Nixon: King = Bush: Dictator

Nixon, Kissinger, Cheney, Rummy, W.

My 8 year-old going-on-30 bought herself an Atari video plug-in for the TV at Toys R Us tonight. Now Mom and little girl are playing Pac Man and the hourglass of time is turned upside down 26 years. It’s that easy to bring on the past.

I know it’s that easy because the rumblings of bugging by the NSA with the blessings of the Bush people rings up the same old transgressions of the plumbers trying to plug the leaks in the Nixon years. And that was reminiscent of the surveillance that took place illegally during the case against Alger Hiss brought by the republican communist witch-hunters led by McCarthy and Nixon’s HUAC in the late 1940’s.

Nothing much has changed—even the players come from the same old schools. What’s new is the extent to which Bush thinks he can get away with it. And the lack of opposition to his maneuvers. Much has been written in the blogs and the press about the lack of scrutiny and public decrying by the democrats about the Bush steamrollering of civil rights. Therein lies the problem—and as much as the lobbyist pocket-greasing is getting the once-over right now, so should the spotlight shine on congress and the democratic opposition who are too afraid to lose their perks and stand up for American values, which includes most importantly keeping presidential power in check.