the old familiar sting

November, 2008 cannot come soon enough.

The Bush administration has successfully whittled down my faith in their governance to nil. There have been too many scandals, too much abuse of power, too much unrepentant arrogance and stubbornness. I have tried to remain supportive and give them the benefit of the doubt over their intentions, but I just can't take it any longer.

You've probably heard about the latest scandal, where Attorney General Gonzalez fired U.S. attorneys as they were investigating those wonderfully illegal and unconstitutional wiretaps the White House had authorized (link). The newest development, after calls from Democrats and some Republicans for Gonzalez's resignation and preparing subpoenas for members of the Bush administration , is that Bush is willing to "compromise" by allowing Democrats to talk with these officials behind closed doors (link). Apparently Mr. Bush has gotten the idea in his head that a government of democratically elected representatives does not need to be held accountable by those people for it's actions, and has the right to secrecy over potentially damning information. That really shouldn't come as a surprise though, considering that Bush once passed a bill that would keep the personal notes and documents of every President a secret from the public (this is regarding government matters, not their personal lives), which would be repealed by a bill recently passed by the house (link, link 2), a bill which Bush has of course vowed to veto.

In response to this Justice Department scandal, the Senate passed a bill that would put an end to the attorney general's ability to appoint U.S. attorney's without Senate approval. Clearly the Democrats aren't the only ones upset with this entire situation, as the 94-2 vote proves the disapproval is hardly partisan (link).

Most alarming to me has been the Bush administration's complete lack of respect towards civil rights. I'm not even talking about terrorist prisoners in Guantanamo Bay or anything like that; I'm talking about the civil rights of American citizens. First there was the previously mentioned illegal wiretaps (link) and recent reports of further abuses by the FBI to illegally obtain information about ordinary citizens (link, link 2).

Then there's also the recent conviction of Dick Cheney's former chief of staff and former Bush aid "Scooter" Libby for perjury and obstruction of justice in an investigation into the leak of a CIA agent's identity in 2003 (link). I'm sure there are even more accusations and scandals I could dig up, but suffice it to say that I feel that Bush's credibility is wearing very thin.

All along I tried to remain positive and give the Bush administration the benefit of the doubt. I tried to tell myself that they had our best interests and national security in mind when they committed these offenses. They just got a little overzealous in their quest to protect Americans by treading on the hem of their civil liberties. But after seeing more reports of scandals and violations by the Bush administration than I have of legal incidents involving the Bengals, I'm really starting to believe that Bush really is getting wrapped up in his power and doesn't believe that his government needs to be held accountable for their actions.

Sorry, Spring Break gives me too much time to rant.