Awed, but undaunted. In case my constant yammering about this project has still left someone on Daily Kos unaware of it, I've decided to write the comprehensive history of the Bush regime, spanning its origins in Nixonian politics all the way through to the present day. It will be focused, of course, on the years 2001 to 2009, when the regime was in power, but it will get into some detail with respect to foundational matters like the 2000 election, the Bush family, and other matters of high relevance.
Anyway, at the moment I am in the earliest stages of my research, and I begin to realize the sheer size of what I've undertaken as my research plan crystallizes. This diary will be the first of what is literally a diary series - a chronicle of my experiences and observations as I embark on a great journey through mountains of information, sorting, sifting, finding buried treasures, unexpected pathways, and shocking vistas.
Through it all, I will occasionally share some of what I find with the Daily Kos community, offering synthesis of facts that are currently scattered haphazardly across the internet. I will not likely be able to offer a lot in the way of totally new information, as I don't have the money for reams of FOIA requests or travel to physical archives, nor is there much chance of original interviews being a large part of the material - I am neither a journalist nor an academic, so there would be little reason for anyone to talk to me. Still, I can already see areas that have been woefully neglected, and things that I can contribute even in the earlier stages of my research.
There is, as far as I've been able to find, no complete list of people appointed by George W. Bush available on the internet. Granted, this is a very broad statement to apply to a system beyond all possibility of thoroughly canvassing, but I can say with limited confidence that Google, at least, has failed to yield such a list within a meaningful range of results. My only recourse is therefore to build the list myself and publish it here so that the rest of the community can make use of it.
Now, would such a list be obtainable through a FOIA request? I have no clue, and no clue how to obtain a clue. And if I had a clue, I still probably wouldn't have the money. But generally speaking, I would think not: Each separate department handles its own FOIA requests, so getting the government to give me the information might be even more of a nightmare than finding it by combing through online historical pages, news archives, and federal databases.
Cabinet officers and top White House staff are widely known, as are judges, but the real quagmire begins in the triple-canopy jungle of diplomatic offices, deputy whatevers, assistant whatevers, deputy assistant whatevers, members of regulatory boards, advisory boards, ad hoc this-and-that, interim thus-and-such, so-and-so at large, etc. etc. I may ultimately have to compile a complete list of federal appointed offices before I can figure out who Bush put in them, because otherwise there will likely be gaping holes that I haven't covered.
At the moment, after several days of research, I'm about 20% of the way through the State Department. I wouldn't even begin to guess at a percentage of the total appointee list, though I take at least some comfort from the fact that the State Department has a relatively large share of appointed positions, so once I'm done with it I can take heart that I've at least made some nontrivial dent in this prelude to initial research.
And boy, I have run into some creepy motherfuckers already. I fully intend, after I get the full list compiled, to go deep into the available information on each of them and look for avenues of fertile inquiry - all for the deep background of the regime.
But don't get me wrong, quite a few of them are just innocent bureaucrats (or as innocent as such people can be) who were appointed because they Play Ball, and had no real part in the horrors Bush and his C.H.U.D. Inner Circle committed. Quite a few of them go way back before him, and will continue in government service for decades to come. Still, I intend to take a close look at these people - you don't accept an appointment from George W. Bush and expect not to be scrutinized with a skeptical eye by history.
Here's my general impression so far, having only looked at the State Department: Bush auctioned these positions off. He dished them out like party favors. Passed them around as gift bags to campaign donors and family friends. I realize that's not exactly unprecedented, but I fully intend to make a statistical review in comparison to US administrations. My intuition is that the proportion of unqualified crony appointments is way off the charts relative to earlier manifestations.
I had this idea, for once I complete the list: Perhaps we (or I) could post informal "Truth Commission" diaries, examining batches of these appointees from the available information on their activities and recommending further community investigation of those who appear to have had untoward things going on. Since most of these appointees were utterly obscure since day one, and overshadowed by the heinousness of their superiors, I think there's a significant chance that a careful perusal of publicly available information might give indications of something unsuspected in a few cases.
Anyway, this is just my ramble, unloading thoughts churned up by my tedious sojourn into lists of names. BTW, you ever notice how many Republicans are named Wayne, or are the third (III) in their line? Weird, huh?