The Quest for Power in the Endless War

Today the Pentagon as much as acknowledged that the War on Terror will never end. Which begs the question, how much of your civil rights are you willing to give up for how long and how much power are you willing to give the President indefinitely.

If, as suggested, the War on Terror will never end, the Wartime Presidency is now the default Presidency. This is a tactic that has been used by a lawfully, democratically elected government in the not-too-distant past, it should be noted, a conservative government. Adolph Hitler, legally and democratically elected leader of Germany, began an endless series of wars for the simple reason of consolidating his power, of declaring pacifists and desenters enemies of the State and establishing the authority to do anything he wanted inside his own borders. He didn't have terrorists so the internal enemies became Jews, the "them" in the "us vs. them" struggle. Once the wars started, it became politic to know what was going on inside the country, hence the rise of the Geheime Staatspolizei, or Gestapo, an organization with one assignment: Spy on its own people. The country was at war, so liberties must be taken, nicht wahr?

Once the state of perpetual war starts, civil liberties are the inevitable first casualty.

Our leaders have declared a state of perpetual war. By calling it a war on terror, they've defined no enemy, no objective other than homeland security, no victory condition. There is no government with which to sign a peace treaty. There is no exit from this war. I won't go as far as to suggest that Bush will attempt to remain in power once his second term is up but the lure of wartime powers will be seductive for whoever follows him. Further, the Patriot Act, if, God forbid, extended or made permanent, may well have Senator Arlen Specter's assault on the First Amendment, a provision inserted into the Patriot Act up for renewal that would restrict demonstrators at all "events of national significance," regardless if the President of Vice President were in attendance. That means the Super Bowl could have no protestors. In the name of a perpetual war, another freedom lost? Not yet and I'm sure Sen. Specter's idea would not stand up to a First Amendment challenge....

But they confirmed Alito.

Today Rummy compared Iran to Nazi Germany. I find it ironisch that Herr Rumsfeld, War Department chief for a regime that has declared perpetual war and claimed the leadership rights of a wartime leader, would make that comparison. It would fit his own leadership with its assault on its citizens' rights in the name of defense of the homeland much better.