The Political Chase

Peretz Loses It In TNR’s Impolitc

Martin Peretz in The New Republic Online: Impolitic gives accolades to George Bush for his accomplishments in diversity. Peretz writes, “He seems to me to have completely transcended the biases of gender and race in his appointments.”

I agree with Mr. Peretz that George Bush appears to be blind to race and gender when it comes to key appointments in his administration. That notwithstanding, one could easily debate the historical performance of those the President holds in such high regard, especially Condoleza Rice. It almost seems that the president’s policy is to promote or prominently recognize those with the greatest blunders. Wasn’t Secretary Rice his National Security Advisor when 9/11 happened? The congressional 9/11 investigative committee clearly established poor performance on her part prior to and after 9/11.

George Tenent? He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Go figure.

While Peretz focused on diversity and praise for the absence of bigotry in the administration, he did not miss a beat in doing a little female bashing. Peretz slams Senator Hillary Clinton for serving on the board of directors of Wal-Mart, “which is taking heat for structuring its labor force so that it doesn’t have to pay medical benefits.” Exactly when was Senator Clinton on the board of directors of Wal-Mart? Wal-Mart is a very different company today than it was a few years ago, especially since the death of founder Sam Walton.

I suppose Peretz, just like the Bush administration, has to blame all the current day problems on the Clintons. How long after an individual is no longer in a given position are they supposed to be responsible for problems in the future? Cut me a break, please.

Define Hard Mr. President

After almost five years of experience in any job, it is not unreasonable to expect succint answers when one is asked questions about issues within their purview. When the president was asked last week about the Downing Street memo his response was:

“Nobody wants to commit military into combat. It’s the last option.” He added, “We worked hard to see if we could figure out how to do this peacefully.”

How many companies’ Board of Directors would continously accept “we worked hard” when posing direct questions to their CEO’s about poor performance or serious errors in judgment?

The president’s answer ad nauseam has become a standing joke. How many skits on Saturday Night Live have been the focus of those famous three words?

When I was a child, I often responded, “But I didn’t mean to…” Is there any difference? Was it an acceptable answer to my parents – definitely not.

More Republican Flip-Flops

The Washington Post reports:

“Bill Frist, the Senate majority leader and a heart surgeon, acknowledged yesterday that Terri Schiavo had suffered devastating brain damage and said his assertion three months ago that she was "not somebody in persistent vegetative state" did not amount to a medical diagnosis.”

That is definitely not how I remember Senator Frist presenting his remarks.

—–