Criticism doesn't thwart unity

Dear Mr. Bush,\nI write to inform you that your wartime grace period is over. Your leadership during this crisis is appreciated. But it is the conclusion of this columnist that your domestic policies warrant serious investigation, and that to stifle criticism of a president is tantamount to letting terrorists win.\nLast week, in responding to Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle's criticism of your tax break for the wealthiest Americans, you suggested that, "It's time to take the spirit of Unity that's been prevalent in fighting the war and bring it to Washington, D.C." Despite this insinuation that fighting your often troublesome agenda displays a lack of patriotism, an international crisis doesn't give any president a free-pass to wreak whatever domestic havoc he or she wishes.\nIn other words, just because the dog guards the hen house, that doesn't mean he should get to sleep in your bed.\nSincerely,\nStill Breathing in Indiana\nIt's been easy to go along with the tide of praise: "Bush has really stepped up. He's a real leader. The training wheels are off."\nBut recent developments in a range of issues have confirmed what we already knew. Despite the fact that President Bush's foreign policy team can carry on a campaign in Afghanistan, there's no reason to blindly support the man whose outrageous tax cuts will run the United States into the red before we are able to pay for increased airport security, a bio-terrorism protection program, the re-building of downtown New York, Medicaid and Social Security. \nTake for example the Enron disaster. But first, a little background:\nIf it smells like a dead rat, don't serve it for dinner. \nBut that's exactly what the folks at Enron did when they cooked the books. Enron Vice President Sherron S. Watkins wrote to her boss that she was "incredibly nervous that we will implode in a wave of accounting scandals."\nChairman Kenneth Lays' response was to continue encouraging his employees to hold onto their stock. After the confusion wore off, the execs put a six-week hold on their employees ability to cash in stock. Meanwhile, board members and top corporate officers were divesting themselves of the stuff, to the tune of a billion dollar profit. Thousands of working stiffs who were encouraged to ride out the rough spell ended up riding their retirements into the ground.\nThis should not have happened. Bells and whistles were supposed to sound. Government regulators were supposed to sniff insider trading in the air. Enron, after all, was a public entity.\nPresident George W. Bush's most benevolent corporate donor, to the tune of more than half a million dollars, is Enron Corp. Enron is a patron of countless other Washington office holders. Enron officials met with the vice president at least six times last year. Only a vigorous investigation of all parties involved (including the administration) will bear out the facts. Such an investigation will also help to spotlight the disgraceful role of corporate money in politics…a role that seems all too prominent in the presidency of George W. Bush.\nLike I told the president, anything less than a forceful inquiry would be un-patriotic.