‘Ethics’ violations: What about Bush & Cheney?

One of the first things the Bush-Cheney administration did on taking office in 2001 was to set up a super-secret energy task force. Oil and gas company executives descended on the White House for hush-hush conclaves with Vice President Dick Cheney and other administration officials. The individuals and their companies were never named publicly. In fact, when environmental groups sued to find out the particulars of these meetings, the administration successfully defended its right to keep them secret, all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The rest is history. Iraq was pulverized and taken over by the Pentagon in a war and occupation that were planned in the early days of the administration and had nothing to do with 9/11. (See “Iraq war plans began day Bush took office” by Fred Goldstein, Workers World, Jan. 22, 2004.) The imperialist drive to dominate the oil-rich territory and waters of the region has spilled over into U.S. aggression in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia, constant threats against Iran, and total U.S. support for Israel’s attacks on the Palestinians.

Both Bush and Cheney owe their fortunes and their political careers to the energy companies. But they are not at all unique in U.S. capitalist politics. Since 1990, oil and gas companies and affiliated individuals have donated $238.7 million to the campaign chests of candidates and political parties. (OpenSecrets.org) This is just what has been reported publicly and doesn’t include the backroom deals and insider trading that corporations engage in to reward their friends.

Cheney’s 2001 meetings with Big Oil also resulted in deregulation and lax oversight of oil drilling in the U.S. itself, which led directly to the BP disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. (See “Dick Cheney’s Last Laugh,” Mother Jones, June 10.) The Washington Post of June 17 reported, “Nearly 30 members of the congressional committees overseeing oil and gas companies held personal assets in the industry totaling $9 million to $14.5 million late last year.”

On both these earth-shaking issues — war and environmental pollution — the U.S. Congress, under both Republican and Democratic leadership, rubber-stamped what the administration wanted. The result has been millions of lives shattered and an astronomical cost to the people of all the countries involved.

Yet not one of the U.S. officials and politicians involved has been held accountable for these crimes against humanity.

The U.S. Senate and House of Representatives both have “ethics” committees that are supposed to investigate misconduct by their members and recommend action. What could be so important that it would overshadow looking into these monumental crimes?

We now have the answer. The House ethics committee has announced it is investigating Charles Rangel, who represents Harlem, and Maxine Waters, whose district includes the Watts section of Los Angeles.

Both are said to be under investigation for corruption. Were they perhaps bought off by Big Oil to endorse the Iraq War? No. In fact, Rangel and Waters were among the very few in the House who spoke and voted against the 2002 resolution that authorized funds for the war.

They both represent districts where African Americans are concentrated, places where the anger of the people against racism and police repression has boiled over into rebellions — Harlem in 1964, Watts in 1965 and 1992.

Both have been re-elected many times to Congress, giving them seniority on several important committees.

So far, the two have been pilloried in the media, even before they had a chance to respond to alleged charges. Waters hadn’t even been informed of the investigation when the media started hounding her.

Whatever the outcome of these investigations, they need to be seen in the context of the continued racist oppression of the Black nation inside the United States. Black people have suffered ever since being brought here in chains and have made gains only through struggle — from the early antislavery rebellions to the Civil Rights and Black Power movements. Any improvement in their economic situation is being torn away in this prolonged depression, which is hitting African Americans extra hard by eliminating jobs in industry and public services that have been the mainstay for Black women and men. The utter devastation in cities like Detroit attests to this process.

When Barack Obama was elected president, there was joy and hope that this represented a political advance that would also help counter the economic regression, which had already begun. His program promised a bridge over the racial divide that exists in the U.S. more than almost any other country.

But this divide is not based just on attitudes and ignorance. It comes from the entrenched privileges enjoyed by the same ruling class that has billions of dollars to throw to its political friends. While this wealth comes from the exploitation of the labor of all workers, the bosses get even bigger dividends when they can pay workers of color half or two-thirds the wages of whites.

Obama — beholden as he is to the Democratic Party, which has encircled him with advisors and functionaries who made their way up the political ladder as lawyers, financial analysts and other servants of the wealthy — cannot take on this corporate establishment. Republicans and other assorted right-wingers see the resulting disillusionment among workers in general, on everything from the bank bailouts to the government’s failure to provide jobs, as an opportunity to push their racist agenda and strip oppressed communities of anything but token representation.

Flipping reality on its head, the media turn Black representatives like Rangel and Waters into symbols of political corruption while applauding a political system that dances to Wall Street’s tune every time. It’s time to say no and scrap the whole rotten system.