Corruption to confusion

I am having trouble stomaching the apathy present in the American public right now. The administration has been performing illegal and unconstitutional acts since it took power in 2001, but it has become increasingly apparent as of recent. There was a point where the administration's hostility toward threats to its power were subtle; it operated with a bit more class. But from Attorney Gonzalez's ridiculous testimony to Congress to Cheney's absurd claim that he is not a part of the executive branch, the administration has made it clear that it feels it is above the laws that once governed this nation. The arrogance and contempt it holds toward Congress, toward its own dissenting members, and toward the American people continues to surprise me. Now with Surgeon General Carmona outlining the intense politicization of his own office, it has become apparent that President Bush wishes to exert his influence as far as it will reach, regardless of the cost to us. He makes issues that should be completely free from partisan politics fiercely political. Public health and criminal justice should not be partisan issues. It is crucial to the continued prosperity of any nation that issues such as these remain impartial and untainted by the necessary evils of politics.

The President has claimed that strategies in Iraq should be military ones and not political ones. Apparently, the president does not understand the relationship between the two concepts. Politics is the struggle over power. A military is a tool used in that struggle. To say we need a military strategy and not a political one is like saying we need a pick-and-roll play, not a basketball one - the military strategy IS a political strategy. And I find it interesting that White House officials continuously criticize Congress for being too political and that decisions in Iraq should be left to the commanders and not to politicians in Washington. With all due respect Mr. President, you are a politician in Washington and you've pressed the resignation of several of your commanders because they held opinions and views that were inconsistent with your own. With all due respect, Mr. President, the United States Constitution grants war powers to politicians in Washington, and not just to you, but to Congress as well.

I hope we are not following the way of our ancestors, the Romans. The Roman Senate once gave too much power to Julius Caesar in a time of war and the people never got it back. Do we have so little respect for ourselves, so little respect for our country, that we will let executive branch officials get away with so much at our expense?