...Barack Obama's pastor makes an ill-considered remark in the sanctity of his church, and Obama is called out in the public pulpit and made out to be somehow responsible for it.
But, for the last 28 years, lunatic right-wing Christian ministers can spew anti-gay, anti-woman, anti-Arab, anti-Semitic, anti-Catholic, anti-science anti-human bile from their cable networks and talk shows; summon the wrath of their god (not mine) on the Muslim world; and call for the assassination of foreign leaders -- and the Republican presidents and politicians who consort with them not only get off scot free, they get away with branding the media as liberal. What a world...
Meanwhile, The Boston Globe reports that President Bush has weakened the espionage oversight capabilities of an independent board established in 1976 by President Gerald Ford. Ford originally set up Intelligence Oversight Board to block stronger measures from a Congress intent on curbing the myriad abuses of the Nixon White House. But even Ford's sensible and relatively modest reforms -- such as allowing the Board to refer matters directly to the Justice Department for criminal investigation -- were too much for Dick Cheney: "A lot of the things around Watergate and Vietnam...served to erode the authority, I think, the president needs to be effective, especially in a national security area."
So, let me get this straight: The problem with Watergate wasn't the Nixonian schemes and deceits aimed at undermining the Constitution to grow the power of the executive branch (and assuage the president's paranoia in the bargain), it was the reforms enacted to prevent this. In typical Cheney fashion, he doesn't bother to explain exactly how these reforms left the body politic worse off than Watergate, exactly what authority the president needs but doesn't have, and why he needs it. Just trust him on this one, o.k.?...