This week in the news

Sometimes the headlines say it all. Here is a sampling from recent weeks.

“A More Pessimistic Report on Iraq,” New York Times; “Iraq violence casts doubt on US ‘surge,’” Guardian Unlimited; “US widens Iraq war fraud inquiry,” Houston Chronicle; “Katrina-ravaged Gulf Coast struggling 2 years later,” CNN; “Record Number of Americans Lack Health Insurance,” Forbes; “Congressmen promise action on China safety scares,” Reuters; “Existing-Home Sales Fall to 5-Year Low,” New York Times; “House prices suffer worst fall in index history,” Reuters; “Wall Street tumbles on credit and economy worries,” Reuters; “American Students Drop to 13-Year Low in Reading Test,” Bloomberg; “America’s infrastructure: Road to ruin?” BBC News; “36.5 million live in poverty in United States,” INQ7.net; “Personal bankruptcy filings up 48 percent despite 2005 law,” Kansas City Star; “Gonzales resigns; probes will continue,” Boston Globe; “Idaho senator pleads guilty after men’s room arrest,” Reuters.

It’s really too much to keep track of. Each of these stories reflects personal or policy failures, which stem from dishonesty, hypocrisy or corruption.

In addition to these specific issues, there has been a systemic failure of government directly attributable to the Bush Administration caused by failure in policies and/or the actions of the inept, corrupt and unqualified people they put in charge of implementing their policies.

For decades the Conservatives and Republicans have claimed that government is inherently incompetent to help the American people. Since having gained power in Congress nearly 12 years ago and the White House over five years ago, they have relentlessly tried to prove that point, with catastrophic results.

The ability of government to successfully address the critical issues facing our country depends on leadership believing in what they are doing, hiring the best qualified, most competent, highly trained and experienced professionals, and holding them accountable.

Jon Monday