Pattern Recognition

Policies have consequences – both intended and unintended. Either way, patterns can be discerned.

More than 75 years ago, Justice Louis Brandeis wrote these words: "Our government is the potent, the omnipresent teacher. For good or ill, it teaches the whole people by its example. Crime is contagious. If the government becomes a lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for the law; it invites every man to become a law unto himself."

The pattern of the Bush Administration includes contempt for International Law. Around the world we are experienced as a bully. The administration boasts that the UN is irrelevant and that the concerns of “old Europe” do not matter. We do not need the advice, counsel or approval of our allies or the International community. Rather, in the Rumsfeld/Cheney universe, “might makes right” and we are accountable to none.

Organizations take on the character and personality of the people at the top – or more graphically, “the fish rots from the head.” Leaders who endorse preemptive war and claim exemption from the Geneva Convention set an example for behavior all the way down the line.

George W. Bush told the Arab world Tuesday that the abuse of Iraqi prisoners "does not represent the America I know.” The Arab world remains unconvinced. Instead, they see evidence of a darker America, of the powerful exploiting the powerless. Perhaps a government that places itself above the law cannot successfully inspire freedom and democracy elsewhere. Certainly young soldiers in Iraq who break International laws and act like bullies are following the example of their current leaders.

Our country is on the wrong track and we need to change direction.