The Blogging of the President: Bush's "credulability" is eroding

Stirling Newbery, truly a national treasure, notes that Bush's "credulability" is eroding. Yes, indeed, it is . . . it certainly is.



The Blogging of the President: "The domestic spying revelations are everywhere, and rightfully so. It is one step closer to the 'Gestapo Line', that invisible division between American's believing that Bush is dealing with an extraordinary crisis. and believing that there has been an unconstitutional usurpation of our liberties. But to convince them, it requires two important perceptions be established. The first is a long train of abuses and failures, which, added together, erode Bush's credulability in the eyes of the American public.



"The second is a single example which is so vivid that even the most dedicated of right wing apologists cannot get it out of their eyes. An example that stands starkly beyond the range of acceptability. At that point, we will have crossed the Gestapo Line, and suddenly comparisons to the the most wicked regimes of the past will no longer seem specious, hyperbolic or fatuous excess, but dark warnings.





"There are three parts to this reality, the first is the obvious: that there is a moral case, not merely for ending Bush's ability to damage America, her reputation and her people, but for branding his reign as one of illegal excess that is not to be repeated. The second, flowing from the first, is the political case for ending Bush's power and position. As more people realize that no President has been given more power and achieved fewer results, that his tenure in the White House has been the most corrupt since Warren G Harding's, that he has created a government which is vast, loose and out of control - the pressure to send a signal, to ourselves and to the world will grow. This political case includes the already visible signs of public support for impeachment - currently at 32%, nearly what it was for Clinton at the very height of the trial in the Senate.



"The final piece is, of course, a legal case, that is, a way to get from here to there. "



I think his analysis is basically correct, though his optimism about the prospect of a criminal investigation to bring Bush down is unjustified.



The Democrats will need to take control of at least one house of Congress, before a serious investigation becomes a live possibility. Maybe, even then, Bush will be able to tuff it out, having Alito on the Supreme Court to approve any outrage.



Seriously, though, what the country needs is the Capone "out" -- a "sin" that the conservatives nutjobs recognize as an unpardonable outrage and involves no political controversy. A bit of corruption or rank incompetence, which the American people find unforgiveable.