Alarming News: I like Morgan Freeberg. A lot.
American Digest: And I like this from "The Blog That Nobody Reads", because it is -- mostly -- about me. What can I say? I'm on an ego trip today. It won't last.
Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler: We were following a trackback and thinking "hmmm... this is a bloody excellent post!", and then we realized that it was just part III of, well, three...Damn. I wish I'd written those.
Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler: ...I just remembered that I found a new blog a short while ago, House of Eratosthenes, that I really like. I like his common sense approach and his curiosity when it comes to why people believe what they believe rather than just what they believe.
Brutally Honest: Morgan Freeberg is brilliant.
Dr. Melissa Clouthier: Morgan Freeberg at House of Eratosthenes (pftthats a mouthful) honors big boned women in skimpy clothing. The picture there is priceless--keep scrolling down.
Exile in Portales: Via Gerard: Morgan Freeberg, a guy with a lot to say. And he speaks The Truth...and it's fascinating stuff. Worth a read, or three. Or six.
Just Muttering: Two nice pieces at House of Eratosthenes, one about a perhaps unintended effect of the Enron mess, and one on the Gore-y environ-movie.
Mein Blogovault: Make "the Blog that No One Reads" one of your daily reads.
The Virginian: I know this post will offend some people, but the author makes some good points.
Poetic Justice: Cletus! Ah gots a laiv one fer yew...
Must Be Nice
Now get a load of this. The President has just had his routine annual physical, which noted that he has deliberately lost eight pounds and is exceptionally healthy. On the planet from which I come, you have a few choices about how to respond to this: You can go “gee whiz” and move on; you can just move on; or you can take yet another crack at losing eight pounds yourself, taking note that it’s apparently possible. And then move on. That’s it. Those are your options.
Out on Planet Democrat, though, this is an occasion for an exceptionally weak segue into the difference between the President’s policies, and what they would like to do if they were in charge — playing up the former of those two as something apocalyptic, in a fact sheet released on Tuesday.
BUSH IN SUPERIOR HEALTH, BUT AMERICA’S YOUTH NOT
Doctors gave President Bush a clean bill of health in his annual checkup this weekend and White House spokesperson Dana Perino proclaimed him to be “in superior health.” However, America’s youth are not so lucky. While obesity has been declared an epidemic in this country, Bush’s education policy is putting children at risk with cuts in physical education and school athletic programs.
Putting children at risk! Gosh!
The release goes on to note the cut in Bush’s proposal is 25%, some $18.4 million. Back in April, Derrick Z. Jackson of the Boston Globe reported the cut to teachers and equipment was from $74 to $55 million.
Ask the people who put Bush in power, who won that last election by a handy margin: If President Bush could run for a third term, what could another candidate do to convince you to get rid of him? Ask a hundred of those voters, and at least ninety will say: The opposing candidate could offer better policies about protecting the border, he could allow racial profiling at the airports, and he could do a better job of cutting the budget.
President Bush is the spending-est President of all time.
This press release is apparently aimed at people who don’t know that. Because taking that into account, most reasonable people would ask for a plan of action: All right, let’s restore the 18 million, but where do we get them from? Or even better yet: Hey, aren’t you the guys who were criticizing the President for the budget deficit? Isn’t this where budget deficits come from, a whole bunch of angst stirred up in these hysterical press releases any time some deeply-buried budget item gets nicked a little bit?
Hmmm…my kid has an XBOX. What about the parents who are so agitated by this budget cut putting children at risk? Do their kids have video games? I monitor how much time my child spends playing his, do they monitor how often their kids play theirs? My son and I go roller skating, we go bicycle riding. What about the concerned parents, do they take their kids out to do physical things?
As long as we’re making this awkward segue from President Bush’s physical, into his federal budget proposal for physical fitness, how much out of that line item did the President spend on his own physical upkeep? How many middle-school teachers had to teach him how to ride a bike? How many federally-subsidized teachers had to teach me?
I guess my question really comes down to, why are federal funds needed for this?
It must be nice to use press releases to grumble about how things are being done differently than the way you would do them, right after you got your butt-cheeks handed to you in an election. Just a lot of complaining, not a single word about where you would get the eighteen million, and because you don’t have to define that, not a single harsh word against you from the interest groups who would be irritated as a consequence of cutting into their pet line items, so you can fortify yours. Oh, that must be so nice.
Even nicer still, to transition the topic from something completely unrelated, the President’s own physical exam, into the line item on the budget proposal that you think might stir the most puddin’.
Next time someone says Republicans should reach out across the aisle to mollify tax-and-spend Democrats, I hope it is remembered what kind of reaching-out the Democrats do back. Democrats are supposed to be in recovery mode; they’re supposed to be patching up the roof after a major hurricane. This is not the time most political parties start playing to their bases, but that’s exactly what this is. How many Republicans and conservatives and libertarians are there, who are oh-so-concerned President Bush isn’t spending quite enough money on something?
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