By Sean Kosofsky
Delay, Miers and Libby…Oh My!
If it wasn't so embarrassing and pathetic I would be cheering for the collapsing house of cards in the White House. I am ashamed of the dishonor the Bush Administration has brought to our federal government. I have a tremendous sense of sadness that the government of the most powerful nation in the world is riddled with so much corruption and such nasty partisanship.
Some very powerful figures in the right wing infrastructure of the Bush Administration are also anti-gay extremists. Tom Delay, and his political action committee, have been indicted. Delay has been an architect of the rightward attack on American values of fairness and moderation. His own arrogance and ambitious climb to the top of the Washington power structure have resulted in his implosion. His closeness with Bush has contributed to the steady decline of the President's approval ratings.
Bush's cronyism continues to backfire in some very damaging and embarrassing ways in places like New Orleans. But, just when you thought the White House learned its lesson, it serves up a dramatically under-qualified Harriet Miers to serve on our nation's most powerful court. To the surprise of progressives, the strongest attacks against the credentials of Miers, came from the right. No one seemed happy. Americans should be insulted that such a nomination could be made, especially since Bush refused to support her and her career by providing even the basic legal documents from her tenure on his staff. Because of her withdrawal, her reputation and career is now tarnished – all because of Mr. Bush.
The President has also been hurt by his missteps and bungling of his job. He thought Miers was a slam-dunk, just like John Roberts, but infighting within the Republican ranks showed the fissures that have emerged since the last election.
Miers responded favorably on a gay rights questionnaire in Dallas, years ago. This should not fool anyone into thinking she supports our equality. She is a very different woman now than she was in Texas. First, she works for George W. Bush. Second, she has become a born-again evangelical that allegedly opposes privacy and the rights of women and gays. She also told the gay group in Dallas she did not want their endorsement. Her slide to the right is more damning when you hear Bush say that she "won't change" her positions on key issues.
Rumors exploded that she is a lesbian, just because she has never been married. The GLBT community must get past these fanciful stereotypes to see that Miers is a right wing functionary that has provided the legal cover for the monster that resides at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. We shouldn't worry about getting someone worse. We should worry about being conned and lied to.
Finally, I. Lewis Libby, has been indicted on five counts of very unflattering things. He resigned in shame and the White House didn't even apologize for the appearance of corruption on the part of the Vice President's office. It turns out Libby was part of the administration's campaign to discredit people that disagreed with their official line. The media smells blood so don't be surprised if more indictments come soon. With others prominent Republicans under investigation, the economy taking a nose-dive and Iraq getting worse every day, you can count on gays and immigrants being the scapegoats for 2006.
Many have argued that what is going on in the Bush administration is far worse than Watergate. I agree.
We heard that because of Bush's sinking approval ratings he might try governing from the center, but many of us knew better. The hard right extremists in this country are not going to be happy unless they control everything. They are not interested in moderation or fairness or any of the things most Americans are seeking. They want to roll back the U.S. to a time before the civil rights struggle. They want to hit "control-alt-delete" on all the progress on privacy, consumer rights, and the separation of church and state. They are dangerous and they are wrong and the only thing that is capable of stopping them is political power and exposing their hypocrisy, greed and hate. Bush is getting desperate. Expect a politically chilling winter.
