The Imperial Presidency

AK Press Audio is proud to present Chomsky versus the commander in chief. This is not another cataloging of the offenses and blunders committed by George W. Bush, but a lively chronicle of the systematic power plays that have been either ignored or downplayed in the media for the past four years. World public opinion—what The New York Times has dubbed “the second superpower”—has helped curb much of the “imperial sovereignty” being carved out by the Bush administration, but the full scope of their plans has, until now, not been explored.Among the revelations analyzed, Chomsky discusses the Justice Department’s recommendation that the United States rescind the Geneva Conventions in order to reduce the threat of the United States being convicted under the War Crimes Act of 1996. Under the act, Bush himself could be put to death for grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions under his watch. Furthermore, the National Security Strategy of 2002 introduced the active use of “anticipatory self-defense” and, by design, undermined the UN Charter and international law.Never one to dwell too long on the negative, Chomsky digs into the elections of 2005, “concocted by the PR Industry,” and shows that Bush’s power base is anything but solid. Choosing between candidates in 2004 was comparable to choosing a toothpaste. Across a wide spectrum of public opinion, a considerable majority of Americans support primary health care, increased environmental protection (including the signing of the Kyoto protocols), increased education spending, and allowing the United Nations to take the lead in international affairs. This is hardly the public from which Bush claims to have received his “mandate.”Noam Chomsky is the world’s foremost social critic, father of the modern science of linguistics, and author of over 90 books and nine AK Press Audio CDs.