Lady, I may be a born fool, but you got ten absurd ideas to my one, an' don't you forget it!

Digby has exactly right:

The overarching reason for all this was that when the Bush admnistration took office they were determined to do everything differently than Clinton, Bush Sr even Reagan. The egomaniacs in charge (and the empty brand name in a suit out front) operated on a childish level that said nothing their predecesors did was correct, none of their priorities were right and they were determined to prove it.

Where Clinton and his appointees that held-over to the Bush administration were screaming that non-state actors engaged in terrorism were the biggest international threat to the United States the Bushies were certain that their cold war mentality of states-as-actors was the correct approach. Where Clinton felt the federal government should be balanced the Bushies didn't have a problem with running a deficit. Where Clinton believed in surrounding himself with competent, dedicated professionals Bush...