SYNDROME  (CONT)

punishment. For having said the Iraq war is illegal, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has been the object of savage attacks by Republicans led by the "moderate" Senator Norm Coleman of Minnesota. Although for now the administration has decided to give Annan lukewarm support - probably because it needs the UN to function smoothly over the next two years so it can help stabilize Iraq and Afghanistan - this has not stopped GOP politicians like Coleman from calling for Annan's head. Should Annan cease being indispensable to administration efforts to legitimize its interventions, Bush is likely to change his tune.

The Schiavo case, for its part, raised the profile of an old target for the Republican right: the federal judiciary. A whole litany of GOP stalwarts, including Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum and House Majority Leader Tom Delay, have skewered the judges involved in the Schiavo case. Some Republicans even have threatened to punish the judicial branch through funding cuts and other means.

This time, Bush and his Republican allies were denied. But the Bush administration's preference for believing in and acting upon its own ideologically driven delusions over reality has already produced disastrous consequences in the form of war and massive Iraqi and American casualties. More tragedy is sure to follow if Bush is allowed to implement his domestic and international agenda during the second term.

But that outcome is not inevitable. For all of the administration's puissance, the case of Annan and the brave federal judges who in the Schiavo case stood up to demagoguery are only two of many examples of those who have said "No!" to Bush's multiple abuses of power. The number, courage, and influence of those who resist can only grow with the latest Republican transgression against common sense and common decency.

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