The Smallness of King George
Robert F. Kennedy once said, "Richard Nixon represents the dark side of the American spirit." Well, RFK never met George W. Bush.
Not since the days of Tricky Dick has the White House seen such a secretive, paranoid and vengeance-filled occupant. President Bush may not have the Plumbers, CREEP (the Committee to Re-elect the President), or the "Enemies List", but in its essence his administration has all the same hallmarks as the Nixon team. The politics of retribution, secrecy, and infallibility are eerily familiar, only the names (Haldeman, Erlichman, and Mitchell versus Cheney, Rove and Ashcroft) have changed.
George W. Bush, a man who came to office pledging to bring honor and integrity back to the White House and who claimed to be "a uniter, not divider", has proven to be small, petty, mean-spirited and venal as president. His politics first and foremost are characterized by the "Payback Principle," with vengeance for those crossing him or his team, even, it seems, to the point of breaking the law. Second, the Bush team's paranoia manifests itself as extreme political cowardice, and an almost pathological refusal to admit error, as we'll see in the case of Iraqi WMDs and 9/11 below. By comparison, the administration's fixation with secrecy seems merely idiosyncratic...
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