Defiant

There's not much need for me to recommend a front-page Kos post, but my mind is still swimming from the implications of something Kagro X pointed out: Last February, according to an AP story,

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged the Democratic-controlled U.S. Congress not to interfere in the conduct of the Iraq war and suggested President George W. Bush would defy troop withdrawal legislation.

The emphasized word sums up everything scary about this gang of criminals. Kagro does not to quote from the rest of the piece. Perhaps we should do so here:

"I can't imagine a circumstance in which it's a good thing that their flexibility is constrained by people sitting here in Washington, sitting in the Congress," Rice said. She was asked in a broadcast interview whether Bush would feel bound by legislation seeking to withdraw combat troops within 120 days.

"The president is going to, as commander in chief, need to do what the country needs done," she said.

Things have changed in the short space separating February and today. The small number of things that seemed unbelievable then is even smaller now. At that time, everyone thought that Bush would pardon Libby at the end of this administration, after Scooter faced a small season of personal discomfort. And would even the most cynical among us have suggested that Cheney would assert himself as a fourth branch of government?

If this power-mad bunch can ignore congressional subpoenas, they can defy legislation.

Oh...there's another section from that February story which takes on added relevance today:

Rice said it is impossible to distinguish what is going on in Iraq from the larger fight against al-Qaida.

"Some of these car bombs may indeed be the work of an organization like al-Qaida," she said of the violence that continues to rock Baghdad.

During the past two months, this tune has changed. The news media routinely refers to all insurgent activity in Iraq as the work of Al Qaeda.