Un-American Caesar

A tin-pot Caesar to be sure, but George W. Bush is a would-be dictator nonetheless.

Andrew Sullivan sums things up nicely.

We're talking about a president who believes that he alone can determine any policy even vaguely related to a war that he has redefined as a permanent condition for the indefinite future. My best guess is that we've only begun to find out what powers he has secretly assigned to himself. I certainly don't trust him not to authorize torture again in the future. The only recourse is the press and the Congress. The Courts are in the process of being stacked with men and women completely deferent to executive power. I'm beginning to believe that Democratic retaking of at least one half of the Congress this year is essential to resisting the potential dangers of our current situation. And I'd say the same if we had a Democratic president with Bush's contempt for the rule of law, and if the Republicans were the party in opposition.

Republicans need only to ask themselves if they would be comfortable with a President Howard Dean or a President John Kerry or a President Hillary Clinton wielding the same kind power that Bush claims for himself. If the answer is "no," then the debate is over.