I know I give the Bush administration a hard time because, well, I think they’re doing a terrible job and are bad for the country. But I also recognize that a lot of people are trying to do the best they can, with the ultimate goal of helping the US – I just don’t think they’re doing it the right ways. But the conviction is there, and hell, every indication I read or hear is that a lot of people in Washington work their asses off.
But here’s why I truly despise Bush and his government: when hard information contradicts their idealogy, or when facts aren’t favorable, they erase it. In a pattern of behavior noted by David Sirota, they scrub out data that doesn’t make them look good (link at DailyKos).
– Knight-Ridder reports today that the Bush administration announced yesterday that it has “decided to stop publishing an annual report on international terrorism after the government’s top terrorism center concluded that there were more terrorist attacks in 2004 than in any year since 1985, the first year the publication covered.”
– When unemployment was peaking in Bush’s first term, the White House tried to stop publishing the Labor Department’s regular report on mass layoffs.
– In 2003, when the nation’s governors came to Washington to complain about inadequate federal funding for the states, the Bush administration decided to stop publishing the budget report that states use to see what money they are, or aren’t, getting.
– In 2003, the National Council for Research on Women found that information about discrimination against women has gone missing from government Web sites, including 25 reports from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Women’s Bureau.
– In 2002, Democrats uncovered evidence that the Bush administration was removing health information from government websites. Specifically, the administration deleted data showing that abortion does not increase the risk of breast cancer. That scientific data was seen by the White House as a direct affront to the pro-life movement.
If the administration were to present credible alternative figures or reasons, that’s one thing. That’s a dialog, an exchange of information. Not all data will go your way all the time… it’s how you act on the facts that is important. But for Bush, the action involves obfuscation or elimination. That is why I don’t like Bush and his goons – the core of their actions is based on hiding unfavorable information, concealing the truth, and ultimately, consistently, lying to the American people.
Jeff Carlson | Never Enough Coffee Creations 