According to the bipartisan 9/11 commission, much of President Bush's trillions in tax shifts will need to be repealed. I've only had a chance so far to read the executive summary of their report, and nowhere in that summary does the panel say, in so many words, that Bush's tax deferments must be overturned. But the panel's recommendations will not be cheap, and it seems abundantly clear that our unborn grandchildren — already subsidizing us to the tune of $450... Read more
Well, according to the archives at my original Blogger-hosted site, it seems today is my 25-month blogiversary. The folks from HR sent a nice, if impersonal, card to mark the occasion. (The company also provides a cake, but only for employees with at least five years of tenure.) I probably ought to have mentioned this at the two-year mark, but I didn't realize the significance of June 23 at the time. Two+ years of blogging also seems to have resulted... Read more
President Bush yesterday sketched the sketchy outlines of an agenda for a second term. Richard W. Stevenson of The New York Times reports that the president also said his agenda: … would derive from some basic convictions. "Government should never try to control or dominate the lives of our citizens,'' he said. Well, yes. Quite. I suppose in a sense it's reassuring that George W. Bush is not campaigning on an explicit pledge to "control and dominate" the lives of... Read more
In the late 1990s, a friend of mine worked for a dot-com in Newtown Square, Pa., that was growing faster than it could hire people. She helped another friend get a job there and, on his 90th day of employment, she received a $2,000 recruiting bonus. On his 93rd day, they were both laid off — along with about 70 percent of their coworkers. And they both received a generous severance package that included three months of salary. It seems... Read more
The idea of a trial before a jury of one's peers — 12 ordinary citizens — is as essentially democratic, and as essential to democracy, as the principle of one person, one vote at the ballot box. A person's commitment to the jury system is therefore a useful measure of that person's commitment to democracy itself. Consider, for example, a sleazy insurance company executive who hires a sleazy law firm that specializes in "jury selection" in order to game the... Read more
Speaking of President Bush and of the Amish of Lancaster County, Pa., Witness was on cable the other night and I was struck again by this bit of dialogue between the grandfather ("Eli," played by Jan Rubes) and the little boy ("Samuel," played by Lukas Haas): ELI: The gun — that gun of the hand — is for the taking of human life. Would you kill another man? Eh? … What you take into your hands, you take into your... Read more
This report from the Lancaster New Era's Jack Brubaker, has gotten a lot of attention. Brubaker reports on President Bush's campaign visit with a group of Old Order Amish. This in itself is a bit odd — a bit like Caesar making a campaign stop among the Essenes. It's kind of strange for someone so devoted to his image as a "war president" to stump for votes among a group of nonvoting pacifists. Brubaker's account of the meeting comes via... Read more
Mike Todd has posted a photo that's even more adorable than the Poor Man's adorable kittens. (Be prepared to say, "Awwww.") * * * Stockholm, we have a problem So how can this funky Nerf mattress they're constantly advertising be both a "Swedish sleep system" and be "originally designed by NASA"? Last I checked, NASA was not Swedish. * * * Via Blah3.com I spent some quality time listening to this completely downloadable compilation of songs protesting the war in... Read more
OK, it's time to come clean. I forged the documents claiming that Iraq was attempting to buy uranium from Niger. What can I say? It seemed like a good idea at the time. Back in 2002, two things about the Bush administration's planned invasion of Iraq were becoming clear: 1) they were determined to do this regardless of whether they had a plausible cassus belli; and 2) they didn't have a plausible cassus belli. Here's where my thinking perhaps led... Read more
Karl Martino points us to this fascinating 1946 classroom film on "Despotism," which you can download or view online at the Internet Archive. This 10-minute film from Encyclopedia Britannica Films features Dr. Harold D. Lasswell of Yale, who was a professor of law and of political science at the school while both our current and our most recent presidents were students there. The film, produced in the immediate aftermath of World War II, presents a spectrum from democracy to despotism.... Read more
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