This is a personal set of thoughts about the GOP Oz increasingly being shown to be a small, odd and nasty group of men behind a tattered curtain. It is also a warning that unlike the film where the fearful Oz turned out to be a rather kindly salesman from the midwest. There is reason to fear these men behind the curtain, and to fear of the thousands of foot soldiers they have intrenched in our nation's government.
I live and work in Washington DC. I build computer systems throughout the Federal Government. At lunch every day I sit in Delis with people who work in the White House, K Street and the various federal agencies we service. DC, like all cities has moods. The mood here is currently highly unstable. The Us versus Them, driven to a frenzy by Newt and the GOP in the early 90 reached twin Zeniths with the Impeachment for a Blow Job, and the Election of a Wastrel Alchoholic Borna Again. And the falsehood of it all, and the damage to our nation is increasingly clear, and probably irreversable.
What will the fanatics do? I don't know. But stanger still, neither does Vic Gold.
This DC Oz will increasingly be shown to be a small and very scarey group.
They are the Rovian's of course. Norquist and his teams. Cheney's Mob. The Federalist Society. The Holy Rollers. The elite of the Mil-Ind complex.
Their curtain was refashioned from Reagan's Big Tent.
Somewhere between 1978 and 1994 the tent stopped welcoming newcomers and became instead a curtain behind which crazy things were planned. God was welcome in the tent. As were plans to build up our current state of Oz. I wasn't there, but Vic Gold was, and he is no longer in the tent.
By the time of Newt's utterly PR-ready, substance absent, Contract with America thingsin DC had become Ozian. Today Oz no longer welcome even Newt. The Contract with America is quant, old, primitive.
Now we live in the Rovian Revolution with stolen, un-verifiable 50.1% secret e-ballots empower an all-seeing, all-powerful, un-checked "Unitary Executive." Behold, the Great and Powerful Oz.
Henry Waxman is are now in the role of Toto. Pulling back the curtain. But what comes next is not clear. The DC Ozian reality may collapse, or we will may see a true commitment to fascism.
It is very clear which direction the White House is leaning. But it is unclear which direction the vast institutional support structures are leaning. But be aware, the White House is not isolated. They have thousands of Sampson-esque minions.
Thus is DC in a strange state of uncertainty. It is comforting to believe Oz. And Toto has only the power of revelation.
What happens if the men behind the curtain just shoot Toto, close the curtain again and tell everyone to move along?
I don't ask this casually. I ask it sincerely. I have met many of the those being revealed.
On the dKos spectrum I am certainly on the right wing of this community. (Though my love of OPOLs stuff perhaps indicates some deep inner turmoil) I have many friends on both the right and the left.
Pre 1999 I supported and worked for progressives with both Ds and Rs next to their ballot lines.
I have a deep love of wise and prudent centrism. The kind embodied by Teddy (R/BullMoose), Franklin (D), Dwight (R), Nixon's (First Term) (R) (Remember...Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, 6x increase in National Forest Lands, openning to China and many other nations) and Clinton (D). This sense of fairplay, technical excellence, duty and respect has become increasingly absent during DC's Oz era.
And now I find out Vic Gold senses something similar to me? Wonderful. Or Frightenning. Both?
For those who do not know who Mr. Gold is... he worked, in some way, for every important members of the GOP from Goldwater to Bush43.
Campaign Press Manager for Goldwater.
Speechwriter and Stategist of Agnew
Advisor to Nixon.
Aide de Camp to Reagan and Bush 41.
He co-authored a novel with Lynn Cheney.
He joins Bush 41 for lunches at Kennebunkport.
He wrote the innaguration biographies of Bush 43 and Cheney in 2000.
And now, he is coming out with a book turning against them:
The Washington Post has a stunning feature about the soon to be published book called: The Invasion of the Party Snatchers. Gold details the loss of the GOP as a valuable contributor to our American journey as it has been taken over by the Neo-Cons, Christian Fascists and Corporate Crooks.
Washington Post - Vic Gold - The GOP destruction.
His disillusionment was not simple, the article outlines it in part, but what caught me attention was his articulation of the very thing I fear when I sit in a room with the dressed and scrubbed fanatics now filling the White House and every political appointed position: How far will these people go with this?
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The war was a big factor. It seemed to Gold to run counter to the traditionally conservative notion of keeping clear of foreign entanglements. He was infuriated by Bush-Cheney moves to augment executive power. And he was disgusted by the Terri Schiavo episode, which to this old libertarian seemed emblematic of a modern GOP takeover by religious zealots.
"I really came to the conclusion that there was a threat to our system, to our way of life, and it was coming from those I thought were my people."
"I knew Agnew personally -- he did not represent a threat to the American way of life," Gold says. "Nixon, at the bottom of his heart, I am not sure what he wanted. I was never a Nixon admirer." But, he adds, "I knew the limitations on what they could do."
The are very well trained. Stunning. The cover-up provided by Mr. Sampson last week is a stunning example. He seemed like an innocent guy. He seemed like just some minor functionary. He's not.
He is a fanatic who has been trained to sound like that in front of the camera.
Throughout every agency there is now a cadre of fanatics, or some odd cultists. They are not interested in the common good unless you are are one of them. Loyal Bushies.
I was struck by Sen. Whitehouse when he correctly pointed out that Sampson had graduated from Law School in 1999, had been "involved with prosecuting a handful of cases" and took the lead in precisely one. A plea deal over a firearms charge. And yet he was in charge of who should and should not be a AUSA.
Does Mr. Sampson have the skills, knowledge and credibility to understand and evaluate the work of our nations most important prosectors? No, he does not. But is a fanatic. He is loyal. He does as he is told. In private he is a meticulous, score keeping enforcer of Rove's political machine. Under the Klieg Lights he appears as a lost puppy who couldn't possibly have eaten all the steaks on the BBQ plate.
Does Ms. Goodling have the common good, the constitution and our nations interests at heart? No, she does not. But she is a fanatic. She is loyal. She does as she is told. And while she has spent 7 years vetting every entrant to the DoJ for "Loyalty the End Times Christian Agendas" she suddenly has $600 dollar and Akin Gump attorneys exercising her 5th amendment rights. I can not imagion how she would react if anyone tried to use the same privilage if she were the inquisitor.
Both during the Clinton years and the Bush 43 years I have met many appointees. Certainly numbering in the dozens each year, every one of them was intelligent, but as group they have characteristics that line up in the following order of importance:
Clinton's Appointees: Smart. Intellectually Curious. Fair. Strong understanding of their jobs (or willing to admit what they didn't know) Aware they have a role as public servants. Aware they are servants of the people. (Oddly) Mostly non-partisan. Willing to drink in public.
Bush's Appointees: Smart. Loyal. Mostly Born-Again or LDS. Most with little or no experience in their jobs, but a fanatic certainty they are their to enforce "the right" decisions which will be delivered by superiors in good time, Ruthlessly-Totally-Unforgiving Partisans, in many cases they will opennly express they are certain they have a god-directed duty to 'save' our nation. When you ask them from what they use several words in an almost interchangable way: The Terrorists, The Liberals, Social Decay, Moral Decay or The Democrats.
I have come to think of them as the Smiley Fascists. They are young, happy, loyal, ruthless, forcefully christian and always smiling. It can be disturbing.
I am one of many people here in DC who has been in "that interview" where I am asked what "Is your view on Choice?" In fact I have been in that interview three times. But that is another diary.
I will share perhaps the starkest annecdote along these lines:
In March of 2004, I was working on a banking IT concern effecting many banks and the US Treasury. Serious strategy and policy issues were involved. I was asked to brief a Bush appointee who was, very smart, but oddly distracted. They took more than 5 breaks for TXT or calls during my 60 minute brief. Afterward, it was clear from an IT background the appointee was completely clueless. They had taken on computer class in college. No banking experience. Never had worked on the IT in banking or currency systems, and yet had the final sign off on milions of dollars in IT investments which could effect our nations financial stability for years. After the presentation the appointee said without prompting and without irony. "This is the Devil's work. He hates us for opposing him around the world. He hates us deeply." A few weeks later I attempted to follow up for input. The appointee, was no longer available, having been given leave of absence to work on Bush/Cheney 04. The campaign was 8 months away.
This is not an odd exception in DC Today. It is the state of play. It was was designed by Rove and Norquist years ago. Over the last 5 years literally thousands of Sampsons, Goodlings and similar appointees have been stuffed into every agency.
They have little or no credentials to do thier jobs.
They do have ruthless campaign history and unflinching loyalty to The Party.
They nearly all believe God will judge them and all worldly courts are unworthy of judging them.
They carry out their orders from above without argument or knowledgable input.
So where does it leave our nation today, and what is next?
I do not know how far they will take this play for power. Nor do I think anyone does.
Apparently this includes Vic Gold, a lifetime members of the GOP, a true insider.
Which brings me back to the uncertain mood here in DC. The oversite from Capital Hill that is so strange, fresh and new everyone is abuzz. But what is more refeshing still is the flood of Hill staffers in briefings who actually understand the subject, have the public interest in mind, and a reality based understanding of the facts at hand.
We are now at a strange point where a growing and resurgent populism and open dialogue is colliding with a top-down, secret-obsessed power structure.