In previous posts, I have sketched a rough outline of some authoritarian features of the Bush administration its political base, and its path to power.  One of the key tenets of Bush's governance is radical privatization.  The radical privatization of Grover Norquist and other free market zealots ran aground when Bush floated out the idea of privatizing Social Security; that effort was the first significant blow to the administration in its second term, and Bush never recovered, as the Democrats were able to effectively tap public support for Social Security and distrust over partially turning the Social Security system over to the private sector.  Going so public with such an unpopular privatization scheme was out of character for the administration not because privatizing public services and turning tax dollars over to private for-profit entities is not at the heart of their approach to governance, but rather because the Social Security scheme was so overt.  On the contrary, the conduct of the war and occupation of Iraq shows that the administration greatly prefers turning over many tasks previously performed by the public sector to for-profit entities.  

The archetypal example of privatization under Bush is, of course, the private army Blackwater.  As previously explained, part of Blackwater’s financial success (and probable appeal to the Bush administration) is that they provide almost no long-term security to the individuals they hire.  They make their gunmen pay for their own training, and they do not pay them as employees but instead as individual contractors, thus avoiding paying payroll taxes to the government or pensions, long-term medical insurance and other benefits to their individual gunmen.  

Blackwater’s CEO Erik Prince didn’t hit on this business model by accident.  Prince is the son of the late Edgar Prince, who before his death a few years ago was one of the biggest funders of the radical right.  Prince’s sister Betsy married Dick DeVos, son of Amway co-founder Richard DeVos; the various DeVos foundations are among the most important sources of money for Republicans and the radical right.  The Prince and DeVos families do not control the radical right, and there is not a tiny cabal of people pulling all the strings of the Bush administration.  But to a remarkable degree, many of the major supporters of the religious right are also supporters of radical privatization, are major supporters of the Bush administration and the Republican party, and are beneficiaries of Bush’s policies.  Today we’ll look at some of those connections for the DeVos and Prince families, and show some of the ways in which the religious right, privatization, economic libertarianism and a pro-corporate ideology are intertwined.

The administration of George W. Bush has pursued an agenda and engaged in a governance style that breaks radically from any previous administration.  Some of the characteristics of what I’m calling Bush Authoritarianism are variants of previous ideological beliefs or forms of governance.  Many others are the realization of decades of marketing and propaganda by the interlinked network of rightwing donors, foundations, think tanks, marketing and media operations, opinion leaders, political operatives, and allies within the Republican party.  

One of the main hallmarks of Bush Authoritarianism is a variant of privatization, in which public goods or services supplied directly by government employees are "outsourced" to a private company, which takes tax dollars, but over which the government has much less control than public employees performing the same task.  Privatization has been happening at all levels of government for a couple of decades.  In some cases it’s warranted and in the best interests of citizens and taxpayers.  But often, privatization results in inferior good or services, higher costs to taxpayers, and diminished accountability to the government and the public.  

An extreme version of privatization has accelerated during the Bush administration: the privatization of warfare.  Privatizing war is at the cutting edge of Bush Authoritarianism, and Blackwater, whose business practices and niche I discussed last week, is an archetypal "winner" in the new authoritarian system emerging under the Bush administration.  Blackwater is not the only example, however; it is simply one of the more public and extreme examples of Bush’s base of support and the recipients of his governance, which transfers public moneys previously spent on government employees to perform government services, to private entities over which the government can exercise much less authority and  accountability.  

Blackwater CEO Erik Prince is a product of the world of ultra-conservative donors who’ve funded the vast right wing conspiracy.  His father, auto parts mogul Edgar Prince, was one of the largest funders of the right wing movement.  Notably, he was an original funder of James Dobson’s Family Research Council, and the younger Prince counts such major rightwing Christian operatives as Chuck Colson and Gary Bauer as close friends.  

Another major emphasis in Bush Authoritarianism is political and financial support from, and governmental support to the owners and investors in private enterprises that produce little in the way of concrete goods and provide little or no support to their employees (such as health insurance, pensions, or even the payment of payroll taxes).  Some of the key industries for support to George W. Bush and the GOP have been the "extractive" industries (such as oil, coal and timber), industries significantly affected by government regulation (such as freight rail) and low-wage industries that are often hostile to unionization (such as fast food, retail, nursing homes and unskilled construction).  

In many ways, the Alticor corporation is the private sector counterpart to Blackwater as a producer and a beneficiary of the authoritarianism of the Bush administration.  Like Blackwater, Alticor—best known by one of it’s primary subsidiaries, Amway—provides little support and maintains few ties to the contractors who make it money.  Its founders and the heirs to the fortune it created are ultra-conservatives who’ve been among the most important funders to the right wing ideological and political network.  The company and the foundations created by the recipients of its profits are based in West Michigan.  It is highly controversial and has had numerous legal problems.  And beyond the various affinities of ideology, politics and business operations, Alticor and Blackwater are directly related by marriage: Alticor/Amway heir Dick DeVos is married to the former Betsy Prince, older sister to Blackwater CEO Erik Prince.  

I have had a bit of an evidentiary katamari that I've been rolling up for some time, and--whilst I've embargoed it on here, I've posted it on a few less formal forums just to make sure the concept isn't completely on crack.

However, Bruce Wilson's recent post noting George W. Bush's recent promotion of explicit Assemblies of God endtime theology has convinced me not to embargo this post anymore.

Namely, I have found a rather large amount of evidence--to suggest that George W. Bush is "Methodist In Name Only"--and his true loyalties may lie with the neopentecostals, and specifically with the Assemblies of God...a terrifying concept indeed, seeing as the Assemblies is a primary promoter of the steeplejacking of the military and in fact is the ultimate source of "Joel's Army" theology.

My mother was a public school teacher. My sister is a principal at a nonprofit high school for troubled teenagers. My wife teaches art in a public high school. Unsurprisingly, I think public schools are very important, crucial even, but I'm in good company. Thomas Jefferson believed public schools were key to the success of American Democracy, and Dick DeVos probably believes that as well. In fact, that might be the very reason DeVos is trying to destroy public schools.

This is not a conspiracy theory - there's a long term plan, funded by AmWay/Quixtar fortune scion Dick DeVos, WalMart-fortune Walton family members, and others. The scheme seeks to undermine public education through the "school choice" movement, through the spread of charter schools and school vouchers, even, some argue, through the "No Child Left Behind" act.

Indeed, here's a handy website where you can read the latest moves in the war on public education... in your very own state.

MEANWHILE...

Last Monday, after the Superbowl, Bill in Portland Maine reminded me about the Mars candy bar family with his diary.

I'd already been avoiding Mars, Inc for a number of reasons mostly for being one of the 18 families behind the Estate Tax Repeal who are conning us with astro-turf groups, lobbying and campaign donations among other things.

Then, a diary on Saturday heavily featured Godiva chocolates owned by Campbell's, another of the 18 behind the push to repeal of the estate tax.

There's this big holiday coming up. If you haven't figured it out yet I'd like to introduce some products with ideals we share to break the chains of Republican companies that don't need our gold to finance politics against us.

Slip into something more comfy then follow me into my boudoir for some ideas that may help you hold onto your values while expressing the value you hold for the special people in your life.

To say this election was a bit of a doozy is an understatement, even more true in Michigan. I'm glad that I was able to get the real breakdown of the numbers and what it all meant this past Friday at the Kellogg Center at MSU for the Off the Record - On the Road 2006 Election Wrap-Up.

I went to hear what the pollsters had to say, what wasn't in the papers, and what the real numbers were. I think you might be as surprised as I was.
Better yet, we got post-election thoughts from the Granholm, DeVos, Stabenow, and Bouchard campaign people. Pretty interesting. So interesting, I took notes. Not quite live-blogging, but I think you'll enjoy it.

Campaigns - want to know who's really involved?
Follow the money
The mighty dollar speaks much louder than any sound bite or slogan.
Based on these money trails, which candidate would you rather have working for you?

Dick DeVos = ultra-conservative, out-of-touch, criminally-affliated, laden with special interests.

Jennifer Granholm = progressive, supported by working classes, enriched with hard work and old fashioned elblow grease.

China - one of our biggest global competitors.
China - A place that Tricky Dick sent and created thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars.
China - The place that Dick DeVos' Amway calls home.

Michigan - Where Jennifer Granholm is bringing thousands of jobs and millions of dollars to.
Michigan - The place where Jennifer Granholm calls home.
The difference is clear.

Dick DeVos = China

Jennifer Granholm = Michigan

Fear, disappointment and the mad schemes of Saul "Madonna is Somehow Relevant to this Race" Anuzis are all we have - except for the power of our Magic Signs! Get the signs, pray to the signs, display the signs and perhaps the candidates who truly stand for Michigan and not just for themselves will prevail upon Election Day!

Throughout the campaign, DeVos staffers have been very careful to keep Betsy DeVos, well known for her blunt comments and tough handling of the Michigan Republican Party as its former Chairman. Betsy's career spans decades and her tactics and controlling management style have been more feared than admired.

In a previous posting "The Doctrine of Dick DeVos: Wife Betsy DeVos Deliberately Gagged" her history and long list of political experience and exploits were examined.

DeVos' campaign has attempted to keep Betsy muzzled and away from of the press. But what Betsy's role would be in Lansing, as 'Co-Governor' is now clearly `out of the bag'.

Crossposted at MichiganLiberal.

More on Betsy as 'Co-Governor' below...

George W. Bush.
Ethics.
Michigan Voters.
Not really three terms that really make sense when you put them all together.
Bush - Otherwise known as The President Who Forgot the Michigan Auto Industry
If you're Dick DeVos, you might call him one of your best friends.
That is, if you determine your friends by how much money you give to them.
But you got to ask yourself, why raise all that money if you don't want something in return....

Jobs, jobs, jobs.
That's the single biggest issue in this election.
Michigan's people want to know that there are jobs out there.
The thing about us Michiganians, we don't like to be deceived.
Just give it to us plain, simple and honest.
Why did Dick DeVos send our jobs to China and lie to us about it?

           I recorded the rap song "Gold Digger (Dick DeVos Mix)" on Friday. My voice may need some lowering of the volume (when I visit the recording studio again), but it seems to work for now.      

         Feel free to spread it around to whatever media. They actually might be interested in Kanye West vis-a-vis Dickie D, and a "rap" take on the vicious Michigan gubernatorial campaign...

        Here's the URL for my website page (music and lyrics) for the song, http://d-bo.com/... , and here's a sub-URL, for just the song itself, http://d-bo.com/... .

         ("Gold Digger (Dick DeVos Mix)" is already mentioned on the front page of Michigan Liberal, by the way, see http://www.michiganliberal.com/... , entry
http://www.michiganliberal.com/... in particular.)

         Here da lyrics (below fold), as from the page linked above:

How poor of a communicator is Dick DeVos? How cavalier is the gubernatorial candidate toward the public's right to know?

Michigan newspapers gained an insight recently when the Michigan Press Association asked Gov. Granholm and the Republican challenger to respond to four questions regarding open government.

Did Dick answer?  Dick did not.

(more after the jump)

Amway Australia (yes, Australia) has pressured a YouTube member to remove a Michigan Caucus video, "DeVos Dance Party" (also known as "An Amway Commercial Not on TV)" from the video sharing site, claiming copyright infringement. The video was an edited take-off of an Amway ad.

On a deep and fundamentally flawed level the DeVoses have worked ostentatiously to present a generous and giving persona to front for the public's acceptance of their nouveau riche lifestyle and as a softening of their aggression against local government, public schools, unions, reasonable taxation and the promotion of a cornucopia of other ideological precepts that are detrimental to the common good and un-civic.

More of the Essay Civic Covenant Breakers below...

After giving myself a funny look for talking to myself, I had to confess that I was (as usual) dead-on right. People don't want a bunch of depressing crap about what a sleazeball Dick Devos and is and how creepy his family and the people they give piles and piles of money to are. They want pictures! Funny pictures!! And lots of them!!!