Bush's "Royal Court"

Sullivan is dead on as usual:

But what you get increasingly from the president is an arrogance and contempt for critics that is bordering on dangerous. You saw this in the first debate when Bush looked genuinely shocked to hear anyone voicing criticism of his policies in his presence. That obviously hadn't happened in a very long time. You see this in the thuggish ways in which opponents are removed from campaign events, jailed and fired from their jobs. You realize eventually that Bush's cabinet is actually a royal court, in which criticism is simply treachery.

All Republican congressmen and most senators are also members of the "court". The few senators that dare to critisize Bush are like regional Dukes who have a substantial following and military (i.e. political) might on their own (people like McCain, Luger, Chuch Hagel).