It’s funny to see our politicians debating who’s to blame for the economic crisis we’re in. But this crisis is just the latest in a series of problems that have occurred since conservatives took over the government. It seems the sheer volume of mistakes and scandals is so overwhelming – it’s impossible to remember, let alone fathom all of them.
I seek here to recall some of the scandals of the past few years, many of which would normally be considered unforgivable, but have become so frequent as to be considered routine. Hopefully, this reminder will serve as a warning of why we can’t send conservatives like Gordon Smith and John McCain back to Washington. This is an ideology that doesn’t just tolerate incompetence and corruption, but in fact embraces it: It sees weakness of leadership skills and ethics not as a challenge to overcome but as a positive indicator of “someone you can have a beer with.”
This administration began its term by pursuing a “Star Wars” missile defense system. In the first eight months, the Republicans, having criticized Bill Clinton’s bombing of Al Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan in 1998 as a distraction from Monica Lewinsky, still lived in the Cold War, and didn’t understand the rising threats of the 21st century. Defense officials appointed by liberals like Richard Clarke attempted to warn the Administration of Celebrated Incompetence of the dangers, but to no avail. On Sept. 11, 2001, we were left vulnerable to attack on our own soil for the first time since Pearl Harbor.
Months later, in March 2002, Bush admitted that finding Osama bin Laden was not a priority, and abandoned the manhunt for another mission.
A year later, we invaded Iraq with these major justifications: They were developing weapons of mass destruction with hostile intentions, they had conspired with terrorists who perpetrated 9/11, violated UN resolutions, and a pro-American state there would benefit us.
Remember, now, how much evidence there was against this case, including but not limited to, the findings of Joseph Wilson about their nuclear program. Intimidating Wilson, the administration revealed publicly the identity of his wife, a CIA agent. While this action of compromising the security of our intelligence officials is at least treason ethically, the legal case was shaky, as certain administration officials, namely Scooter Libby, lied under oath to protect his employer. The president later pardoned Libby for his perjury conviction. Such is the law-and-order and national security ideology in action.
Let me also remind you that the proudly conservative administration failed to respond to an epic natural disaster, wiretapped their own citizens without warrants, and tortured prisoners at both Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay, as well as at “secret prisons” abroad. Both their majority leaders in the House and Senate – Tom DeLay and Trent Lott, respectively – were forced to resign under scandal. In disgrace, they fired U.S. Attorneys for political reasons, they intervened in the death of Floridan woman, were sued by states for not enforcing environmental laws, and put a Dubai company in charge of our port security – a man their vice president later shot in the face.
There are many more I haven’t mentioned. This is quite easily one of the worst administrations in history. This was conservatism in complete power, and so it was complete failure, unmitigated by the foresight and competence of liberals. They have managed to gather together the dark spots in an otherwise bright American history: Pearl Harbor, the Vietnam War, the Japanese Internment, the Alien and Sedition Acts, even the Great Depression – and re-enact them all in the short space of eight years. But then again, if you “don’t know much about history,” you’re probably doomed to repeat it.
[email protected]