While George Dubya Bush will be in office for fourteen more months, many have already labeled him the worst President in modern American history. They complain that the Bush legacy will extend well beyond January of 2009 when the next President takes office. Political observers lament he has had the "reverse Midas touch," where he's worsened every aspect of American foreign and domestic policy he's blundered into. Bush's most lasting negative legacy is his autocratic leadership style, which has inspired other politicians to emulate his tactics and ethics. As a result, we see mini-Dubyas running for President and Dubya clones ruling other countries.
Bush has had a distinctive and destructive presidency. One characterized by dogmatic inflexibility: he came into power with a militant conservative agenda – cut taxes, reduce government restrictions on business, expand role of the military, and promote American empire – and has not deviated from this. Even in the face of evidence that it was counterproductive, Bush has steadfastly pursued his program: when he launched his "war" on terror, he could have asked the American people to make a common economic sacrifice and pay higher taxes, but he refused to do this. His administration ran up unprecedented deficits while claiming to be "stimulating" the market.
President Bush does not believe in the balance of powers doctrine prescribed in the Constitution: the notion that the executive, judiciary, and legislative branches of government are co-equal. Since he initiated the war on terror, he has acted as if he was above the Constitution. He invaded Iraq on false premises, filled the American media with misleading propaganda, and ignored the modern rules of war regarding treatment of prisoners and civilians. Building upon his manufactured image as "wartime" commander-in-chief, Dubya has operated more as a despot than as a democratic leader.
Bush feels the American people pay more attention to what he says than to what he does. His speeches are filled with platitudes about democracy and liberty; according to Dubya everything the US does in Iraq is intended to produce a model democracy. Nonetheless, the policies of the Bush Administration have diminished freedom in the United States and created a police state in Iraq.
The President's guiding morality is that the ends justify the means. His decisions are based solely upon considerations of power: how a particular policy will enhance his power, as well as that of the Republican Party, and their wealthy supporters. Early in the Bush Administration, a former policy adviser reported that every White House policy had to be approved by Karl Rove, Bush's consigliere; this indicated that the White House strove to maximize the political consequences of every move the President made.
Now, as Republicans struggle to find a 2008 presidential candidate, the top four contenders – Giuliani, McCain, Romney, and Thompson – are running as mini-Dubyas. Giuliani and Romney, in particular, take the stance we're like George Bush, only smarter. All four support the President's ill-considered war in Iraq, but argue they would do a better job of "winning" it.
Nonetheless, the most dire consequences of the Bus leadership style -- It's okay to do anything, so long as you win -- has been in foreign policy. While the White House talks about spreading democracy throughout the world, what they have actually dispensed is plutocracy disguised as free-market capitalism.
The most horrific consequences of President Bush's style have occurred in Pakistan, where the Bush Administration has steadfastly supported a dictator, General Pervez Musharraf. The White House position has been because Pervez is our ally in the war on terror, he has carte blanche.
In 2002, the failed U.S. military expedition into Afghanistan did not capture Osama bin Laden and other Al Qaeda leaders, but instead pushed them into the lawless territories of Pakistan. General Musharraf became the Bush Administration's point person in Central Asia: Dubya met with Pervez, looked him in the eye, and declared him to be the right man for the job of rooting out terrorist evildoers. As a result, the United States funneled more than $10 billion in military aid to the Musharraf government. Yet, the Los Angeles Times recently reported that rather than fund anti-terrorist projects, "Pakistan has spent the bulk of it on heavy arms, aircraft and equipment that U.S. officials say are far more suited for conventional warfare with India." Nonetheless, because General Musharraf is on Dubya's side, the White House has ignored his draconian domestic policies. As a result, Musharraf has become an autocrat and disabled Pakistani democracy.
General Musharraf has emulated his mentor, George Bush. Using the threat of terrorist attack as an excuse, Musharraf has expanded the powers of the presidency and curtailed civil liberties. He has adopted the Bush morality that the ends justify the means, that it is okay to circumvent democratic process as long as your objective is to defeat evildoers. In the process, Musharraf has enhanced his political power as well as that of his political party. He has become a Dubya clone.
Bob Burnett is a Berkeley writer and Quaker actvist. He is particularly interested in progressive morality and writes frequently on the ethical aspects of political and social issues.
Take heed folks. The president has given himself the power to declare national martial law and take over states and localities, abolish Habeas Corpus, freeze anyone's assets and order the military to act against US citizens, (repeal of the Posse Comitatus Act) with little or no justification. Now why do you think he did that??????
by
memary (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 70 comments)
on Tuesday, November 27, 2007 at 1:45:27 PM
Teenage drug use, which moved relentlessly upward throughout the Clinton years, declined thereafter by an impressive 23%.
Since during the Clinton years, the national welfare caseload has declined by over 60%. The numbers of people on welfare plunged and overall poverty, child poverty, black child poverty and child hunger have all decreased.
After reaching a high point in the Clinton years, the number of abortions performed annually in the U.S. has dropped to fewer than 1.3 million. The divorce rate, meanwhile, is now at its lowest level since 1970.
Educational scores are up. The high-school dropout rate, under 10%, is at a 30-year low, and the mean SAT score was eight points higher in 2005 than during Clinton years.
Since its peak during the Clinton years, the birth rate for teenagers aged 15 to 19 has decreased by 35%. Teen use of alcohol has also fallen sharply since the Clinton years --anywhere from 10% to 35% and binge drinking has dropped to the lowest levels ever recorded. The same is true of teens reporting that they smoke cigarettes daily.
North Korean is giving up its nuclear program as a result of multilateral negotiations that were opposed by Democrats. North Korea conned the naive Clinton administration.
Libya is no longer sponsering terrorism.
We have normal foreign relations with all of our allies although, as with all friendships, there are frictions and rough spots. The US is sponsering a middle eastern conference this week in Maryland that could change history.
The surge in Iraq is working. If Iraq is stabilized and we are successful in establishing a democracy there it will have profound effects throughout the world.
The economy has been booming because of the tax cuts. The rate of growth for the past 3 years exceeds the rates of growth during the Clinton years. The unemployment rate is lower than during the Clinton years. More people own their own homes than any time in history. Minority home ownership has set records. The deficit is at a lower percentage of GNP now than any time during the Clinton years.
One of the big difference between Clinton 44 and Bush 45 is their propaganda machines. Bush's sucks. Clinton's was great. Clinton's took a weak, indecisive governor from a poor southern state and made him look like God's answer to every problem in the world. His actual accomplishments do not begin to offset the damage he did to this country (scandal after scandal, criminal activities, pardons, abuse of power, etc). Bush's machine does absolutely nothing for him and lets the media define him and they have done a first class hit job on him and his accomplishments without challenge.
by
Mad Jayhawk (2 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 414 comments)
on Tuesday, November 27, 2007 at 3:46:05 PM
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