Two face

May 10, 2004

Whiskey Bar: Donald Rumsfeld's Battle With The Truth

As much as I've always disliked Rumsfeld, I wouldn't pin this scandal on him completely. Yeah, he's responsible, but the person who is ultimately responsible has to be George W. Bush.

I'm also not a fan of John Kerry, but I liked this quote:

"The chain of command goes all the way to the Oval Office," ... "Harry Truman did not say 'the buck stops at the Pentagon.'"

MSNBC: The Price of Arrogance

'America is ushering in a new responsibility era," says President Bush as part of his standard stump speech, "where each of us understands we're responsible for the decisions we make in life." When speaking about bad CEOs he's even clearer as to what it entails: "You're beginning to see the consequences of people making irresponsible decisions. They need to pay a price for their irresponsibility."'

We'll see if those rules apply to the administration as well.

I'm sorry to say I haven't met anyone who is surprised about what's been going on at Abu Ghraib. Camp Delta (Guantanamo Bay) told me the US does not take human rights seriously, and therefore cannot be trusted implicitly. But I'm very encouraged that every American's weblog post I've read regarding Abu Ghraib says this goes against everything they believe America is about, and what happened disgusts them. And I believe most Americans expect America to uphold the morals and ideals they associate with their country and entrust with its leaders. Unfortuantely their leaders have not done a good job of communicating the importance of those standards to those they command.

Unfortunately, America's international reputation in the world is not that of the hall monitor or the kid that helps the little ones get through the crosswalk safely after school, but instead the bully that will give you a wedgie if you don't give him your lunch money.

I'm sure I've pissed off a few regular readers by saying this, but it's the way I see it, a view that has been echoed by many people I've spoken to in person recently.

In November, please tell the current US administration they have failed to act responsibly and failed lead their great country effectively, and elect anyone but them.