Goodlings Amok: "This administration will leave office having trashed the place."

[DeepModem Mom]

WP: Goodlings Amok
A Common Thread in Bush's Failings
By Ruth Marcus
Wednesday, July 30, 2008; A15

The improbable topic of today's column is Monica Goodling and the federal budget deficit.

You might think that the two of these have nothing in common save the happenstance that both are the subject of devastating new reports: Goodling about the stomach-turning politicization of the Justice Department; the deficit about the stomach-turning state of the federal treasury. But the linkage goes beyond the adjective. The ousted Goodling and the lingering deficit are twin manifestations of the Bush administration's overarching contempt for government and blind adherence to ideology.

This administration will leave office having trashed the place -- and I'm not talking about a few "W's" pried loose from White House computer keyboards by the exiting Clinton crew. I'm referring to the myriad ways in which this administration, dismissive of the role of government, abused the enterprise it was entrusted with overseeing.

My favorite sentence in the Goodling report sums up the hiring practices in the department's supposedly nonpartisan career ranks: "Tell Brad he can hire one more good American." This was the response by Goodling, who served as Justice's liaison with the White House, to a request from Bradley Schlozman, the interim U.S. attorney in Kansas City, Mo., to bring aboard a new prosecutor. "Good American" is Goodling's code for "Republican."

Every victorious administration enjoys the legitimate spoils of government. The president is entitled to bring in his people -- those who have voted for him, written checks to him and back his policies. Every administration has its Goodlings, inexperienced punks who flaunt their authority as conspicuously as a West Wing badge. Most administrations find ways to keep the Goodlings under control and the grown-ups in charge. The trouble with this one is that it is riddled with Goodlings Gone Wild, incapable of or unwilling to distinguish between the proper pursuit of political aims and the responsible administration of government....

So what's the deficit got to do with it? The deterioration of the nation's budgetary picture under the reckless stewardship of this administration is the fiscal equivalent of the Goodlingization of the executive branch. President Bush put adherence to Republican theology -- taxes must be cut -- over prudent governing....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/29/AR2008072901967_pf.html

[melody]

1. "Goodling" should be our new term for "useful idiot"

She wears it well.

[Enthusiast]

2. Yes, her name is perfect. nt

[mwb970]

13. Great idea!

Kind of like "quisling".

[POAS]

3. Goodling rhymes with Quisling..n/t

[Prophet 451]

4. "one more good American"

Was this for the Justice Department or the Justice League?

[melody]

5. lol, no kidding n/t

[snake in the grass]

6. I have to respectfully disagree.

At first glance it would appear that it was incompetence that led to the economic downfall under which we are suffering today. Indeed, that is almost always the initial description of the situation and therein lies the mistake. We must realize that the economy is exactly where the higher members of the administration want it. The same goes for wunderkind Goodling. You can be sure she was held on a short leash and was executing orders from higher up. Someone as slimy and subservient as she appears to be is incapable of independent action. It wasn't bungling that got us here but rather intention. Time and time again supporters and members of the Bush junta have profited from these assumed 'mistakes'. This is no coincidence and makes their crimes even more insidious.

[OneBlueSky]

9. so true . . . and they best count the silverware when the Bushes leave the White House . . .

not to mention the place settings, the furniture, the historic artifacts, the rugs, the draperies, the bedding, and the knick-knacks . . . wouldn't want them furnishing the Paraguay mansion with property of the American people, now would we . . .

[madrchsod]

7. i guess the washington post feels they are save now.....

where were they during this disaster? oh i forgot...they were cheerleaders for the bush government

[bemildred]

8. This is what you get when the people running the government hate the government. nt

[Alcibiades]

10. She's inconsistent here

Was Monica Goodling simply a "bad apple," an overzealous young woman who did not recognize that what she was doing was profoundly illegal and unAmerican?

"Every administration has its Goodlings, inexperienced punks who flaunt their authority as conspicuously as a West Wing badge."

Or was it simply an oversight, a lack of proper discipline on the part of Goodling's superiors, mature managers who would have kept her from hiring and firing on the basis of politics, if only they had known?

"Most administrations find ways to keep the Goodlings under control and the grown-ups in charge. The trouble with this one is that it is riddled with Goodlings Gone Wild, incapable of or unwilling to distinguish between the proper pursuit of political aims and the responsible administration of government."

Or was it all due to a total commitment to ideology over all other considerations, including legality and the rule of law?

"Monica Goodling was not the problem. She was the symptom of an administration so certain of the correctness of its worldview that it never pauses to reconsider."

No, the fact is that Goodling was following orders. This was the Justice Department's version of the K-Street Project. This is how the Bush administration proceeds, not just in hiring and firing, but also at every step of the policymaking process. A total commitment to ideology over all other considerations, one that made use of useful idiots where warranted, but one driven purposefully from the top. This is one of the hallmarks of totalitarianism, and reveals how Republicans have jumped the shark, how they have gone beyond the traditions tenets of Republican Party in America and become enemies of democracy.

It's not that the Goodlings have run amok. It's more accurate to say that Bush, Cheney and Rove have run amok.

[underpants]

11. They have sleeper cells at Justice and Homeland Security

DHS is notorious for the number of political appointees

Both will be the source of "Justice officials say...." leaks to the media for the next 10-15 years, same with DHS.

[katty]

12. that's what bush/chencyco does best-rape, pillage and leave