How dare you, Mr. President?

Elected public servant George W. Bush reacts to the NSA outrage with the arrogance of divine-right monarch.

In an interview with PBS anchor Jim Lehrer, Bush reportedly refuses to discuss the explosive New York Times report that he authorized the National Security Agency to spy on American citizens without the consent of a court of law.

Bush said in an interview that "we do not discuss ongoing intelligence operations to protect the country. And the reason why is that there's an enemy that lurks, that would like to know exactly what we're trying to do to stop them.

"I will make this point," Bush said. "That whatever I do to protect the American people -- and I have an obligation to do so -- that we will uphold the law, and decisions made are made understanding we have an obligation to protect the civil liberties of the American people."

Who does this man think he is?

Does Bush not understand that the president of the United States is a public servant? He is not the Lord Protector of the American people. His government is not the custodian and grantor of the people's freedoms. It is the repository of the people's will.

In an encouraging development, even Republicans are starting to blanch at this president's contempt for laws of man and God.

"There is no doubt that this is inappropriate," said Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. He said there would be hearings early next year and that they would have "a very, very high priority." He wasn't alone in reacting harshly to the report. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said the story, first reported in Friday's New York Times, was troubling.

Let us hope that the hearings to which Specter refers are substantially more probing than previous "oversight" efforts by the supplicant GOP congress.

George W. Bush is a mediocrity who possesses neither the intelligence, the experience nor the character to inhabit the presidency of the United States. Everything he does demonstrates his lack of fitness to serve in this capacity. It is time to call him to account.

Impeachment now.