I have written in several other articles about the neocons that make up a significant portion of those who contribute to the decisions Mr. Bush makes. Elsewhere, I have written about the right wing authoritarian (RWA) followers that make up probably two thirds of the remaining public support that Bush still holds.
Now we have 150 RWA appointees from Pat Robertson’s Regent University where they post the following on their ‘About Us’ web page.
Dr. M.G. “Pat” Robertson, founder and president of the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN), had an inspired vision to establish a graduate-level institution that would train men and women for the challenge of representing Christ in their professions.
On April 8, Boston.com News reported, “Graduates of the law school have been among the most influential of the more than 150 Regent University alumni hired to federal government positions since President Bush took office in 2001, according to a university website.” A search of the university website indicates this information has been removed. As shown in the image below, only the search engine results for their site indicates the existence of that claim. However, the content of the Regent web page no longer includes that text.
The Boston.com article also stated the university, “has worked hard in its two-decade history to upgrade its reputation, fighting past years when a majority of its graduates couldn’t pass the bar exam.” Monica Goodling , the former top aide to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales graduated in 1999 and only 40 percent of her class passed the bar exam on the first attempt.
A check for Regent appointees via the staff listing at Resources for the President’s Team, only yields one Regent Graduate, Lisa Marie Kruska, Department of Labor Assistant Secretary of Labor. Have they cleaned up their employee web page bios too?
The Boston.com site mentioned Kay Coles James, now former director of the Office of Personnel Management.
The article also quoted Jay Sekulow, from a non profit law firm, American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), at Regent which files lawsuits aimed at lowering barriers between church and state, as saying, “We’ve had great placement. … We’ve had a lot of people in key positions.” Mr. Sekulow was named one of the “25 Most Influential Evangelicals” by Time Magazine.
(Relative to my introductory remarks on RWAs, the Time Magazine article also included the following statement, “Bush won 78% of the vote among the quarter of the electorate that is white evangelical Christian.”)
According to the Boston.com article, this influx of Regent graduates was enabled by John Ashcroft, former Attorney General, who
… changed longstanding rules for hiring lawyers to fill vacancies in the career ranks. … Previously, veteran civil servants screened applicants and recommended whom to hire, usually picking top students from elite schools.
So, the Administration has 20 neocons from the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) that Mr. Bush referenced at an AEI dinner in 2003, “the number of Center [for Security Policy] associates who people this administration—and particularly the Department of Defense,” according to Don Rumsfeld and now 150 evangelical lawyers.
How much more damage can all these authoritarians accomplish before they are replaced?
As a foot note to this spreading of authoritarians, here are a few quotes from a Bush speech to his team made on March 7, 2007:
… if I had to give you a simple job description, it was the job requires making a lot of decisions — I mean, a lot.
… good decision-making requires delegation. Good decision-making requires creating an environment where people can walk in and tell you what’s on their mind.
… I have worked hard to surround myself with people who are confident enough in their own abilities to walk in and say, “You’re not looking so pretty, Mr. President, and here’s what I recommend.”
… part of being able to accomplish big goals is you’ve got to have a team of people who work together. Now, not everybody agrees. You don’t want your President to get homogenized advice. You need people who speak frankly, who aren’t intimidated by the surroundings of the presidency …
But the final ingredient to making good decisions to meet big goals is, once I make up my mind, it’s, “Yes, sir, Mr. President.”
So, when does the President inform his followers that he has made up his mind and to forget about telling him “what’s on your mind?” Is there a list on the door of what’s open to discussion?
Andy Hailey