Sep 172007
Former Senator Lincoln Chafee has turned in
his GOP membership card. In other news, former Fed chairman Alan Greenspan has a
new book out in which he criticizes Bush’s fiscal policies as short-sighted and
ideologically driven. Here’s my question: where were these guys when their
criticism might actually have done this country some good? It’s the silence of
reasonable, decent men and women from both parties that has given free reign to
the sycophants and soothsayers surrounding this president, but Republicans like Chafee and Greenspan deserve much of the blame for the current dismal state of affairs. They foresaw the disastrous consequences of Bush’s policies and they cringed at the cult of personality that the president’s followers so fervently promoted, but they said nothing in protest. Even worse, they sometimes paid lip service to the party line for the sake of their own political fortunes. Perhaps I’m naive to expect such courage, but I’m getting tired of all these former administration officials and elected leaders finding their spines after they’re safely esconced in their well-appointed corner offices at some law or consulting firm. The country should come ahead of a book deal.
his GOP membership card. In other news, former Fed chairman Alan Greenspan has a
new book out in which he criticizes Bush’s fiscal policies as short-sighted and
ideologically driven. Here’s my question: where were these guys when their
criticism might actually have done this country some good? It’s the silence of
reasonable, decent men and women from both parties that has given free reign to
the sycophants and soothsayers surrounding this president, but Republicans like Chafee and Greenspan deserve much of the blame for the current dismal state of affairs. They foresaw the disastrous consequences of Bush’s policies and they cringed at the cult of personality that the president’s followers so fervently promoted, but they said nothing in protest. Even worse, they sometimes paid lip service to the party line for the sake of their own political fortunes. Perhaps I’m naive to expect such courage, but I’m getting tired of all these former administration officials and elected leaders finding their spines after they’re safely esconced in their well-appointed corner offices at some law or consulting firm. The country should come ahead of a book deal.
