The surge is on

Republic

1.

a. A political order whose head of state is not a monarch and in modern times is usually a president.

b. A nation that has such a political order.

2.

a. A political order in which the supreme power lies in a body of citizens who are entitled to vote for officers and representatives responsible to them.

b. A nation that has such a political order.

What is the difference between a monarch and a president? That’s a question you have to answer before deciding where the USA is in the scheme of things. A monarch in the European tradition, has been described as being so Dei gratia, or by the will of God. In other words he listens to a “higher father” and takes the will of the people into account only if he feels like it. A president, on the other hand will have a constitution and body of laws he not only shares the obligation to obey with the people but is often sworn to uphold and protect against attempts to ignore or override.

In a Republic, as the supreme power is vested in the people, it would therefore be contrary to the usual model for a president to persist in stifling and ignoring the will of the people and not only failing to protect the constitution but weakening it by fiat.

It is becoming increasingly difficult to call the United States of America a Republic. Our current president has asserted that although the power to declare war is vested in the congress alone, he will conduct and continue to conduct wars when and where and for as long as he wishes despite what the will of the people as expressed through that congress might be. It is becoming difficult to call George W. Bush a president.

In a clip uploaded to the CBS News web site Friday night of a 60 Minutes interview which will air tomorrow, Bush is asked whether he has the right to ignore congress if they forbid him to escalate troop levels in Iraq.

"I think I've got, in this situation, I do, yeah. Now I fully understand they will, they could try to stop me from doing it, but, uh, I've made my decision and we're going forward."

Thus proclaims the monarch of America.

Impeachment

To charge (a public official) with improper conduct in office before a proper tribunal.