Emergency declaration by Bush. Will martial law follow?

Chances are it won't. But ever since Bush introduced his little National Security and Homeland Security Presidential Directive, his self-proclaimed Dictator-In-Chiefability comes to mind.

President George W. Bush on Saturday approved a pre-landfall emergency declaration for Texas to provide federal help if the state is hit by Hurricane Dean, White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said.

According to his directive, if any event takes place that Bush decides is an "emergency", he could pretty much be the one and only boss of us. Absolute power to an absolute idiot. It's that possibility that I can't shake off, and it's pathetic that this has become my knee-jerk reaction. Want to know what's more pathetic? The italicized part, that's what:

Bush, who is vacationing at his Crawford ranch, was briefed twice on Saturday about Hurricane Dean, which is threatening to become a Category 5 storm and is taking aim at Jamaica and Mexico.

Adding insult to injury, it seems like every time there is impending disaster, The Vacation President is taking one of his 418 days off.

So the odds are that Bush's insane power grab would most likely occur while he's putting his brush-scuffed boots up in Crawford. Heckuva job, Georgie.