The Bush Regime
Have you noticed how easily we fall into references to the Bush Regime, rather than to the Bush Administration? I think that’s because it seems more like a monarchy, albeit a constitutional one, than administrations of the 20th Century.
Government policy doesn’t emerge from the interaction of the three branches of government, but from a select group of ministerial advisors. The President, like the Queen of England, is the spokesman for these policies, solemnly announcing on state occasions decisions that have been made for him, but not by him.
Congress may discuss, may even debate, matters of state but in the end the loyal opposition is limited to policy modification rather than outright opposition.
In many regimes a "gray eminence" plays a powerful role, redefining basic policy in ways that largely circumvent more traditional policy-making procedures. Professor William O. Beeman, Director of Middle East Studies at Brown University suggests that Michael Ledeen, a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute is such a shadowy eminence.
Writing for the Pacific News Service Beeman says:
Most Americans have never heard of Michael Ledeen, but if the United States ends up in an extended shooting war throughout the Middle East, it will be largely due to his inspiration. …..Ledeen’s ideas are repeated daily by such figures as Richard Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and Paul Wolfowitz. His views virtually define the stark departure from American foreign policy philosophy that existed before the tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001.
Read Beeman’s analysis here.
