GOP politics as usual

It’s 1984, again.

Maybe it’s because he is, according to Bob Novak anyway, ‘the most isolated president in history, or maybe it is because he got so wrapped up in his own press releases and spin that he forgot people expected him to act like he campaigned or maybe he just wants America to know just how f’ing stupid we all are.  In his weekly radio addresses (historical note: they were started by FDR during that war and brought back by ), Dubya accused Democrats in Congress of ‘putting politics into the system.’

Let’s recap:  Dubya lied – and to everyone who has ever told me ‘You can’t say the President lied’ – I just did, HE LIED about the pre-war intelligence on Saddam’s capabilities.  We went to WAR because of a LIE.  Even before that he inserted politics into 9/11 and used fear of terrorism and failure in to get vote.  The last time I checked when you do something for the sole purpose of getting votes – it is called POLITICS.  He has inserted that into just about every part of his governing process.   So when his Justice Department fired a few US Attorneys for political reasons, it wasn’t a problem.  The problem always seems to come when anyone asks this administration to explain their actions.  THEN IT IS POLITICAL.

Does anyone remember Dubya’s 2000 presidential campaign?  These people were going to ‘restore honor’ to the White House.’  In fact, I found this on an archive of his official 2000 campaign web site:

Governor Bush believes a strong leader focuses on solving problems, not settling scores. As President, he will restore honor and dignity to the White House, and set a new tone of respect and bipartisanship in . To restore confidence in government, he will: reform the budget process to encourage cooperation and prevent government shutdowns, attack pork-barrel spending, and return civility to the nomination process. http://web.archive.org/web/20001109012700/www.georgewbush.com/issues/index.html 

What happened to that?  My problems with this man do not exist in the areas where we disagree – stem cell research, abortion, global warming, etc.  In fact there have been a few times when he has suggested doing things that I oppose, such as drilling in the but I cannot really blame him or fault him for doing those things because he said he would do them when he campaigned.  The difference is that we should be able to believe candidates when they say they are going to do something, that‘s how we decide who we will support.  I am more troubled when a candidate says he will do x and then does y and people look at it and say, That’s just politics as usual.  It wouldn’t be if we held these people accountable.

You’ve got some ‘splaining to do.

AG Alberto Gonzalez is losing support by the minute and it’s not just Democrats who think he is incompetent and not honest but a growing number of Republicans who want him to go to Congress and explain his actions.  As the documents are read and the information comes to light, he knew a lot more than he has admitted.  Moreover, the cover-up made this problem much worse than it was.  If the AG came out early and said, “US Attorneys serve at the pleasure of the President and we decided it was time for them to go.  It is our right and we do not need to provide explanations.”  He would have been right but that’s not what he said.  He said, “I bear the responsibility but I didn’t know about this.”  Firing people is allowed, lying about it is not.  And to think he has a legal education, did the diploma come as a gift in a cereal box?