BUSH: 'L'etat, C'est Moi' (I Am The State) by HELEN THOMAS

[kpete]

Published on Friday, January 27, 2006 by the Boulder Daily Camera (Colorado)
Bush: 'L'etat, C'est Moi'
by Helen Thomas

We are now learning what President Bush considers to be the limits of his power—nothing.

...............

The president points to his status as commander-in-chief and the resolution — approved by Congress three days after the 9/11 attacks — authorizing him to use "all necessary and appropriate force" against the terrorists.

It is an obvious overreach of presidential prerogative; thin justification for what amounts to a snooping foray against Americans and others in the U.S.

It all smacks of France's Louis XIV's famous dictum: "L'etat, c'est moi"— "I am the state."


...........

The Fourth Amendment in the Bill of Rights speaks of the right of people "to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects against unreasonable searches..."

I wonder what other secret orders Bush has issued to enhance his powers and diminish ours?

http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0127-20.htm

[colonel odis]

1. maybe that's how we get him to back off. tell him a french king

used to say it.

[Straight Shooter]

3. Editorial cartoons satirizing bush as a king have been rampant lately.

Make no mistake, bush intends to seize total power. I think we recognize that on DU. The rest of America does not. Alito will be the final nail in the coffin of democracy.

[NanciNice]

10. Oh no!

You mean, we won't be a democracy anymore if he's confirmed? THAT'S SCARY!

[sallyseven]

18. We have not been a democracy since

bush was appointed. That is the day democracy died.

[RazzleDazzle]

36. Uh, some of us count that day a little further back than that --

like the assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy.

[madokie]

38. The other day someone asked when did the U S jump the shark

the day the supreme court took away our right to a free and open elections. me thinks



Now here is our rightful President no doubt

[annabanana]

24. well...

we sure won't have our traditional protections, that's for sure. Let's say you sneeze.. and that day B*sh has decided that sneezing is a threat to our National Security, and anyone who sneezes is an "enemy combatant"..

"Well!" you say, "that's ridiculous". (and so it is).. But he could take you away, throw you in a jail cell, deny you the right to a lawyer or a last phone call and hold you for the rest of your life.

You are an "enemy combatant" because HE said so. Your family will never know what happened to you.

(This has already happened to an American citizen on American soil.. granted the supposed charge wasn't "sneezing" but, legally.. it doesn't matter what the charge was.)

(and welcome to DU:toast: )

[NanciNice]

26. Wow!

I guess I'll be really careful and not sneeze! LOL!

[madokie]

39. Now I'm confused, why the tombstone.

[Straight Shooter]

28. NanciNice, the U.S. is not a democracy. It is a republic.

Your grasp of facts is SCARY!

[NanciNice]

30. Oh...?

My first post asked a question and stated a fear. My second post was an obvious joke. I stated no facts in either one to have a grasp of or not.

[Straight Shooter]

31. I am not convinced

But carry on. :eyes:

[Solon]

35. Actually, if you get technical, the US is a Democratic Republic...

Remember, a Republic is simply a form of government without a hereditary ruler, in other words, not a Monarchy. The old Soviet Union and the PRC were and are republics under this definition, but not democracies. Conversely, the United Kingdom and its Commonwealth nations(Canada, Australia), along with, as another example, Japan, are not republics, but monarchies, but are also democracies. Saudi Arabia, Nepal, and Kuwait, however, are neither republics or democracies, their kings have ultimate power. However, countries like the United States of America, United States of Mexico, France, most nations in Latin America(now), Europe, and around most of the world are Democratic Republics. They don't have hereditary rulers, but can also elect freely elect others to represent them in government. This is the most practical example of democracy in action, the only examples of direct democracy, i.e. democracies where the citizens are generally the law makers, are Switzerland and Ancient Athens, along with, on a limited level several U.S.A. states, in the form of Referenda and citizen's initiatives.

[Straight Shooter]

37. The key words being "freely elect"

On that basis, I am not persuaded that we have a democratic republic. Sometimes I wonder if we ever did, how long the sham has been going on.

Thanks for the political lesson. I've been considering moving to Switzerland and your explanation of its form of democracy makes it sound very enticing.

[EVDebs]

25. The Sun King...says "Let them eat cake" ! As the economy sinks slowly

The powermad Repubs ideologically driven lunacy should have been tempered by the Founding Father, George Washington's admonishion against partisanship, found in the annual reading of his Farewell Address to the Nation, read to Congress every year...but they stopped listening.

[htuttle]

2. Oh, that reminds me!

I'm supposed to pick up more yarn for Madame LaFarge on the way home...

[knitter4democracy]

8. Ooh, what kind?

;)

Personally, I recommend an American yarn, like something from Brown Sheep (made in Nebraska with almost all American materials except the silk).

I've often wondered what her pattern was . . .

[truth2power]

33. Sitting in the crowd, knitting...

at the guillotine. Hmm... :P

[sundancekid]

4. not to mention that King Louie had more class in his pinky than the

whole fam damily of the busheviks, starting with slackjaw-smirk himself!

[kineneb]

29. and a better tailor...

the whole BFEE seem to be poorly dressed...Glorious Leader needs to have better clothing if he wants to wear a crown.

[CrazyOrangeCat]

5. Thanks for posting this, kpete.

And ROCK ON, HELEN!!!

What an amazing woman she is . . .

[ItsTheMediaStupid]

6. Didn't Louis XIV end up with his head rolling in a basket?

Wasn't he king during the French revolution?

[trackfan]

7. That was XVI

[DemoTex]

9. L'etat, C'est Tom Delay aussi.

Khandker (Ruth's Cris Steakhouse manager in DC): "I'm sorry, sir, but this is a federal building, and it's against the law of the federal government."

DeLay: "I am the federal government."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A57541-2003May14

What's the French term for arrogant shitheads?

[Bobbieo]

11. French for arrogant shitheads

Try "merdetetes" or "tetes de merde" May not be correct but they fit!!!!

[Bobbieo]

13. Helen Thomas

Is this the same lady who was once the "queen of the capital press corps"?

[CrazyOrangeCat]

14. Yes, that's her.

She used to nail Ronnie Raygun to the wall on a regular basis.

I know a UPI photographer who used to work with her. She's a real patriot--she's got guts.

[Bobbieo]

15. Helen Thomas is my idol

I thought I read sometime ago that she had passed away but I'm sure happy to know she is still with us. I'm a retired journalist who once lived in D.C. She was my idol then and still is!!!

[CrazyOrangeCat]

17. She's a reminder . . .

. . . of what true journalism is--seeking out the truth. What a concept, huh?

;)

[ShadesOfGrey]

19. Oh, how I love that woman!!!

She's seen everything in her years and she's not afraid to tell it like it really is!

Thank you, Helen!

[CBHagman]

16. But DeLay claimed he was a constitutional officer!

Remember the government shutdown over the budget impasse of 1995, in which contractors were not getting paid and furloughed federal employees were not getting their full salaries? DeLay justified his unaltered paycheck by claiming he was a "constitutional officer," not a federal employee.

Yes, dear friends, not only is DeLay a heartless, ruthless bastard, but he's an odious hypocrite as well!


http://edition.cnn.com/US/9512/shutdown/12-29/

"While the government has been forced to stop many contracts with private agencies, many furloughed federal workers are furious at receiving paychecks that give them half their normal salary.

"But lawmakers and the president are still getting paid, after House Republicans defeated a move to stop their paychecks.

"Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas, justified the measure, saying he was not a federal employee. 'I'm a constitutional officer...My job is in the Constitution of the United States.' (102K AIFF sound or 102K WAV sound)

"Some of those 'officers' are heading on overseas trips but the State Department is urging them to postpone their travel plans as missions abroad are understaffed on account of the furlough."

[DemoTex]

27. I KNOW! I KNOW!

MY FUCKING BRAIN IS EXPLODING! HOW MUCH WORSE CAN IT GET?

[chat_noir]

12. Bush fangoria

[JAbuchan08]

20. You know it's kind of embarassing that so many articles translate that

phrase. Do we not all know THAT much French?

[Radicalman]

21. Without meaning to contradict you....

Sans vouloir vous contredire, I doubt it! When it comes to foreign languages I'm afraid we're a bunch of dunces! :dunce:

[yellowdogmi]

32. contrair monfrair. eom

[burrowowl]

22. Or general history

including our own!
Helen is the classiest lady in the world!
Vive! Viva! Hip-hip hoorah! Helen!

[Rocknrule]

23. Like when Palpatine said "I AM the Senate!"

[truth2power]

34. And wasn't that the scene

where Padme says, "This is the way Democracy dies..to thunderous applause"? Something like that. :(

[Hailtothechimp]

40. Helen is right on the mark. Thanks.

He thinks he's the king. Anybody who can't see that doesn't have any intelligence in their own right.