Jesse's Blog - Archived Entry

As the Bush administration’s credibility continues to degrade, we watch carefully to see how the White House strategists plot their next moves.

We have had small victories, as the U.N. is now allowed a greater role in Iraq. Earlier we triumphed in getting them to allow Condi Rice to testify before the 9-11 commission, and before that the creation of the commission itself. Each of these victories came only after the pressure brought on each issue overwhelmed the Administration’s ability to stonewall, redirect, ignore, or otherwise evade heeding the will of our citizens. The pressure was all but ignored until every evasive tactic was tried. Ignored again until the pressure from liberals was joined by the pressure of conservatives, and further echoed by key groups of influence like the lobby of 9-11 victim’s families. Finally, in each case, when the pressure grew great enough and persisted long enough, the Administration backed down from their previous positions, heeded the call, and then claimed a right to take credit for their responsiveness.

I ask whether this is a responsive government. Is this a responsible government? How many other issues are not getting the public attention they need to have the right decisions made. This level of public oversight can only be mustered for the biggest most press-worthy issues. Consider then the lack of oversight that has greeted this administration for most of its time in office. The public, and indeed the majority of our elected and appointed government officials rallied around Bush post 9-11 and handed him a rare level of trust and support to do what needed to be done for the country. The administration pursued a popular vengeance and a counterattack on terrorists that satisfied many, but behind the scenes, that same trust was exploited and betrayed as the administration pursued an agenda that thrived on the distraction of the war on terrorism. Even in the war on terrorism we see mismanagement, poor planning, jobs left unfinished, and showboating Hollywood politics that above all reveal that we are dealing with an administration that does not respect their duty, does not respect their citizenry, and who have strategically undermined healthy debate, access to information, and other key facets of the democratic process. Critics of the administration continue to have their grievances answered by “pit-bull” attacks, while the substance of their critiques is often ignored or simply derided and dismissed as “political”. Meanwhile, the Washington team continues to run the most political model of leadership most of us have ever seen. Substance is lost not only in debates with critics, but also in press conferences and State of the Union speeches. In place of substance are empty declarations that may appeal our sense of patriotism, but in truth are stunningly oversimplified and inaccurate versions of the realities we find our nation in. Bush continues exhibit a stubborn resistance to acknowledge that we are not meeting the demands of our situation. He continues to express wrongheaded views of both our allies and our enemies, which stem from, at best, ignorance and incompetence or, at worst, outright lies and slander that target anything that gets in the way of the plans hatched behind closed doors by those who have taken power in our country. The arrogance of our leaders is inexcusable, and their steering of our country can only be corrected by revoking their license to drive.

So it is that We the People rise in greater and greater numbers, to reclaim our voice and our right to govern ourselves. We the People are not Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Ashcroft, Rice, Perle, Baker, Wolfowitz. We the People are not even Powell, who has abandoned his own standards and ideals, caving under the pressure of his current bosses. We the People do not aspire to rule the world in the way that Cheney and crew have envisioned and plotted for the past 12+ years (see the “Defense Planning Guidance” Draft from 1992). We do not despise the other nations of the world or belittle their opinions. We do not share our leader’s arrogance or their misguided unilateralist approaches. We do claim a right to police the world, but only as a member of the world community, not as an unaccountable bully who acts alone or backed by “allies” who are only “allies” because we bribed them or bullied them too. We acknowledge that our nation has not always done right, and that we must do better to earn the respect of the international community so that we may have ground to stand on when we speak our principles. We acknowledge that our nation has neglected its domestic priorities, and that our wish list is longer than jobs and health care. We recognize that we are being bribed or placated by the meager tax breaks that are offered to us while simultaneously we are burdened with ever-greater debt stemming from the cost of our Wars, debt that we will have to pay back eventually. We the People have more to say, and above all, we have work to do over the next 6 months to make sure that this does not go on.