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 Friday, July 12, 2002
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The pledge mania
I have generally avoided the pledge mania, but I saw a good column by Anna Quindlen that sums up my feelings. I don't know how important it is which side of that finely drawn line between church and state we decide that making kids recite the pledge is, but the spectacle of politicians falling all over themselves to get on the right side of this issue is disgusting.
One case that does argue that the judges were right is one reported from Alabama, where a high school kid was paddled with a wooden paddle for standing silent with fist upraised during the pledge. I suspect that there is more to the case, but at first light it seems like exactly the kind of thing the Constitution should protect against.
I would have a lot less problems if the pledge was to defend and protect the Constitution of the United States, like the federal oath of office, although I could see cases where that would be forcing someone to say what they didn't believe, and couldn't be required to believe, as well.
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Bush's corporate ethics: Do as I say, not as I do.
I generally stay away from MSN properties, but Slate had an analysis of Bush "corporate responsibility" speech this week that was too devastating to pass up: Bush's corporate ethics: Do as I say, not as I do. It goes through and explains how Bush's announced principles can not be reconciled. It also has a tag line too good not to quote:
"Bush was elected on a promise to end the contradiction between presidential rhetoric and presidential rationalization. So far, all he's done is change the subject from sex to money."
Ain't that the truth - it seems like Democrats frequently get themselves in trouble over sex, Republicans over money.
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Crooks together
Just love the videotape of Cheney praising Arthur Anderson, Hailburton's auditors, who helped him cook Hailburton's books:
"I get good advice, if you will, from their people, based upon how we are doing business and how we are operating, over and above the normal, by-the-books auditing arrangement."
Funny that you have to go on the net to England to watch it. I guess I get another entry in my FBI file for going accross the ocean to look at subversive material.
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Tapped
While chasing down some of the news about Bush, I found or rediscovered some good media sources, who are doing what newspapers are supposed to do, reporting the news and raising hell. I recently found The American Prospect, which is sort of a liberal New Republic, covering politics, economics and culture. They put out the Tapped Weblog, a gossipy Washington DC centric source of news, with a partisan edge that is a delight to read. Highly recommended.
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Dubya's Road to Riches
It seems like there has been a lot happening over the last week, while I haven't been blogging (Radio crashed, houseguests, working, etc.).
I've seen some good stuff while absent from weblogging. My favorite so far is Bush coming out for corporate honesty. Joe Conanson published a devastating piece a few years ago in Harpers about how Bush got rich. It is hard to track down on the net, but I found it here at www.findarticles.com (a great resource in its own right). Well worth reading if you want the nitty gritty on how Dubya traded in on his connections from his Dad to make money, and how dishonest he was (and is). A sample:
The "investigation" of Bush's fortuitous dumping of Harken Energy stock in 1990 was conducted by an SEC headed by a pal of Bush's father that dad appointed to his job. The SEC's general counsel then was the Texas attorney who had handled the sale of the Texas Rangers for George W. Bush and his partners in 1989. In the third world, given such circumstances, we'd say the fix was in. Anyone for an independent look this time?
When the Texas Rangers were sold in 1998, while Bush was governor, his partners, Conason reports, "fattened his payout six times over by awarding him additional shares in the team at the time of the sale that brought his 1.8 percent share up to 12 percent." This boosted Bush's return on a borrowed $600,000 investment from about $2.5 million to $15 million.
Anyone think it's time to better understand what that was all about?
I must confess that I am delighted that Bush and Cheney are starting to take some heat for their slimy business practices, even from the mainstream press. And people are looking at some of the other more slimy figures in the administration, like Army Secretary Thomas White.
Capitalism only works if the government and the culture keep everybody reasonably honest. When the wealthy aren't kept honest, people get angry, and demagoguery or worse often follows.
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© Copyright 2002 Tim Bishop aka Geodog.
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