Monkey See, Monkey Do

Frank Rich points out how Pres. Musharaf mimics the actions of G.W. Bush in an op-ed in todays NYT.

Even if Mr. Bush had the guts to condemn General Musharraf, there is no longer any moral high ground left for him to stand on. Quite the contrary. Rather than set a democratic example, our president has instead served as a model of unconstitutional behavior, eagerly emulated by his Pakistani acolyte.

Rich goes on to point out that the current crop of Presidential candidates don't appear to want to change things much.

This is most apparent in the Republican presidential race, where most of the candidates seem to be running for dictator and make no apologies for it. They’re falling over each other to expand Gitmo, see who can promise the most torture and abridge the largest number of constitutional rights.

Democratic Senators Senators Diane Feinstein and Chuck Schumer haven't been much better with their recent vote to support an Attorney General that cannot decide whether waterboarding is torture or not. Rich ends his op-ed with a very, very sad sentence.

Americans know that the ideals that once set our nation apart from the world have been vandalized, and no matter which party they belong to, they do not see a restoration anytime soon.