The Rethuglican Ideal of Responsibility

[womzilla]

Juan Cole:

It is remarkable how the US press allows themselves to be manipulated by the government. When the Abu Ghuraib story broke, Bush just issued a statement that he was disgusted, taking no responsibility. The headlines the next day? "Bush Disgusted by Photos." The proper headline would have been "Permanent Damage to US Image in Muslim World; Bush Fires No One."

I don't know who first brought this idea to my attention, but it was almost certainly either Josh Marshall or Atrios: Over the last 42 months, the US government has made a very large number of errors, ranging from "not detecting the September 11th attacks" to "completely botching the Iraq occupation". No one has ever lost his or her job over these errors. Period.

What the hell is up with that?

Comments

Amen

[bobhowe.livejournal.com]

I guess the Bush administration isn't firing anyone because the demand for labor is so high they just can't attract good people. Disgust is too weak a word for what I feel about this administration.

[john-d-owen.livejournal.com]

The only reason for being fired in the Bush Administration is for not toeing the party line (ie, Paul O'Neill) or for trying to bring unpalatable information to the fore (ie, Richard Clarke). Incompetence simply isn't a sackable offence with these guys (otherwise they'd all be back in their cushy CEO jobs with defence and energy contractors, wouldn't they?)

[(Anonymous)]

Nancy Lebovitz here:

I think we're seeing asymmetrical responsibility.

The folks in charge talk as though punishment is a tremendously effective method of getting what you want, but (perhaps partly because they believe in unrestrained punishment), they are never subject to punishment themselves.

Not true

[(Anonymous)]

Jay Garner was replaced as the CPA administrator just weeks after he took the job.

Did Clinton fire anybody over the many "intelligence failures" that happened on his watch? Or Carter?

Clinton did fire Sessions, but apparently not over Waco. Most of the Waco officials continued to have stellar careers. I'm not saying that the Republicans are better, but it's not the way things are usually done in Washington. The only cabinet official I remember Clinton firing is Joycelyn Elders.

By the way, use of the term "Rethuglican" reflects poorly on you, much more so than on the Republicans.

Re: Not true

[womzilla.livejournal.com]

You're right about Jay Garner. While I view that more as a scapegoating than an actual assignment of responsibility, you're right that it counts as one.

And I call them the Rethuglicans because a) the modern leaders of the Republican party aren't in favor of a republic at all, but in a kleptocratic oligarchy; b) the Republican party used to have ideals, and now has only the pursuit of power; and c) it's therapeutic to ridicule your oppressors from time to time. If this makes me look petty, well, so I look petty.