitution at his pleasure without apology and frequently with open pride. The only role our founding document plays in his regime is as an annoying obstacle requiring legal and linguistic gymnastics to justify his unconstitutional acts. As far as the judiciary, his agents have declared repeatedly, albeit indirectly, that President Bush is not subject to judicial review for anything he deems beyond the judiciary's oversight, which is pretty much anything he desires. And Congress? It might as well not even exist. For President Bush, Congress is little more than a body that provides suggestions for laws to be passed as he changes them however he likes before approving them, a gross violation of his office.

In short, President Bush is acting like a dictator. And since he is still in office, and continues to do as he pleases without regard to the law and so far without consequences, he IS a dictator. The sad fact is, we are currently being ruled by a dictator. If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck ... it's a fucking duck.

If Congress were to impeach President Bush, his current behavior suggests that he would simply ignore the proceedings and stay in the White House with his hands on the powers of the presidency. He may even decide that the state of the nation requires him to remain "president" after 2008, y'know, for our own good in this time of national crisis.

The only possible conclusions to be drawn from this president are the following: President George W. Bush will continue to be the dictator of the United States until he is removed or until he decides to remove himself. He has already demonstrated that he is not subject to the law, and so impeachment would be as useless as a non-binding Congressional resolution. More and more, I am convinced that the only way this administration will be removed from power is by physically being forced from their offices.