George Will closes his 10/17 Newsweek column (p2 here) with thoughts that parallel ours:

DeLay is exhibit A for the proposition that many Republicans have gone native in Washington. Indiana Rep. Mike Pence, leader of the more than 100 conservative members of the Republican Study Committee, charges that some Republicans think “big government is good government if it’s our government.” DeLay’s troubles, and his party’s, may multiply with coming revelations about the seamy career of uber-lobbyist Jack Abramoff. He is emblematic of DeLay’s faux conservatism—K Street conservatism. That is Republican power in the service of lobbyists who, in their K Street habitat, are in the service of rent seekers—interests eager to bend public power for their private advantage.

Since 2000 the number of registered lobbyists in Washington has more than doubled, from 16,342 to 34,785. They have not been attracted to the seat of government, like flies to honey, for the purpose of limiting government.

The vast new Medicare prescription drug entitlement and the failure to seriously discuss budget offsets for Katrina costs are two more examples of the White House and Congress abandoning any semblance of the fiscal discipline that many Republican voters thought the party stood for.

Will wraps up the piece with:

Conservatives are not supposed to be cuddly, or even particularly nice. They are, however, supposed to be competent. And to know that scarcity—of money, virtue, wisdom, competence, everything—forces choices. Furthermore, they are supposed to have an unsentimental commitment to meritocracy and excellence. The fact that none of those responsible for the postwar planning, or lack thereof, in Iraq have been sacked suggests—no, shouts—that in Washington today there is no serious penalty for serious failure.

Hence the multiplication of failures.

To support this, Will could have also mentioned teflon-clad George Tenet as an example of loyalty rewarded over merit.

Unfortunately, the Harriet Miers nomination is another, and this illustrates a major problem at the White House. The administration seems to have abandoned the notion of meritocracy. If the question is “who is the best conservative woman for the Supreme Court,” Miers’ name does not come up. If it’s “who is the most loyal person with a law degree that we know,” you get to where we are now.

Blind loyalty may make the guy at the top feel good, but it’s a recipe for organizational failure. The Light Brigade were unquestioning and loyal, but what did it get them beyond a soldier’s burial? A president who isolates himself among admirers is far more likely to make mistakes than one getting honest advice from advisors who are respected for what they know.

This bodes ill for the balance of this administration, and for Republicans in 2008.

Technorati Tags: harriet miers, george will, Supreme Court, white house

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 13th, 2005 at 10:37 pm by A Senior Administration Official and is filed under Big Thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.