21 posts tagged “bush administration”
Has the Bush administration lost its power to rule without public legitimacy?
It seems doubtful, but it is still hopeful that the FBI desire to learn everyone's secret interests (via internet logs they probably didn't even know are kept) and the President's various declarations of secret powers enabling him to ignore the rules of law -- except those he likes or creates without aid from the legislature-- are being discovered and questioned.
Of course, not to go too Philip K. Dickesque on y'all, it is still possible that a secret government has been created that will not be found, overruled or conquered by the new administration taking "power" in January 2009.
“What am I missing?" asked Britain's Prince Harry about living in secret. "Nothing, really. It’s nice just to be here with all the guys and just mucking in as one of the lads.”
But his secret is out. Apparently, third in line to the the monarchy that rules England no more makes him a target for the Taliban and creates greater danger for his surrounding Household Calvarymen than would be otherwise. But who would really be endangered by his death -- if the unfortunate were to happen? When a less internationally famous but more U.S.-prominent Pat Tillman died it was the Bush administration that took the hit because it fed into the storyline that much of their policymaking was fed by lies. So, when the Drudge Report broke the story, gaining itself a few more hits and notoriety, did it really save lives and an important battle asset or simply simply some institution's future secrets?
A new question for presidential candidates. Will you do your best to make sure the secrets of the current administration are unraveled in a judicious manner?
Does the action undercut its own penchant and claim for keeping secrets, or does the Bush administration's posting UN scandals online, because info yearns to be liberated seem like just another case of t'ain't our ox being sodomized.
Without the allure of a WWE Smackdown, the Disgustingly Impotent take on the Inbred Delusional. The Democratic National Committee, standing in for congressional democrats, is suing the U.S. Justice Department, representing the "brain trust" of the Bush administration. There are e-mails the latter refuse to share that the former believe will prove the long-dead "scandal" of U.S. attorneys fired because of their lack of political kowtowing. Like this is actually some sort of well-kept secret that the Dems think needs to be proved and the Reps believe isn't true unless someone sees pieces of paper. Ladies, gentlemen, move on.
The Bush administration wants high school students to give up their secrets (drug- and presumably alcohol-related at first). They promise to do it all anonymously. So, they want the secret, won't rat out the child who uses and then will do what with the info? To be fair, maybe in return high school students can test administration officials to see what kinds laws they are planning break?
Who still trusts when the public information is silly (for want of a better word) and the private information and the alleged explaination of why and/or how the public info is perfectly rational is secret? Some do, whether it is the secret strategies of the U.S. Prez or the secret formula the UAW is using to justify their (mis?)management of the auto workers trust health fund. It has two obvious problems:
1) $36 billion is currently unfunded.
2) Solvency depends on health care inflation falling to 5 percent by 2013 and sticking, even as it has nearly doubled that rate in recent decades.
And those are the public assumptions. Imagine the brilliant leaps of faith still to be uncovered.
** Big Jo doesn't care about the big scandals, just your personal ones. **
If people doubt you can tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, it's unlikely you are going to convince them to trust you when you say you have to do something in secret for their good. And so, the Bush administration's insistence on not using the American judicial system to bring American justice has caused credibility problems -- as predicted by the chief judge of the proceedings.
An Icelandic high schooler has become a national hero/celebrity for claiming to have a secret number. Vifill Atlason, 16, claims he was given the secret phone number to President Bush a few years ago. His story is that he finally called, pretending to be Iceland's president Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, in order to invite the American to visit his country. Instead, police showed up at his door to try and pry out his secret of how he got Bush's secret. And the president never called him back.
It's not the economy (or war or tax breaks or torture or ...) stupid! It's the definition. (Joining this prez and the previous: it all depends on what your definition of "is is.") So, it seems perfectly reasonable that President Bush says he can keep his secret memo defining torture secret, despite concern that he tortured the definition of the word until his definition excused any action taken as not torturous.
If only everyone could share the secret faith that if this administration actually was torturing in its secret prisons -- albeit, according to the secret definition -- then they would surely share the secret memo with you.
