long war

CIA head honcho Porter Goss said of the disclosures of secret overseas CIA torture camps, "the damage has been very severe to our capabilities to carry out our mission." He added: "It is my aim and it is my hope that we will witness a grand jury investigation with reporters present being asked to reveal who is leaking this information. I believe the safety of this nation and the people of this country deserves nothing less."

Bullshit. The real reason for wanting this probe is to discourage the press from daring to look into illegal and immoral activities by the Administration. Same with the probe into who revealed details about the NSA domestic spying activities.

Meanwhile, in recent days both de facto President Bush and Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld have said that we're in a "long war" against terrorism and a "militant ideology." And remember, Bush and his legion of Alberto Gonzales/John Yoo-style Justice Department lawyers say that being in a state of war means the President, and "commander in chief," can do essentially what he wants -- torture people, listen to phone calls domestically without warrants, detain people indefinitely without trial, including American citizens.

So, is this the beginning of a decline into dictatorship? Jacob Weisberg in Slate asked that question recently, wondering if we were an "elective dictatorship" on the make. I wonder the same thing, although considering the current Bush was APPOINTED in 2000 by his Daddy's cronies on the Supreme Court, I dispute the "elective" part of the story...