Monday, February 26, 2007
Corruption's Handmaidens
These are strange times, it's true. But nothing, it seems to us, is stranger than the fact that, under Bush and Cheney, our government is more corrupt than at any time in the nation's history, and yet it receives what little support it has left from the very people who once claimed to be the "moral majority."
We don't say the government is more corrupt than at any time in history lightly. We know quite well that many past administrations have had their share of dirty dealing, but even Teapot Dome pales in comparison to the institutionalized corruption introduced by the current Republican administration.
Everything the administration touches from Iraq to New Orleans has been tainted by corruption.
"The reason our mission in Iraq has proven to be so disastrous and corrupt is very simple -- the advocates and architects of that war are completely corrupt, inept, and deceitful," says Glenn Greenwald's. (See more about this at Josh Marshall's Talking Points Memo.)
The religious right wants to stop teaching evolution in public schools because it's destroying the morals of the nation, but have you heard them say anything at all about the corruption in Washington? Have you read any statement by leaders of the religious right condemning the scandalous behavior of Jack Abramoff, Duke Cunningham, Bob Ney, or Ralph Reed?
The truth is, the moral decline of the nation has been aided and abetted by those who claim to have a special -- they would say exclusive -- relationship with God. If you listen to the leadership of the religious right, only they know what's right and what's wrong.
But, in their lust for political power, they've turned a blind eye to the rape of our government and its institutions.
We don't say the government is more corrupt than at any time in history lightly. We know quite well that many past administrations have had their share of dirty dealing, but even Teapot Dome pales in comparison to the institutionalized corruption introduced by the current Republican administration.
Everything the administration touches from Iraq to New Orleans has been tainted by corruption.
"The reason our mission in Iraq has proven to be so disastrous and corrupt is very simple -- the advocates and architects of that war are completely corrupt, inept, and deceitful," says Glenn Greenwald's. (See more about this at Josh Marshall's Talking Points Memo.)
The religious right wants to stop teaching evolution in public schools because it's destroying the morals of the nation, but have you heard them say anything at all about the corruption in Washington? Have you read any statement by leaders of the religious right condemning the scandalous behavior of Jack Abramoff, Duke Cunningham, Bob Ney, or Ralph Reed?
The truth is, the moral decline of the nation has been aided and abetted by those who claim to have a special -- they would say exclusive -- relationship with God. If you listen to the leadership of the religious right, only they know what's right and what's wrong.
But, in their lust for political power, they've turned a blind eye to the rape of our government and its institutions.
