Friday, October 31, 2003
Duck Walk
Let us begin this morning's meditation with another text from David Corn, Washington editor of The Nation. He takes on William Boykin's "apology" and Bush's latest characterization of Al Qaeda as terrorists who "seek to control every mind and soul." Bush is nothing if not stubbornly consistent, and there he goes again. Let's take it from the top: Al Qaeda has political goals, which Corn neatly summarizes. The group is not simply a clutch of madmen bent on world domination, and Osama Bin Laden is not simply Lex Luthor in a funny hat. Any thinking person with a rudimentary knowledge of history and politics knows that. But we've just defined what Bush is not, haven't we?
When the news came down yesterday that the economy had grown at the fastest rate in 19 years during the third quarter, my first reaction was: Really? Faster than at any time in the go-go 1990s? Even with continuing job losses and low consumer confidence? The folks at It's Still the Economy, Stupid, had the same reaction, but they know enough about economics to break down the numbers. The verdict: If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's a duck, provided we're talking about ducks. Economies can walk and quack like robust recovering patients, but they might still be dead ducks.
Recommended reading: Chicagoan Studs Terkel is 91 now and has seen damn near everything. In the current edition of In These Times, he writes about the pro-Bush, pro-war media spin and America's "national Alzheimer's disease". Terkel also observes that both he and John Ashcroft attended the University of Chicago: "I was there 30 years before he was, but he is much older than I am. I maintain John Ashcroft is at least 300 years old...." Great writer, great reading.
Also, MoveOn.Org reports on Bush's misdirection involving the National Park Service--praise them as a national treasure, underfund or privatize their operations when no one is looking.
Let us begin this morning's meditation with another text from David Corn, Washington editor of The Nation. He takes on William Boykin's "apology" and Bush's latest characterization of Al Qaeda as terrorists who "seek to control every mind and soul." Bush is nothing if not stubbornly consistent, and there he goes again. Let's take it from the top: Al Qaeda has political goals, which Corn neatly summarizes. The group is not simply a clutch of madmen bent on world domination, and Osama Bin Laden is not simply Lex Luthor in a funny hat. Any thinking person with a rudimentary knowledge of history and politics knows that. But we've just defined what Bush is not, haven't we?
When the news came down yesterday that the economy had grown at the fastest rate in 19 years during the third quarter, my first reaction was: Really? Faster than at any time in the go-go 1990s? Even with continuing job losses and low consumer confidence? The folks at It's Still the Economy, Stupid, had the same reaction, but they know enough about economics to break down the numbers. The verdict: If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's a duck, provided we're talking about ducks. Economies can walk and quack like robust recovering patients, but they might still be dead ducks.
Recommended reading: Chicagoan Studs Terkel is 91 now and has seen damn near everything. In the current edition of In These Times, he writes about the pro-Bush, pro-war media spin and America's "national Alzheimer's disease". Terkel also observes that both he and John Ashcroft attended the University of Chicago: "I was there 30 years before he was, but he is much older than I am. I maintain John Ashcroft is at least 300 years old...." Great writer, great reading.
Also, MoveOn.Org reports on Bush's misdirection involving the National Park Service--praise them as a national treasure, underfund or privatize their operations when no one is looking.
