His masquerade served to differentiate him from the boorish ideologues that dominated headlines during the boom times of the Clinton years. A compassionate conservative was about as close to a Clinton-styled "New Democrat" as a Republican could get without provoking charges of party plagiarism.

However, once ensconced in the White House, the former Texas governor wasted little time removing his mask of moderation. He issued an administrative order ending foreign aid for family planning policies that include abortion as an option. He nominated former Sen. John Ashcroft, a take-no-prisoners conservative, as attorney general.

President Bush reversed the Labor Department's new ergonomic standards, he reversed the Clinton administration's agreement to demand a lower standard for arsenic in drinking water and he reneged on his own pledge to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Bush provoked international rage by refusing to accept the Kyoto protocol on global warning.

The Bush administration also has acted to relieve us of the "bogeyman deficit" we've suffered since the demise of the Soviet Union. By belligerently picking fights with China, Bush is reviving Cold War paranoia and making the case for costly weapons systems (including his version of "Star Wars") produced by corporations that contributed lavishly to his campaign.

Passing up another chance for moderate change, Bush named John Walters as the new drug czar. Walters was the top deputy to William Bennett, the drug czar in the last Bush administration, and he shares his former boss's lock-em-up mentality. His appointment seems likely to ensure that the drug war continues along its destructive path, pushing our already record prison population to new levels.

These are not the actions of a president seeking moderation. But even more disturbing, they are not the actions of a president with a mandate. Bush lost the popular vote. The president has completely reversed his campaign image and, surprisingly, the electorate seems unconcerned about being hoodwinked.

Some of the supporting cast of moderates that candidate Bush used to pull off his deception are being rudely upstaged by the old-line troglodytes who now populate the president's inner circle. During the campaign, Gen. Colin Powell's image hovered over the Bush campaign like a halo. The Republican candidate invoked Powell' s name at every opportunity, repeatedly assuring campaign crowds that the Gulf War hero would add international gravitas to his administration.

But now that America's most beloved black soldier has helped elect the son of the president who sent him to war, Secretary of State Powell has been rebuffed and reversed on most of his major policy statements. In early March, Powell said the U.S. planned to engage with North Korea and "pick up where President Clinton left off." By late March he had to take those words back once it was made clear to him that Bush administration insiders are not interested in better relations with North Korea.

When Powell visited the Middle East, he hinted the U.S. might be willing to replace existing sanctions on Iraq with ones more narrowly focused on weapons-building capacity. Since that time, however, the administration has hewed closer to the view of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Vice President Dick Cheney, who feel that restrictive sanctions should stay in place. Powell was similarly rebuffed in his views that the interests of the European Union's proposed multinational force would not necessarily conflict with those of NATO. Administration officials now say that such a force is incompatible with the old military alliance.

Christine Todd Whitman, former New Jersey governor and current head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, was apparently another prop. After assuring the G-8 countries that the U.S. was firm in its commitment to reduce greenhouse gases, Bush reversed his promise to do so.

There are other examples, like, for example, the Bushies plan to stack the federal bench and the Supreme Court with reactionary jurists. But it should be clear to all by now that a Trojan Horse has taken us for a ride.

Salim Muwakkil is a senior editor at In These Times

Copyright 2001 Chicago Tribune

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