The reality of the Warlord Presidency I have feared for many years has now come true. Indirectly President Eisenhower warned us about it in his farewell address when he spoke of the military industrial complex the warlord represents. Whether you call it Unitary, or Imperial, the absolute power of the President has become a dangerous reality. The attempt of the Founding Fathers to prevent us from enthroning a monarch has failed. Populations are inclined by some internal failing to desire a king. When the Jews demanded that God give them a king, he reluctantly agreed and made their king the tallest man, Saul. Not the wisest, not the best, just the tallest. Good kings are rare, and the majority of monarchs are bad. They may not start out that way, Saul was a decent enough fellow at first. But absolute power does corrupt, and very quickly. Just ask the people who used to think they knew Dick Cheney. No king, no matter how wise, can govern a modern society. We must govern ourselves. We have to teach our children civics and philosophy. And we have to inform ourselves and stand firm for our principles, no matter what our political inclinations are. Otherwise, our world can become a very unpleasant place to live. Even if you care nothing for your country, what about the people you love? Aren't they worth protecting? Do you want your children and grandchildren to die for corporate bottom lines? Even if you do, that will not ultimately serve your selfish interest. The ultimate success of the right wing agenda is to destroy the United States and bring about an apocalypse that would leave the crumbs of the upper crust in charge of a new world order. In such a world, where only might made right, the "winners" would soon find they are the next target. We can never fight enough wars to make ourselves safe. If we subdue the world, it would not remain our slave, even as Iraq is not willing to be our slave. Only in the pursuit of justice and peace can we find stability. But first, we have to desire justice, peace and stability. Without justice there is no peace, and without peace there can be no stability. Justice is a process, peace if the result and stability is one of the benefits. Countries ruled by warlords are interested in none of that. Carnage is their desire, injustice is the result and chaos is their legacy. Is that what we want? It is certainly what we have worked, and sacrificed to bring about.
