Profiles in Right-Wing Lunacy: Alphonso Jackson

Last week, Alphonso Jackson, then Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) spent his last day in office. Forced to resign amid numerous scandals of impropriety, the public is now beginning to see the dirty underbelly of Jackson's tenure at HUD, a tenure marred by politicization, corruption and disturbing egomania.




Jackson, a longtime buddy of George W. Bush, was appointed HUD Secretary in 2004. In a break from the Bush crony tradition, Jackson had actually worked in the public housing arena prior to coming to HUD. Jackson, however, soon established himself as a true Bush loyalist, and attempted to run his department with a political bent. As early as 2006, Jackson was accused of awarding housing contracts on the basis of political affiliation and loyalty to the President. (On a side note, the idea of an African-American Republican has always struck me as odd. The fact that a black American would join the party of Richard Nixon, David Duke, Tom Tancredo and Bill O'Reilly truly baffles the mind. But that's a discussion for another time.) He once rescinded a contract offer because the contractor didn't like President Bush. In Jackson's own words, "Why should I reward someone who doesn't like the president?"


Jackson also was the focus of an FBI investigation into allegations he improperly awarded contracts to his friends and business associates, including awarding a lucrative housing contract to a golfing buddy. Of course, this was all taking place as the United States quickly found itself in the midst of a debilitating mortgage crisis that is fueling a nationwide recession. Amid all the controversy surrounding Jackson, he announced his resignation on March 31, 2008, not surprisingly to focus on "personal and family matters."


Now that he has resigned, we are beginning to learn more about Alphonso Jackson, the man, and it isn't pretty. Most notably, Jackson has shown himself to be an alarming egomaniac, which is all the more amusing in light of his disgraced departure from public service. On April 13, the Washington Post reported that he had submitted an "emergency bid" of $100,000 in taxpayer money to have a portrait of himself commissioned. In addition, the walls of the HUD headquarters' lobby, until very recently, were entirely covered with 20 large color photographs of Secretary Jackson.

To put this is perspective, we had a girl at my office a couple of years ago that had a single 8x10 framed photograph of herself adorning her cubicle. We all thought she was a narcissistic nutcase, and that was just one photo.

If that weren't enough, on April 16, Jackson threw himself a lavish going away party (at tax-payer expense), attended by over 1,000 HUD employees. The disgraced secretary is described as "honorable" on the cover of the event program, modestly graced this time with just four photographs of Jackson.

So, in Alphonso Jackson, we have a Republican who believes that government is a way to help his friends get rich. He believes the government should reward political loyalty and punish political criticism. He headed a government agency that did virtually nothing to regulate the predatory lending practices that have spelled disaster for homeowners and investment banks alike. And he believes that HUD should allocate precious time and resources to paying homage to Alphonso Jackson. Jackson is the poster boy (no pun intended) for why America can't afford another incompetent, crony-laden administration, and why the more seats Democrats win in November, the more abuses like those of Alphonso Jackson will come to light.

"Oh Dana"

"It's okay, Dana. You're still a lot smarter than me."

I certainly don't envy the life of a White House Press Secretary. You basically get in front of a microphone everyday and spew administration propaganda and lies. It's a lot like the Rush Limbaugh show, but without the convenient physical anonymity radio provides. George W. Bush is on his fourth press secretary in 7 years. His latest, Dana Perino, is a refreshing change of pace from the quick-witted, smooth-talking styles of Ari Fleischer, Scott McClelland and Tony Snow, Bush's three previous press secretaries. No, Ms. Perino kind of just seems lost up there. Instead of simply spewing out the pre-approved administration lies, which she does frequently enough, she often appears as if she's making stuff up on the fly.

Last week, Dana Perino drew the ire of Democratic lawmakers by labeling the 110th U.S. Congress as the "Do-nothing Congress." Perino made the statement to explain President Bush's marked decline in the use of controversial signing statements in 2007. In fact, in 2007 Congress passed 11 more bills than the Republican-controlled Congress of 2006. And the Democrats were able to get all this done in spite of the fact that seven out of the eight vetoes issued during the Bush presidency were issued in 2007.

So was this moniker dropped by Perino part of a concerted effort by the GOP to smear the Democrats in Congress? Certainly Dems have been accused (unjustly) of not supporting the troops and aiding terrorists, but the "Do-nothing" comment appears to be a creation of Perino herself. And if she had done her homework, she would have realized what an inappropriate and ill-informed comment it was. Despite intense opposition from the White House, this Congress still passed more bills into law than the more aptly named "Rubber Stamp Congress" of 2006.

Of course this was not the first time Ms. Perino embarrassed herself in such a fashion.

• In a January 2008 press conference, Perino eschewed a reporter's question about the looming recession and budget crisis, claiming simply that "math is not my strong suit.”



• Despite graduating college with a minor in political science, Perino admittedly does not know what the Cuban Missile Crisis was. On a December 2007 edition of NPR's game show, "Wait, Wait . . . Don't Tell Me," Perino retold the story of how she was flustered by a reporter's question about the historic event, saying she thought it had to do with "Cuba and missiles, or something." She later told her husband about her "deer in headlights" experience, to which he replied, "Oh, Dana." Perhaps we might not expect the President to know pertinent U.S. history, or be able to find Namibia on a map, but his official mouthpiece should be able to.

• Following the Virginia Tech school shooting in 2007, Perino was asked about the administration's stance on current gun laws. Perino said the best solution for combating gun violence is for people to just obey the existing laws:

The President believes that there is a right for people to bear arms, but that all laws must be followed. And certainly bringing a gun into a school dormitory and shooting,...that would be against the law and something that someone should be held accountable for.

• Downplaying the value of the Army Field Manual (which expressly forbids waterboarding as an interrogation technique), Perino said the manual is really only appropriate for "young GIs, some so young that they’re not even able to legally get a drink in the states where they’re from." The rationale, then, is that CIA interrogators (average age of 40) shouldn't be governed by the same code as the Army, essentially a bunch of rowdy teenagers. In fact, the average age of Army soldiers is 28, and the age of Army interrogators likely much higher. So Perino believes that two U.S. intelligence outfits should be governed by different codes of ethics because of perhaps an age difference of a few years.

I mean, come on Dana. Just come out and say you want to waterboard people, and we'll have at least some respect for you. But again, this isn't just smooth-talking propaganda, but some seriously bizarre ad libbing that makes you think "Wow. If she's getting this creative with her spin, she must really be hiding something." See, the Tony Snows of the world are cool customers. Snow was like a pre-programmed robot who never really got flustered and never deviated from the administration talking points, no matter how ridiculous they might have been. Perino on the other hand, seems to want to make her case stronger by going off the page with her answers, and we've seen the results of that.

I guess I prefer the Perino approach to the Snow approach. I guess it comes down to a personal preference for honesty over competence. While Americans have gotten used to both dishonesty and incompetence since 2001, it's refreshing to see someone who is woefully unqualified giving it their all for the team. And when being a good liar is the main qualification for the job, I guess I don't mind Perino's incompetence all that much.