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Like you, Glenn I am gobsmacked despite myself. This is obviously the real foundation of the world views of the neocons. As obvious as that fact is, it is still astounding when someone says it out loud, and even more so when that someone is a Harvard professor of government.
But perhaps the most puzzling thing is why at this late date -- when the incompetence and venality of George Bush is so manifest, and the consequences of the unleashing of his id are so devastating -- Mansfield chooses this moment to reveal his explicit, unambiguous opposition to the Constitution. It suggests that the "exigent circumstances" justification is a mere convenience, and that fascism is not merely a must-be-tolerated evil, but the goal to me maximized.
I have been warned off pathologizing right wing politics many times. But it is hard to imagine any other way to make sense of what Mansfield says. If the neocons want this Prince now, it is hard to imagine the circumstance in which they would tolerate adherence to Constitutional restraints.
