Politics

The Powers That Be that run this country (into the ground, apparently) don’t seem to be physically or psychologically capable of telling the truth anymore. The Nation’s David Corn takes a look at “The Latest Bush Gang Whoppers” today, including this from our Dear Leader…

September is back-to-school time, and Bush hit the road to promote his education policies. During a speech at a Nashville elementary school, he hailed his education record by noting that “the budget for next year boosts funding for elementary and secondary education to \$53.1 billion. That’s a 26-percent increase since I took office. In other words, we understand that resources need to flow to help solve the problems.” A few things were untrue in these remarks. Bush’s proposed elementary and secondary education budget for next year is \$34.9 billion, not \$53.1 billion, according to his own Department of Education. It’s his total proposed education budget that is \$53.1 billion. More importantly, there is no next-year “boost” in this budget. Elementary and secondary education received \$35.8 billion in 2003. Bush’s 2004 budget cuts that back nearly a billion dollars, and the overall education spending in his budget is the same as the 2003 level. Instead of a “boost,” there is the opposite–a decrease. Perhaps like Rumsfeld–and Cheney and Wolfowitz–the president merely was overstating.

(via Tom Tomorrow)

I missed another debate among the Democratic challengers last night. Unlike the last one, though, this time Dean apparently strongly held his place as the definite front runner. Two quotes from some of the various recaps caught my eye this morning:

Slate’s William Saletan had this to say:

Howard Dean’s performance was near-perfect. Strategically, Dean is way ahead of the pack. He has fulfilled the affirmative part of the campaign: giving people enough reasons to vote for him. Now he has the luxury of focusing on the negative part: dispelling the reasons to vote against him. Accordingly, his preparation for the last two debates seems to have focused on acting presidential and conveying competence in military and foreign policy. Tonight he accomplished both. He was at ease and in command.

And according to Adam Nagourney and Jodi Wilgoren of the New York Times, Kerry is feeling the pressure from Dean:

The dominance that Dr. Dean has enjoyed, and the corresponding exasperation that has caused his rivals, was clear even before the candidates sat down in Baltimore tonight. Senator Kerry was talking to reporters before the debate here, where he was repeatedly questioned about Dr. Dean’s standing in the race and things that he had said.

After Mr. Kerry finished his news conference and began walking away with an aide, David Wade, a live microphone picked him up muttering with evident annoyance: “Dean, Dean, Dean, Dean.”

Sorry, Kerry, but from everything I’ve read, and what little I’ve seen, you just don’t impress me. I’d vote for Kerry if he got the nomination, if only to vote against Bush, but I’m really hoping that it is Dean that gets the nomination.

In fact, I’m actually looking forward to subscribing to whatever cable package I need to next year, just so I can watch a Bush/Dean presidential race debate. The thought of that lying, hedging, mealymouthed stumblebum of a president trying to go up against the confidence, poise, and fire that Dean so often shows (and is apparently getting much better at as things progress) is incredibly amusing. I’m definitely looking forward to actually being able to see Bush fall flat on his face come 2004.

(via Mathew Gross, Kos, and Len)

Real life imitates art.

(via Dori Smith — sorry for the word-for-word copy, but with four words to work with, it seemed silly to rework it)

Update:

Of course, the thing about flash mobs (at least originally) is that they were underground, unpublicised, seemingly-spontaneous events. With this particular one originating in a comic strip, being turned into reality, and then posted around the ‘net (here, Dori’s post, Blog for America, The Democratic Primary 2004 Thread, The Mediaburn Radio Weblog, Pacific Views, and probably many others), doesn’t that more or less kill much of the original spirit of the ‘flash mob’ meme?

Or maybe I’m just grumbling again.

Newsweek asks this week if it may be time for a New Patriotism. I’d say yes.

…Was it patriotic for the White House to instruct the EPA to put out a press release after 9/11 saying the air around Ground Zero was safe when there was no evidence for it? Was it patriotic to invade Iraq when there was no sign of an imminent threat and plenty to suggest that it would seriously detract from the war on Al Qaeda? Was it patriotic for the White House to allow American companies that reap millions in contracts with the Department of Homeland Security to incorporate in Bermuda in order to avoid paying taxes?

Perhaps most important, is it patriotic to define patriotism the old-fashioned way — as a kind of narrow nationalism? That jingoistic definition is carrying a price for the president, who must now go on bended knee to allies he so recently scorned. When you’re spending \$1 billion a week in Iraq, dissing our friends, as Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld have done consistently, seems to be a tad … counter-productive. Those “freedom fries” in the House cafeteria are burning us now; those gibes that John Kerry “looks French” don’t look so clever.

(via Robert Scoble)

While I didn’t get to watch tonight’s Democratic debate, there’s a good wrap up from the New York Times, and some very interesting discussion in comment threads to posts on Daily Kos and Blog for America (in three seperate threads).

From the gist of what I’ve read so far, it seems that while Dean wasn’t at his best, he did hold his spot at the top of the pack, while Lieberman came off like a complete ass. Some of the most interesting comments are on the Blog for America threads — hardcore Dean supporters who realize that Dean wasn’t at his best, and rather than either despairing or blindly declaring him the ‘winner’, they’re offering lots of constructive criticism and ideas on how to approach later debates. Neat to see, it’s a much more real form of support that one usually sees in the political arena.

New Mexico is going to host a “conversation” style debate among the nine contenders for the Democratic nomination tomorrow night, at the University of New Mexico, Albequerqe. Unfortunately, due to both my work schedule and my not having cable TV, I won’t be able to watch it, which is something of a bummer. Still, it should be interesting to see what comes of it. MSNBC political columnist Howard Fineman gives his ‘Debate Prescription for Dr. Dean:

CAMPAIGN 2004 already has been an amazing show, and it hasn’t even started. With shrewd management, high-tech savvy and an angry anti-Bush message, Dean—the one-time internist and former governor of Vermont—has surged to the lead in the race for the Democratic nomination. An obscurity a few months ago, he is the frontrunner now, and everyone knows it.

As a result, the dynamic in New Mexico (with its heavy Hispanic vote and pivotal early primary) will be Dean and anti-Dean. The storyline of the night—foreshadowing, perhaps, the fall season in its entirety—will focus on the question of how he responds to the inevitable attacks I expect to begin Thursday night. The sound bite that makes the TV news, and the lead that makes the New York Times, will be the one that features the sharpest, nastiest exchange between the good doctor and … whoever.

I’ll certainly be looking forward to reading the reports of this once it’s done.