"That we live in a country characterized by "the centralization of government power in the White House" -- exactly what the Constitution was designed to prevent -- is now so self-evident that it's not even debated or contested any longer." (GG)

Indeed, any reader of U.S. history understands right away that during TIMES OF CRISIS it has always been a natural turn of events to watch POWER float on over into the bowels of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

"The Republic" which the Fathers created from out of the distilleries of Athens, Rome & the Church of Scotland was first (& perhaps permenantly) obliterated by 'The Tyrant" King Abe who in a cascading series of fell swoops destroyed Madison's Child; clamping down on Freedom of the Press; authorizing the largest mass execution in American History (Injuns); ordering the cessation of habeus corpus; creating a Police State that sent forces into states that were pursuing their "Constitutional Right" to seceed; transforming the sleepy village of Washington into a Monster-Bureaucracy; creating the highly mechanized Military-Industrial Complex that has survived, through a layered number of moltings, to this day; and on and on and on . . . .

. . . and fer what ? ? ... to rob some farmers of their lawfully purchased 'properties' ??

Ahhhhhh ..... now there was the Rub !! ... a CRISIS, so to speak, that vested unwarranted & sweeping powers into the hands of "King Abe" ...

During other TIMES OF CRISIS, other Presidential Criminals used their un-Constitutional vigors to stir the corpses of Madison, et al in their graves ...

In the aftermath of Jack Kennedy's murder, the nation was bounded together as One. LBJ, taking advantage of The Crisis, pursued a litany of legislative measures which in other calmer times may have been called into question with regard to their constitutional validity. In 1964, and the few years that followed, no one in the Land was deemed capable of challenging the Power of Lyndon's Fortress ... his minions in the Demoratic Congress even going so far as illegally plunging the nation full force into the un-Constitutional wreckage & cemeteries of Indochina.

Amid the CRISIS of the Great Depression, the elitist millionair, Franklin Roosevelt, wheel-chair-trampled, year after year, upon The Constitutional Doormat, ... which was accelerated at full speed after December 7th. FDR idolized a fellow Democrat Criminal, Woodrow Wilson, who had engaged in the same fits of un-Constitutional malarky earlier in the century.

(FDR's mimicing of his hero Wilson was notorious ... even sporting Woody's famous pince-nez glasses ... and .... by the way ... not at all so unlike Obama's own amusing -- even weird -- play-acting of Rev. King's & JFK's speechafying mannerisms).

but ... to return to the topic at hand ...

'Centralizing Power' in the White House ought not surprise any sober citizen during Times of Crisis ... its been the natural order of operations for a good long time, regardless of the merits or evils.

Critisizing the Pelosis', Cheyneys' Hillarys' and Neo-Cons is perfectly fine with regard to how 'this' is all playing out. I voted against Bush Junior (twice) seeing him as a Jerk of First Order & one of the most Dismal Leaders we've had in Presidential history.

But to critisize the bloke for vesting power in the White House following the Twin Towers attack -- and the dozen other recent acts of terror from Spain to Indonesia -- to say nothing of the thwarted attacks e.g. coordinated mid-Atlantic Jumbo Jet Bang-Bang-Bangs, fuel-line shennaigans at Idlewild Airport, and so on - - - - is a positively Sophmoric Reading by the Author of this subject.

Were lines crossed ?? Well, ... yeah. So, hunt down the Line-Crossers & Hang Em High. But then try your very best not to attempt to portray what might better be rendered as a complex, richly textured piece of baroque art with your Black and White Crayolas.

Was Lincoln evil ?? Was Franklin Roosevelt a Fascist ?? Was LBJ a Heartless Murderer Monster ?? --

Was the Slaveholding "King Andy" Jackson, who invented the Democratic Party in order legalize Mob Rule under the auspices of running the Injuns outta town & across the Mississipi a Scion of the Party ?? --

Was Jack Kennedy who gave the nod to his Attorney General brother Bobby to illegally wiretap Martin Luther King & to the CIA to see about a rapid 'demise' (assasination) in the Cuban & Vietnamese leaderships a Genuine Thug ??

The black & white Tunnel-Vision prone author of this article apparently suffers from an ongoing chronic affliction of looking at the Problems & Situations of our World from a myopic, nose-atop-the-paper vantage.

I would simply advise that he sit back in his chair, distancing himself from the black & white print - - in order to behold that the Bigger Picture of The World is indeed an array of converging pastels.