Bush Solves "The Accountability Problem"

Sorry for the late start--last week's server install continues. I had to scavange an extra network card that would work with one of our boot disks in order to make a Ghost image of both the initial install (in case we ever have to put together another like machine) and the finished server (in case we ever have a meltdown of the kind I don't want to consider).

Sorry for the technobabble, but that IS what I get paid for...

Oh--my friend Benjamin alerted me to the actual Sy Hersh article somewhat mentioned below--my own link is to CNN summary of an interview with Wolf Blitzer. To be honest, I haven't yet read The New Yorker article, but it's on my agenda, once my paid work is complete.

I DID get a chance, though, to take a look at Krugman's op-ed in today's New York Times. As always, it's worth a look, even if decorum requires the Professor to tread lightly on the Bushoviks ("the Bush administration, without exactly lying, managed to keep most voters confused [on WMD's]."?).

But hey, when you work for the Times, I guess you've got to be careful--the circle tends to be a little tight.

Krugman major point is that the next Bush battle will be over Social Security. And the model for the battle will be Iraq. Hmmm. That could be looked at in both a positive and negative light.

On the one hand, it means fear-mongering of the highest order, with a side order of monotonous "on message" orations from everyone the Bush team can threaten, boss, beg, or cajole into toeing the line. Krugman notes--and I've seen plenty of posts and reports--that the Social Security administration itself being called upon to participate in its own gutting, as it were. You know, there was supposedly a time when a commanding officer, after a spectacular failure, was escorted down the hall and placed in a locked room with a bottle of whiskey and a revolver...but this is the first time I've ever seen someone--or, in this case, something--being punished for its success.

Which brings up Krugman's other point--that in the case of Social Security privitization (and in Iraq), what Bush has wrought is the overt politicization of government agencies that previously operated much more along the lines of professional, classified civil service. Hmmm.

Krugman closes with two points--the first being that the media, IF they did their job, would shed quite a bit of light on the scum that passes for truth with the Bush administration. The other point? The whole WMD snipe hunt was the "fool me once" moment...

You know, the only thing I'll add to Krugman's analysis is that, if Iraq IS the model for Social Security, then holy shit. The ONLY thing Iraq should be a model for is how NOT to do ANYTHING.