Politics - The Messadministration of Dick "Dick" Bush

Cheney and Bush have ruined everything they laid their hands on in this country. Every day, it seems, there is a fresh outrage upon the body politic. Will no one rid us of this villainous pair? Nancy Pelosi, the people demand that you put impeachment back on the table.

The government is supposed to work for the people, not to promote a select group of people at the expense of the taxpayer! Yet we find that Sara Taylor's testimony under oath provides us with this example of cobag junketing:

John P. Walters, director of the drug control office, and his deputies traveled at taxpayer expense to about 20 events with vulnerable GOP members of Congress in the three months leading up to the elections.

In a letter to Taylor, Waxman also pointed to an e-mail by an official in the drug policy office describing President Bush's top political adviser, Karl Rove, as being pleased that the office, along with the Commerce, Transportation and Agriculture departments, went "above and beyond" the call of duty in arranging appearances by Cabinet members at campaign events.

As Karl Rove's aide, we must assume that Sara Taylor knows whereof she speaks. It is an outrage that these machinations have been going on for six years and yet we can do nothing to stop them.

The drug control office has had a history of being nonpartisan, and a 1994 law bars the agency's officials from engaging in political activities even on their own time.*

Waxman's investigation is part of a broad effort by Congress to look into White House political involvement in federal agencies. So far, Democratic lawmakers have found evidence that:

• White House officials were involved with the firings of nine U.S. attorneys
Politicization of the Justice Department.
• that Rove deputies made presentations to officials at the General Services Administration and other agencies about Democrats targeted for defeat by the GOP in 2008.
Politicization of the General Services Administration department.
• Former surgeon general Richard H. Carmona testified last week that the White House routinely blocked him from speaking out on politically sensitive public health matters such as stem cell research and abstinence-only sex education. Carmona also said he was asked to make appearances to help Republican candidates and discouraged from travel that might help a liberal politician.
Politicization of the Surgeon General's office.

In addition, we have:

Politicization of NASA, whose scientists were forbidden to speak to the press or address gatherings of their peers without prior approval by nonscientist political appointees;

Politicization of FEMA;

Politicization of the military, firing any senior officer who does not agree with the administration and replacing them with pliable parrots;

Politicization of the courts, with the appointment of right-wing ideologue judges such as Alito and Roberts;

I've heard, but don't currently have links to, reports of politicization of other government offices, including NOAA and Interior. What would we do without Henry Waxman?
* Emphasis mine.

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