One might say -- indeed, many have said -- that the Bush administration has a problem with truth. That's true, but I think the real problem is something different: It has a problem with reality. It does not like data that contradicts its assumptions and beliefs.
This is what a "faith-based" presidency turns out to be. If the facts interfere with the faith, go with the faith. Better yet, suppress opposing viewpoints entirely, so people won't even have to perform the distressing chore of separating faith from truth.
Like this: The Department of Homeland Security recently proposed that part or all of standard environmental impact reports be made secret. Data about things like possible chemical spills, standards for cleanup after a nuclear accident and the transportation of hazardous materials might somehow alert terrorists, who would cravenly decide to pollute our rivers even faster than our homegrown corporations are doing.
The regulation would allow the DHS to black out the entire document if it so chose.
Of course, if there's no EIR, then no one can sue to stop a project based on the EIR. Residents won't know what kind of poison is being pumped into their air or driven through their town on midnight trucks. But that's OK because they'll be safe from terrorists and their chemical weapons. Wait, I am sensing a gap in the logic here.
Oh, and then there's Thomas A. Scully, the former head of Medicare, who found out that his chief actuary, Richard S. Foster, had determined that the administration's then-pending drug benefit legislation would cost a lot more than the administration said it would. Scully, ever mindful of his job as a public servant, ordered Foster not to tell Congress about his finding. Indeed, according to several sources, he threatened to fire Foster if he said as much as a word to anyone about it.
So there was an exhaustive investigation into this matter, conducted of course by the administration itself, which determined that no laws had been broken. There was a serious breach of the public trust, but it wasn't illegal.
That reminds me of the defense that Illinois Senate Republican candidate Jack Ryan mounted after it came out that he had asked his ex-wife to perform sex acts in public: "No commandment was broken." It's true that "thou shalt not pimp out thy wife" is not among the Big Ten. If he had beaten his wife senseless, it still would not rise to a commandment-level felony. If he had killed her, though, we'd be in golden tablets territory.
Then there's our friend Dick Cheney, who can't seem to stop lying. Reputable people and organizations, even Republican people and organizations, keep contradicting him, but that doesn't stop him. Look, he said, someone from al Qaeda met someone from Iraq in the Czech Republic. Well, there's no evidence that it happened, but, as an aide to Cheney said, "The story has never been refuted."
On July 13, 1995, I spent the entire day on the moon. This story has never been refuted.
Then, after the independent Sept. 11 commission said that there was no evidence linking al Qaeda to Iraq, Cheney said he probably had access to more information than the commission did. So Thomas Kean, the head of the commission and the former Republican governor of New Jersey, said well, no, actually, the vice president did not have access to more material than his commission did.
So did Cheney apologize? Of course not; apologies are not part of his deal. He had his spokesman issue a statement saying that he was grateful to the chairman for confirming that the White House had fully cooperated with the committee. I mean, you gotta give him points for chutzpah.
Say, kids, school is out and you're probably looking for a useful summer project. Here it is: Count the number of times Dick Cheney lies. Feel free to use public records and personal interviews. Then add that number to the number of WMDs found in Iraq, and you'll have -- well, the same number. But you'll be a little smarter; maybe we'll all be a little smarter.
And I didn't even touch on the whole Halliburton thing. There are so many scandals, so many lies, that we'll need another gross of abacuses.
John Carroll SF Gate.com
This is what a "faith-based" presidency turns out to be. If the facts interfere with the faith, go with the faith. Better yet, suppress opposing viewpoints entirely, so people won't even have to perform the distressing chore of separating faith from truth.
Like this: The Department of Homeland Security recently proposed that part or all of standard environmental impact reports be made secret. Data about things like possible chemical spills, standards for cleanup after a nuclear accident and the transportation of hazardous materials might somehow alert terrorists, who would cravenly decide to pollute our rivers even faster than our homegrown corporations are doing.
The regulation would allow the DHS to black out the entire document if it so chose.
Of course, if there's no EIR, then no one can sue to stop a project based on the EIR. Residents won't know what kind of poison is being pumped into their air or driven through their town on midnight trucks. But that's OK because they'll be safe from terrorists and their chemical weapons. Wait, I am sensing a gap in the logic here.
Oh, and then there's Thomas A. Scully, the former head of Medicare, who found out that his chief actuary, Richard S. Foster, had determined that the administration's then-pending drug benefit legislation would cost a lot more than the administration said it would. Scully, ever mindful of his job as a public servant, ordered Foster not to tell Congress about his finding. Indeed, according to several sources, he threatened to fire Foster if he said as much as a word to anyone about it.
So there was an exhaustive investigation into this matter, conducted of course by the administration itself, which determined that no laws had been broken. There was a serious breach of the public trust, but it wasn't illegal.
That reminds me of the defense that Illinois Senate Republican candidate Jack Ryan mounted after it came out that he had asked his ex-wife to perform sex acts in public: "No commandment was broken." It's true that "thou shalt not pimp out thy wife" is not among the Big Ten. If he had beaten his wife senseless, it still would not rise to a commandment-level felony. If he had killed her, though, we'd be in golden tablets territory.
Then there's our friend Dick Cheney, who can't seem to stop lying. Reputable people and organizations, even Republican people and organizations, keep contradicting him, but that doesn't stop him. Look, he said, someone from al Qaeda met someone from Iraq in the Czech Republic. Well, there's no evidence that it happened, but, as an aide to Cheney said, "The story has never been refuted."
On July 13, 1995, I spent the entire day on the moon. This story has never been refuted.
Then, after the independent Sept. 11 commission said that there was no evidence linking al Qaeda to Iraq, Cheney said he probably had access to more information than the commission did. So Thomas Kean, the head of the commission and the former Republican governor of New Jersey, said well, no, actually, the vice president did not have access to more material than his commission did.
So did Cheney apologize? Of course not; apologies are not part of his deal. He had his spokesman issue a statement saying that he was grateful to the chairman for confirming that the White House had fully cooperated with the committee. I mean, you gotta give him points for chutzpah.
Say, kids, school is out and you're probably looking for a useful summer project. Here it is: Count the number of times Dick Cheney lies. Feel free to use public records and personal interviews. Then add that number to the number of WMDs found in Iraq, and you'll have -- well, the same number. But you'll be a little smarter; maybe we'll all be a little smarter.
And I didn't even touch on the whole Halliburton thing. There are so many scandals, so many lies, that we'll need another gross of abacuses.
John Carroll SF Gate.com
