Bill Scher: Politics Over Performance (from TomPaine.com)

[marmar]

Much of the focus of the Senate's questioning of Kyle Sampson, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' former chief of staff, is on how Sampson's story squares with other Justice Department and White House officials, especially because Sampson and others risk being busted for misleading Congress, and folks are looking to save themselves and shift blame.

But beyond the possibility of crimes regarding a cover-up, there's a bigger issue in this scandal—the fundamental nature of conservative government.

As I've blogged before, the Bush Administration has been governing under the guidance of the Heritage Foundation paper, "Taking Charge of Federal Personnel," issued just as Bush was assuming the presidency.

It sniffed at the "Public Administration Model" of government as "emphasiz the Progressive ideal--a value-free 'scientific' program of government administration." Instead, it preferred the "Political Administration Model" which it defined as "providing presidential leadership to committed top political officials...holding them and their subordinates personally accountable for achievement of the President's election-endorsed and value-defined program."
...snip...

Sampson -- like Gonzales, like the White House -- does not apologize for the Purge itself. He said today the decision was "properly made but poorly explained." Purging a independent prosecutor for political reasons, in the conservative view, is proper.

Certainly, there are individuals in this scandal who need to be held accountable.

But until the conservative approach to government is excised from the Oval Office, we will not have a government that follows the law, delivers the facts and truly serves the public. .......

The complete piece is at: http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2007/03/29/politics_over_performance.php