-Caveat Lector- http://www.sunday-times.co.uk/news/pages/sti/2001/01/07/stifgnusa01005.html January 7, 2001 The London Times UNITED STATES NEWS Black and white proof of Dubya's new conservatism Bush feels the heat as critics lie in wait for his first big decisions 'Son of star wars' missile shield ready for lift-off (UNITED STATES) IT HAS only just begun to sink in that white men are a distinct minority in George W Bush's new cabinet. So far, there are six of them. In every other post there's a new face for conservatism. At the education department there's a black superintendent of schools who believes that parents should have more choice over where their kids are taught. At energy is a Lebanese-Americanwith strong ties to the auto industry; at environment is Christie Todd Whitman, a charismatic, pro-choice Republican woman. The new housing secretary is a Cuban immigrant; the secretary of state is the son of Caribbean immigrants; the national security adviser is a black woman who grew up in the segregated South; the labour and interior departments get two rising conservative women, Linda Chavez and Gale Norton. At transportation there's a Japanese-American Democrat. The shocking thing about these appointments is that they do not reek of special treatment, affirmative action, quotas or any of the other paraphernalia of the multicultural left. These individuals are from all walks of life and of unimpeachable credentials. Some of them, particularly because they had to resist the groupthink of their respective communities, have a sharp conservative edge to them, especially Norton and Chavez. There is still a cadre of white, straight, corporate types in important positions: "prime minister" Dick Cheney; Paul O'Neill at the treasury; Donald Rumsfeld at the Pentagon. But even here appearances can be deceptive. Cheney, the vice-president, is a supporter of some legal backing for gay relationships and has a daughter who is openly gay. O'Neill is regarded as a maverick who pioneered worker-friendly policies at Alcoa, his aluminium company. Rumsfeld is a remarkably skilled and experienced man, a no-nonsense executive who made a fortune at G D Searle, the pharmaceutical giant. He is no knee-jerk establishmentarian. He is an insider rebel who cedes to nobody in his hawkishness and may well be single-handedly responsible for bringing missile defence to the West. The contrast with Bill Clinton's cabinet could not be more acute. Yes, Clinton's cabinet "looked like America" in its obsession with racial and gender balance. But it was staffed with mediocrities who never threatened Clinton's control of policy. Clinton, like Tony Blair, has been a control freak and too insecure to tolerate real rivals. With a couple of exceptions, such as Robert Rubin and Richard Holbrooke, it's hard to remember any solid contributions that his cabinet made to the country. Bush, in contrast, has produced something completely opposite: a cabinet of people so obviously more skilled and experienced than he is that it is pretty close to embarrassing. It takes either an extraordinarily secure man or a completely clueless one to have gathered such an assembly of superiors. My gut tells me it's the former - and that this shrewdness is far more important in politics than any sort of bookish intelligence. W's cabinet obviously has a mandate to act rather than to talk, which makes it the most structurally powerful since Dwight D Eisenhower's. Its ethnic and sexual diversity is not synonymous with PC doctrine. People such as Mel Martinez, secretary of housing, and Condoleezza Rice, the national security adviser, did not get their positions by parroting the victimology of racial interest groups. Nor are they products of the Republican party itself, which has had some difficulty in promoting minorities to positions of power. They are individuals first and foremost, plucked by Bush to pioneer a more inclusive elite without sacrificing Republican principles. The point of these picks is to show that diversity need not mean liberalism. They show that the values which conservatives hold dear - equality of opportunity and personal responsibility - know no racial or gender barriers. In this, Bush has made few missteps. His appointment of ultra-right John Ashcroft to the justice department is likely to reverse the inroads among black voters that his high-profile black appointments might have achieved. Ashcroft is a vehement supporter of the death penalty. He received an honorary degree from Bob Jones University, a place renowned for bans on interracial dating and rabid anti-Catholicism. By all accounts, Ashcroft is a decent man with indecent views (he believes in maintaining criminal sanctions against homosexuals, for example), but by siphoning off the ugliness of the religious right into a sole position, Bush may well have minimised the harm his reactionary base can inflict on Republican prospects. For Bush can do the maths. He can see that in all the polyglot states - from California to Florida - the Republican party's weakness among minorities could prove fatal. California was once a rock-solid Republican state, but no more. Florida, about 5% more Republican than the country at large in the past 20 years, could force Al Gore, the Democratic vice-president, only to a draw in November's election. Look at long-term demographics and Republicans should be terrified. Bush isn't merely trying to redefine conservatism, he's trying to save it from structural decline. As well he should. Conservative arguments should appeal to minorities. Strong family values appeal to Hispanic Americans and blacks. Equality of opportunity, lower taxes and economic freedom have always appealed to gay men and women. A tough anti-crime policy should appeal to those mostly affected by crime - the poor, the black and the urban. The difficulty, of course, is persuading those voters of the genuineness of conservative outreach. When conservatives agitate about immigration, demonise homosexuals and write off black votes, it should come as no surprise that minorities don't vote Republican or Tory. But if they can find a way to talk to these groups, and find people who can relate to them and listen to them, then the future is far rosier. W has made a start. He realises, in the grand conservative tradition of Benjamin Disraeli, Teddy Roosevelt and Margaret Thatcher that conservatism must co-opt in order to survive. Conservatives need not change their values to do this but they must change their approach. If they don't, the more vulnerable members of society will be the first to suffer. ================================================================= Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh, YHVH, TZEVAOT FROM THE DESK OF: *Michael Spitzer* <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Best Way To Destroy Enemies Is To Change Them To Friends ================================================================= <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. 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