That’s what a politically-involved friend of mine is now calling this country, based on the news that Bush has authorized government officials to break long-standing law and spy on Americans.

If Bush thought America’s laws against spying on its own citizens were too restrictive, he could have pushed for Congress to change the laws, rather than reauthorizing this illegal program 30 times since 2001. That’s American Democracy 101: Congress makes the laws, and no one is above them, not even the President.

Instead, in defending his lawbreaking today, Bush is asserting a Constitutional preogrative to ignore laws passed by Congress — and to direct government agents to do the same. That’s not American democracy as Americans understand it, and it will be interesting to hear how Bush justifies his illegal directives before Congress, where members are furious and hearings are now certain.

There’s a lot swirling around this story right now, including more calls for impeachment and many questions about why The New York Times held this story for a year before breaking it just ahead of the vote on the Patriot Act renewal.

But all I can think about is a forwarded email I received this morning from my brother. It was sent by a friend of his who is serving in Iraq. The friend was shot in the leg recently during a gun battle, and saw a close friend in his unit killed in the same fight. Young Americans are dying nearly every day in Iraq, supposedly to bring democracy to that country, while here at home the same president who claims to want to spread democracy abroad is unapologetically subverting it in America. Tell me how this makes sense again?