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February 10, 2006
Dropping The Bosses In The Grease
One characteristic (of many) that has marked the George W. Bush administration is loyalty from staff. The younger Bush is said to have never forgotten what he saw as disloyal members of his father's administration, and clearly has insisted on singular allegiance from his own staff. Indeed, the GOP's remarkable rise to power in recent years has in part been the result of extraordinary discipline by party members from top to bottom. Republicans have faithfully followed President Reagan's 11th Commandment -- thou shall speak no ill of another Republican.
Two things can quickly erode such loyalty and discipline: power and scandal. For the GOP as a whole the longtime enemy -- Democrats and liberals -- has been vanquished, at least for the time being. Republicans control all levers of national government and have attained that for which they struggled for so many years -- power.
Slowly but surely, we have begun to see the storied GOP party discipline break down. Congress is angry at the administration, members of Congress are angry at each other, and the party "base" is periodically angry at everyone. Witness the Harriet Miers nomination debacle. When you are in charge you simply can't please everyone. And with conflict being human nature, if the stakes are high enough belonging to the same party just isn't enough to stop the brawling.
Loyalty within the administration, until recently, has remained more intact. With the occasional exception of a Paul O'Neill or Richard Clarke offering parting shots after leaving the government, most current and former Bush II staffers have followed the Colin Powell model and remained loyal soldiers for the cause.
Today came two big turnabouts from former Bush "company men." First, departed Vice Presidential Chief of Staff Lewis "Scooter" Libby, the prime culprit so far in the leaking of CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity, turned on his former boss. According to testimony released from the ongoing court case, Libby said Vice President Cheney was among the superiors who ordered him to leak Plame's identity to the press.
Mr. Libby's testimony is, let us say, a significant departure from the expected towing of the administration line by White House staff. The prospect of lengthy prison time has a way of making folks rethink their loyalties, doesn't it?
Next, Michael Brown, the unqualified sot who was running FEMA when Hurricane Katrina struck, was back testifying today before the Senate about what happened. Brown, who had been praised by President Bush during the crisis as "doing a heckuva job, Brownie", was singing a slightly different tune to Senators than several months ago.
In his previous appearance before Congress, Brownie testily defended himself and the administration against Senators' questioning, and was quick to blame state and local officials whenever possible for the colossal government screwup that occurred (and continues today) in New Orleans. Today, while he continued to shift blame away from himself, this time he directed it to his former superiors at the Department of Homeland Security and the White House. Brown told Senators that the White House knew early on that levees had been breached in New Orleans, testimony which is at odds with the White House's contention that it was surprised to learn of the breaches.
Again, Brown's latest testimony is perhaps most remarkable as another breach of that famous Bush loyalty. Undoubtedly, Brownie is trying to salvage some semblance of his own sullied reputation, but he may also feel the loyalty he previously showed the administration was not exactly rewarded. In fact, the White House was only too happy to let him take the fall for the federal government's disastrously incompetent response to Hurricane Katrina. Brown even remarked today that he feels rather abandoned.
Finally comes the revelation that the disclosure (leak) to the press of the administration's use of possibly illegal domestic wiretapping likely came from inside the White House itself. Vice President Cheney confirmed as much in a Newshour interview with Jim Lehrer earlier this week. What is going on here? Bush people don't rat, right?
The explanation may lie in a web of complicated relationships, grudges and score-evening, but perhaps it's simpler than that. As the policy failures and scandals mount, rocking the ship of state, maybe among the White House crew the life vests are on and it's every man for himself.
Posted by houtopia at February 10, 2006 03:31 PM