John Dean: Bush almost became an “unconstitutional dictator”

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It was during the Civil War that President Abraham Lincoln became known as a “constitutional dictator,” said former Nixon White House counsel John Dean during a Monday broadcast of MSNBC’s Countdown with Keith Olbermann.

Responding to the recent release of several legal justifications for President Bush’s most criticized policies, Dean summarized, “Reading these memos, you’ve gotta almost conclude we had an unconstitutional dictator. It’s pretty deadly and pretty serious, what’s in these materials.”

The memos, released by Obama’s Justice Department on Monday, outline possible methods for the president to ignore treaties and International laws, kidnap and torture American citizens and overrule the First Amendment to the Constitution which ensures freedom of speech and of the press.