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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: alan w who wrote (159424)	7/10/2001 12:41:09 AM
From: puborectalis	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 769667

Editorial: It's not payback time Democrats aren't criticizing Bush as Republicans did Clinton, despite ample opportunity. By Register Editorial Board 06/23/2001 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Obviously Democrats and other liberals don't have a taste for blood sport. How else to explain the absence of criticism of Bush administration behavior that would have drawn shrill condemnation had it occurred on Bill Clinton's watch? The Bush White House has given critics ample fodder, what with the president misrepresenting his views on executing the mentally deficient (unless he's had a change of heart since his Texas days) and taking credit for the Texas patients" bill of rights that was, in fact, passed over his veto. Such blatant dissembling by Clinton would have invited acid responses from Republicans and conservative columnists. In Bush's case, there are shrugs. Not much was made of the fact that Bush's senior adviser, Karl Rove, met in the White House with executives of the Intel Corp. looking for help on a Justice Department antitrust matter at a time when Rove held $100,000 in Intel stock. Nor when it was revealed that Rove also held $250,000 in stock in General Electric, a major player in nuclear power, at the time he met with executives of the nuclear-power industry in formulating the administration's pro-nuke energy policy. Imagine the sport right-wing talk shows would have made of that had Hillary Rodham Clinton held such meetings in the White House! When asked whether he was interested in pursuing the questions raised about Rove, Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle declined to take the bait: "Democrats want to legislate, not investigate. Again, I will say as many times as I must say it that we're not going to engage in payback." Daschle is right, of course. If liberals who complained about the constant drumbeat of attacks on Clinton were serious about criticism of right-wing witch hunts, they will applaud Daschle for taking the high road. Questions raised about Rove are legitimate, but it's worth keeping them in perspective: Did Rove abuse the awesome power of the White House to enhance his stock portfolio? Probably not. Does it look that way? To some, it does. Is that worthy of destroying a presidency? The question answers itself. It is only too bad the Clinton administration was never given such generous benefit of doubt. In those days, the goal seemed to be destroying the opposition, not offering a constructive check on power as the democratic process intends. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------