One Swampy Mess
There is, however, at least a shining exception among the Republican clay feet: John McCain. The Arizona senator and former prisoner of war basically opposes the whole idea of mobilizing interest groups to win control of the government in return for political payback. He chaired the Indian Affairs Committee hearings that exposed Abramoff's role. He led the investigation revealing that a Pentagon contract officer was negotiating a $20 billion-plus deal with Boeing to lease refueling tankers--while she was also entertaining a job offer from the company. She went to jail, and the contract was canceled. McCain was also the front half of the McCain-Feingold Act's attempt to cut back corrupt campaign dollars.
With the Democrats once in power feeling so righteous about their public policies that they think they can do whatever they want in their private lives, and the Republicans so righteous about their private lives that they think they can do whatever they want with respect to public policy, is it any surprise that respect for our government has been so diminished? Today, the number of Americans who say they trust government is down to just 29 percent, from 40 percent a mere five years ago.
The only way for Mr. Bush to save his second term from ignominy is to confront the evils now all around him.
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