John Dean on Broken Government

[CaliforniaPeggy]

It was a great privilege to hear this intelligent and funny man talk about what's happening today. I have some very abbreviated notes on his talk:

Cheney and Bush feel that the presidency was broken after Watergate, and that it needed to be strengthened. They also felt that 9/11 made strengthening it a priority. They wanted (as we already know) an imperial presidency.

The Judicial branch especially troubles Dean. 4 of the current justices are there as payback for constituencies. These 4 are fundamentalist justices. And 5 are needed for a majority ruling. Therefore, if another spot opens up during the * administration, or if a repub gets in in 2008, a fifth judge will come in as a fundamentalist judge. This will radically change the law.

For instance: These fundy justices do not believe that the Bill of Rights applies to the states. The 14th Amendment was supposed to correct this situation, and it does, but if a fifth justice comes in who stands with the 4 already there, then our Bill of Rights will no longer apply to us.

Dean said the Democrats need to bring this subject up for 2008, and to hammer it home for the electorate. There are two very elderly justices on the court, and if they go soon, it will be much the worse for all of us.

He said that the Republicans are bullies. He told us that after Watergate, he had been threatened and spent 18 months in the Witness Protection Program.

He talked about Bush as the Worst President Ever, and how he has taken war profiteering to unheard of levels.

He said the Republicans are very authoritarian, but you don't need to be that way in order to be a strong leader. He thinks that Giulani is off the charts for authoritarianism, and Thompson is the least that way. He also said that the Republicans use fear-mongering very effectively to control the country.

One interesting little factoid: A friend of his jogs often past the Naval Observatory, where Cheney lives. Dean's friend, on a regular basis, sees a truck labelled as a document destruction company going in there. Dean doesn't think that there will be much of a paper trail when these folks leave office.

And lastly, he sees Bush and Cheney as misguided, not evil. Hmmm...

And let me add before my editing period is up:

He did say he didn't think that any impeachment would happen, and here's why: The impeachment of Nixon, and of Clinton, were handled by special prosecutors, and grand juries. None of this is in place now, and it would take months to get it going. So there you are...

And I promised some pics: Here you go: