"We are a nation of laws, not of men."

Surely you've heard this epithet uttered often by American political leaders. It's suggested whenever there is a temptation to put a popular personality above the law, to forgive and forget. We prosecute those who break the law, it says, regardless of who they are. Our current President has in fact uttered these very words in the past. "We are a nation of laws, not of men."

This is obviously no longer the case. We are now a nation of men, not of laws. Now, before and above considerations of law, we must consider the personalities and relationships involved.

Bankers commit fraud on the American public and perjure themselves before Congress: rather that prosecute, we must forgive them, lest our country suffer more.

Government officials promote and justify rampant illegality. But rather than bring them to answer for their violations, we must put it behind us and heal.

Soldiers murder, torture, and rape. But because depictions of their actions may enrage their victims, we must hide that evidence.

Really: it's all about Americans being able to look at themselves in the mirror. Since we can't do that honestly any more, we must now hide our ugly blemishes and stare into the looking glass, pretending that we remain just as beautiful as we never were.

You've outed yourself again, Elephantman: racists never fail to blame a black man for their own failings.

As you were no doubt fond of saying circa 2001 (and in 2005): Your guy lost. Stop whining. Get over it. Etc.

We are all frogs trapped in a pan of water that is slowly being brought to a boil.

You can't reach loonies. You just can't. "Maybe Cheney should speak," 'libertyaintfree' says. What liberty' misses is: thats fine with anyone who opposes the GOP. Cheney speaks, and fewer people vote Republican.

'Liberty' is so loony in fact that he forgets who the VP was for 8 years while the government overspent, which office submitted the budget, which one demanded no cuts. Loonies like 'liberty' forget that Bush and Cheney ran the country; they want to deflect blame from their chosen idols, now that the corruption, venality and incompetence are plainly visible.

I'm one Republican who is all for putting a sock in Cheney's mouth, insisting that he retire quietly and with grace, in the same manner that previous VPs have done. Of course, Cheney has no grace, but is instead an obsessive and vindictive tyrant who is exhibiting signs of probable senile dementia.

I'm a Republican in favor of attracting voters back to the GOP by returning to the party's classic concerns: reducing government size and spending, guaranteeing individual liberties, and encouraging free enterprise in America.

Cheney opposes all those things. I don't know why he even became a Republican in the first place, as he has never in his life agreed with those ideals. He doesn't even express classic American ideals now, but instead seems to be the mouthpiece of some banana republic dictatorship. With his demented, sadistic obsession with justifying torture and his coddling of international criminals and religious fanatics, Dick Cheney is the worst thing to happen to the party in all its history; he purloins and poisons the legacy of Ronald Reagan.

I'd like to see the loonies out of my party - they can go vote Libertarian or whatever local "Constitutional Party" the loonies of their state have created. George Bush Senior once privately lamented the deal he had cut with Pat Robertson, which allowed all these quasi-religious quasi-fascists to gain prominence in the party. Better to have wandered in the wilderness a few years than to have taken up an alliance with people who hate liberty, justice, and the American Way.

"Is it getting hot in here?" one frog asked the other.

"It is," the other frog answered. "But it's a dry heat."

"Dry heat? We're in a pot of water!"

The other frog nodded sagely. "Yes, but the water was already warm when we got in. It's still heating up from that. It will cool down soon."

Minutes later, the frog asked again: "Is it getting warmer?"

"Quiet," the other frog replied. "If they know you notice, they'll turn the heat up higher and we'll die faster."

"But dude," the first frog said. "We're going to die in here!"

The other frog shrugged. "Maybe not. Maybe the weather will change. Maybe it will rain and cool water will fall on us and save us."

What kind of a country commits brutal crimes and then insists that they can't be burdened with disclosure and accountability because they're too busy or because it's too burdensome?

I think you know what kind of country does that. I think anyone with even a middling knowledge of 20th century history knows the answer. I also think it's an answer that not many Americans - yourself included, Glenn - want to admit. But it's true, sadly, tragically.

This is what fascism looks like.

Glenn Reynolds forgot about that one. A joke is a joke. I didn't like W, but he was a funny bastard sometimes.

Once you accept that the United States is a fascist nation, it all makes sense. Every move Obama makes. Every time he seems to parrot Bush-Cheney. When you accept that this is country has become a nationalist nightmare, where now the left-like citizens who opposed Bush argue and apologize for the same actions under a different leader, where violence and warfare are not only seen as solutions but are also the backbone and predominant product of the national economy, where laws no longer matter, then it all makes sense. All the pieces fall into place.

This is what fascism looks like.

Barack Obama.

I have seen the future, and it is Gitmo. We're all in it together.