The Daily Background

As even the most impartial observers have noted, President Bush’s view of executive power is markedly far-reaching, and beyond that of most presidents before him. Although how often his Administration breaks the law in over-reaching its bounds is disputed, what is indisputable is his tendency to disparage democracy in favor of dictatorship or monarchy, as he has done several times, he would say jokingly, in the past. And on Thursday, he brought it up again.

As governor of Texas in 1998, he once joked “You don’t get everything you want. A dictatorship would be a lot easier.”

Bush repeated the joke after the 2000 elections, shortly before assuming office, saying “If this were a dictatorship, it’d be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I’m the dictator.” As his approval ratings sunk in the summer after taking office, Bush again remarked “A dictatorship would be a heck of a lot easier, there’s no question about it.”

After Hurricane Katrina, Bush apparently admitted that “It’s not a dictatorship in Washington, but I tried to make it one in that instance” in speaking about his effort to make faith-based charities eligible for federal assistance.

Yesterday, upon the failure of his immigration reform package after the Senate killed it in a parliamentary vote, Bush said disappointedly “In a democracy, the head of government just can’t decree the outcome.”

This time, he was quick to add, “I’m not saying that’s what I’d like to do” as his audience laughed.

Is Bush kidding when he repeatedly says that he wishes he wanted dictatorial power? Or is there something more there? We may never know. Bob Woodward has quoted Bush as saying “I am the commander, see? I do not need to explain why I say things… I don’t feel like I owe anybody an explanation.”

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