Fetishistic, but not federalized

Garry Wills had a great opinion piece published in the New York Times last month. I missed it, but thanks to Dave, I was able to enjoy this insightful article. Wills is professor emeritus at Northwestern. Christopher, did you have any contact with Dr. Wills?

Here are my two favorite excerpts from the piece:

The president is not the commander in chief of civilians. He is not even commander in chief of National Guard troops unless and until they are federalized.

And

There has never been an executive branch more fetishistic about secrecy than the Bush-Cheney one. The secrecy has been used to throw a veil over detentions, “renditions,” suspension of the Geneva Conventions and of habeas corpus, torture and warrantless wiretaps. We hear again the refrain so common in the other wars — If you knew what we know, you would see how justified all our actions are.

You can read the entire piece here.