nobody is running the asylum

[dajoki]

WP
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/09/AR2006040900491.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns

Political Crackups
What Happens When Governments Don't Work

By Sebastian Mallaby
Monday, April 10, 2006; Page A17

<<snip>>

Today the signs of a political crackup are all over Washington. Within the administration, the White House chief of staff is going, the Treasury secretary is rumored to be going, and the defense secretary argues publicly with the secretary of state about whether he made "tactical errors" in Iraq. The president's domestic policy has shriveled to pleas for expanded health savings accounts, whose shockingly muddled design speaks volumes about the administration's lack of economic talent. In a mark of desperation, Bush has gone off script to take questions from journalists and citizens. At a forum in North Carolina on Thursday, he confessed that the torture revelations from Abu Ghraib had been "disgraceful."

The spectacle in Congress is no prettier. One cannot regret the fall of Tom DeLay, who combined a mastery of politics with a complete indifference to its purpose. Really, what did this man seek public office for? It's said that he was inspired by his conviction that the Environmental Protection Agency is like the Gestapo, but I suspect this theory is too kind. Unlike Newt Gingrich, who bristled with policy ideas, DeLay never seemed to care about anything beyond counting votes and cultivating links to the moneybags on K Street.

Still, in the absence of a functioning administration and a powerful House boss, nobody is running the asylum. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a physician who "diagnosed" Terri Schiavo by watching her on video, is as charismatic as a stethoscope and as principled as a cigarette salesman. I doubt many Americans could even recognize DeLay's successor as House majority leader, John Boehner, let alone say what he stands for. His most memorable moment came in 1995, when he chose the House floor as a suitable venue for distributing checks from tobacco lobbyists.

In theory, this political vacuum presents an opportunity. Liberated from the DeLay-K Street axis, the GOP could become less of a political machine and more genuinely interested in governing. But the signs so far aren't good. Last week House Republicans began debating a budget framework, then decided the whole thing was awfully hard and shelved it. The House considered some bad tax legislation, too, but couldn't get around to making progress.

[misternormal]

1. The inmates are running it...

[dajoki]

2. soon to be inmates n/t

[MH1]

4. that's what I'm hoping. n/t

[dajoki]

3. kick