Bush isn't king; he answers to the people

To the editor:

George W. Bush did not win the popular vote. He would not even have won Florida had all the votes been counted. He was selected president by five conservative Republican soul mates on the Supreme Court. How he is behaving as if he were king.

Bush is expanding the war and has set up a secret government without consultations with Congress. His administration cloaks itself in absolute secrecy, preventing the press from covering military operations. He refuses to inform Congress and the public who was involved in shaping energy policy that affects all of us. He informs agencies that they do not have to release information to the press. He refuses to allow the papers of past presidents to be released. And he refuses to release his own papers from when he was governor of Texas by placing them in his father's presidential library.

The Constitution opens with "We the people." Political power rests with us. The president -- equipped with executive authority, not exclusive authority -- represents us. He is accountable to us. We are not his subjects. Only in authoritarian systems do leaders tell their own people they don't need to be informed. This is becoming scary.

W.T. HATCH

Cape Girardeau