Let me first state my personal position. I am a moderate Democrat who feels that conservatives have little or no clue regarding how to deal with government or society. I disliked Nixon personally, though I voted for him in 1968, I disliked Reagan though my mother attended High School with him in Dixon, Ill., and I dislike G. W. Bush and his entire crew.
That said, the reason I voted for Nixon is that I thought he would be better for America in 1968. The well-being of America is more important than the party that hold the White House or Congress. I don't have to like the guy to support his efforts. More important than personality, so-called values (they are fake in ALL politicians!) or even ideology is competence and the desire to do right by America and the American people.
That said, Steve Clemons has a post at TPM Cafe which describes the current status of Bush and the White House. Here is an excerpt:
"America has missed many, many opportunities this past year. And the President's selection of John Bolton as his administration's choice to serve at the United Nations reflects one of many decisions that further alienate our allies and friends.That is about the best summary I have seen of the current status of American national political life.
The White House is caught in a trap of its own making. It has not been truthful regarding who leaked Valerie Plame's CIA identity. Instead, it is playing a cat-and-mouse game with the press, public, and Patrick Fitzgerald.
It is choking on the Bolton nomination and has given no indication of ending this bad business and instead nominating someone whom Americans can support at the U.N.
And it has a Supreme Court nomination to make while its radical religious fundamentalist wing tries to extort from Bush an ideological zealot for the court.
America's prominence in global affairs has become more myth than real at this point. We still have assets, considerable ones -- but Bush's mishandling of "America's purpose" in this early part of the 21st century have constrained our choices as a nation.
As soon as Bush is officially a lame duck, we clearly need John McCain and other moderates to take back the Republican Party. I know that this sounds naive to many who think that it is impossible to turn back the power of religious fundamentalists in the party, but I disagree.
And in the Democratic Party, they still haven't cleaned house. The party is still risk-averse, clinging to a 50%-plus-one attitude, which keeps it from appealing to the passions and hopes of those who want more from national leaders. And yes, I'll add to the mantra -- the Dems have been abysmally slow and ineffective in the manufacturing and production of "new ideas." There have been some gains -- but Dems need to unclog their arteries.
I really don't care if the White House is held by a Republican or Democratic president if that president reflects the best interests of a broad cross section of the public and manages public interests and goals honorably and competently. But right now, both parties are deeply flawed and controlled by forces that inhibit the leadership Americans deserve from coming to the helm."
Bush's is a failed Presidency. It is based on the successes of the Rove political system combined with the failed philosophy of the fiscal Republicans and the energy of the fundamentalist religion of the social Republicans, but it has foundered on need to continuously place political requirements above the needs of good governance. They can get elected but then they have to give the ideologies of conservative and social Republicans priority over good governance if they are to remain in office.
This is demonstrated by the repeated failures to respond to the many problems America faces while going after ideological desires. The best example is to place reform of Social Security (for purely ideological reasons) above the real and much more current needs of reforming Medicare financing.
It is also demonstrated by the many missed opportunities Steve writes about above. It is also demonstrated by the utter incompetence with which the CPA in Iraq was staffed almost entirely by ideologues from the Heritage Foundation and failed to accomplish the job of stabilizing Iraq while losing $ billions of dollars.
This should not be a surprise. John Dilulio, former Bush Administration domestic policy adviser who was the first coordinator of Bush effort to bring churches into the process of providing welfare, wrote "There is no precedent in any modern White House for what is going on in this one: a complete lack of a policy apparatus."
It is now clear that the reason for this is that the total focus of this White House is election using the Rove system and then implementing their ideology. Unfortunately, competence in governing is found in policy apparatus and decisions. The Rove system and the generally unacceptable set of ideologies they are trying to implement are incompatible with competence in governing.
That is why Bush's Presidency is a failed one, probably the worst Presidency America has ever suffered. With Rove running the process, they can get elected. They simply are not competent to run America.
1 comment:
Your analysis of Bush's White House and the failing Rove doctrine is hugely apt. You speak for what has become in Nixon-speak the current "Silent Majority". My thanks
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