Baby George Bush’s unwavering support of Attorney General Alberto “Albie” Gonzales is reminiscent of his support of the rodeo clown “Brownie” who was his FEMA Director when Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans. While Albie is more qualified for his job than was Brownie, he appears to have botched his job to the same degree…or has he?
The question is whether Albie really is as dumb as he appears, or whether he just got caught up in the arrogance of this Administration that continually tries to convince the public that a president should be granted nearly unlimited power. Perhaps one day we’ll hear Albie doing a Paris Hilton impression for the press, claiming that he plans to stop acting stupid and that his real issue is that he was too afraid to say “no” when asked to cross a line that he knows he should not have.
In his defense, Albie has been a Bush loyalist for many years, at one point helping Baby George to avoid jury duty for a drunken driving trial without disclosing his own DUI conviction. He appears to be somewhat of a political moderate, since his potential Supreme Court nomination was quashed by the GOP’s evangelical wing. Given his history prior to assuming the post of Attorney General, Albie looks to be Baby George’s cowering finger puppet rather than someone who independently concluded that a few Democratic appointees were lousy U.S. Attorneys.
Certainly presidents and cabinet members have always made loyalty and ideology important characteristics when building a team. The Clinton administration took this to a new level by bringing a young, highly inexperienced team into the White House, and the Bush administration has gone even further. This ever-increasing premium that is placed on ideological parallelism only worsens the partisan divide. Our next president needs to set an example by building a highly qualified team that is not rabidly idealistic, but experienced and able to cross party lines in order to serve the people of the United States.
Article comments
1 - Dave Nalle
Regarding the Goodling appointment, let me share this quote from Andrew Jackson:
"The duties of all public officers are so plain and simple that men of intelligence may readily qualify themselves for their performance."
And from what I've seen it's as true now as it was then.
Dave
2 - Zedd
Yabosi
I don't think that the qualifier was ideology, it was pliability.
My attempt at understanding Gonzales goes like this: In the corporate world or situations that require upward mobility, minorities often have to sell their souls in order to be considered good team players so that they can escalate. Its the good nigger syndrome. Gonzales does not fit the m.o. of the typical Bush appointee. He was qualified for the job, he however acted as one who wasn't. I suspect that he has had to play his capability down in order to get where he is.
Often times in the Republican party, the minorities are either playing down or dumb puppets. Either way they have to be of diminished status in order to succeed. Many have to grin about things that they don't believe in, in order to seem kosher. J.C. Watts became a multidimensional person AFTER he left congress.
Remember he was the man who had to go to Canada to be quarterback, in his time. Knew what America was about.
Many in the corporate arena undergo that very same thing. We play ourselves down. We diminish our intelligence, creativity, objections, humanity in order to survive. What is sad is that in many cases, the person who promotes you thinks they have done something commendable, taken a giant step for mankind. As if one's lovely healthy skin needs some consideration when determining one's qualification for a position. Its laughable, especially when you haven't revealed just how gifted you really are so as not be appear to be too much of a threat.
Is this the environment that Gonzales encountered? I don't know. Perhaps he is just a yes man by nature... But it happens, a lot.
3 - moonraven
Gonzales is an affirmative action nightmare--the logical result of a corrupt system, a token who knows his place in a racist society.
He has done exactly what they put him in that position to do: destroy the rule of law )not only in the US, but on the planet) because that rule was not convenient for his employers.
Yes, he has done a hell of a job. And we are all living in that hell.
4 - Clavos
Living in Mexico, how can you tell, mr?
Life there is hell for all but the privileged, isn't it?
5 - moonraven
If you read my short post, clavos, you SHOULD notice that I refer to the destruction of the rule of law as being planetary.
Life in Mexico is just fine for me--and I am not part of the privileged class.
6 - Clavos
I'm glad to see your life is "fine," living in an oligarchical kleptocracy.
7 - moonraven
The US is also an oligarchical kleptocracy, clavos.
The nicest thing about where I live in Mexico is NO GRINGOS....
8 - Nancy
Most gringos are fine, MR - it's the rich, overprivileged ones like BushCo that produce the rot.
9 - Clavos
"The US is also an oligarchical kleptocracy, clavos."
No shit, mr?
I am SO glad you, in your infinite wisdom, are around to teach and enlighten me.
10 - Zedd
MR
You are right. What women and minorities need to do is own the position that they are in. Hilary is playing the role of a candidate. She is suppressing her smarts and go getter personality, as a result she comes off as sneaky like a lot of ambitious women. Minorities have a lot to offer this country however we tend to pretend to be White males in order to fit in and be accepted. What ends up happening is that we just perpetuate the idea of their superiority because no one can be a White male better than a White male.
I've taught my daughters that the most powerful thing you can be is a girl, a young lady, than a woman, especially in a male world. Men don't know how to be women. They are perplexed by what we do and bring to the table. I tell them to do that and they will prevail. Femininity disarms men and many women (who have abandoned it, thinking that it is inferior).
The same with ethnicity. No one can be good at being you but you. Power comes from being good at what you do. You can only do YOU.
Gonzales like many minorities comes across as someone who is self conscious and trying really hard not to be a Mexican guy. He doesn't understand just how powerful being a Mexican guy with his experience, is, and what a coup it would be for republicans with minorities.
11 - moonraven
Clavos, you are incapable of being enlightened.
Nancy, I am afraid you have a vested interest in thinking gringos are okay.
I do not.
Most of them are pompously ignorant.
12 - Clavos
"Clavos, you are incapable of being enlightened."
I'm crushed; you've found me out...
Sigh.
13 - Zedd
Should have been:
"I've taught my daughters that the most powerful thing you can be is a girl, a young lady, then a woman, especially in a male world."
14 - bliffle
Zedd,
Thanks for saying it. You are absolutely right.