Through a Glass Lightly: 10 Hopeful Cracks in the Bush Facade
By Bernard Weiner
Co-Editor, The Crisis Papers
http://www.crisispapers.org
Don't know about you, but I find myself caught right in the middle of the glass
half-empty/half-full way of looking at our current political situation.
In my last piece ("Shining Our Light on the Shadow Forces: Open Letter to the
Fledgling 'Movement'"), I talked about how things are going to get worse before
they get worse, and then even more worse, and then things will start to get
better. In my darker periods -- which these days is most of the time -- I still
believe this, that what is about to come down from Bush&Co. in the next few
years is going to be horrendous, both for Americans domestically and for those
in the way of U.S. imperial moves abroad.
Domestically, due-process Constitutional protections, already in shreds thanks
to Bush & Ashcroft, will nearly disappear. Big Brother government will invade
our privacy in virtually every area of our lives, thanks to technological
breakthroughs and the magic word "terrorists." More citizens will be yanked off
to the American gulags, cut off from judicial review or even their attorneys.
Internationally, Bush&Co. will continue to march forward belligerently,
arrogantly and theateningly in their desire to bring "benevolent hegemony" to
those areas of the world rich in minerals and energy sources, thus stirring up
anti-U.S. rebellions and fueling more terrorism.
But rather than dwell on that awful picture, and what it presages for the
future -- the glass half-empty scenario -- let's search for any hopeful signs
that point to a way out of our current morass.
In this glass-half-full approach, consider these:
1. Big Brotherism. A number of anti-big-government conservatives, appalled at
the Constitutional excesses of the Bush Administration and its Big Brother
approach to snooping on American citizens, have begun to rebel. A bit late, of
course -- since many of them supported those very excesses in helping get the
USA PATRIOT Act and the Homeland Security bill passed -- but better late than
never.
It almost boggles the mind to read that such rightwing stalwarts as Dick Armey,
Bob Barr, and Henry Hyde are about to join forces with the American Civil
Liberties Union, as consultants, to try to rein in the police-state tactics of
the Bush Administration. Politics does indeed put one in the sack with the
strangest bedfellows. (Incidentally, the ACLU -- which is running TV ads in
selected markets showing Ashcroft taking scissors to the Constitution --
reports that it is being inundated with new members, up 12% from last year at
this time, and rising fast.)
In addition, such conservative/libertarian columnists as William Safire and Pat
Buchanan likewise are taking frontal potshots at the excesses of this arrogant
Administration and its approach to the Constitution. Good on them!
If the civil libertarian wing of the Democratic party, and the anti-war
movement in general, are wise, they will welcome these lapsed brethren into the
anti-Bush&Co. fold and try to utilize their conservative credentials to lure
more such disaffected Republicans to the cause of restoring Constitutional
balance and due-process to our polity. (I think the Democrats may have leaders
with that kind of wisdom; I'm not sure about some of the segments of the
anti-war movement, still locked into slogans and behaviors that are sure to
alienate the great middle-class of Americans, without whom no political
movement can make much progress.)
2. The Jeffords example. Given this relatively slight but growing conservative
opposition to Bush&Co. excesses, there may be more leverage for leaning on such
moderate GOP senators as Snowe, Collins, Specter and Chaffee to "do a Jeffords"
and become Independents, thus blocking Bush&Co.'s total control of the U.S.
Congress. It would be a miracle if some or all of them were to bolt the party
-- those GOP moderates stand to benefit from the perqs of being part of the
winning side -- but if they did, it would make it easier for Democrats to head
off the more egregious policies of the Bush Administration. Surely these GOP
moderates are uneasy with (or even revolted by) some of those policies and,
with enough pressure from inside and outside the Senate, they might be willing
to consider such a patriotic move. There is talk amongst some Democrats of
trying to lure them over by promising them key leadership positions and other
blandishments -- not a bad strategy, if a bit obvious.
3. The Supreme Court. One can expect that some of the more outrageous
provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act and the Homeland Security Act will make their
way to the U.S. Supreme Court, perhaps as early as next year. Given the growing
revolt by conservatives against the more extreme aspects of those bills with
reference to civil liberties and privacy, it is possible that the Supreme
Court, with a conservative majority, might rule that some of those provisions
are unconstitutional. (One can imagine that Rehnquist, Scalia and Thomas would
always rule for Bush&Co. -- they are, in a way, charter members of that Co. --
but Kennedy and O'Connor, a shade more moderate, might join the more liberal
four on questions such as these. Let us not forget, many conservatives are
worried about the martial-law-type precedents established under Bush that would
still be in place were liberal Democratic administrations to retake the
government some day.)
Already, we've seen several key court cases recently where Bush&Co. have had
their hands slapped. An appeals court has ruled that the feds can not violate
California law and turn over the oil-rich coastline to companies wishing to
drill. And the judge hearing the case against Cheney's continuing refusal to
make public who participated in shaping the Administration's energy policies
once again has ordered him, in no uncertain terms, to turn over those papers
and quickly. That's one courageous judge. (It's not clear what penalties could
be exacted against Cheney if he chooses to ignore the court's order --
contempt-of-court proceedings are not likely, but it's conceivable they could
be ordered; it's even possible that impeachment could loom somewhere down the
line. But, once again, the true face of Bush&Co, arrogantly deciding for
themselves what information should be seen by the American public will be made
manifest, and electoral consequences could ensue.)
4. The Esquire Article. In case you haven't heard, a Bush Administration
insider -- John DiIulio, who was Bush's head of the faith-based initiative
program -- sent a long memo to Esquire writer Ron Susskind that takes a vivid
peek behind the corrupt, power-hungry mob in the White House. Among his
bombshells: "There is no precedent in any modern White House for what is going
on in this one: a complete lack of a policy apparatus. What you've got is
everything, and I mean everything, being run by the political arm. It's the
reign of the Mayberry Machiavellis...On social policy and related issues, the
lack of even basic policy knowledge, and only a casual interest in knowing
more, was somewhat breathtaking..."
DiIulio made the obligatory public backtracking a few days ago, after coming
under heavy fire from the Bushistas, but what he wrote stands as a most
important critical attack, all the more effective because it's not from a
Democratic heavy or an online progressive writer but from a conservative who
continues to support Bush as a leader.
What he's saying is what many of us have been asserting for quite awhile: that
the extremist HardRight agenda is what is driving the Bush&Co. engine, not
policy that is intelligently vetted in terms of what is good for the American
people. And Karl Rove, the Rasputin behind the throne, runs that domestic 24/7
political operation -- just as Cheney runs the foreign policy wing, and
probably much more.
In short, a major fissure has opened up in the Bush facade, and through it the
American people can get a clearer view of the ambitious, power-hungry zealots
in charge. Score one for our side.
continued...
