And now accusing Bush of wanting to be Emporer of America.

We all know this is patently ridiculous, of course, since we have sworn fealty to Emporer Misha I.

Some nice observations from McDermott, who apparently proves that men really ARE from Mars:

"This president is trying to bring to himself all the power to become an emperor � to create Empire America," he said.

See already mentioned problem with this hypothesis. Man, is Emporer Misha is going to be pissed.

"And what we are dealing with right now in this country is whether we are having a kind of bloodless, silent coup or not,"

Er, aren't coups typically used to overthrow the people in power? Can those in power actually participate in a silent, bloodless coup against themselves? And, if Bush's coup against Bush is successful, isn't that what McDermott wants? Or, is McDermott saying that HE is involved in a silent, bloodless coup attempt against Bush? If this is the case, isn't trying to overthrow the lawful government of the US sort of, um, treason?

"One of the dilemmas we've had since 9/11 is that this country has been continuously terrorized by the government," McDermott said. "Every week they announce a new threat. 'Today is a code orange.' 'Today is a code red.'

Now, I'm not in a big fan of the "color coded terror alerts" by any stretch of the imagination, but this is major league hyperbole. Is McDermott saying that the government is using their alerts just to terrorize the citizens of the US? I suppose the shootings in the DC area and the al-Qaeda cells arrested in Oregon and New York are just more Bush administration terrorism. What loaded speech: continuously terrorized by the government.

"Granted it was an awful day. It was a heinous act. Nobody has anything but horror over what happened that day.

"But the message to draw from that day is not that we should suddenly go to war with the whole world, which is what the president is saying."

Ahhhh, what sanctimonious drivel. This administration has gone out of its way to build a coalition and garner support for what it believes is the appropriate action to keep this country safe. And Baghdad Jim discounts all of that in 1 sentence, and accuses Bush of trying to start World War III. And don't you love how there is a "but" after "granted it was an awful day"?

"It is the oldest game in the book," he said. "They found this war very convenient to obscure people's views about what is happening domestically."

Now this is a smart move by McDermott. May as well adopt Schroeder's party line now. Who knows, maybe he can get a job as Germany's Minister of Anti-Americanism if he gets booted out of office in the US.

"We knew there was no point in getting into a situation where we're shaking hands and smiling with somebody we don't really think is doing the right thing by the country or the world, and we knew that message would get to him."

And what message would that be? That there are some people in the US willing to be cheap shills for any Government, no matter how brutally repressive it might be, if they get to take potshots at America (oh, excuse me, at a Republican Governed America, that is).

And the most telling part of the entire article?

Inside the crowd was heavily in favor of McDermott's view. When opponents took a microphone to talk, they were shouted at and told to get to their question. Supporters, though, were able to talk uninterrupted and give anti-war speeches.

Typical. Disagree with a liberal and it is suppression of consent. If a liberal disagrees with you, then any tactic or hateful speech is OK.

UPDATE:

I wonder how comfortable McDermott feels being on the same page as this guy?