"I'm the Decider!"

Bush sounded like he was going to jump through the podium and rip somebody's head off today when defending Don Rumsfeld. Really, it was shrill and loud and got louder as he kept going, spitting out phrases like "I'm the decider!" (which, amazingly enough, is a word). You could tell what was going through his head. "How dare anybody criticize me and my judgment!" Either he doesn't understand the existence of dissent in democracy or he just doesn't like it.

And I don't buy this whole "it endangers civilian rule of the military" to have these generals criticize the Secretary of Defense. First of all, aren't these guys retired? Are they planning a retired officer coup? Second, even if they're speaking by proxy for voices within the military, there's a major difference between suggesting a change in leadership and taking up arms against him. I don't believe exercising freedom of speech is a slippery slope in this case.