The Hightower Report

---

'The Seventeen Traditions'

My father taught me about progressive values. Not by sitting me down to explain them but by living them. He never called himself progressive – and actually thought of himself as conservative – but he had a strong faith in common folks, a populist distrust of big business and autocratic government, a deep belief in economic fairness, and a commitment to the notion of the common good. He summed up his political philosophy one day when he said to me: "Everybody does better when everybody does better."

I'm floating back to memories of my upbringing because of a little book I recently read about family values. Not those heavily politicized "family values" that the right wing has used to try to divide America but the real thing, the uniting values we learn as children. This book is called The Seventeen Traditions, and it's written by Ralph Nader.

Nader has written many powerful books, but I think this little volume of 150 pages is his biggest book. It's Ralph's very personal reminiscences and appreciation of growing up in a small Connecticut town as a son of Lebanese immigrants, Nathra and Rose Nader. He says he's often asked what forces shaped him, and his short answer is, "I had a lucky choice of parents."

This book confirms that, offering rich vignettes organized around 17 of the traditions that Ralph gained from his family, including the traditions of the family table, education and argument, simple enjoyments, independent thinking, patriotism, and civics. Nader's purpose is not to say that these are the traditions, the only ones of value that everyone should endorse, but that they certainly are worthy ones … and they are meant to inspire all readers to reflect on and connect with the traditions of their own families.

The Seventeen Traditions brings us back to what's important in life and what makes America truly great.

---

Bushites' Ethical Cluelessness

What is it about Bush and Company that makes both George and his corporate cronies so ham-handed about ethics?

Take Bush's recent attempt to shove Michael Baroody into the chairmanship of the Consumer Products Safety Commission. This watchdog agency is supposed to protect the public from manufacturers who make shoddy products that harm or kill people. So, is Baroody a noted consumer advocate?

Hardly! He's the top lobbyist for the National Association of Manufacturers! Yes, he represents the very makers of the dangerous and deadly products the agency is supposed to guard against. With this appointment, Bush was not merely putting the fox in the henhouse; he was trying to deliver the hens directly to the fox's den!

To make this obvious conflict of interest even stinkier, the NAM came up with an under-the-table scheme to subsidize Baroody's salary at the consumer agency, promising to hand him a forget-me-not of $150,000. The Bushites knew about this payment yet saw nothing even slightly unethical about it.

Luckily, senators did. When it became clear that Baroody would not be confirmed, he withdrew his name. Did Bush and Company finally see the light? Of course not! The White House responded with a snippy attack on the critics of this insulting appointment, saying that senators had "rushed to judgment." Well, thank goodness they did. Someone needed to show some good judgment. Meanwhile, the head of the NAM had a little hissy fit, whining loudly that there had been an "unprincipled smear campaign waged against Mike."

The reason Bush and buddies are so clueless is that they are eaten up with corporate arrogance and avarice. They possess a stunning sense of entitlement, leading them to treat our government as their private plaything. What they need is to have a good kindergarten teacher assigned to refresh each of them on the basics of playground ethics.