Nothing to see here -- I wound up adding my elaboration to the main post.
I hate to say it, but if a rule-of-force Republican is genuinely worried about criminal prosecution, that could be a very very very bad thing for people in the U.S. (Ideological belief in the rule of the powerful) + (fear of persecution for war crimes if Presidential tenure ever ends) = 
I used to worry about this a lot, but events seem to have proven it unfounded. Aside from the well-known manipulation of results, regularly scheduled elections are just about the one thing they've never messed with, and they wouldn't have the population or the military behind them if they tried to start now—there'd be a coup, if not a velvet revolution, if they refused to leave.
(Just about the only thing holding the country together now is the knowledge that he's actually going to have to leave in six months, no matter what else happens.)
Bush is also very worried about the way history will remember him. I think he sincerely believes history will remember him fondly. He doesn't want to be the guy who brought down the Republic. So as hard as it is to believe, our long national nightmare of war and disaster is really almost over...
Commenting by HaloScan
