Thursday, March 15, 2007

All roads lead to Rove

My personal opinion here: George Bush and his staff will go down in history as one of the worst Presidencies in recent history. Karl Rove is leading the descent, followed closely by Alberto Gonzales.

The Bush administration's first instinct was to shield Karl Rove from scrutiny when Congress began inquiring about the unusual firings of eight U.S. attorneys. Among the replacements, the proposed new U.S. attorney for Arkansas happened to be one of Rove's most devoted underlings, his head of opposition research, Tim Griffin, who boasted during the 2000 presidential election about the effectiveness of the negative campaign against Al Gore: "We make the bullets!"... Source: All roads lead to Rove | Salon

AG Alberto Gonzales has tirelessly worked to turn the Department of Justice into another branch of the Bush political machine. When confronted with his misdeeds, he lied to congress. When congress dug a little deeper, they found Rove.

I've heard the argument that the attorneys general's serve at the discretion of the President. They also take an oath to defend the constitution, not to the president. Firing the seven AGs was an immoral act. Lying about the firings was an evangelical act. It is all about the spin baby, all about the spin.

AG Alberto Gonzales has been busy focusing the Justice department on Bush's priorities. We know about the political agenda - find dirt on Democrats, but what about Bush's moral agenda?  Gonzales has launched a project to defend religious liberty. In the words of Gonzales, First Freedom Project is:

"Preserving religious liberty requires an ongoing commitment to protecting this most basic freedom for people of all faiths."

What does this mean? Vital Department of Justice resources are dedicated to teaching Americans about their religious rights. What the hell is going on? Why are we spending a dime on this non-issue? What happen to focusing on crime? Why do we need to be taught our rights? I smell Bush pandering to the Christian Fundamentalists again.

The Department of Justice has been busy.

As detailed in the report, from 2001 to 2006 the Department of Justice dramatically increased enforcement of these laws. But there is more work to be done. The First Freedom Project includes a number of facets to ensure that this precious right, guaranteed by our laws and Constitution, is recognized and protected:

  • A commitment to continued expansion of enforcement of civil rights statutes protecting religious liberty.
  • Creation of a Department-wide Task Force on Religious Liberty, chaired by the Assistant Attorney General of the Civil Rights Division, to review DOJ policies impacting religious liberty, coordinate religious liberty cases, and improve outreach to stakeholder communities.
  • Initiation of a series of regional seminars to be held around the country to educate religious, civil rights, and community leaders, attorneys, government officials, and other interested citizens about the laws protecting religious freedom enforced by the Department of Justice and how to file complaints.
  • Increased outreach to religious organizations, civil rights organizations, and other groups and individuals concerned with religious liberty issues through meetings, speaking engagements, and distribution of informational literature.

Is there no end to the hypocrisy?  What next, tabliban style religious police? Government sponsored religion? Oh wait, we already have that.

1 comment:

The Exterminator said...

You said:
George Bush and his staff will go down in history as one of the worst Presidencies in recent history.

Why limit yourself to recent?
Otherwise, an excellent post.

Doesn't it strike you as interesting that Bush and his minions keep breaking "Thou shalt not bear false witness" over and over again, and yet no fundies speak out about this? If the theocrats weren't such pious hypocrites, they would have been leading the charge to drum this crew out of office.