Sunday, January 08, 2006

The More Things Change The More They Stay The Same

My large footed one and I were enjoying the new layer of white stuff this morning until I started thinking how it was just covering up what was already there. Under the surface all the dirt remained.

Reminded me of my favorite gripe these days. Washington. Tom Delay agrees to give up his post as majority leader but will seek yet another term. Roy Blount, the interim leader, will seek the permanent post. Here's what Pro Ethics, Ltd.'s Government and Politics Ethics Scoreboard says and where he rates on their sleaze scale.

"4. Rep. Roy Blount (R-Mo)

Conflict of interest doesn't get much more outrageous than this: Blount, the House Majority Whip, was romantically involved with a lobbyist for a Fortune 500 company (this itself is a conflict, and a violation of House ethics rules) and then attempted to please her and her employers by grafting legislation favorable to the company onto the Homeland Security Bill. His maneuver didn't work, and even members of his own party were disturbed by it. But it's the thought that counts, apparently: he and the lobbyist are now engaged! Ah, what we do for love!"

Then I was reminded that cronyism too lives on. You'd think the administration would have learned with Brownie - but now General Richard Myers' (former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff) niece has been appointed to head Immigration and Customs Enforcement. A recess appointment, no less. This from Debbieschussel.com:

"Remember President Bush's Saturday speech at the White House, after Katrina struck?

Behind him to his left was failed Homeland Security chief and lawyer Michael Chertoff. But to his right was Gen. Richard Myers, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

I remember thinking: If only Bush had appointed a military or law enforcement type like Gen. Myers, to head up Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)--the most important law enforcement agency in the War on Terror--instead of his niece, Julie L. Myers. Julie Myers is another lawyer like Chertoff, inept and inexperienced when it comes to law enforcement.

The White House claims that Ms. Myers is "well-known and respected throughout the law enforcement community."

Wrong. As one ICE agent wrote me, "What a joke of a nomination!"

Chuck Showalter, President of the National Homeland Security Council, the union for 22,000 DHS (and 7,800 ICE) employees, told me, "I haven't seen anything to show that she is qualified. . . . My members are worried about whether they will have someone on top that can support them." He said DHS employees are tired of "program managers with no experience" and want someone with a law enforcement or military background. Myers has none."

Then there is Bush himself, up front and personal. From Knight Ridder's Ron Hutcheson and James Kuhnhenn as reported in the Spokesman Review:

" President Bush agreed with great fanfare last month to accept the ban on torture, but he later quietly reserved the right to ignore it, even as he signed it into law."

"They" say this President exists in a bubble. I don't buy it. I think this President and his administration are so imbued with the arrogance of power that we the people have become nothing more than sacrificial pawns used to protect the King. We had better demand a more succinct definition of "war" or when we are enmeshed in the "war" against drugs, the "war" against poverty, or maybe even the "war" against ourselves what are we going to have left with which to fight?

Boy, all this after a stroll in the snow. I'm going to go watch football - where one has to be searched from head to toe if you want to attend the game in person. The "battle" of the NFL? It's an election year folks. Head's up! We can win. Tails? Who knows.

1 comment:

Word Tosser said...

Yes, DwM I was concern about that article about how the rules where for all of us.....except him.
This person is getting lower and lower on my list...and that is hard to do, as he was low on the list from the first smirk.