Earlier this week, Bush gave yet another speech on Iraq in hopes of bolstering support for the war that he started. He insisted that the as-of-yet unformed Iraqi government leave behind “old grievances” among religious and ethnic groups, lest they risk “sliding back into tyranny.” He even pointed out that “successful free societies protect the rights of minorities against the tyranny of the majority.”

Anyone who pays attention to American politics will find this amusing. Bush himself is openly discriminatory against minorities, even in the legislation that he encourages. The proposed amendment to the Constitution that would ban same-sex marriages comes to mind. So do Bush’s current attempts to fill the Supreme Court with conservatives who would try to overturn the “old grievance” of Roe v. Wade with the help of a Republican stranglehold on both Congress and the Senate. By calling anyone who oppresses minorities a tyrant, Bush puts the label on himself first.

He talked about how compromise and sharing of power are the cornerstones of a lasting democracy. Samuel Alito is headed to the Surpreme Court and John Roberts is already there, again thanks to the overwhelmingly Republican legislative branch; compromise and power-sharing are two things the American government clearly has no need or intention to allow. The factionism that Bush says will stop national progress and create tyranny is already apparent in the ever-polarizing political battle between conservatives and liberals; a representative on one side cannot agree with the other on a single point without becoming a heretic and an outcast. This polarization, this lack of a middle ground or a third party, is what has allowed a single party to take such dominating control over the lives of American citizens. What is effectively now a one-party system is the first step from a true democracy toward exactly the kind of tyranny that Bush is warning against in Iraq. And that is exactly what Bush and his far-right puppet masters want.