Thursday, March 13, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Mercury

Backstory: When the powerful don't think

By Michael Green

Nearly four decades ago, Sen. J. William Fulbright tried to explain the mistakes of government in the title of a book: The Arrogance of Power. That title helps explain disparate events and their historical connections:

¥ George W. Bush wants to make sure Saddam Hussein knows he must disarm, but it doesn't matter if he does; leaving him in power is like appeasing Hitler (a disgusting analogy), a democratic government will replace him; getting rid of him will bring peace to the Middle East; he tried to kill Bush's daddy; he funded Al Qaeda although Saudi Arabia has helped Osama bin Laden far more; and if the U.S. and Great Britain seem to be the only countries eager for war, everyone else must be wrong.

Yes, Hussein is a vicious dictator who should have been removed from power--12 years ago, but Bush the elder and Colin Powell didn't want to do it then. But the arrogance of power makes this effort suspect. Given how this administration has bungled domestic policy--tax cuts that swelled the deficit and reforming health care by eliminating it--why should it be expected to do better with foreign policy?

No one seems to recall the law of unintended consequences--as in our understandable, earlier support for Hussein and the Afghan Taliban. And just as we backed them against a common enemy, bin Laden and other fanatics will be glad to inflict more terrorism upon us--and by antagonizing the majority of the world, we encourage new sources and forms of it. Hussein is evil but no idiot, and must have figured out that since he will be invaded whether or not he actually gets rid of his chemical weapons, he might as well use them on his invaders--us.

The allegedly liberal media haven't sufficiently addressed a key point about Bush and his top advisers: their history. Vice President Dick Cheney, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and several other top administration officials--including both Treasury secretaries and the Federal Reserve chairman--once were young staffers for Gerald Ford, who ran one of the more competent and underrated administrations of the last half-century.

Several of them remained in politics, but also entered the business world. Thanks to Republican and Democratic administrations kowtowing to anyone with money, they became fabulously wealthy--for example, Bush through family connections; Cheney with Halliburton, which has a federal contract in Iraq after the war; Colin Powell as a speaker and war hero.

As Ross Perot's support in 1992 and 1996 showed, many think the incredibly rich somehow know all the answers. Their opinions on issues unrelated to their financial success receive more deference and credence than they often deserve (it's also true of professors). And after enough genuflecting or praise, you begin to think if you can't walk on the water, it's the water's fault.

Now Bush and company act as though anyone who disagrees with them needs his head examined or separated from his shoulders. That may happen when you disagree with the boss in a corporate board room, and sometimes even on the Joint Chiefs of Staff, but not in politics or diplomacy.

This kind of thinking has hurt the United States more than Saddam Hussein ever could. It has led us into wars our government couldn't win or explain and fomented a distrust for our leaders that Bush's flailings and failings do nothing to diminish.

¥ While the Clark County School Board operates on a lower level, the arrogance of power is evident there, too.

Superintendent Carlos Garcia told the state Legislature that the district needs to hire up to 1,800 new teachers, but he is afraid to act without knowing whether the till will be empty. Meanwhile, the trustees he reports to and advises ignored him and the attorneys they pay to keep them out of legal trouble.

Why? Three of the five members present for a recent meeting decided they want to have a prayer at graduation. Never mind the law. Never mind that this decision could cost the district $70 million in federal funding that might hire dozens of teachers or at least two associate superintendents. They want people to have time to pray.

The whole discussion is silly. If you want to pray at graduation, in class, at recess or during dodge ball--I always prayed during dodge ball--you can do so. Those who think there is no prayer in public schools apparently never took a test. But if you have the right to tell a visitor at your door that you prefer not to discuss your religion, you have the right not to be bothered at graduation if that's your belief.

The decision has led to a lawsuit, and now the two trustees who were absent say they will vote in favor of the law. Still, prayer might be a good idea. Considering some of the leaders of our schools and our country, our only hope may be that someone else is listening.