Reality-based government
Too funny: David Weinberger “discovers”:http://www.hyperorg.com/blogger/mtarchive/004091.html what “reality-based”:http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2004/10/20/ron_suskind/index_np.html _really_ means.
Heh.
*Update:* Adding insult to inujury, David’s post shows up in my aggregator as being published _six hours in the future_:
bq.
Anyone laying bets on how long before someone points out in his comments that he should get a Mac?
Amtrak on the chopping block
This is tough: the Bush budget proposes “eliminating Amtrak’s federal subsidy”:http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6942852/ entirely (it’s currently at $1.2b). This would probably push Amtrak into bankruptcy, and result in the elimination of long-haul rail travel throughout much of the United States.
Now, this is a perennial budget target, and the MSNBC article linked above suggests that Amtrak will probably [...]
Astroturf, FCC and the party of small government
So-Called Austin Mayor “points”:http://austinmayor.blogspot.com/2004_11_01_austinmayor_archive.html#110054866484418904 us to “Jeff Jarvis’s post”:http://www.buzzmachine.com/archives/2004_11_15.html#008481 about the recent $1.2m fine imposed by the FCC.
The fine, for those who missed it, was the largest ever imposed by the FCC. It was levied against Fox, for its “sexually suggestive” Married by America program.
All but three of the 159 complaints received were duplicates. Of [...]
Jesse sums it up
Jesse: “That quote may be apocryphal.”
President Bush and Training Iraqi Troops
Tonight: “The way to succeed is to train Iraqis so they can do the hard work of Democracy. We’ll have 125,000 troops trained by the end of this year.”
Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, September 23, 2004: “It’s 100,000 total security forces, and I don’t want anyone to make the mistake that security force equals [...]
President Bush and Border Security
Tonight: “To say that the borders are not as protected as they were prior to September 11th shows that he doesn’t know the borders. … He just doesn’t understand how the borders work.”
From the 9/11 report preface: “Indeed, even after 19 hijackers demonstrated the relative ease of obtaining a U.S. visa and gaining admission into [...]
President Bush on Pell Grants
Tonight: “1 million more students have received Pell Grants.”
Oops: “Financial aid is primarily based on family income, which, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, has fallen in recent years. In other words, because people have struggled in the labor market they have become eligible for financial aid. At the same time, college tuition has gone [...]
President Bush and Healthcare
Tonight: (Of Senator Kerry’s plan to give families access to the same health care that Congress gets.) “It’s an empty promise.” “It’s too expensive.” “It’s a bait and switch.”
June 30, 2003: “A consumer-friendly system is one that says we trust the consumers to make the best choice. Senior citizens are consumers, and therefore, the plan [...]
President Bush and Osama
Tonight: “I don’t think I ever said I’m not worried about Osama Bin Laden.”
March 13, 2002: “So I don’t know where he is. You know, I just don’t spend that much time on him, Kelly, to be honest with you.”
*Update:* Matt has “the video”:http://mathewgross.com/blog/archives/000818.html.
The Carlyle Group’s Tom Hagen
Naomi Klein has a “devastating article”:http://www.thenation.com/docprint.mhtml?i=20041101&s=klein in next month’s The Nation about James Baker’s dual roles: on the one hand, as public emissary arguing around the world for forgiveness of Iraq’s debt. On the other hand, as a partner in the Carlyle Group, which just happened to cut a deal with Kuwait to help it [...]
