Andrew Sullivan on Bush and the Rule of Law

Andrew Sullivan sees the Libby sentence commutation as just the latest in a long string of Bush Administration disdain for and abuse of the Rule of Law. Sullivan writes:

We now have a clear and simple illustration of the arrogance of this president. Tell the American people the core narrative of this monarchical presidency: this president believes he is above the law in wiretapping citizens with no court oversight; he has innovated an explosive use of signing statements to declare himself above the law on a bewildering array of other matters, large and small; he has unilaterally declared himself above American law, international law, and U.N. Treaty obligations in secretly authorizing torture; he has claimed the right to seize anyone in the United States, detain them indefinitely without trial and torture them; his vice-president refuses to abide by the law that mandates securing classified documents; and when a court of law finds a friend of the president's guilty, he commutes the sentence.

People with any shred of conscience know the game. And it ain't likely to play too well in Peoria. In fact, as Sullivan also points out, it already isn't.