A Defining Moment

Chris Wallace, asking President Bush;

WALLACE: I want to follow up on that. Whether it is interrogation of terror prisoners or the intercepting of surveillance among al Qaeda members, are you ever puzzled by all of the concern in this country about protecting of rights of people who want to kill us?

This, more than just about any other issue, is what separates today's conservatives from liberals. I blame Jack Bauer of the teevee show "24". Conservatives are unable to distinguish between entertainment and the real-world. They think "24" is really the way the world is.

Liberals tend to see things in a clear, legal - illegal, right - wrong, manner. In the conservative world, it's okay to violate the law if the person violating the law makes the judgment that doing so is in the best interest of the "greater good". Conservatives do not believe that such ambiguity in the law is problematic even though it's totally dependent on the motives and judgment of the person that is breaking the law.

I want the conservative movement to give me the authority to break laws when I think it's necessary for the benefit of society. I promise I won't abuse that authority. Promise.

Liberals tend to think that that sort of behavior is.. you know.. fascist. Conservatives are arguing for a police state, where society gives up the rule of law in exchange for "protection" from the boogie man.

It is clearly a personality trait that leads one to fall on one side of that argument or the other. I find it highly disturbing.. to the degree that the very foundation of our society is at risk. Never before have we simply given an individual, a political party, a government, the authority to break the law because they think it's a good idea.

And the tool they used to sell it all.. is fear. This is why the "terrorists" actually did win the war on 9/11. They changed our way of life. They changed our government. They caused us to throw away hundreds of billions of dollars, and waste the lives of an additional ~4000 Americans.

Richard Nixon resigned the Presidency over this very issue.

So.. today.. our Democratically lead Congress is in the process of making legal that which was not legal. They will say that if you knowingly broke the law, because the government told you to, it's okay, you get a free pass.

And the demise of the rule of law in the United States is cheered on by the conservative movement.. as the pee stain spreads wider and wider on their trousers. But, my loon friends.. just remember.. Captain Codpiece will not be in office next year. A Democrat will. Sure as fuck you'll remember what the rule of law means then.. right?

As usual, Greenwald documents one of the darkest days in American history. It dwarfs 9/11 in it's enormity because it destroys what was a guiding principle in the is nation.