Dueling Degeneration

Impeachment demonstrations took place throughout the country this last weekend. A28 The resonance from these exercises in democracy in themselves provide a hopeful quality amidst more tragedy in Iraq and more scandal in the US government.

The occupation of Iraq and the ongoing civil war continues its slide. On Saturday the 28th, 9 US troops were killed and the deaths of Iraqis enmeshed in a civil war continues.

Over the weekend there was the revelation that certain US Iraq reconstruction projects are failing and crumbling, laying partial waste to the pillar reconstruction of Iraq theme. Recall that the - as they stand up we will stand down - pillar collapsed the preceding week.

George Tenet is the latest in a long string of former Bush high level employees to reveal the failings of the administration in the run up to the war. The administration is well practiced in issuing its multifaceted counterattack with its war chest load of denials and character assassinations to go with sycophantic paternalistic chiding frequently delivered by the Secretary of State, apparently the Bush administration's voice of reason.

As Iraq devolves, concurrently so does the Bush administration. We have seen a weekly and sometimes daily stream of incongruence and disunion. All levels of the administration seem affected and many reveal the worst and bitterest strains of hypocrisy.

Along with the Tenet revelations and from the voice of reason office of the Bush administration, there is Randall L. Tobias, the Deputy Secretary of State and Condi Rice favorite, resigning amidst a widening sexual scandal. Tobias carried the baton of the Bush approach to AIDS with fidelity and abstinence being the tandem remedy. Once again the all too familiar theme of moral dissonance re-arises within the allegedly morally superior and irreproachable party. Hopefully more in the general population will come to recognize that pure authoritarianism is a grave and threatening mental state. Perhaps only impeachment is its remedy.

It is the Alberto Gonzales testimony before the Senate that gives some clues as to how the Bush administration will try to maintain the facade of competence in the future.

First, welcome all questions, whatever they may be, and assert that they are fair and valid, and that the questioner is swell for asking it.

Second, admit and accept responsibility, and that the burden is now on your shoulders. Simultaneously, never even imply what accepting responsibility means or how that will affect anything, if in fact it does.

Third, if someone touches the slightly exposed nerve of your culpability and a small weakness is exposed, then say you will look into the matter or say you need further clarification. Once again never mention what will happen because of this.

Finally, if someone touches the bare raw nerve of extreme culpability, then simply look them square in the face, say you don't remember, you can't recall, you can't recollect, and smile.