In Beltway world, the Brookings Institution is a "liberal" think tank. When it comes to foreign policy and civil liberties, these are three of its most consequential contributions over the last several years: (1) the invasion and ongoing occupation of Iraq, in the form of Ken Pollack and Michael O'Hanlon (working in tandem, as usual, with the ultra-neoconservative American Enterprise Institute); (2) unquestioning devotion to Israel's right-wing policies, in the form of major funder Haim Saban ("I'm a one-issue guy and my issue is Israel . . . . On the issues of security and terrorism I am a total hawk"); and (3) indefinite, preventive detention with no charges or trial in the form Benjamin Wittes (with his close associate, Bush OLC lawyer Jack Goldsmith), who also serves at the right-wing Hoover Institution and writes for The Weekly Standard. Only in Washington would such a group be deemed anything other than extremist.Well, that goes to explain why actual conservatives hate these Radical Hard Leftist WingNuts....
Such is the preening conceit of Brookings that they bequeath their website with an ".edu" suffix. That's because these are not mere political advocates. They are "scholars." Just ask them and they'll tell you that themselves (even if their backgrounds (.pdf) don't exactly support such lofty claims).
[ cf Should a Brookings "expert" know what the presidential oath says? ]
Why is it that wingNut liberals forget that the pledge is to preserve, protect, and defend the United States Constitution - it is not about protecting whining snivelling liberal weasels like the Gnewtster and the rest of the fear mongering klique of wankers who believe that only the Massive Great Leader can protect them....
Oh dear - what if the executive did not have some majikal extra-constitutional right to be El Supremo, let alone El Nebuloso!!!
What if just because some moistened bint lobbed a scimitar were not in itself a sufficiency for Being The Grand Supreme Executive!
strange women lyin' in ponds distributin' swords is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony.But enough before the liberals start whining about how they are being repressed, and the violence inherent in the system....
( cf Quotes