Destructionism on the march.

Lambert neatly describes the links in the chain that has bound the Republican Party to a path of radical destructionism...(my emphasis)

The bottom line is this: The Republicans have been trying to abolish Constitutional government for a generation. Bush, with the [cough] Patriot Act (trashing the Bill of Rights), the silent re-allocation of billions of dollars from Afghanistan to Iraq (Congressional power of the purse), the institution of torture (cruel and unusual punishment), calling Social Security just an IOU (full faith and credit), and a long train of other abuses and usurpations, is the noxious apotheosis of Republican policies that started with Nixon's Plumbers, and continued through Ollie North's "off the shelf" covert operations and yes, Negroponte's Contras.

They've been around for awhile, but at least there was a time when they still found it prudent to remain in the shadows. Today the arrogance of power has spurred them to operate openly. That should be their downfall, but only if we generate enough noise and call their program what it is - openly anti-American.