Bush Administration Retaliates Against Kerry Supporters, Violating Principles of Democracy

It was bad enough when Richard Nixon had his enemies list. Now George Bush is proving John Dean was right in declaring the Bush administration to be Worse Than Watergate. Under Bush, even businessmen who contributed to John Kerry are considered enemies.

Georgte Bush ran for President in 2000 claiming to be a uniter, not a divider before becoming one of the most divisive Presidents in history. He once again shows that he does not consider himself to be President of all the people--only those who support him. Our democracy has worked because of the ability to unite following an election, along with checks and balances to prevent one party from moving in an extreme direction. These checks and balances have broken down as this has been just the latest example of the anti-democratic practices of the Bush administration and allies in Congress.

Since the Republicans have tanen over, we have seen:

• A breakdown of the checks and balances in Congress, as even Republican committee chairs who deviate from the party line are removed
• Pressure placed upon K Street to have businesses only contribute to Republicans, or face a loss of thier contacts in government
• Attacks on the judicial system, as even Republican-dominated courts are considered too liberal when they attempt to uphold the Constitution against the extremism of the current GOP leadership
  
• Town hall meetings paid for by taxpayers to discuss government policy, where only Bush supporters are allowed
• This latest act where supporters of John Kerry are excluded from discussion of telecommunications standards, as reported below:

The Bush Administration punishes some Democrat backers
By VIVECA NOVAK AND JOHN DICKERSON

Sunday, Apr. 24, 2005
The Inter-American Telecommunication Commission meets three times a year in various cities across the Americas to discuss such dry but important issues as telecommunications standards and spectrum regulations. But for this week's meeting in Guatemala City, politics has barged onto the agenda. At least four of the two dozen or so U.S. delegates selected for the meeting, sources tell TIME, have been bumped by the White House because they supported John Kerry's 2004 campaign.

The State Department has traditionally put together a list of industry representatives for these meetings, and anyone in the U.S. telecom industry who had the requisite expertise and wanted to go was generally given a slot, say past participants. Only after the start of Bush's second term did a political litmus test emerge, industry sources say.

The White House admits as much: "We wanted people who would represent the Administration positively, and--call us nutty--it seemed like those who wanted to kick this Administration out of town last November would have some difficulty doing that," says White House spokesman Trent Duffy. Those barred from the trip include employees of Qualcomm and Nokia, two of the largest telecom firms operating in the U.S., as well as Ibiquity, a digital-radio-technology company in Columbia, Md. One nixed participant, who has been to many of these telecom meetings and who wants to remain anonymous, gave just $250 to the Democratic Party. Says Nokia vice president Bill Plummer: "We do not view sending experts to international meetings on telecom issues to be a partisan matter. We would welcome clarification from the White House."