Bush Orders Staff to Attend Ethics Briefings: White House Counsel to Give ‘Refresher’ Course
Man, talk about shutting the barn door after the horses have escaped. It’s taken Our Glorious Leader five years to realize that “restoring honor and dignity to the White House” is more than just a catchy talking point. Ethically speaking, this Administration has demonstrated that it can’t hold a candle to the Clinton Administration, which may not have been perfect, but handled itself with far greater professionalism and dignity.
Though I can’t fault Our Glorious Leader for at least making the appearance of caring about ethics in his Administration, after five years it should be more about action than seminars. If the White House staff doesn’t understand how to conduct themselves ethically after five years in place, isn’t about time to blow the place up and start over?
Of course, just as you couldn’t reasonably expect a leopard to change it’s spots, we can’t reasonably expect an ethics class to reform an Adminstration known for doing whatever it takes to stay on top. No, this may be a good PR move, but will it really have any impact on one of the most ethically-challenged Administrations of modern times? Not likely.
President Bush has ordered White House staff to attend mandatory briefings beginning next week on ethical behavior and the handling of classified material after the indictment last week of a senior administration official in the CIA leak probe.
According to a memo sent to aides yesterday, Bush expects all White House staff to adhere to the “spirit as well as the letter” of all ethics laws and rules. As a result, “the White House counsel’s office will conduct a series of presentations next week that will provide refresher lectures on general ethics rules, including the rules of governing the protection of classified information,” according to the memo, a copy of which was provided to The Washington Post by a senior White House aide.
The mandatory ethics primer is the first step Bush plans to take in coming weeks in response to the CIA leak probe that led to the indictment of I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, Vice President Cheney’s former chief of staff, and which still threatens Karl Rove, the deputy White House chief of staff. Libby was indicted last week in connection with the two-year investigation. He resigned when the indictment was announced and on Thursday pleaded not guilty to charges of lying to federal investigators and a grand jury about his conversations with reporters.
A senior aide said Bush decided to mandate the ethics course during private meetings last weekend with Chief of Staff Andrew H. Card Jr. and counsel Harriet Miers. Miers’s office will conduct the ethics briefings.
Nice try, y’all, but I’m not buying it. You’ve had five years to show your true colors; I think we’ve figured out by now that the Bush Administration never had any intention of “restoring honor and dignity” to the White House. No, it always was and always been about power and about crushing your enemies. No, the motto of this Administration should be: WHATEVER IT TAKES.
WE DESERVE BETTER.
