Anniversaries being a time to take stock, it seems like a good chance to take a break from the Democratic primaries and remember some of the Bush administration's greatest hits. All good parties need a game. Pin the Tail On the Donkey's fun, but I hardly think a donkey would be welcome at a Republican affair. Truth or Consequences is always a crowd-pleaser but it might take too long to explain the rules to the guests -- the Bush administration has taken precious little notice of either concept. Something along those lines, though . . . how about Verdict: Corrupt or Inept? The game is simple. We'll look at a few of the administration's signature disasters and choose whether each was a result of outright corruption or simple ineptitude. Ready?
We've really got to start with the Iraq War, being as it's pretty much the inspiration for the whole game. To review: After toppling the Taliban, we pivoted our focus from Afghanistan towards Iraq in order to remove Saddam, thereby allowing bin Laden to head for the hills of Pakistan and disappear down a cave. Depending upon whom you believe, Cheney or Rumsfeld or Wolfowitz or Feith ordered L. Paul Bremer to disband the Iraqi army, loosing a quarter of a million pissed-off, out-of-work young men into the countryside. We went after these insurgents with helicopters, bombs and missiles, with scant regard for "collateral damage," a euphemistic term for the innocent civilians killed in our determination to present them with the gift of democracy. That number, by the way, has just passed 90,000 for those of you keeping score. We misread the role of Iran in Iraqi Shiite politics, assuming their "interference" was negligible. To the contrary, Iran is providing arms and training multiple insurgent factions and their regional influence continues to grow, along with their nuclear potential. Rumsfeld's determination to do the job on the cheap lead the administration to ignore the advice of Army chief of staff General Shinseki, who testified that several hundred thousand troops would be required to stabilize Iraq. Shinseki was forced into retirement, years passed, thousands died and Bush eventually ordered a surge in American forces. The list is virtually endless, but I'm getting a headache and this is supposed to be a party, so let's put Iraq to bed. VERDICT--INEPT
Speaking of taking stock, the New York Times reported yesterday on the study that the Department of Education released of Bush's $6 billion Reading First initiative, which he insisted be included in the No Child Left Behind legislation in 2001. The report stated, "Reading First did not improve students' reading comprehension." Grover Whitehurst, director of the Institute of Education Sciences, concluded that the program, "doesn't end up helping children read." To be fair, Reading First does still have its supporters, including Education Secretary Margaret Spellings. The relative merits of the program in its current form are debatable. What is not, however, is that it has been headed by hacks who have used their positions to feather the nests of specific publishers at the expense of the students' best interests. Chris Doherty, the Reading First director, was forced to resign in 2006 when the conflict of interests became public. He referred in emails to backers of alternative curriculums as "dirtbags" who were "trying to crash our party." Sen. Edward Kennedy, chairman of the Senate education committee, accused the administration of putting, "cronyism first and the reading skills of our children last." VERDICT-- (too close to call, really) CORRUPT and INEPT
Also this week, Lurita Doan, the head of the General Services Administration, which handles billions of dollars in federal contracts, was forced to resign. Not only did she allegedly use her position to steer government business towards friends, she is also accused of violating the Hatch Act, which prohibits government employees from taking action that could influence an election. A Karl Rove deputy gave a meeting at GSA in which he identified specific Democrats the Republican Party was targeting for defeat in 2008 as well as Republicans whom they deemed vulnerable. Doan has been quoted as asking him at the meeting how her agency could be used to "help our candidates." VERDICT--CORRUPT
When Dick Cheney became Vice President in 2000, he left his position as CEO of Halliburton, Co., one of the largest oil-service companies in the world. He cashed in over $30 million in company stock at the time. Halliburtonwatch.org details the chronology of the company's truly meteoric rise to their current monopolistic position as contractors to the Iraq War. Halliburton split its time in the 90's between making billions hand-over-fist and paying comparatively piddling fines levied against them for stock fraud and over-billing practices. In 2001, Halliburton subsidiary KBR secured a ten-year deal with the Pentagon with no cost ceiling to provide support services to the Army. Cheney claimed in 2003 he had, "no financial interest in Halliburton of any kind and haven't had, now, for over three years." Well, except for the $150,000 per year in deferred compensation the company was paying him at the time and the 433,333 shares of unexercised stock options he still owned. The longer this war goes on, the richer Halliburton gets and the more those Cheney stock options are worth. VERDICT--CORRUPT
George Bush's Department of Justice, headed by Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, chose Pearl Harbor Day, December 7, 2006, to dismiss eight U.S. attorneys without apparent cause. They were replaced by hand-picked interim appointees. Several of the fired attorneys claimed they were being pressured to direct, or not direct, their prosecutions in a partisan manner. A U.S. attorney's job is to police politicians. When the DOJ tells them who, and how, to investigate, the public trust has been breached. On August 27, 2007, after months of stonewalling, Gonzales finally resigned amid accusations of perjury in his testimony before Congress. VERDICT--There's more than a whiff of INEPT here, but, to be fair, Gonzales brought that with him when he took over the DOJ. His qualifications were always suspect. CORRUPT
Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast on Monday, August, 29, 2005. President Bush was on vacation at the time and decided to go ahead with his plans to fly to Phoenix and help John McCain celebrate his birthday. By the time they got around to cutting the cake, the levees in New Orleans had been breached and the 9th ward was under 6-8 feet of water. Louisiana Governor Blanco pleaded, "Mr. President, we need your help. We need everything you've got." Bush went to bed. The next day, he visited the El Mirage Country Club in Cucamonga, California, as part of a drug-benefits tour, missing that day's video conference on Katrina. Mass looting was taking place in New Orleans. Exhausted police were being used to control the looters instead of engaging in search and rescue. Bush was pictured playing guitar with country singer Mark Willis before returning to his ranch in Crawford, Texas, for the final night of his vacation. On Wednesday, two full days after Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, Bush flew over the region in Air Force One to assess the damage. By now, FEMA staff was reporting that people were dying at the Superdome. Ex-commissioner of the International Arabian Horse Association, Michael Brown headed to New Orleans in his new position as director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Five of his top eight FEMA officials had also come to their current jobs with virtually no disaster experience. The top three FEMA officials all had ties to the Bush 2000 presidential campaign or the White House advance operation. This crack staff was responsible for an inadequate evacuation plan and a relief effort woefully short on planning, supplies, manpower and communication. A 2006 Republican House select committee investigated the government's response to Katrina and concluded that the response to, "Katrina was a national failure, an abdication of the most solemn obligation to provide for the common welfare . . ." They judged Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff "detached" and Michael Brown "clueless." VERDICT: CORRUPT (in that FEMA staffing at the highest levels was yet another of the egregious examples of the Bush administration's proclivity for blatant cronyism) and INEPT
Well, that's all the time we have for our game today. Join us next week when we'll cover classics like Scooter Libby, Karl Rove, Abu Ghraib, Pre-911 Intelligence Failures and the skewed/suppressed scientific research at NIH, HHS, FDA and the EPA.
For now, we'll just say, "Happy Anniversary, Mr. President." Loved the fighter pilot costume.
And now, back to the wrestling in North Carolina.
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