Monday, January 29, 2007
The Bush Coup
It must now be apparent to even the most blind among us that George Bush is the biggest threat to the U.S. Constitution, American Democracy, and good government in existence today. The NYT reports,
The debacles of Iraq and Katrina, created or exacerbated by unqualified political appointees will become a regular feature of American life. While most sane and rational observers understood that the lessons of Katrina (and school is still very much in session) is that qualified civil servants and professionals are desperately needed in government and that decisions affecting the health and safety of Americans should be non-political, the Bush regime in its hubris has decided to increase the role of political appointees in the day to day running of the government. I suspect that many of the whiz kids sent to Iraq in 2003 will now be in charge of vetting new regulations to ensure the regulations pass ideological muster (or benefit whichever corporation or group of corporations ponies up the biggest bribe).
In the order Bush has banished the use of words like "‘shall,’ ‘must,’ ‘required’ or ‘requirement.’” The thought police are now only an Executive Order away. Ideology now reigns supreme. I, for one, now wonder if Bush will respect the 2008 elections or will he issue an Executive Order nullifying them? Where does George Bush's lust for power end? Or rather, where does the lust for power of Dick Cheney and the rest of the former Nixon staffers end?
It must now be apparent to even the most blind among us that George Bush is the biggest threat to the U.S. Constitution, American Democracy, and good government in existence today. The NYT reports,
President Bush has signed a directive that gives the White House much greater control over the rules and policy statements that the government develops to protect public health, safety, the environment, civil rights and privacy.Bush and his gang are longer even concerned with the facade of good government. Every decision will now be openly political. Thus the lack of an updated NIE prior to rolling out the "surge" plan for Iraq. Political ideology will be the litmus against which all decisions will be tested. Strangely enough this comes from a President who claims he doesn't govern by polls. With political operatives in charge any residual lip service to transparency is now gone.
In an executive order published last week in the Federal Register, Mr. Bush said that each agency must have a regulatory policy office run by a political appointee, to supervise the development of rules and documents providing guidance to regulated industries. The White House will thus have a gatekeeper in each agency to analyze the costs and the benefits of new rules and to make sure the agencies carry out the president’s priorities.
This strengthens the hand of the White House in shaping rules that have, in the past, often been generated by civil servants and scientific experts.
The debacles of Iraq and Katrina, created or exacerbated by unqualified political appointees will become a regular feature of American life. While most sane and rational observers understood that the lessons of Katrina (and school is still very much in session) is that qualified civil servants and professionals are desperately needed in government and that decisions affecting the health and safety of Americans should be non-political, the Bush regime in its hubris has decided to increase the role of political appointees in the day to day running of the government. I suspect that many of the whiz kids sent to Iraq in 2003 will now be in charge of vetting new regulations to ensure the regulations pass ideological muster (or benefit whichever corporation or group of corporations ponies up the biggest bribe).
In the order Bush has banished the use of words like "‘shall,’ ‘must,’ ‘required’ or ‘requirement.’” The thought police are now only an Executive Order away. Ideology now reigns supreme. I, for one, now wonder if Bush will respect the 2008 elections or will he issue an Executive Order nullifying them? Where does George Bush's lust for power end? Or rather, where does the lust for power of Dick Cheney and the rest of the former Nixon staffers end?