neurotwitch

America’s conflict of interests

W.'s Conflicts of Interest
By MAUREEN DOWD
New York Times, September 16, 2002
WASHINGTON
[snip]
When George W. Bush ran for president, he mocked Bill Clinton's addiction to pollsters and promised to tear down the cynical White House trellis of politics and policy.

As it turned out, Mr. Bush didn't need the permanent campaign. He has something far more potent: the permanent war.

Karl Rove and W. have designed a mirror-image presidency. They take everything Poppy did that conservatives regard as a mistake and reverse it.
The right thought that the father's war was too short? O.K., the son's war will be too long.
The right thought that the father's war should have ended with Saddam's disappearance? O.K., the son's war will start with Saddam's disappearance and build its rationale around that blessed event.

Like his dad, Mr. Bush is not keen on delving into tricky domestic issues like Social Security, health care and pension protection. It is hard for a Bush to envision the need for a safety net.

When the Bushes get into the bunker, democracy operates the way they like. It is not messy and cacophonous. It is orderly and symphonic. There are sheriffs and outlaws, patriots and madmen, good and evil, Churchills and Hitlers.

The Bushes love doing things in secret and without a lot of meddling from know-nothings in Congress and smart alecks ... [/snip]

and [snip]
The wartime press is respectful, producing gauzy TV interviews and square-jawed photo spreads, rectifying mangled presidential syntax and mindlessly repeating Minister of Information Ari Fleischer's celebration of the president as "resolute." [/snip]

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