War rages between Viet Dihn (chief architect of the Patriot Act) and Paul Craig Roberts (angry former Reagan official), over alleged conservative support for the Fuhrer Principle

Read about the war here..

The term “Fuhrer Principle” refers to the philosophy in Nazi Germany where “every leader (Führer, in German) has absolute responsibility in his own area, demands absolute obedience from those below him and answers only to his superiors. The supreme leader, Adolf Hitler, answered to no one.”.

Paul Craig Roberts wrote some stuff recently that was extremely critical of the growth of the Fuhrer Principle among USA conservatives.

In his article, Roberts described a public debate between Viet Dihn (law professor, former Bush official, and chief drafter of the Patriot Act), and former Republican Congressman Bob Barr.

In essence, Roberts accused Dihn and the “conservatives” of applauding the Fuhrer Principle and of booing the voice of liberty and reason as espoused by Barr. The debate occurred at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).

Barr has formed a political action group to oppose Bush’s unlimited power and also oppose the Patriot Act’s more egregious anti-liberty provisions, called Patriots to Restore Checks and Balances. Your friendly RadMod wrote a very short piece about PRCB.

Viet Dihn then wrote a scathing rebuttal to the Roberts article. Dihn accused Roberts of fabricating quotes and events from the debate.

In the excerpts below, I’ll present some of Dihn’s comments and then some of Roberts’ response.

Viet Dihn vs. Paul Craig Roberts by Paul Craig Roberts

DIHN’s ATTACK

As it is obvious that you are writing without any first-hand knowledge of the facts, let me be very clear about what was said and what was not said. I did not, nor did anyone at CPAC to my knowledge, say that “the rule of law mustn’t get in the way of President Bush protecting Americans from Osama bin Laden.” Nor was there any standing ovation. I would have thought, before your post, that an accusation against an individual, an entire audience, and indeed a nation’s anti-terror strategy of being akin to Nazism would require a bit more responsibility to the facts.

Assuming some fealty to the truth remains, let me recount what I said during my debate with Bob Barr at CPAC …

EXCERPT FROM PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS’ RESPONSE

There are several news reports on the CPAC conference and the debate between Bob Barr and Viet Dinh. My observations follow from these news reports.

Writing in the Washington Post on February 11, “Bob Barr, Bane of the Right?,” Post reporter Dana Milbank, for example, reports that Barr asked the CPAC audience, “Are we losing our lodestar, which is the Bill of Rights” to the Bush regime’s zeal in its war against terror?

Barr confronted the conservatives: “Do we truly remain a society that believes that every president must abide by the law of this country” or “are we in danger of putting allegiance to party ahead of allegiance to principle?”

Barr’s questions were greeted with silence followed by booing. According to Milbank, “Dinh brought the crowd to a raucous ovation when he judged: ‘The threat to Americans’ liberty today comes from al Qaeda and its associates and the people who would destroy America and her people, not the brave men and women who work to defend this country!’”

How else are we to interpret Viet Dinh’s words? Clearly, he is saying that it is more important for Bush to seize powers to protect America from Osama bin Laden than to obey the law and abide by the separation of powers. The entire position of the Bush regime is that protecting the country from terrorists is more important than loyalty to habeas corpus, the Geneva Conventions, the proscription against torture, open government, and an accountable executive.

Dinh himself endorsed the Führer Principle and urged it upon the conservatives when he declared, “The conservative movement has a healthy skepticism of governmental power, but at times, unfortunately, that healthy skepticism needs to yield.” Yield to what? To the Leader who works “to defend this country.”