deteriorating standards

while reading this new york times editorial on the recent controversy regarding the US attorney general, i had a disconcerting sense of deja vu. change a few names, and i could have been reading one of many weekly reports on the politicization of public institutions and ineffective rule of law in numerous asian countries.

there are many groups and individuals, within the US as well as outside, who have been commenting on the country's gradual move away from established legal principles and human rights standards, so this comes as no surprise. in fact, the katrina fiasco came as more of a shock--the blatant mismanagement and how michael brown came to head FEMA were definitely an eye opener for me: corruption and nepotism within the government is not only to be found in the developing world.

regardless, reading about the relationship between the bush administration and alberto gonzales was distressing. it didn't help that i had just read up on pervez musharraf's removal of pakistan's chief justice. and some other depressing news stories (what happened to happy news?).

no matter that george bush is appalling, that american arrogance, intervention and double standards in internatonal relations is appalling; i still expected better from the US attorney general and justice department.