George Bush is exactly where he wants to be. He's done everything he set out to do with some minor exceptions, all the while lining the pockets of his crony comrades.

His legacy is cemented among his core winger base and the money keeps flowing.

George Bush sleeps soundly at night no matter what. Don't kid yourself at any moment that this bastard coward has a soul.

His mission is perfectly accomplished.

good people do good things

bad people do bad things

it takes religion to make good people do bad things

The GOP political agenda seems aimed at the NASCAR crowd, which considers bombs exploding and munitions fire as delightful as nasty car wrecks, and the extreme Bible thumpers, who are easy to scare the living bejeebers out of anyway. I don't see much hope for those crowds but it is good to see the rest of the country finally wising up.

Has it ever occured to you that bush and cheney are SOCIOPATHS? Personally, as a katrina evacuee/survivor I have first hand knowledge that my government doesn't give a FUCK about ME. But then again, isn't that what we look for in leaders these days. Or, maybe bush wasn't EVEN ELECTED. Hmmmm....

You give Bush too much credit. Although his people have scripted him to speak in simplistic jargon of good vs. evil, what really drives this awful human is unabashed pride and hubris. Backing down or admitting error are not concepts that he will entertain, because in his neanderthal mind, that would make him some sort of sissy. To legitimize Bush's many errors with the patina of morality/religion is a disservice to morality/religion.

Glenn Greenwald posts regularly and frequently here at Salon, and does so clearly, insightfully and piercingly about the Neo-cons and the corporate media. The content of his writing and the commentary on his articles are some of the best reading on the internet, and certainly so in the general, bound and gagged, political discourse in the USA. In these strange and horrific times, he stands out in his courageous and exacting lucidity.

Glenn, thank you so much for your passion and integrity. We need you to do just what you are doing. May you thrive, and may we all take heed. (And, may you sell lots and lots of books.... ;)

Even if the responses to this excerpt, so far, have dwelt upon the seeming hopelessness of our current condition (a plague here at Salon), what is set forth here by Greenwald is of absolute consequence and utter importance, all name-calling and end-of-the-world nattering aside. What we are hearing here, maybe for the first time, is a truly elegant and eloquent elaboration on the single most stirring and succinct statement in the record of American history: Patrick Henry's absolute: "Give me liberty or give me death."

I always thought this concept was a simple one. I thank Glenn Greenwald for explicating it and illuminating why it is not simple, even as we begin to wake from a national fugue state during which we have spent many of our best and brightest and sold our national honor while quivering in our all-American cowboy boots and Birkenstocks.

Good vs. evil has never had a good outcome, and now we have to deal with that paradox. Perhaps we have come, as a people and a nation, full-circle and are preparing for a rebirth. If so, Glenn Greenwald will have been part of the clarion call.

Amen, sir. Well done.

Bush did not get to be president in a vacuum. He took power by pandering to a set of people who think just like he does-in terms of "good" and "evil", and that everyone else is a "traitor" if they question the moral basis of every act this administration does.

These people think in very literal terms, in a mind-set that defies change, and longs for tyranny disguised as power. These people are as dangerous and evil as the leader they so ardently revere.

Bush is their leader, and god. The rest of America is as shamed and humiliated about the abuses we have committed, but we are the minority, too.

We, the minority, are praying and waiting for the end of this horrible, corrupt and morally bankrupt presidency to end. It cannot end soon enough for most of us.

Your excerpt was excellent. Your book should be required reading for those of us who still have independent minds to think with.

Incompentancy destroyed the Bush presidency, not anything related to religion or religious values. Historians will conclude that GWB made poor strategic decisions on many levels and will probably be rated among the most ineffectual presidents along with Jimmy Carter, who by the way, was more of a religious freak than GWB ever was. Carter used to teach Sunday school while president. I don't hear any lefty types whining about that little snippet of history.

Once again, another useless article written by another useless Salon writer.

"...Imagine George Bush present during pre-founding debates over the Constitution. Is there any doubt that he or Dick Cheney or Alberto Gonzales would have argued in opposition to proposed Fourth Amendment restrictions on police powers by stressing that violent criminals can kill our children, that we must do everything to protect ourselves against Evil, and that those who favor search warrant requirements for the police are "pro-murderer"? And surely the Constitutional Convention would have been subjected to this argument: "If you're not doing anything wrong in your home, what do you have to hide from the police?"..."

________

No, the core germane question is "what do I rationally have to fear from my own authorities?"

Empirically asked and answered, over and over and over throughout history: that they will -- at BEST -- fuck up and repeatedly get it wrong, often with tragic outcomes for those victimized.

Why is this not patently obvious, and without need of tiresome re-explication?

bought into the notion that Bush is religious and that he believes in this good/evil theme that he espouses. Never. I have thought from the beginning that he is a fraud. There is no way that this immature, spoiled frat boy is seriously devout, and I say this without any great admiration for the devout (so I'm not particularly defending Christianity or religion here). The whole thing has always struck me as a charade (and didn't someone or other come out with a book to that effect? Someone within the administration who said the administration didn't actually support religious policies but used the religious masses for votes?)

I also don't think Bush is evil on the Machiavellian level. I happen to think he is first and foremost incompetent and second, relied on men who more closely resemble Machiavellian evil (Cheney, et al). "Relied on" is not quite right: "used by" is better.

I think the religious, good/evil thing is a costume that seemed to fit very nicely in terms of "audience" popularity, and so maybe has sort of become true in a way that it wasn't to begin with.

Anyway, Glenn, uncomfortable though I am playing the groupie, I think you're the greatest. All the best with your book.

PS To the person who brought up Jimmy Carter's religion: This supports my point exactly; do you or does ANYONE actually think the piety of these two men is the same? Whatever you think of Carter's politics or policies, do you doubt his religious sincerity? I think not. He is genuinely devout to the core (and perhaps deserving of the scrutiny that you demand, for that reason), but the smug GWBush is simply no comparison in terms of apparent religious devotion. He is a fraud, and his smirk is the giveaway.