Bullock Texas State History Museum
Leader Able to Manipulate System
RECEIVED Wed., Dec. 21, 2005
Dear Editor,
Closed-door meetings where note-taking is not allowed; a president who dismisses the checks and balances of a democratic nation; makes decisions on information only he is privileged to know; a war sold to the American public on manipulated information; Homeland Security knows your library preferences. President George W. Bush has proved to be a political leader able to manipulate the political system in this democracy to obtain almost autocratic power. Like Hitler, Bush is a leader bored by administrative details, which opens the way for fanatical and often corrupt subordinates.
Now the American public is being spied on without knowledge or authorization from the judicial system, an integral part of this government's checks and balances. Bush claims his authority as president gives him permission to override the protection our founding fathers fought for and Americans die for. Behind a facade of legality, just like the Nazis, Bush has dismantled the established protections of law.
Bush has become a true demagogue who has gained power through impassioned public appeals to the emotions, fears, and prejudices of the American people. We invade and conquer foreign lands, proliferate Bush's democracy to Third World nations; advancing his occupation while consolidating power while scapegoating dissenters as unpatriotic and terrorist sympathizers, the object of irrational hostility.
Sound familiar?
Closed-door meetings where note-taking is not allowed; a president who dismisses the checks and balances of a democratic nation; makes decisions on information only he is privileged to know; a war sold to the American public on manipulated information; Homeland Security knows your library preferences. President George W. Bush has proved to be a political leader able to manipulate the political system in this democracy to obtain almost autocratic power. Like Hitler, Bush is a leader bored by administrative details, which opens the way for fanatical and often corrupt subordinates.
Now the American public is being spied on without knowledge or authorization from the judicial system, an integral part of this government's checks and balances. Bush claims his authority as president gives him permission to override the protection our founding fathers fought for and Americans die for. Behind a facade of legality, just like the Nazis, Bush has dismantled the established protections of law.
Bush has become a true demagogue who has gained power through impassioned public appeals to the emotions, fears, and prejudices of the American people. We invade and conquer foreign lands, proliferate Bush's democracy to Third World nations; advancing his occupation while consolidating power while scapegoating dissenters as unpatriotic and terrorist sympathizers, the object of irrational hostility.
Sound familiar?
Mary Jo Osgood
