Bob Herbert is dead on the money here, and to his analysis I would add that this is not a partisan issue. What Bush is doing is not only incompatible with traditional American conservative principles, it is the precise opposite of what Republican conservatives have stood for as long as there has been a Republican party.

What would the American Right be saying about these kinds of presidential actions if they were being executed not by Bush, but by Bill Clinton? Hint – step back in time a few short years and remember, if you would, some of the hellraising you heard from conservatives over Ruby Ridge and Waco. What is being done by this administration is 100 times worse in every way you can imagine. Had Janet Reno proposed some of the oppressive Big Brotherism we’ve seen out of Ashcroft and Gonzales I assure you that “Nazi” would have been one of the kinder words you’d have heard describing her.