"If this were a dictatorship, it'd be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I'm the dictator."
George W. Bush said that in 2000, about one month before he took office. Perhaps anyone could have dismissed that comment as a joke, albeit a grossly irresponsible one - the leader of the free world saying he wanted to be a dictator.
Or was it?
The New York Times recently ran a story about a secret government program to monitor Americans' financial transactions. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney were, as Margaret Thatcher would put it, not amused.
"We're at war with a bunch of people who want to hurt the United States of America, and for people to leak that program, and for a newspaper to publish it, does great harm to the United States of America," Bush said Monday.
In response, Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, announced that he would write to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to prosecute the New York Times' reporters, editors and publisher, as well as other newspapers that reported on the operation.
"We're at war, and for the Times to release information about secret operations and methods is treasonous," King told the Associated Press.
I'm not laughing at Bush's little joke anymore. Now I think he meant what he said.
To me, it doesn't matter that the surveillance operation was classified. It still constitutes domestic spying without warrants. Last time I checked, the Fourth Amendment had not yet been suspended. As far as I'm concerned, the New York Times was just doing its job as part of the Fourth Estate.
The point of having a free press is so that the media can "check and balance" the three branches of government. But when you want to abuse your power, the media become an obstacle when they fulfill their duty.
As the band Steppenwolf wrote in its song, "The Ostrich," "You're free to speak your mind, my friend, as long as you agree with me; don't criticize the Fatherland or those who shape your destiny."
That line, sung in 1968, sums up Bush's apparent take on freedom and democracy: Say or write what you please, but fundamentally questioning the administration's policies threatens national security and constitutes treason if it prevents Bush from fulfilling his authoritarian fantasies.
If Gonzales successfully prosecuted the New York Times for leaking the story, it would set a dangerous precedent. It would effectively give the executive branch free rein to break the law while the media would cower in self-censorship. Our media could become a government mouthpiece. After all, the Supreme Court's conservative-minded justices, including Bush's appointees, eliminated whistleblower protections for most government employees in Garcetti v. Ceballos in May, according to the National Whistleblower Center.
Knowing that, it makes sense that Rep. King doesn't mind the idea of prosecuting a newspaper that, we are told, threatened national security by tattling on Bush's abuse of power.
A recent Yahoo.com article said the GOP will run on an "American Values Agenda" in the upcoming elections.
But for Bush and like-minded neo-conservative and religious-right authoritarians in all three branches of government, "values" just means policing the bedroom. Real American values, such as those in the Constitution, mean little to them. For the authoritarians, "freedom" means laissez-faire free markets. Political freedom, however, is only desirable when it benefits their interests.
I'll see you all next time, when I'll probably be writing from my cell in Guantanamo Bay.
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