My Open Question to Judge Samuel Alito

The one question I would like Alito to answer -- after watching him dance around the issue of the limits of Presidential power for two days -- is this:

Given the current claims of the Bush administration that the President can, in a time of war, pretty much do whatever he wants--regardless of law--my question is this:

What, if anything, in the Constitution or in any existing law, prevents a president from becoming a dictator?

In other words, what in our existing law or constitution prevents ANY president from using this kind of rationale to bestow upon himself UNLIMITED powers over the government and the people of the United States. It seems all he has to do is create a permanent and ongoing war, and by virtue of Bush's current reasoning, what he says--should HE and he alone deem it necessary for "national security"-- goes--no checks, no balances.

Further, if this is permitted, is not our system of government effectively changed from a democracy to a dictatorship? If not, why not?