So how do the above relate to Understanding Government’s Mission of being “…dedicated to improving the performance of the executive branch by helping journalists do a better job of covering it[?]”
Between the Administration’s internal review of failures to execute proper relief efforts during Hurricane Katrina and discussion of the Executive Branch process that resulted in appointing a Dubai-owned company to several major U.S. East Coast seaport operations, there was plenty of journalistic follow-up fodder.
Developments in the Muslim world, ignited most recently by the bombing of a revered Shiite mosque in Samarra, Iraq, telescope the importance of, among many, many other things, ensuring effective diplomatic policy development and military planning within the Executive Branch. That means proper coordination – and playing nice – between the State and Defense Departments. Challenging, eh?
The microscope is on the Bush Administration. I’d imagine that White House officials picture the attention as less like an intense examination and more like sunrays passing through the proverbial magnifying glass that burns and scars every object in its path.
These developments portray events in such stark relief that we should all drop any partisan positioning and begin honest and thoughtful debate and discussion of what’s happening around us and recognize the critical need for an effective Executive Branch to nimbly and competently steer our country through these troubled waters.
Already off the radar screen, or so it seems, is early week coverage of implementation problems associated with new Medicare rules designed to ensure health care coverage for the poorest of the poor. News reports speak of ineffective procedures, albeit with the best of intentions, to reach and enlist those, and only those, qualified Americans targeted in the new legislation. Again, who’s the prime player in this arena? The Executive Branch.
It’s difficult to overstate the importance of the Executive Branch in advancing and preserving the commonweal. Understanding Government and you, its readers and bloggers, are here to keep the discussions and examinations alive.
But let’s do it for the good of the country and not for craven political motives. There is simply too much at stake for too many people.
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YETMO: “You’re Entitled To My Opinion,” A Balanced Point of View
Fred W. Apelquist, III, M.Ed.
Approximately 350 words
© February 24, 2006