November 17, 2004
WHO'S THE BOSS?:
Bush offers vision of transformed Mideast (Farah Stockman, November 17, 2004, Boston Globe)
Some specialists said that the dual appointments could usher in an era of ''Kissingeresque" power, transforming the State Department from what critics of the department under Powell called a lonely outpost of dissent into a sharpened foreign policy tool of the White House.''It resembles the Nixon model," said Cliff Kupchan, vice president of the Nixon Center, a Washington-based research institute. Nixon's powerful top foreign policy adviser, Henry Kissinger, served simultaneously as national security adviser and secretary of state for a time.
The appointments would streamline US foreign policy for other countries, which complained during Bush's first administration that they received different messages from Powell and the White House. But analysts said the setup would remove the ''creative tension" and normal checks and balances necessary to hone an administration's decision-making.
''The marketplace of ideas at the State Department is gone," Kupchan said. ''Any administration should speak with one voice in public, but behind closed doors, the ability of loyal officials to support good ideas and shoot down bad ideas is critical . . . It's particularly dangerous because the Bush administration is predisposed toward the use of force and those ideas will not be shot down."
How Rice would wield her power is unclear. But her foreign policy views are almost indistinguishable from the president's, and she saw her major role as national security adviser as implementing his vision by doling out responsibilities to various departments.
Folks like Mr. Kupchan are upset because they don't see the role of State as being to implement the President's vision but to represent the interests of foreign governments. That's the danger of every bureaucracy, that it ends up being captured by those it is supposed to be affecting rather than operating in the interests of the government and public it's supposed to serve. It doesn't matter that much when Agriculture becomes a farmers' lobby, but when you're the lobby group for foreign governments it's quite another matter. Posted by Orrin Judd at November 17, 2004 11:40 AM
"...they don't see the role of State as being to implement the President's vision but to represent the interests of foreign governments"
Anybody who has watched "Yes, Prime Minister" knows that would have exactly described how the creators saw (accurately, I think) the British Foreign Office. Our State Department today would make Sir Humphrey proud.
Posted by: Moe from NC at November 17, 2004 11:59 AMMoe, you beat me to it. The "Yes, Prime Minister" series explains precisely why the CIA is beside itself with Porter Goss now in charge with instructions to clean it up and why we can expect more of the same in State. By the way, the series was turned into a wonderful book some years ago and I recommend it to all to understand precisely the maneuverings of the permanent bureaucracy that the President is fighting against.
Posted by: Morrie at November 17, 2004 12:20 PMThe series is also available on DVD (I found it on Netflix).
Posted by: jd watson at November 17, 2004 12:30 PMMorrie, id warson
A related and an unrelated thing.
Let's not forget Yes, Minister which is also available in book and DVD form.
I am a big fan of Netflix, but let me reproduce the content of anemail (I hope, self-explanatory) I had to send to their customer service to complain about (what I think is) idelogical harassment:
"Dear Sir or Madam:
I find it "curious" that selecting a movie like "Celsius 41.11" or "Michael Moore Hates America" yields nothing but the most blatant selections from your inventory of anti-Bush, anti-military, pro-gay, anti-Republican, anti-traditional values, pro-Nazi productions. Either your "movies-you-may-also-like" algorithms are crap (I don't think so) or you have decided to sacrifice your site's technical integrity for the purpose of blatantly insulting a segment of your customer base whose political/world view you loath. I will bring this up to the attention of those better able to highlight to this market the disdain you have for it."
What do y'all think?
Posted by: Moe from NC at November 17, 2004 2:08 PMMoe from NC:
Netflix is probably just recommending independent, no-budget films, which tend to be made by leftish folks.
Rightish no-budget independents tend to do commercials and music videos.
Posted by: Michael Herdegen at November 17, 2004 6:57 PM