Bush admits illegal spying on Americans, declares he'll do it again: [Scene, Oval Office. The President addresses the American people]: F*ck you. I spied on ya. I'm gonna spy on ya again. You cant stop me! I'm not the President, I'm the f*cking King! [grabs Crown and slams it on his head. Grabs double shot of hard liquor and slams it down. Lights fade...]

UPDATE: Bush's action in breaking the law, admitting he broke the law, and declaring he will do it again, seems to have crossed some sort of line in the commentariat.

Jonathon Schell says:

There is a name for a system of government that wages aggressive war, deceives its citizens, violates their rights, abuses power and breaks the law, rejects judicial and legislative checks on itself, claims power without limit, tortures prisoners and acts in secret. It is dictatorship. The Administration of George W. Bush is not a dictatorship, but it does manifest the characteristics of one in embryonic form.... He is now in effect saying, "Yes, I am above the law--I am the law, which is nothing more than what I and my hired lawyers say it is--and if you don't like it, I dare you to do something about it." Members of Congress have no choice but to accept the challenge. They did so once before, when Richard Nixon, who said, "When the President does it, that means it's not illegal," posed a similar threat to the Constitution. The only possible answer is to inform Bush forthwith that if he continues in his defiance, he will be impeached.

Jay Bookman says:

In asserting his right to ignore the law, President Bush has slapped Congress right across the face and told them they better like it. Congress can now mutter "Yes, sir" and cower in its corner like a whipped dog, as it has for most of the past five years, or it can fight back to defend its institutional authority. Either choice will mark a turning point in U.S. history.

Doug Ireland says:

President Bush may find himself in deep trouble after ordering and defending illegal wiretaps of U.S. citizens -- a crime for which Richard Nixon was nearly impeached.

However, as Chomsky has frequently pointed out, the mere illegality of Nixon's Watergate actions were not the reason he was ousted. He had committed with impunity much worse illegalites, such as COINTELPRO. Nixon's fatal mistake lay in targetting rich and powerful people, such as the Chairman of IBM and the like. If the Bush Administration avoids making this mistake, it is an entirely open question as to whether Congress or the corporate media could move against them in any way. In any discussion of impeachment, a question should be asked that is not being asked, what do the corporations, their CEOs and the corporate media owners think? Do they believe he needs to be impeached? Or are they content with the slide into pseudo-fascism? Numerous grounds for impeachment exist, but will the weapons be taken up?

Bush admits illegal spying on Americans, declares he'll do it again: [Scene, Oval Office. The President addresses the American people]: F*ck you. I spied on ya. I'm gonna spy on ya again. You cant stop me! I'm not the President, I'm the f*cking King! [grabs Crown and slams it on his head. Grabs double shot of hard liquor and slams it down. Lights fade...]

UPDATE: Bush's action in breaking the law, admitting he broke the law, and declaring he will do it again, seems to have crossed some sort of line in the commentariat.

Jonathon Schell says:

There is a name for a system of government that wages aggressive war, deceives its citizens, violates their rights, abuses power and breaks the law, rejects judicial and legislative checks on itself, claims power without limit, tortures prisoners and acts in secret. It is dictatorship. The Administration of George W. Bush is not a dictatorship, but it does manifest the characteristics of one in embryonic form.... He is now in effect saying, "Yes, I am above the law--I am the law, which is nothing more than what I and my hired lawyers say it is--and if you don't like it, I dare you to do something about it." Members of Congress have no choice but to accept the challenge. They did so once before, when Richard Nixon, who said, "When the President does it, that means it's not illegal," posed a similar threat to the Constitution. The only possible answer is to inform Bush forthwith that if he continues in his defiance, he will be impeached.

Jay Bookman says:

In asserting his right to ignore the law, President Bush has slapped Congress right across the face and told them they better like it. Congress can now mutter "Yes, sir" and cower in its corner like a whipped dog, as it has for most of the past five years, or it can fight back to defend its institutional authority. Either choice will mark a turning point in U.S. history.

Doug Ireland says:

President Bush may find himself in deep trouble after ordering and defending illegal wiretaps of U.S. citizens -- a crime for which Richard Nixon was nearly impeached.

However, as Chomsky has frequently pointed out, the mere illegality of Nixon's Watergate actions were not the reason he was ousted. He had committed with impunity much worse illegalites, such as COINTELPRO. Nixon's fatal mistake lay in targetting rich and powerful people, such as the Chairman of IBM and the like. If the Bush Administration avoids making this mistake, it is an entirely open question as to whether Congress or the corporate media could move against them in any way. In any discussion of impeachment, a question should be asked that is not being asked, what do the corporations, their CEOs and the corporate media owners think? Do they believe he needs to be impeached? Or are they content with the slide into pseudo-fascism? Numerous grounds for impeachment exist, but will the weapons be taken up?