Another Telling Moment:
When historians look back on the Bush administration, in addition to the fiasco in Iraq, the corruption here at home within the Republican party will stand out as a major issue in assessing the presidency. Likely, historians will debate the quality of Bush's leadership skills based on his connection with what is currently going on in the Justice Department, among other things.
Just how much does Bush know about what is going on with the politicization of the Justice Department. The recent firings of eight prosecuters, ostensibly for poor performance, but actually because they had either prosecuted corrupt Republican officials or because they had refused to go after Democratic politicians, speaks worlds about the man in the Oval Office. Is he behind the firings? In favor of the political motivated hirings? Or so inept that the powers that are actually running the precendency can do whatever they want without any serious concern about Bush's interferrence?
My guess is that it's the latter. Although people who have been close to Bush claim is actually an intelligent man, the truth seems to be that he willfully maintains a level of ignorance that is startling in someone who has been so ambitious.
If anything, this speaks to the man's background. He is apparently smart enough to figure out what he wants to know, but his life of extreme privilege has accustomed him to ignoring how things get done when they are out of his direct view. Here is a man who has had his whole life smoothed out before him by a large cadre of courtiers who have been able to inhance their own power by smoothing out the bumps in his road. Sixty years of living that way makes it awfully easy not to pay too much attention to how things get done as long as they run smoothly for you. Likely, that explains a good deal about why the man was such a failure in his life before becoming the governor of Texas.
Note: See today's New York Times editorial on the Justice Department situation.
For more details on the firings, see today's Washington Post article by John Solomon and Dan Eggen. Republican Pete Domenici from New Mexico is one of the driving forces behind the firings. He was pressing the White House to make the firings before last falls elections in an effort to keep Democratic office holders from retaining their seats.
At least five (5) of the eight prosecuters were overseeing prosecutions into public corruption at the time they were fired.
Today in History:
Sixteen years ago today George Bush the elder was president and Rodney King was dragged from his car in LA and beaten by police. Thus was born the new journalism, everyone as reporter.
When historians look back on the Bush administration, in addition to the fiasco in Iraq, the corruption here at home within the Republican party will stand out as a major issue in assessing the presidency. Likely, historians will debate the quality of Bush's leadership skills based on his connection with what is currently going on in the Justice Department, among other things.
Just how much does Bush know about what is going on with the politicization of the Justice Department. The recent firings of eight prosecuters, ostensibly for poor performance, but actually because they had either prosecuted corrupt Republican officials or because they had refused to go after Democratic politicians, speaks worlds about the man in the Oval Office. Is he behind the firings? In favor of the political motivated hirings? Or so inept that the powers that are actually running the precendency can do whatever they want without any serious concern about Bush's interferrence?
My guess is that it's the latter. Although people who have been close to Bush claim is actually an intelligent man, the truth seems to be that he willfully maintains a level of ignorance that is startling in someone who has been so ambitious.
If anything, this speaks to the man's background. He is apparently smart enough to figure out what he wants to know, but his life of extreme privilege has accustomed him to ignoring how things get done when they are out of his direct view. Here is a man who has had his whole life smoothed out before him by a large cadre of courtiers who have been able to inhance their own power by smoothing out the bumps in his road. Sixty years of living that way makes it awfully easy not to pay too much attention to how things get done as long as they run smoothly for you. Likely, that explains a good deal about why the man was such a failure in his life before becoming the governor of Texas.
Note: See today's New York Times editorial on the Justice Department situation.
For more details on the firings, see today's Washington Post article by John Solomon and Dan Eggen. Republican Pete Domenici from New Mexico is one of the driving forces behind the firings. He was pressing the White House to make the firings before last falls elections in an effort to keep Democratic office holders from retaining their seats.
At least five (5) of the eight prosecuters were overseeing prosecutions into public corruption at the time they were fired.
Today in History:
Sixteen years ago today George Bush the elder was president and Rodney King was dragged from his car in LA and beaten by police. Thus was born the new journalism, everyone as reporter.
Labels: Politics
posted by Jim | 11:49 AM
2 Comments:
And from new journalism, came new editorials. And He said, let there be Blogs. And there were. And it was good.
Yes, and one need not even be a buyer of ink by the barrel to speak his piece. Is this still a plutocracy? Or have we finally advanced to "democracy?"
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