Last issue, we listed the backgrounds, policy prejudices, conflicts of interest, and other chilling factoids on some of the collection of "moderate" sleazeballs George II has surrounded himself with as Cabinet appointees and senior advisors. Here are the rest. The Democratic Party in theory should have been appalled by each entry in this festival of repulsive ideologues--nominated to positions that should have been occupied by Democrats. In practice, of course, the Democrats would have filled the posts from the same reactionary corporate state Rolodex. That's why they mounted only a token, pointless opposition to the most obviously Neanderthal (John Ashcroft). The one horrific nominee they managed to bring down, Linda Chavez, was actually crucified for something good that she did. Figures.

All of the others waltzed into office with the usual Congressional and media kissy-kissy, and now they're revving up to do as much damage as they can before anyone notices. Here are the ones we didn't get to last issue:

Foreign Affairs and Security:

Dept. of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld

He was Defense Secretary under Ford (75-77), ambassador to NATO in '72, worked for pharmaceutical companies GD Searle and Gilead Science Inc., and backed the ill-fated B-1 bomber and the MX against congressional opposition. He also testified against the chemical weapons convention, opposed the SALT II arms agreement, and supported the B-2 bomber. Past board member of Hoover Institution (right-wing think-tank), was a member of the Committee on the Present Danger (mid-1970s), and is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

According to analysts, he has disdain for "boring military charts and factoids." (In other words, he makes decisions based on ideology and payoffs, not the facts.) During Clinton time, he was the chairman of the Rumsfeld Commission, a.k.a. the Commission to Assess the Ballistic Missile Threat to the US, which inaccurately portrayed North Korea as a nuclear threat to the US, and concluded (in spite of the facts) that Iran and North Korea were a much bigger threat to the US than experts were saying. This gave the Clinton Administration the necessary cover to support Star Wars missile defense. The "Commission's" findings negated earlier CIA analyses, eventually forcing the CIA to change its projections.

Beyond his high-profile advocacy of National Missile Defense, he also loves all high-tech gadgets and hates treaties and arms pacts. Last year, he opposed the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty because it would threaten US nuclear stockpiles. He supports--surprise!--massive increases in an already bloated military budget. He has an ardent, Cold-War, Peace-through-strength mentality. He's also paranoid about attacks against US communications satellites and US computer systems, and supports US efforts (in apparent violation of international treaties) to take control of outer space by developing technology to attack other nations' satellites with new generation weapons like the space-based laser. [Chicago Tribune, Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space]

Dept. of State, Colin Powell

Early in his career, as Deputy Assistant Chief of Staff for Operations at a base in Vietnam, Powell was ordered to investigate claims of Army massacres at My Lai. Powell's cosmetic "investigation" of allegations by Tom Glen, who knew about the slaughter, claimed that his charges were false.

In the '80s he served on Reagan's national security team and testified in the Iran/Contra hearings that Casper Weinberger did not keep a diary. Later, when a collection of notes surfaced, Powell testified that Weinberger did, indeed, keep a running diary of events related to Iran/Contra. Under Weinberger's direction, Powell arranged for the illegal transfer of at least 2,000 missiles to Iran. Iran-Contra prosecutor Lawrence Walsh found Powell's testimony in his investigation to be "at least misleading" although it "did not warrant prosecution."

During the Reagan years, the administration supported human-rights-abusing militaries in El Salvador, Gautamala, and Honduras, as well as the Contras in Nicaragua. After Powell became Reagan's National Security Advisor, he threatened to cut off US aid to any Central American country that refused to support the US-backed Contra war against Nicaragua. Powell remarked: "In the old days of East-West polarization, we worked with what we had." In his autobiography, Powell claims that he was "the chief administration advocate" for the Contras.

In '89, Powell was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and oversaw the invasion of Panama, during which US troops violated Geneva Conventions by failing to minimize harm against the civilian population. Powell's doctrine is: "Use all the force necessary and do not apologize for going in big if that's what it takes."

He also advocates not using military force without a clear mission and a clear military advantage. He was chairman of the joint chiefs during the Gulf War, an operation that included burying Iraqi soldiers alive, the infamous "Turkey Shoot" of retreating Iraqi conscripts, and the irradiation of thousands with depleted uranium weaponry (over 40 tons of radioactive uranium was scattered). Powell also drew up plans for a nuclear strike on Baghdad. Powell has been complicit in ignoring Gulf War Syndrome, while 184,000 of the 697,000 Gulf War troops have filed disability claims with the Dept of Veterans Affairs.

In all of this, Powell's only documented opposition to any military policy was in response to Clinton's efforts to end anti-gay witchhunts in the military. In 1992, Powell also initiated the current widespread military push to install JROTC curriculum in the nation's high schools and junior high schools.

Ultimately, the Dept. of State is not just about military intervention and affairs, it also involves diplomacy. And Powell has no experience with diplomatic matters of state. [New Republic, National Security Archive, Progressive Review, American Friends Service Committee, Providence Phoenix, The Nation, Americas Watch]

National Security Advisor, Condoleezza Rice

She was formerly an aide to Colin Powell. Her only federal experience was serving two years as a mid-level staffer and Soviet expert for the National Security Council during the '80s. Her only expertise is strictly historical: the cold-war Soviet Union. She coached George II in his foreign policy pronouncements (few and controversial that they were) during his campaign; his genuinely nutty concept of a Star Wars program mutually run with Russia and China was her idea.

She's a ball of confusion. Her view of the world is rooted firmly in outdated, Cold-War, imperialist ideology. She claims that the big nations must have control over their smaller neighbors and each big power must respect the others' sphere of influence. Yet at the same time, her Stanford connections with Silicon Valley entrepreneurs has led her to become an ardent globalization fan, who believes that the US's sphere of influence is the whole world.

She serves on the board of Chevron Oil, one of Africa's most violent human rights abusers; Chevron recently named an oil tanker after her.

One person who reviewed her PhD dissertation stated that she "frequently does not sift facts from propaganda and valid information from disinformation or misinformation." She favors continuing Iraq sanctions, continued trade with China (and screw human rights), and is a fan of Star Wars. She has the job of explaining the basic elements of foreign policy to GW, about which Bush admits knowing almost nothing. Unfortunately, she has lots of opinions, but no experience and very little knowledge about foreign affairs.

US Trade Representative, Robert Zoellick

Most notable for his ardent support of free trade and globalization, Zoellick, as a State Dept. Undersecretary for Economic and Agricultural Affairs in the George I years, was a prime architect and negotiator for the proposals that became NAFTA and the World Trade Organization. An Assistant Secretary in the Treasury Dept. under Reagan, he became Deputy Chief of Staff late in George I's term, moving on during Clinton time to be, among other things, Senior International Advisor for Goldman Sachs, the notorious international investment firm responsible for widespread Third World economic misery.

Social Services:

Dept of Education, Rod Paige

Has his PhD in Physical Education, was head football coach at Utica Jr. College and Jackson State U, and coached and taught at Texas Southern University. Was Houston School Superintendent. He raised test scores, downsized administration, moved authority out to individual schools, and his key issues are literacy, school safety, accountability (i.e., testing, testing, and more testing). He takes a fence-sitting role on school vouchers. [Associated Press]

Dept of Health & Human Services, Tommy Thompson

As governor, he was architect of Wisconsin's welfare reform, one of the first in the nation. His was the first state to ask HHS for permission to put a time-limit on welfare benefits, which later became a key part of federal welfare reform. His welfare reform has two components: aid (money for child care, health insurance, and job training) and punishment (withholding cash benefits to parents whose kids skip school, women who have babies while on welfare, and unmarried parents).

He opposes abortion; he signed legislation that forces WI women who want abortions to seek counseling first, then wait three days to get the procedure done. He's firmly for state's rights when it comes to welfare and other aid programs. He wants to convert Medicaid to a system of block grants to states (when states have already proven remiss in administering Medicaid to those who qualify). He can't wait to get his slimy hands on Medicare, Social Security, and Medicaid, all of which he wants to restructure.

Dept of Housing & Urban Development, Melquiadees Martinez

George II's thank-you kiss to Florida. A Cuban-American, Martinez is an ally of Jeb. His only housing experience is serving as chairman of Orlando Housing Authority for two years (84-86), preventing new low-income housing from being built by claiming it was a quality-of-life violation. In '98, he was elected Orange County chairman, overseeing 13 municipalities; in that post, he eliminated the Department of Community Affairs, a civil rights agency set up to give poor people a voice in local government. He headed the Florida Growth Management Study Commission.

He's very vocal on right-wing Cuban issues; he opposed sending Elian Gonzalez home, he has called for a naval blockade of Cuba, and he's a voice for right-wing Cuban groups. He has no clue about housing; Bush wants to give $1.7 billion in tax credits to developers to build 100,000 houses nationwide (no specifics about income levels). Martinez is a yes-man and, like Paige, a convenient, though unqualified, display of racial diversity. In other words, an administration that opposes affirmative action is promoting unmeritorious minorites. Hmmm.

Dept. of Labor, Elaine Chao

A Taiwanese immigrant, Linda Chavez's replacement also has little experience with unions or industry, but plenty of Beltway connections. She comes from a stint as President/CEO of United Way, and is a past (91-92) director of the Peace Corps. She was a Dept. of Transportation official under Reagan.

After George I lost, Chao was hired on as a senior fellow (at $210,000/yr) at the conservative Heritage Foundation, which used her hiring to establish an office in Hong Kong, ostensibly devoted to gathering information on East Asian economies. Oddly, neither Chao nor the Hong Kong office produced any work along these lines during her long stint at Heritage; instead, the Hong Kong office was used as a fundraising conduit, through which Heritage collected contributions from mainland Chinese business interests. (Remember this the next time Republicans scream about Democrats raising money from foreign nationals).

Chao is also married to Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Congress's most influential and strident opponent of any and all campaign finance reform measures. Chao headed up the United Way when John Sweeney, AFL-CIO president, was on its board of directors, and the two got along famously.

Her record? She opposed the Civil Rights Act of 1991 which increased workers' rights to sue for discrimination in the workplace. She's against affirmative action and has criticized efforts to diversify workplaces. She opposes the new rules on ergonomics in the workplace and she supports allowing workers to withhold the portion of their union dues that would be used for political purposes. She's also likely to oppose any increases in the minimum wage.

Dept of Veterans Affairs, Anthony Principi

Served as deputy secretary of the VA under George I and later ran the agency under him. He's a decorated Vietnam War vet. He also served as chief operating officer of Lockheed Martin Integrated Systems. He has promoted a costly plan to get government to pay for four years of college for anyone who has served four years of active duty in the military.

Iron Triangle (close friends who are the closest advisors to George II):

Senior Advisor and Assistant to President, Karl Rove (broad portfolio: Office of Political Affairs, Office of Public Liaison, Office of Strategic Initiative)

He's a close friend of George II. He has worked on Bush's campaigns for Congress in '78, Governor in '94, and '98. Rove and his political consulting firm have moved politics in Texas to the far right. According to a George II biography, Rove has committed some campaign dirty tricks in his time, including sending out false invitations to political events, falsifying documents on opponents' stationery, and using false names. He's a sleazy character who used to spend a lot of time in the '60s on the phone with George II reaming young people who lived an alternative lifestyle (i.e., them damn hippies). [Associated Press]

White House Counselor, Karen Hughes (communications, speechwriting, scheduling, press office)

Dubya's communications director & spokeswoman during campaign, co-wrote (auto)biography with him, previously Dallas TV reporter, worked on '84 Reagan campaign in Texas and George II's campaign for Governor in '94. Has the most annoying media presence imaginable. [Chicago Tribune]

Chief of Staff, Andrew Card (White House administration)

He was a VP of Government Affairs at General Motors. He served as deputy chief of staff under George I, and in that position helped get rid of his boss, John Sununu. Bush then promoted him to Secretary of Transportation. After one year, he took a $600,000 lobbyist job with auto industry and served as president and chief executive of American Automobile Manufactures Association. Went on to become VP for General Motors until 2000, then went to work on George II's campaign. Ran 2000 Republican national convention and served the Republican role in running presidential debates. He was director of Office of Intergovernmental Affairs under Reagan. He worked on various campaigns for George I, in '88 dug up dirt on Dukakis (including Willie Horton, pollution in Boston Harbor, and Dukakis banning the Pledge of Allegiance in schools). [Boston Globe]