Democracy or "Decidership?" --Palermo (HuffPo)

[pat_k]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joseph-a-palermo/democracy-or-decidership_b_44240.html">Democracy or "Decidership?"
Joseph A. Palermo
March 26, 2007

The Bush/Cheney regime has rammed down the nation's throat "signing statements," torture as official policy, secret prisons, illegal spying, the suspension of habeas corpus, political purges of U.S. attorneys, preventive wars, cronyism, no-bid contracts, and an utter contempt for Congressional checks on Executive power. And with all this going on the general contentedness of the chattering classes is startling.

Overpaid prognosticators like Adam Nagourney, David Sanger, Dana Milbank, Michael Kinsley, David Broder, David Gergen, and the rest, continue to serve up their bland and copious political "analyses" as if nothing is out of the ordinary. They even give the cautionary advice to members of the Legislative Branch that they better not push back against President George W. Bush too vigorously lest they be stung by voters in the next election. . .

At this juncture, we might be just one large terrorist attack away from a form of military dictatorship. If you think I'm kidding, read Chalmers Johnson's new book, "Nemesis: The Last Days of the American Republic." Just as Gore Vidal and other prescient thinkers have warned, Johnson shows that the "imperial presidency" is overwhelming the system of "checks and balances," and leading us toward authoritarianism.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joseph-a-palermo/democracy-or-decidership_b_44240.html">More. . .[/div>