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Politics : The Donkey's Inn -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TigerPaw who wrote (1875)	1/8/2002 2:17:26 PM
From: Patricia Trinchero	Respond to of 15516

On a radio show last night I heard that some focus groups, when given the facts of Bush's economic and stimulus plan, refused to believe the truth. When faced with the facts , they wouldn't believe them!!!! Unfortunately, the mediocrity also lies among the mentality of the public. I also heard that the administration is keeping close control over which media houses are allowed into Afghanistan. No wonder we are not hearing anything negative............we now have censorship of the press. I had heard from a woman who had been there that the media would not print or report anything negative............now I know why. Pat

To: TigerPaw who wrote (1875)	1/9/2002 12:39:46 AM
From: Mephisto	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 15516

"Mediocrity - our secret weapon." I will have to read article later. But Scalia's son calls repetitive stress injuries, "quackery." See post 1896 to Kenneth! M is not well. I hope he feels better soon.

To: TigerPaw who wrote (1875)	1/9/2002 1:42:40 PM
From: Mephisto	Respond to of 15516

Do you often read Slate? I noticed NYTimes columnist, Paul Krugman, mentioned it the other day.

To: TigerPaw who wrote (1875)	1/9/2002 2:08:52 PM
From: Mephisto	Respond to of 15516

"In Bush's case, it is the latter set of qualities that seems to be doing the trick. Being smart clearly doesn't stop someone from being a great president, either in peace or in war. Lincoln and FDR were bright or brilliant men whose thoughtfulness didn't prevent them from making timely decisions, delegating necessary authority, or proclaiming a just cause with force and clarity. But less brilliant men, such as Truman and Reagan, were also effective commanders in chief (giving Reagan his due for his role in the Cold War). There are revisionist arguments that both these men were far brighter than their contemporaries gave them credit for. Perhaps so, but I'd argue that both were effective in their martial capacities because of the simplistic way they saw the world. Neither questioned the virtue of his own position. Neither doubted the wickedness of America's enemiesâ€”Reagan famously described the Soviet Union as "the evil empire." Neither appeared to give a second thought to the moral costs of victoryâ€”Truman claimed he never lost any sleep over Hiroshima. " Excerpt from: "Mediocrity - our secret weapon." slate.msn.com TP, The author may be right. Bush with Ashcroft's help divided the world into two camps: good and evil. This worked well for the war. Bush is a wonderful cheerleader for the war but behind the scenes Bush and Ashcroft have used their decisions on what is good and what is evil to undercut democracy in America and to bolster their own power to such an extent that people talk about Bush as a potential dictator. Bush's act has been so good that I've read columnists who say that Bush is a model for the "perfect dictator." What is sad is that the leaders of many countries, have used America's crackdown on terrorism to punish dissidents at home. China is one example and China is not a democratic country.