Useless shakeup

To the editor:

The recent White House “shakeup” is just an orchestrated round of musical chairs played by loyal insiders and will make no difference in a self-serving administration awash in secrecy and incompetence.

No amount of shuffling of Bush’s inner circle would have spared thousands of U.S. military families their grief and suffering. No new hires could have helped hurricane victims after the deluge, or kept countless thousands of innocent Iraqis from becoming “collateral damage.” And no amount of brains or creativity could have kept this administration from becoming a foreign relations wrecking ball, from decimating the budget or exhausting the military. They barrel along on an unwavering, wrongheaded course of mythic proportions and do not let logic, facts or compassion get in their way.

This is truly the No Mercy Administration. Threats, lies, cover-ups and military action seem to be the only tools in a bag that should contain diplomatic proficiency, tactical savvy and long-term thinking. Cronies get contracts, the wealthy get tax cuts, and big oil gets royalty relief while funds are slashed or eliminated for veterans, students, our youngest and oldest citizens, our communities in greatest need, health care, the environment, job training and even law enforcement and homeland security, just to name a few.

The best and the brightest and people of conscience are the only fitting stewards of a democracy. Let’s support the few standing up to the Bush administration now and let’s put more like them in office next time.

Christy Kennedy,

Lawrence