Oh boy! If you haven't seen this article in today's New York Sun (a paper that I read regularly but by fluke did not pick up today), check it out. At the annual meeting of the American Constitution Society, Judge Guido Calabresi of the Second Circuit compared George W. Bush's ascendency to the presidency to that of Mussolini and Hitler.

Now, of course, the Judge was not comparing Bush to Hitler; he specifically said he was not. He was merely pointing out that those politicians who are put into power without winning an election sometimes try to "exercise much power," which might be a legitimate complaint against the current officeholder. But one would expect a little more tact from an Article III judge. And I'm saying this from the prospective of a Democrat who often refers to Bush as The Usurper.

How long do you think it will it take the rightwingers to call for the impeachment of the Judge? Especially since the Judge also said that Bush should be expelled from office, claiming that this view was based not on politics, but "the structural reassertion of democracy." Hmmm. I think I hear knives being sharpened at this very moment on Capitol Hill.

At any rate, thanks to Howard Bashman of How Appealing for cluing me in to this story. Eugene Volokh has this to say about the Judge's statement. The Curmudegeonly Clerk has this to say.