Bush's war against the Rule of Law

One of the core concepts that has made America a great nation is that it is a democracy based on the Rule of Law. That is, Americans are governed by laws rather than by the arbitrary whims and decisions of some leader. Inherent in that idea is the fact that there is no individual in America who has the Constitutional Right to ignore law and act contrary to Law without punishment.

The Bush administration, led by Dick Cheney and David Addington and supported whole-heartedly by George W. Bush, has moved sharply in the last eight years to create a Presidency which is above the law and which is not restrained by the law in any way. The Bush administration is worked diligently to institutionalize government based on the arbitrary rule of the Office of the President rather than Rule of Law.

Glenn Greenwald explains this in an in-depth interview with Bill Moyers. This link leads to both the video of the Bill Moyers interview with Glenn Greenwald and to the transcript.

Of all the very destructive and clearly Unamerican legacies that Bush will leave behind him, including the worst Recession since the Great Depression, the concerted effort to destroy the Rule of Law in America will be the longest and most destructive action Bush has supervised.

Greenwald describes the first time he was aware that the government had totally stepped over the line and departed from a government under the Constitution.

BILL MOYERS: Was there a moment when what you lay what you have called "creeping extremism" became apparent to you in a minute particular?

GLENN GREENWALD: Actually, there was. And I'll describe to you exactly what it was. It was in 2002 when Jose Padilla, an American citizen born in the United States on U.S. soil, was essentially abducted by the government - by the U.S. government. And it was - he was accused in a press conference held by John Ashcroft of being the dirty bomber.

BILL MOYERS: Yeah.

GLENN GREENWALD: Of seeking to detonate a radiological weapon within an American city. Obviously something that is a crime and it should be prosecuted as a crime. But rather than announce that they intended to indict him and bring charges against him, as the Constitution requires, the Bush administration instead announced that it has the power to arrest and detain American citizens on U.S. soil indefinitely based solely on the say so of the president without having to charge that person with a crime and without even having them have access to a lawyer.

And that's exactly what was done the Jose Padilla, a U.S. citizen in this country, for years. And the lynchpin of American liberties since the founding, as the founders said, has been that the government does not have the power, not even the British king had the power since the Magna Carta, to order citizens imprisoned without charges based solely on the unchecked say so of the president. That is the power that this government assorted and seized and exercised. And that's when I realized that things had gone radically awry.
[Underlining mine - WTF-o]

Go watch (or read) the Interview between Bill Moyers and Glenn Greenwald.

Or go to a copy of the full transcript of the interview.