-Caveat Lector- "You can�t help but blush when a right-wing, racist, Republican senatorial candidate from Missouri loses the election to a dead Democratic opponent and then is rewarded by the president-elect by being nominated U.S. Attorney General." <http://www.msnbc.com/news/509305.asp> The Age of Embarrassment The price America pays for putting an underachiever in the White House By Jill Nelson MSNBC CONTRIBUTOR Jan. 3 � Forget all the rhetoric during the campaign from George W. Bush about morals, virtue, honor and restoring America to her former glory. The Age of Embarrassment is upon us, and if you think you were humiliated by Bill Clinton�s shenanigans in the Oval Office, baby, you ain�t seen nothin� yet. THIS IS the era to cringe as you see the latest Republican retread nominated for a cabinet post. You can�t help but blush when a right-wing, racist, Republican senatorial candidate from Missouri loses the election to a dead Democratic opponent and then is rewarded by the president-elect by being nominated U.S. Attorney General. Not to mention the deja vu all over again that struck when Donald Rumsfeld was nominated for Secretary of Defense, one mo� time. If you can remember back that far, this is the man who began his political career with Richard Nixon and graduated to being Secretary of Defense in the Ford Administration, is a supporter of space-based defense systems � remember the joke that was Star Wars? NO VISIONARIES HERE Watching Bush announce his cabinet choices over the last few weeks, I suppose it�s possible for those who did not vote for him to avoid feeling sick, disgusted, or outraged. But it�s been totally impossible to avoid being embarrassed. It�s as if we�re watching some bad national sitcom, very loosely based on Oedipus, in which the First Son tries to prove himself to his ex-commander-in-chief father. And how does he go about doing this? By surrounding himself with aging father surrogates � first and foremost Daddy�s main man, Dick Cheney, who, heading the vice-presidential search committee, ended up having himself chosen for the job. Junior Bush�s cabinet choices are composed of an assortment of right-wing ideologues, fat cats, has-beens, wannabes, and plain ol� opportunists. Not a visionary in the bunch, and no one in sight who seems capable of imagining this nation or the world absent the status quo of corporate capitalism. From soon-to-be Secretary of State Colin Powell to Gale Norton, nominated to head the Department of the Interior, to New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman, whose state is a hotbed of racial profiling and who herself once smiled for the cameras as she participated in a ceremonial stop-and-frisk operation, there�s not an original, innovative thinker in the bunch. Sure, there�s superficial diversity in the Bush cabinet, which includes two African Americans, two Latinos, two women, and a lone Democrat of Asian descent, but the cabinet still remains overwhelmingly conservative politically. THE POWELL FACTOR I�m not comforted by the selection of Colin Powell, white America�s favorite Negro, as Secretary of State. In an America where major changes have been made through citizens saying �no� to authority, particularly African Americans, Powell is an obedient military man who was involved in the major military debacles of the last half of the 20th century, including Vietnam, Grenada and the Gulf War. As for women, Gale Norton, who worked under former Secretary of the Interior and environmental assassin James Watt, isn�t likely to stray from the conservative mindset that concerns about protecting the environment must always give way to corporate profits. Gender won�t help us here; this is a woman who believes corporate self-policing � rather than federal laws and regulations � is the way to protect the environment. I suppose I shouldn�t be surprised that after bushwhacking the U.S. Supreme Court, W decided to select Missouri Sen. John D. Ashcroft for Attorney General, an anti-abortion ideologue who accepted an honorary degree from the notoriously racist Bob Jones University in 1999. Ashcroft�s biggest challenge in his upcoming confirmation hearing will be explaining exactly why he led the dishonest assault that destroyed African American Missouri Supreme Court Judge Ronnie White�s nomination to a federal judgeship. Looking at Bush�s cabinet picks is like waking up to a recurring nightmare that gets worse by the moment, without any relief in sight. Perhaps the scariest aspect is that while Bush consistently chooses committed conservative ideologues, he appears to have little commitment or clear ideology himself. He�s still Daddy�s wayward prankster son, only this time with a big job and the power to hire his father�s cronies to do it for him. Watching Bush announce his cabinet is like the scene in �The Wizard of Oz,� in which the Wizard is revealed as a short, impotent charlatan. The difference is that at least the Wizard was pulling the strings; it�s still not clear exactly who�s calling the shots for Bush2, although the specters of Tom DeLay, Trent Lott, Jerry Falwell and the gang are never far away. The one thing that is clear is that Bush and his handlers have demonstrated little respect for civil rights, women�s rights, human rights, the environment, the law, or the courts. SKEPTICAL AND RESTIVE Perhaps what�s both most daunting and most hopeful in this Age of Embarrassment is that it dawns in a nation split after an election that at best can be described as deeply flawed � and at worst, outright stolen � by Republican partisans led by the president-elect�s brother, Jeb, and Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris. Reports have already surfaced in The Washington Post that Harris will be rewarded for her efforts by being named Special Envoy to the Americas. Yet as Bush prepares for his inauguration and seems bent on ruling as if he has a mandate, many Americans watch with skepticism, eyebrows raised. Yes, the Age of Embarrassment is upon us. Given the election debacle and the backward bent of the Bush cabinet, I�d like to think that the Age of Citizen Activism is not far behind. Jill Nelson is a journalist and the author of books, most recently, �Police Brutality.� She is a regular contributor to MSNBC. ================================================================= Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh, YHVH, TZEVAOT FROM THE DESK OF: *Michael Spitzer* <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Best Way To Destroy Enemies Is To Change Them To Friends ================================================================= <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. 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