July 16, 2003
Re: Manipulating Facts
Joe Stump wrote:
There are stories of agencies not publishing standard reports on layoffs, wages, etc. until being threatened with lawsuits, unfavorable studies disappearing from websites, and punishing economic officials who fall out of line.
Not to defend Bush, but we have to be careful not to demonize him undeservingly. A president firing a cabinet member who fundamentaly disagrees with his stated policy is not a crime … its politics. I also think it might be a little much to suggest that one report being pulled from a website is conspiracy. As long as no pressure is being put on private or independent financial analysts to fudge their own findings.
Posted by Mike Van Winkle at July 16, 2003 02:53 PMIt is actually very sad that it has become ‘politics as usual’ to fire a member of a cabinet or admin. who has opinions that differ from that of the Pres. What is the point of a cabinet if they are required to be in lockstep agreament with the Pres? What happened to ‘representative democracy’, ie have a cabient that mirrors the population so that the Pres. can hear all sides before he makes a decision.
Neigher Dems. nor Repubs represent a majority in this country. When either of them are elected, they appoint overwhelmingly people that are of their party. Both parties are more idealogical than ever, disallowing much dissent from the party line. Thus uur two party system has devolved into a really neat little excercise in minority rule. Sad. I suspect Washington, Jefferson, et. al are spinning in their grave.
But you are right, it is ‘politics as usual.’ Which tells you a lot about American politics.
Posted by: Timothy Klein at July 17, 2003 03:17 AMA good example of how the American people are misinformed for political gain is the current situation in Iraq. When people say that we have too few troops in Iraq to police the country, it is forgotten that we don’t have as many troops available as we did in the Kuwait war ten years earlier. President Clinton slashed the military in half in the mid-90s, then claimed that he had cut 50,000 government jobs. What he actually did was cut 400,000 military positions, and added 350,000 bureaucrats to already bloated civil agencies. Today, we cannot call up a single division, fleet, or air wing without relying on reservists and National Guard units to bring them up to full strength. This situation means hardship and deprivation to the reservists and their families, endangers our ability to defend ourselves since reservists don’t train as well as active duty personnel, and reduces the effectiveness of our armed forces because of delays brought about by this mixing of full-time and part-time personnel.
Posted by: Russ Stauffer at July 17, 2003 11:30 AM
