'' The underpinnings of this new America rest in the hands of a fairly small group of conservative lawyers in Washington. There is nothing sinister about them, per se, but they frame the arguments and devise the legal mechanisms that, for example, allow the president to make war against Iraq without any meaningful consent from Congress. These intense, smart ideologues hail from the right-wing revolutionary movement, which believes it's past time to take America back from the crummy, weak-kneed liberal elites. Their moment has finally arrived. ''

Among the attorneys in this Bush brain trust are three key players: Viet Dinh, Timothy E. Flanigan and Jim Haynes

- Read profiles about these guys by James Ridgeway at the Village Voice (link via BuzzFlash.com)