New allegations are cropping up of corruption and politicization at the General Services Administration, the federal government's leading procurement agency.
Or course, this wouldn't be the first instance of Bush administration appointees abusing the procurement process, and the GSA specifically. David Safavian was sentenced to 18 months in prison for his abuse of the system as part of the Jack Abramoff investigation.
Taking the long view, I'm having a bit of trouble isolating any departments or activities that have not been politicized and corrupted in this administration. Scientists believe that EPA and various health administrations within the executive branch have been constrained by ideological considerations; it is clear that the Justice Department under Alberto Gonzales is thoroughly tainted by partisan political considerations; every account I've seen reports that the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq was a hotbed of young Republican fervor. I'm sure the list goes on.
It's amazing. For a political party and movement that rages against government, they certainly know how to use it in pursuit of power. That may be all they think it's good for.
The rest of us sit back in the comfort of our understanding of and faith in the Constitution of the United States, the separation of powers, and the belief in the basic goodwill of our fellow Americans, and these folks work double-time for their own enrichment.
You won't hear me say this often, but thank God for Congress. It's our only hope for restoring some balance and integrity to a system that has been terribly distorted by the administration.
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