David Alan Black 

In an essay entitled “A Bush-Neocon Parting of the Ways?” published today at Antiwar.com, Patrick Buchanan holds out hope that President Bush will see the light and separate himself from his neocon advisers in his second term.

Don’t hold your breath, Pat.

To say that there is a crisis of credibility in the Bush White House is to dangerously understate the problem. Whether the issue is sodomy, abortion, the war in Iraq, the Federal Marriage Amendment, Homeland Security, or the Bush record in general, weeping and repentance is the only faithful response to the scandalous, unconstitutional disobedience that characterizes the halls of our federal government.

While President Kennedy took personal responsibility for the Bay of Pigs disaster, even though he could have blamed the problem on the intelligence community, it seems unlikely that Bush will ever assume responsibility for the intelligence fiasco prior to invading Iraq. The growth of militarism during the Bush presidency is simply incredible. Our nation’s Founders refused to place war-making power in the hands of a single individual, yet today this all-important constitutional guarantee against militarism has been lost. The power to decide for war or peace has been moved from the Capitol to the White House. As I have written elsewhere:

It seems that the present leadership in the White House is guilty of militarism to a shocking degree, and unless Christians shake off their apathy, a creeping pro-militaristic spirit may soon become totalitarianism. Expanding the war in the Middle East is not beyond the president's aspirations, and a huge and well-funded propaganda machine centered in Washington will undoubtedly continue to put pressure on the American people to support the administration's military ambitions. Unless we guard against this unwarranted influence of the military-industrial complex – and an unwarranted “trust” in the president – the potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power will only persist and increase.

Big Brother will certainly do all in its power to keep committed believers from rocking the political boat, despite their constitutional protections. The neocons in power will continue to advise, “Give in on principle, but hold on to office.” The gatekeepers of society – the four networks, the wire services, and the major newspaper publishers – will strive to maintain their stranglehold on the news.

Meanwhile, George W. Bush should frighten us. His policies are no better than John Kerry’s. He will continue to exploit the pro-life movement for his own self-aggrandizement, and America will continue to “Slouch towards Gomorrah” (as Robert Bork recently put it).

The Lord whom we claim to love and serve stands at the door of the evangelical church and knocks. He longs to turn our weeping into joy. But He will not enter unless He is invited in. I urge all DBO readers to pray for the president. George Bush, like so many of our politicians, is caught up in the climate of compromise, the stupor of appeasement. But our Lord would have us either boiling hot or cold but not lukewarm.