Let's hear it for loyalty!

Can you believe it? Condaleeza Rice for Secretary of State? At the very best you might be generous and say she was sub-mediocre as National Security Advisor. At worst she was totally incompetent. She knew about the 9-11 threat and did nothing. She lied repeatedly about any number of things. She is not very qualified to be Secretary of State. So why is Bush nominating her? Loyalty, that’s why.

Goss to be head of the CIA? If I remember correctly Mr. Goss said himself not too long ago that he was not qualified to be head of the CIA. But he certainly didn’t turn it down. And, already displaying his purely partisan orientation, he has begun to purge the CIA of anyone who might be in any way critical of the Bush Administration. That is apparently what he was assigned to do. Why did he get the job? Loyalty, that’s why.

Alberto Gonzales for Attorney General? This is the legal counsel that decided the President was above all national and international law and could do anything he wanted without having to worry about criminality. A lawyer who announced that the Geneva Convention was “quaint” and could just be ignored, even though the United States had signed it. He also torturously tried to define torture in such a way that it really wasn’t torture at all and would be perfectly okay, as anyone accused of it could merely say they were acting under the orders of the President. There can be little doubt that this advice led eventually to Abu Ghraib. Why was he nominated? Loyalty, that’s why.

It is perfectly obvious that the appointment of Gonzales, under the circumstances, was absurd. And what is more absurd is that the Senate is probably going agree to this totally surrealistic appointment. They already agreed to the appointment of Goss even though they knew he was a partisan. And I fear they will also agree to the incompetent Rice as well. The Democrats agree to these things because, I assume, they do not want to lose their places in the new Fascist scheme of things. None of these candidates were the best choice for their respective positions. None were nominated because they were the best qualified candidates. None of them could have been nominated on the basis of their past performance. No consideration was made to what was best for the country. They were nominated for no reason other than that they are all fiercely loyal to George W. Bush. That seems to be the only criterion necessary for an appointment in the Bush/Cheney Administration. In short, don’t even bother to look for the best candidates, just look for loyalty.

Making appointments to important cabinet positions on the basis of nothing more than loyalty, over time, has to lead to eventual disaster. But not to worry, the Rapture will be upon us soon. But I don’t believe the Rapture they have in mind is what is likely to ensue from this unbelievably short-sighted and basically incestuous procedure. Oh, but I forgot, as Bush communicates directly with God, everything will surely turn out well.