more on Blame the government...whoever that is.....;

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Stephen Fulton <ip () lists esoteric ca>
Date: September 6, 2005 10:44:15 PM EDT
To: dave () farber net
Subject: Re: [IP] Blame the government...whoever that is.....;


Dave,

This is for IP, if you wish.

> I don’t think the “government” is the problem.  I don’t think
> “bureaucracy” is the problem.  The problem is that the people running
> the government, the people running the bureaucracy, won’t take any
> responsibility for anything.

First of all, I am Canadian and perhaps have the benefit or ignorance  
of being an outsider, but Mr. Jackson's words above struck me as  
quite an accurate observation.  American politics is very partisan,  
and recriminations on many issues  fly in both directions, though  
rarely is the anonymous bureaucracy brought into the picture (apart  
from the big government/small government debates, or the  
occassional).  Regardless of which side is in power, it is the  
bureaucracy which carries out the policies of those in power, and  
this is a significant power of itself, apparently without the checks  
and balances which make up the rest of the US government.  I believe  
this power is often ignored.

For example, the contents of the US Patriot Act seemed to shock many  
after its' passage, but to those who have observed the US justice and  
intelligence system, it was not a surprise.  The powers within it had  
been on a wish-list for many years by the those within law  
enforcement and intelligence, and while they may balk at this  
suggestion, they too are part of the bureaucracy.

Another example could be the philosophical doctrine which encompassed  
the "big picture" reasons for war in Iraq.  This was aptly documented  
by the New York Times in, I believe, 1994, when it published a paper  
by Mr. Cheney and Mr. Wolfowitz, while they spent time at the  
Pentagon as part of its' civilian bureaucracy.

I spent my time in university training to be a historian, and I am  
not attempting to pass any kind of judgment on these sensitive  
issues, but I do feel that the power of the bureaucracy, however it  
is exercised, deserves closer examination.

-- Stephen Fulton.




David Farber wrote:

> Begin forwarded message:
> From: Tom Jackson <tom_jackson () sbcglobal net>
> Date: September 6, 2005 6:24:35 PM EDT
> To: 'Dave Farber' <dave () farber net>
> Subject: Blame the government...whoever that is.....;
> Pardon the screed – for IP if appropriate.
> I thought my ability to be outraged was nearing exhaustion – until  
> I  read this….
> President Bush and Congressional leaders vowed today to find out  
> what  went wrong in the federal response to Hurricane Katrina, with  
> Mr.  Bush declaring that "bureaucracy's not going to stand in the  
> way of  getting the job done for the people."
> The posting on the NY Times web site continues…..
> On Capitol Hill, meanwhile, the chairwoman and the ranking  
> minority  member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental  
> Affairs  Committee said hearings would be held. "Government at all  
> levels  failed," said Senator Susan Collins, Republican of Maine  
> and  chairwoman of the panel, who appeared with the ranking  
> Democrat,  Senator Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut.
> "It is difficult to understand the lack of preparedness and the   
> ineffective initial response to a disaster that had been predicted   
> for years, and for which specific, dire warnings had been given  
> for  days," Senator Collins said.
> So bureaucracy and government are the problem?
> Well, yes.  The government eviscerated FEMA to build “Fatherland   
> Security”.  The government slashed spending on dikes.  The  
> government  is led by a man who “couldn’t foresee” the situation in  
> New Orleans.   The “bureaucracy” is busy sending troops and  
> hundreds of billions of  dollars to support a boondoggle of a war,  
> but wastes days and days  before sending troops to Americans in  
> need – and then sends troops  with the order to “shoot to kill”.
> I don’t think the “government” is the problem.  I don’t think   
> “bureaucracy” is the problem.  The problem is that the people  
> running  the government, the people running the bureaucracy, won’t  
> take any  responsibility for anything.
> A good starting point would be for Bush, Collins, Lieberman, and   
> about 48 other Senators to admit their incompetence, or to put it   
> more kindly, indifference.  Rather than more Republican anti-  
> government rhetoric, more scape-goating, and more spin, why can’t  
> the  responsible parties simply stand up and admit to errors?   
> Failure to  do so is every bit as shameful as the needless human  
> suffering in New  Orleans.
> Our elected and appointed governmental officials will find  
> structures  and processes and people to blame, but they will never  
> admit that  their skewed priorities and contemptuous disregard for  
> the poor and  the sick among us are the root causes of the post- 
> Katrina tragedy of  New Orleans.
> Tom Jackson
> tom () tjackson com
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