The politics of the right, today

In today's Wall Street Journal, HARVEY C. MANSFIELD, a Professor of Government at Harvard (a liberal school, don't you know), argues that the US isn't a place where the rule of law should exists, but a place where the rule of "One man, or, to use Machiavelli's expression, uno solo," (I swear, he wrote that) should be encouraged.

His argument: this Country, the beacon of democracy, should not really be democratic. Deep down in the argument is this nugget:

"A free government should show its respect for freedom even when it has to take it away."

This is the Wall Street Journal. The paper of record for conservatives. Other conservatives have labored to explain that Bush doesn't break laws because spying, torture, rendition, launching wars without congressional authority, indefinite detention, aren't happening. You've heard probably a million times the line, "The US doesn't torture." They end up looking a little dumb since it's kinda clear the US does in fact torture, and do some other things.

But not this guy. He's not claiming that Bush didn't break laws, he's celebrating it. He wants a tyrant (in certain times he pains to explain), because only a tyrant can protect him. This is, without question, not what the US is all about.

Right?