Mr Bush, You Are Not a Dictator

I would like to point out that President Bush seems to think he has dictatorial powers. This is what Wikipedia has to say on the matter:

The term "dictator" is generally used to describe a leader who holds an extraordinary amount of personal power, especially the power to make laws without effective restraint by a legislative assembly.

Although it used to be common practice in this country, the system of checks and balances has been severely undermined by this administration through the use of "signing statements," where Mr. Bush has shown that he is above the law. Seven hundred fifty of them, to be more exact. In this way, if there is a law penned by the House or Senate that W. isn't happy with, why, he just files a signing statement!

The association between the dictator and the military is a very common one; many dictators take great pains to emphasize their connections with the military.

How many times has this president said "as commander in chief I have the power to..." It seems that his military standing (at this time I would like to remind everyone that Bush was a draft-dodger) is what gives him his power, or rather where Bush gleans his alleged power. He also claims that a simple executive command should be the only thing necessary to move entire agencies (like the NSA) to do his bidding. We have a court system to interpret our laws for us, but the administration has chosen to forget that detail.

This from Project for the Old American Century:

Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.

There is a lot of this going on in this country, more than it ever has. I cannot say how many times I have heard "love it or leave it." This is certainly not what the founding fathers intended. To be told that we should have an unfaltering trust in our fearless leader is not what this country is about.

Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of "need." The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc.

Maybe this one is a bit obvious. We have allowed the government to enter our private lives, perform unwarranted searches in violation of the fourth ammendment, and are holding countless prisoners without trial in Guantanamo, not to mention the CIA "black sites."

The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial, ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, etc.

Need I say more?

Even when there are widespread domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized.

I really want to stop spending billions on this war and start spending those hard earned tax dollars on education, public health, disaster victims, and the other slew of domestic problems this country needs to deal with!

The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Opposition to abortion is high, as is homophobia and anti-gay legislation and national policy.

Abortion laws are being overturned left and right, the Supreme Court is poised for a stealth attack on Roe vs. Wade, and it seems like a woman's right to contraceptive medicine is threatened. Not to mention the fact that homosexuals are treated as second class citizens.

Sometimes the media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation, or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in war time, is very common.

Remember when the pentagon was planting fake news stories in Iraq's newspapers?

Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses

The terrorists are in our backyard! They will kill you, and all your babies! Trust this administration to protect you. All we need is all your civil liberties...

Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the government's policies or actions.

Doesn't this president claim to get messages from God? I also feel like a lot of the justification for the way this administration operates has to do with Christianity. Whatever happened to separation of church and state? It was one of the founding priciples in this country.

The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.

This is what the lobbyists have been doing in Washington. Big oil owns them.

Under fascist regimes, the police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses and even forego civil liberties in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations.

Remember when the NSA decided to tap our phones without a warrant? As far as I know, no one has been punished for this...

Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders.

Unlike the wise Abraham Lincoln, who surrounded himself with political opponents in order to keep himself in check and do what was best for the country, this president surrounds himself with yes men, and can't see beyond his own personal ambitions.

Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections.

We all remember Florida in 2000, and then Ohio in 2004.

I would just like to remind the president one more time that he is not a dictator, so please, stop acting like one.