Why George W. Bush and the GOP are Tyrants

Tyranny is not a new phenomenon in the human experience; in fact, it is
unfortunately the default condition of human beings to live under
tyranny. Those who claim that freedom is the birthright of every human,
know nothing of human history. Because tyranny is so pervasive it is
also well-studied and well-understood both as a political dynamic and
in it’s psychological effects upon the ruled and on the ruler. Yet our
current political culture seems oddly reticent to label tyrannical
behavior properly considering that our political system was born as a
reaction to tyranny. The very structure of our government is an attempt
to combat tyranny, and historically political opponents had no
hesitation in denouncing the least whiff of tyrannical behavior by any
holder of public trust.

Let us not tolerate tyranny in our society under comforting pseudonyms,
or allow it to flourish on cowardly and sly justifications. Let us call
a tyrant a tyrant. George W. Bush and significant portions of the GOP
leadership, as well as its rank and file, are acting in a tyrannical
fashion. Only by opposing that behavior and calling it by its proper
name can we stop such behavior.

Paul Woodruff, the Professor of Ethics and American Society at the
University of Texas at Austin, provides a symptomology of tyranny in
his book “First Democracy: The Challenge of an Ancient Idea”. Dr.
Woodruff identifies the key features of that disease to which democracy
is subject that the Greek originators of democracy most feared:
tyranny.

Most people immediately think of a single person when they think of
tyranny, but the majority in a democracy can also be tyrannical.
Tyranny comes in degrees, and even a little tyrannical behavior can
have far-reaching and terrible consequences. Here are the ways one
recognizes a tyrant:

1)    A tyrant is afraid of losing his position, and his decisions are affected by this fear.

Bush’s entire Presidency has been dominated to an unprecedented extent by the need to perpetuate political power. Tellingly, Karl Rove ran both the political and policy aspects of this Administration until his recent surrender of his policy portfolio. Paul? DeIullio reported in his article ‘The Mayberry Machiavellians’ the complete absence of any policy formation process in the White House outside of purely political considerations. Bush’s clique has been in such fear to retain what is widely regarded as his illegitimate, stolen office from day one, that his fear of losing power has affected every policy decision of his Presidency, as expressed so clearly in his campaign architect’s complete control of policy. Bush Presidency has been consumed by the perpetual political campaign out of a persistent fear of losing his grip on power.

2)    A tyrant rises above the rule of law, though he may give lip service to the law.

There is no question, even among the staunchest of conservatives, that this President has transgressed the rule of law many times. His Administration still makes barely plausible arguments that Bush remains within the ambit of the law and the Constitution, but such arguments are truly no more than lip service to the idea of the rule of law. From detaining American citizens without habeas corpus rights, permanent imprisonment, torture, and extra-judicial executions in secret prisons of ‘terrorist suspects’, the wholesale surveillance without warrant of Americans’ communications, to the unprovoked and unsanctioned warfare on Iraq, this President has proven time and again that he does not feel bound by the rule of law. This Administration’s widely bruited opinion is that expressed by the Nixon Administration, if the President does it, it’s legal: no philosophy of Presidential authority could be more destructive to the rule of law, nor embody so perfectly the ascendancy of the tyrant’s will to power.

3)    A tyrant does not accept criticism.

Seldom in American history has there been such a concerted effort to deligitimize criticism of a President and his policies by his partisans. Not only does Bush prevent any criticism from reaching him personally by such tyrannical methods such as creating ‘free speech zones’ out of sight of himself and cameras, and vetting public meeting participants for ideological correctness, but also he and his partisans tend to characterize any criticism of their policies as pathological or unpatriotic. Bush is so insistent in not allowing criticism of himself and his policies, he even refuses to criticize himself in hindsight. Any dissent within his Administration and Party is brutally quashed and any critics are personally maligned. Consultation with outside expertise doesn’t occur, or is treated simply as PR window dressing, not an actual exchange of views. Course corrections and admissions of mistakes or failure is not allowed. Even when the Administration changes their policy, they spin it as merely a continuation or evolution of existent policy and deny there has been a significant change: any change would be an admission of failure and invite the possibility of criticism.

4)    A tyrant cannot be called to account for his actions.

No impartial inquiry is allowed into the details of this President’s many failures on both international and domestic policy fronts. The only exception has been the numerous criminal inquiries which the ruling clique has been unable to head off or subvert. The very idea of merely censuring the President for his role in clear violations of the law is treated as treasonous by the party in power. The Republicans are actually running in the mid-term Congressional elections on the rallying cry that if the Democrats take power that impeachment inquiries will be held. Nothing could be a greater anathema to the supporters of this Administration and this President than accountability for his actions in office and every attempt will be made to prevent such accountability.

5)    A tyrant does not listen to advice from those who do not curry favor with him, even though  they may be his friends.

Reports of the social environment that Bush has created within the White House describe a President shut off from any bad news, and who refuses to even hear dissenting points of view or criticism from his advisors. The inner circle of Bush’s advisors tells him only what he wants to hear and thereby stay within the charmed circle of power. He won’t even read the newspapers and seems truly shocked when anyone offers anything less than sycophantic praise for him. Seldom has an American President been so thoroughly, and dangerously, isolated from unfiltered reality and contrary views.

6)    A tyrant tries to prevent those who disagree with him from participating in politics.

This is perhaps the most alarming aspect of the Bush Presidency and the modern GOP in general: their feeling that opposition is illegitimate and therefore that they are justified in suppressing any participation in the democratic process by opponents, whether that participation be at the ballot box or in the workings of Congress. The efforts of the GOP and the President’s partisans to suppress and exclude likely opposition voters from the democratic process is well-documented and accounts for his electoral victories in both his Presidential elections, both of which saw him prevail by suppressing the will of the electorate.

Dirty tricks were used to systemically purge opposition voters from the registration rolls, deny them access to polling places, intimidate them with legal consequences, mislead, misinform, and disadvantage them to prevent their legitimate participation in the democratic processes. These well-documented manipulations are shameful, often criminal, and always deeply tyrannical.

The GOP caucus in Congress, especially in the House, but increasingly in the Senate, too, has shut out the opposition, and even dissenting members of their own party, from the process of legislation. The concentration of power within Congress by the GOP is unprecedented and deeply undemocratic. The GOP has used its majority to systematically purge the opposition from all positions of influence and to manipulate long-held institutional traditions to shut out any possible participation in decision-making by the minority. The result is tyranny by the majority, wide-spread resentment and anger, and the danger of a backlash that could start a dangerous cycle of retaliation for such institutional transgressions.

The President has infamously used the same tactics in the bureaucracy of the Executive branch to stifle inconvenient information, punish dissenters, and pervert the administrative processes to favor his chosen policies. The President and his party are systematically trying to exclude a large plurality of the population from participation in all levels of the federal government; to make large segments of the populace powerless is the surest hallmark of tyranny. These tyrannical tactics are now spreading to the states and local governments by GOP partisans aping the national political culture of tyranny this president and the national GOP leadership have created. For example, the Arizona state legislature is increasingly marked by such tyrannical behavior, and only a strong opposition Governor has checked its worst excesses.

The verdict is in. This President, and much of the party he leads, have ruled as tyrants and are destroying Americans’ freedoms and rights. We must take back Congress and make the GOP’s worst fears come true: we must hold power accountable as the Constitution provides, by the oversight, investigation, and impeachment powers of Congress. In doing so, however, we musn’t tolerate tyrannical behavior by our own Representatives. We must restore an open and transparent process that welcomes and values the participation of even those we vehemently disagree with. We have to scrap the anti-democratic practices of the GOP majority and restore Congress as the convocation of all the people. Only through fairness, clemency, and scrupulous adherence to the rule of law can we end the cycle of recrimination and extremism that threatens to enshrine the practices of tyranny in place of our democracy.