Bush-Cheney administration/corruption

Overview

This page is about corruption in the 2000-2007 US Presidential administration of George W. Bush.

Specifics

• Bush's elevation of presidential power: Bush seems to be trying to completely remove the restraints on presidential power.
• Bush's lies: the man has lied repeatedly, on record, with no apology or apparent remorse; he also makes promises and then quietly contradicts them with subsequent actions
• Bush's unapologetic use of torture
• Has "consistently advanced policies contradictory to his professed values" (Is George W. Bush a Conservative? by William Frey, M. D.)

Possible Goals

Bush's goals seem consistent with the idea of converting the United States into a religious (Christian fundamentalist-evangelical) kleptocracy, with the president as a religious leader ("God is in the White House") with absolute power much as in the Nehemiah Scudder scenario (written in 1940 and set in 2016). It is not clear whether he is aware that his actions fit into this pattern or if he is largely being manipulated by others, but it seems quite unlikely that the pattern could have emerged by sheer chance. If it is not deliberate, then his actions at least imply a significant level of incompetence and disregard for the democratic process.

News

• 2006-09-15 Rumsfeld's Fake News Flop in Iraq: the US government has recently spent upwards of $50 million on pro-US/military propaganda in Iraq, violating a basic democratic principle while supposedly in the process of trying to build a democratic society. Rumsfeld's response, when asked about this, indicated that he was far more bothered by the program having been discovered than by its existence; he also lied that it had been shut down when it had not, and did not apologize for the error when it was discovered.