Margaret Carlson
Oct. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Though loyalty is a virtue, party
loyalty is often a vice. A particularly virulent species has
infected the administration of President George W. Bush, and it
is a danger to giver and receiver alike.
This loyalty binds the entire network of family and friends
that contrived to elect him. There is hardly a Republican who
won't twist into embarrassing contortions in order to
demonstrate it.
This loyalty fosters debilitating cronyism, putting people
like Michael Brown and Harriet Miers (if Bush gets his way) into
jobs they simply are not suited for. Loyalty to Bush's war has
put Vice President Dick Cheney, his top aide I. Lewis
``Scooter'' Libby and Karl Rove, the president's longtime
adviser, in a prosecutor's crosshairs.
This loyalty has made aides afraid to bring the president
unwelcome news. White House Counselor Dan Bartlett had to bypass
senior staff and smuggle in a tape of the evening news to show
Bush how badly things were going in Katrina-stricken New
Orleans, contrary to what his loyal aides were telling him."