This Anniversary

All it really does anymore is piss me off, because it makes me think of the rampant lawlessness that those 19 angry Arabs unleashed on this country. In my opinion, they enabled far more damage--to the rule of law and constitutionalism--than they inflicted themselves.

In fact, that's one of the few things that truly offends me about the last 8 years. I disagree with most of the Bush administration's policies, but those are just opinions that reasonable people can disagree on. But their disregard for the basic constitutional precepts (accountability, checks and balances, and transparency in government, among others) that have kept us free for 200 years is far beyond the pale. I took an oath when I joined the Army to defend that scrap of parchment, goddamnit. And the President, whose orders I also swore to obey, has been the primary architect of dismantling it.