The wretched excess of the Bush administration

The unfolding scandal over the firing of US Attorneys is a public example of a systemic problem in the Bush administration. The White House has pulled the strings of federal agency firings for political reasons since Bush took office. Here in New Orleans we saw the results of that in FEMA performance. The director ("heckofa job, Brownie") was totally unqualified and that is not at all unusual. It isn't just US Attornys or FEMA directors. Its happened throughout government. Professionals have been replaced by unqualified political hacks. In order to get the good jobs in Iraq reconstruction, applicants had to affirm that they were pro-life. Young men and women with no relevant experience whatsoever were given high level jobs in Iraq because of political connections.

This has happened to an extent never seen before. Normally a new President will appoint his own people to the top couple of levels of government. Bush has wiped out whole department's bases of experience.

The political implications of policy and program decisions are now paramount. An obvious result is the dumbing down of the federal government. We have seen the loss of competence over and over. Another result is that the majority of people are not represented. Messrs Bush and Rove cater to the radical right in ways large and small. It is not a government of the people, by the people and for the people. It is a government of, by, and for fat cat lobbyists and extremist right wing religious leaders. Wall Street is represented well - at the expense of Main Street.

Mr. Bush is not bold. He is reckless. He is not conservative. He is imprudent. He is not moderate. He is excessive and his excesses are wretched.