Apparently, the Bush Administration has learned nothing from Hurricane Katrina. I had some hope early on that this failure of theirs would stir a hurricane of its own. But after recent revelations that the President has ordered illegal spying — something which even stirred both houses of Congress to finally try to limit his power a little bit — but which did nothing, apparently, to upset the American public…well, that hope is gone.

It’s really fairly puzzling. Previously, a man was said to have received a blowjob in the Oval Office. That man — President Clinton — was married. Now, as we all know, all married men, when confronted with the idea that they cheated on their wives, tell the truth. None of them ever lie. After all, that just wouldn’t be right. So, naturally, when the President was asked about whether he had had an affair with Monica Lewinsky, he…oh, he lied. And because he lied, the party that had dogged him for at least eight years, trying to do anything they could to drive him out of office, moved to have him impeached. And it worked, sort of. He was impeached by the House of Representatives.

Now most Americans won’t know this, but after the impeachment by the House, the ball moved to the Senate, which, under those parts of our Constitution which are still observed, requires that the trial be held there. And, at that point, the impeachment failed. Clinton remained in office.

But the American public was apparently fully behind the idea of impeaching this man, who lied about having an affair. Because, as I already pointed out, the idea that anyone — especially a President! — would lie about having sex with someone other than his wife was just incomprehensible and unacceptable. No man would do that!

And then along comes a President who, near as we can tell, lies constantly. He lied to get Americans to send their children to die in a foreign country. Our brave soldiers, meant to be used primarily to protect our once-great nation, deserve to be honored. But like Monica Lewinsky, they’ve been mis-used. The only difference is that, so far as anyone knows, Lewinsky did not take it in the ass.

In addition to lying, our President has ignored the Constitution of the United States. He has certain powers and abilities already granted to him — the secret court (which, frankly, is itself contrary to constitutional principles), though, was not good enough. Our President figured he shouldn’t even have to do that much to obtain warrants and satisfy the constitutional requirements of the Fourth Amendment. And with these actions, the President of the United States has made our Constitution almost equal to the Constitution of the Russian Federation. I say “almost” because while neither Constitution is honored by its respective government anymore, the Russian Constitution at least promises more than ours. One day, if ever a new set of revolutions sweeps the world and some newly-formed free republics are looking for a Constitution on which to try to build their own, they would do well to read the Russian Constitution. Of course, then they’d be stuck trying to honor it.

And people in power seldom wish to do that.

Bush’s power grab has not been limited to ignoring the Constitution of the United States, however. He has ignored Congress — where the will of the people actually resides — and chosen repeatedly to go his own way, even when members of his own party have disagreed with him. (This is perhaps the strongest evidence yet that what I’ve argued repeatedly in the past is true: Bush and his cronies hold the presidency for one purpose. And that purpose is to make themselves more money and to have the power to do whatever they want, so long as they think it will benefit them. He is the world’s truest evil dictator in that sense. If christianity were true, Bush would get my vote for “Most Likely to Become the Anti-Christ and Rule the World for the Dispensationalists’ 1000-year Reign of Evil.”)

The latest instance occurred when both houses of Congress balked at his appointment of Julie L. Meyers, a White House official, as head of the bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

When Mr. Bush nominated Ms. Myers last year, Democratic and Republican senators raised concerns about her lack of experience, and her Senate confirmation appeared to be in doubt. — Rachel L. Swarns, “Democrats Criticize Appointment at Immigration Agency” (January 8, 2006) The New York Times.

In spite of this, the President used a move he has used before to get around Congress: He appointed Meyers during the current Senate recess.

Congressmen, naturally, aren’t too happy about this. But Republicans, at least, aren’t going to raise too much of a stink about it.

“It was disappointing to her that the White House circumvented the normal nomination process,” said Jen Burita, a spokeswoman for Ms. Collins [the Republican Senator from Maine]. — Rachel L. Swarns, “Democrats Criticize Appointment at Immigration Agency” (January 8, 2006) The New York Times.

Likewise, Republican Senator from Ohio said,

Though I would have preferred that Ms. Myers had more management experience, as a former mayor and governor, I feel strongly that managers should have the flexibility to hire their own team, and then be held accountable for the results. — Rachel L. Swarns, “Democrats Criticize Appointment at Immigration Agency” (January 8, 2006) The New York Times.

Of course, the whole problem here is that the President is not being held accountable. Katrina proves that. Sure, his approval raitings “plummet” for a few weeks and he usually has to “regretfully accept” the resignation of a friend whom he has already helped make rich. But nothing more.

Neither, anymore, are our other elected officials — the Representatives and Senators — held accountable for allowing the President to transform our constitutional Republic into a Dictatorship.

And, frankly, “Americans,” there is no one to blame but you.

In the end, I guess, I was wrong. The President has learned something from Katrina. He has learned that the pain for his abuse of the United States will not be felt by him.

It is we who have not yet learned.