http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/8125Up and Down the Bush Philosophy
by Walter Brasch | Jun 15 2007
Every president has a political philosophy that guides him and, sometimes, the nation.
George W. Bush believes he has divine inspiration to do what he wants to do, when he wants to do it, and to make his subjects adhere to whatever beliefs he holds for the moment. His political philosophy is a chunk of swiss cheese that is being forced down the throats of a lactose-intolerant nation.
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When the Republicans controlled Congress, the smirky President demanded that the senate adhere to an "up-or-down" vote on all of his appointees--a majority vote was all that should be needed to approve his candidates. His belief, echoed by the nation's elected Republicans and googles of conservative radio talk show hosts, opposed the entire history of the Senate that allows debate until 60 or more senators vote to end that debate. President Bush invoked that 'up-or-down" vote on the appointment of John Bolton, who had a long history of opposition to the United Nations, to be the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. President Bush demanded "up-or-down votes" in the Senate to approve his nominees to the federal courts, ambassadorships, and the cabinet. It's democracy, he bleated. Majority vote. Majority rules. Of course, he conveniently forgot that had he truly believed in majority vote, Al Gore would have been president.
Nevertheless, after the Democrats took control of Congress, President Bush saw the light and decided that up-or-down votes didn't matter. The President's lieutenants blocked an up-or-down vote on the "surge" in Iraq. When the House voted 247-176 and the Senate voted 63-37 to allow federal funding for stem cell research, the oh-so-moral President decided the majority and up-or-down votes didn't matter, and vetoed the proposed legislation.
When Congress voted to require phased withdrawals from Iraq, President Bush vetoed that legislation. When the Senate, by 53-38, voted "No Confidence" in Attorney General Ambrose Gonzales, the President ignored the wishes of the majority; the "Decider-in-Chief" decided that he would continue to mismanage the country without judicial or Congressional advice or overview.
To an audience at Tsinghua University, President Bush said that "life in America shows that liberty paired with law is not to be feared. In a free society, diversity is not disorder, debate is not strife, and dissent is not revolution." How his Administration created and enforced the USA PATRIOT Act; how he and his Administration have routinely and maliciously suppressed the rights of dissent, linking dissent to treason; and how he and his Administration have consistently shown the disregard for the Bill of Rights puts the lie to what he told Chinese students was his philosophy of government.
In forming the Constitution, this nation's Founding Fathers rejected the concept of the divine right of kings. It's doubtful the President has read the Constitution. Perhaps if he had, his philosophy, like swiss cheese, would not be so full of holes, and he might not be so cavalier in thinking he has divine wisdom to shred that document as easily as one shreds a pound of cheese.
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