Powell lays out U.S. case at the UN.

Colin Powell should be the Vice-President in 2004.

NH
Are you looking for the campaign managers job? What has that got to do with the subject matter of this post?

Will there be an America in 2004, as we know it - the dicatorship takes over, elections suspended - we're at war. Don't bother me now folks!

Bill:

There will be a year 2004 and guess what? Bush will be the president.

I really like Powell!

I do too, Bush sucks! Didn't know you were an Oracle!

Bill,

Little is more far-fetched than the fear that the Bush intends to abolish the Constitution, and setup a dictatorship in the United States. There is not one shred of evidence to support such an extravagant claim. To bring such an event about would be extremely difficult, probably next to impossible. Our system is very resistent to power grabs, and has faced far greater threats than that posed by Bush (who so many of you believe to be a blithering idiot).

Wild accusations and charges that an administration intends to seize permanent power go back to the beginning of the nation. The Democratic-Republicans regularly accused Federalists of that intent, and even on occasion leveled the same charge at Washington. Federalists thought that Mr. Madison's War was a mere excuse to hold onto power. Jackson supporters cried foul when Quincy made the "corrupt bargain", and Jackson was frequently depicted wearing a crown. Polk set out to include Texas and Oregon into the national fabric and was accused of having imperial dreams for himself. I could go on for several pages with similar examples, but just two more briefly.

Lincoln probably came closest to setting the Constitution on its ear. His administration imposed press censorship, restricted travel, seized personal property without payment or due cause, thumbed its nose at the Supreme Court, arrested and held people on suspicion of being confederate sympathizers after suspending Habeas Corpus. Civilians were tried by secret military tribunals, and imprisoned or executed. These measures were draconian, but necessary given the threat to the Union. They might easily have resulted in scrapping the Constitution, but the Constitution survived. At the end of the Late Unpleasantness, Chase wrote for the Supreme Court a definitive decision condemning many of the actions taken during the Civil War.

Woodrow Wilson's administration put into place policies that were nearly as restrictive of civil liberty as those of Lincoln. Wages were frozen, private companies seized, and information was managed carefully by the Federal government. Can't you think of other examples?

Get a grip, the sky isn't falling.

No I do not think he made the case for America's new war.

The U.S. Administration has been arguing this case (but presenting no evidence) for so long now that it's hard to know what to make of today's presentation. Looks like we'll do what we've been determined to do from Day 1. Then the fun will really begin...

"I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully."

asherman: "Polk set out to include Texas and Oregon into the national fabric and was accused of having imperial dreams for himself."
i am not so sure that wasn't accurate

Mr. Asherman:

What was the takeover of Texas about, except for an imperialist dream? It was part of Mexico at the time, if memory serves.

It was "Manifest Destiny", same as I RAQ.

d' Tejas was slightly different in that tejans fought against mexico, establishing the Republic of Texas and then going broke and petitioning to join the US. perhaps a nuance of difference but there is one. however the remainder of what was Califia was quite simply ursuped by Polk.

"Three Roads to the Alamo: The Lives and Fortunes of David Crockett, James Bowie, and William Barret Travis" by William C. Davis is a wonderful book about what really was going on down there. Scholarly, but readable.

I decided to pick it up after visiting the Alamo a few years ago for the first time and wondering what the heck the battle was about. Without giving too much away, extending slavery to Texas was just one of the enlightened ideas some of these men had. Bowie, in particular, was a real piece of work...

The Iraqis will demolish Powell tomorrow. 8pm Baghdad time

Hey, I'm no believer in the veracity of this administration, Lord knows, but I put even less credence in anything coming out of Iraq. In any case, even if they're as pure as the driven snow, it will make no difference. The decision to go to war was made long ago, quite possibly pre-9/11. Every move made on the issue of Iraq since then has been in the nature of marketing-- assembling the proper package that will sell this war to the American people.

blacksmith, the decision was made in those meetings in Crawford, Tx when Bush was using Cheney ( ) to help build a cabinet before the election (another ) after the nomination!

Who is to say the intercepted conversations were not actually recorded the first time the inspectors wnt to Iraq? I didn't see any proof to connect them specifically to either time frame.

Unfortunately, the Bush regime has already ruined their integrity in past pronunciations by the Bush. We can now refer to that as the Bush factor.

We also have the Rumps factor, which says something to the effect of, "You can't trust everything we say, we're at war!"