Filed under: News, Politics, President Obama
To quote the 43rd President of the United States himself, "Fool me once, shame on, shame on you. Fool me... you can't get fooled again."
It didn't make sense then, and it doesn't make sense now, but that accurately describes the arrogant idiocy of George W. Bush.
The findings of a report published by the Office of Special Counsel, an independent government watchdog agency, reveals that the Bush Administration used a White House political office as a "boiler room" to support Republican congressional candidates in violation of the Hatch Act - a federal law which prohibits federal employees from participating in partisan political activity.
Flying under the radar, a House Oversight Committee investigation in 2008 concluded that the activities of the Office of Political Affairs (OPA) during the administration of George W. Bush represented a "gross abuse of public trust."
As a White House political unit, OPA's primary focus has been to keep the executive branch informed of political matters. Instead it acted as a safe haven for the Republican National Committee, allowing them to utilize their offices in a political capacity.
"OPA employees, particularly during the 2006 midterm election season, methodically coordinated administration support to aid the campaigns of Republican candidates," according to the report.
Not only did Bush Jr.'s political office coordinate travel for GOP members who were at risk for losing their seat in the 2006 mid-term election, they also did not receive reimbursement, which is stipulated by federal law.
"In 2006, the partisan political activity of OPA staff was not incidental to the functions of the office," the report said. "Instead, the OPA director and deputy director focused the time and energy of OPA staff to help advance the Republican Party's electoral prospects, thereby transforming the office into a setting akin to a political boiler room."
It is not coincidental that Republican idol, former Bush deputy chief of staff, and infamous criminal, Karl Rove, oversaw the activities of the political unit during his tenure in the White House.
Kenneth Mehlmann, first director of Bush's OPA, testified that the office was "by definition" partisan. Attempting to separate the Republican political activity from the official purpose of the OPA, Mehlmann disclosed that they acquired a second set of electronic communication devices to keep an appearance of propriety. Even with this pathetic display of "accountability," it is evident that the Bush Administration knew exactly what it was doing, and did the bare minimum to hide their dubious political activities.
While it warrants a dishonorable mention that former Presidents Clinton and Reagan also came under suspicion for their misuse of the OPA, it was doing the Era of Reaganomics that the office morphed into its current bastion of cronyism.
However, our woefully inadequate, outdated judicial system may just save the day again for Bush and Company. According to the Office of Special Counsel spokesperson, Darshan Sheth, the office can only bring administrative charges before a merit board, and because all of the employees in question are out of government, the agency no longer has jurisdiction.
While bringing forth criminal charges is a viable option, it is one rarely used, and no plans to forward the allegations to the Department of Justice for further investigation are pending.
Which means the purpose of releasing the results were simply to inform the American public what we already know:
President George W. Bush is a politician who is more concerned with his own personal interests than maintaining any modicum of respect for the office he was sworn in to uphold.
Someone stop the presses.
The entire Bush Administration is built upon fraud, deceit, and nepotism, and any supportive evidence presented without requiring that he suffer the consequences equates to nothing but a waste of time and energy.
The Obama Administration last week announced the disbanding of the White House political office, and transferred its functions to the Democratic National Committee. While Spokesman Robert Gibbs called the decision "a matter of duplication and efficiency," I prefer to call it one of honesty and common sense.
Instead of perpetuating this farce of impartiality, it is much better to be forthright and acknowledge that the political unit of the White House supports and strengthen the agenda of the party who inhabits the White House.
No harm, no foul.
Every president in history has claimed transparency, while none have been able to withstand the media's glare. Just as President Obama has employed lobbyists - which is the anti-thesis of his campaign promises, in this instance George Bush is only guilty of what he felt was most beneficial for him and his political interests. He is not the first politician to do, nor will he be the last.
To insinuate that there is some measure of poetic justice contained in the findings of this report is akin to being relieved that Al Capone was arrested for tax evasion.
When the Office of Special Counsel recommends that George Bush be tried for war crimes and misappropriation of tax payer dollars to fund a conflict solely to deepen his pockets, I might be impressed.
Anything less, to quote our former president, is to "misunderestimate" the intelligence of the American people.