April 22nd, 2007

Bush’s scandals

Posted by Drew at 8:57 pm

When Democrats claimed last fall that the Republicans had created a “culture of corruption” in Washington, even then they were correct. The news about Mark Foley, chairman of the Missing and Exploited Children’s caucus, had just come out. Other scandals included Plamegate; Abu Ghraib; Haditha; “Bin Laden Determined to Strike…”; illegal domestic spying; Guantanamo; Cheney’s secretive Energy Task Force; Abramoff; Bob Ney; Randy “Duke” Cunningham; the missing billions allocated to Iraq and Hurricane Katrina reconstruction; “Heckuva job, Brownie!”; Tom DeLay; and no-bid contracts for Halliburton. It seems that the results of the 2006 midterm elections haven’t phased the White House, though: new scandals continue to be uncovered.

Campaigning in 2000, Texas Gov. George W. Bush would repeatedly raise his right hand as if taking an oath and vow to “restore honor and integrity” to the White House. He pledged to usher in a new era of bipartisanship.

The dual themes of honesty and bipartisanship struck a chord with many voters and helped propel Bush to the White House in one of the nation’s closest-ever elections. Americans re-elected him in 2004 after he characterized himself as best suited to protect a nation at war.

Now, with fewer than two years left of his second term, the Bush administration is embroiled in multiple scandals and ethics investigations. The war in Iraq still rages. Bush’s approval ratings are hovering in the mid-30s. And Democratic-Republican relations have seldom been more rancorous.

The article continues:

What ever happened to restoring honor and dignity?

“From the very beginning, this administration emphasized loyalty over competence. And at some point, that catches up with you,” said Paul Light, a professor of public policy at New York University. He said the increase in scandals and investigations also reflects the “natural decay” that happens late in a second presidential term as many experienced people have already left and those remaining start focusing on their financial futures.

Read the rest of the article, which discusses some of Bush’s recent scandals, here.

Had the Democrats not taken back the House and Senate in November, many of these scandals would have gone unnoticed.

Posted in General news, News round-up, Politics