Musharraf declares martial law!

This weekend in Pakistan, "President" General Musharraf declared the equivalent of martial law. The outward claim has been that this is due to the recent terrorist attacks that began right around the time former President Benazir Bhutto returned to Pakistan in order to run against Musharraf in Pakistan's first election since the coup in 1999. However, this election clearly signals the end of the line for Musharraf; Bhutto is beloved amongst her people. From the Washington Post story (linked above):

"[Pakistani Prime Minister] Aziz acknowledged that 500 opposition activists had been arrested. Opposition groups said the number was higher. Ahsan Iqbal, the spokesman for an opposition party led by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, said that as many as 1,000 activists from his party had been detained, including top leaders...

"Asma Jahangir, a leading human rights lawyer, reported in an e-mail that she had been ordered to stay confined to her home for 90 days. She said it was ironic that Musharraf 'had to clamp down on the press and the judiciary to curb terrorism,' adding, 'Those he has arrested are progressive, secular minded people while the terrorists are offered negotiations and ceasefires.'"
Interesting... the real victims of this martial law are the political opponents of the self-installed declarer of said martial law. The mirrors to the Bush administration are there; the difference between them being Bush is taking the Hitler route and slowly gouging our Constitution, while Musharraf threw his out the window. When asked if it is "ever reasonable to restrict constitutional freedoms in the name of fighting terrorism," Dana Perino answered, "No." However, Bush's track record of Constitutional disdain is intriguing, to say the least. Also, Bush didn't seem to have a problem with Musharraf "fighting" terrorists in his country when he was blatantly cutting deals with them. Just another case of neo-con projection...

Even more intriguing, though, is the opinion of an advisor to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice: compared to Pakistan, “Iraq looks pretty good.” What the hell is that guy smoking?

Bush's "historical" appearance as one of our "greatest" presidents (this, according to the neo-con hacks) is not likely to take shape quite that way, based on a recent WaPo/ABCNews poll: 75% want a "new direction" for the country when Bush leaves office. Numbers for recent 2-term presidents at equivalent points were not close. 74% think the country is on the wrong track, and 69% believe a recession is likely. So much for a Bush legacy being anything but an abject failure.