Referring to President G. W. Bush's new Homeland Security department, former President Bill Clinton told a gathering of Council on Foreign Relations members last week, "We have been building this for a long time." For once, Clinton told the truth. What he began constructing following the Oklahoma City bombing, Bush has succeeded in bringing to fruition. America is about to have its very own Gestapo.
If Al Gore were president today, Republicans in Congress would no doubt rise in righteous indignation to quickly kill such a plan. However, with a fellow Republican in the White House, all such opposition has vanished. The bottom line is Bush is pursuing Clinton's agenda and getting a free pass.
Consider this: Bush has already issued 57 executive orders and has already created 47 new federal agencies. His Justice Department has declared that U.S. citizens, whom it declares to be "Enemy Combatants," have no constitutional rights - none. Such people do not even have the fundamental right of legal representation.
Georgetown University law professor David Cole rightly said, "This is really an astounding assertion of authority. It's not just that you have no right to a lawyer, it's that you have no right to even have a hearing. If this is true, then there is really no limit to the President's power to label U.S. citizens as bad people and then have them held in military custody indefinitely."
Furthermore, Bush now says he has the right to initiate first strike attacks on any nation or people at (his) will. Imagine how future history will record America launching its own versions of Pearl Harbor.
Bill Clinton received more good news from the Bush White House. Just yesterday, he learned that Attorney General John Ashcroft is ready to permanently close the government's investigations into Clinton's criminal activities. In other words, President Bush has declared that Bill and Hillary Clinton are above the law.
Beyond that, Bush's support for liberal policies on things such as the federalization of airport security, proposed amnesty for illegal aliens, a boost in funding for Clinton's AmeriCorps program, a worst-ever education bill, and a constitutionally-challenged campaign finance reform bill simply reveal Bush's perpetual propensity to continue Clinton-style government.
In spite of Bush's dismal record, he continues to receive the support and approbation of conservatives, pastors, and Republicans throughout the country. If Clinton would have known that a Bush administration would be this successful in promoting his policies and programs, he would have supported Bush and not Gore in the 2000 election. Maybe he did.
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