When Ashcroft was in the hospital Bush and Cheney sent Gonzalez and Card with an authorization to conduct warrantless searches, which were banned by Congress and the Supreme Court. While the topic was only searches, the effect was to allow the Executive to ignore Congress or the courts, creating a dictatorship. Recognizing the attempt at a coup, Bush was stopped only when everyone threatened to resign.

"The sickbed visit was the start of a dramatic showdown between the White House and the Justice Department in early 2004 that, according to Comey, was resolved only when Bush overruled Gonzales and Card. But that was not before Ashcroft, Comey, Mueller and their aides prepared a mass resignation, Comey said. The domestic spying by the National Security Agency continued for several weeks without Justice approval, he said."

Remember that the next time you criticize some foreign political leader for grabbing power. Your heroes tried the same thing here, and were stopped only by a very, very sick man who was as right-wing as they come and still recognized an overthrow of the government when he saw it and had the guts to stand up to it.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/15/AR2007051500864.html