2008 Woodie Awards
You might have seen this article from the Times about the Department of Education “inadvertently” removing evolutionary biology from its list of majors that are eligible for federal aid. The well has been poisoned again folks, and this time it isn’t through the more obvious conduit of placing statements supporting intelligent design in textbooks, but by “accidentally” discouraging people from majoring in a perfectly legitimate field that is on the same level and as scientific a pursuit as chemistry, physics, or biology. I find it shocking that conduct on the federal level could be changed by as nonsense an idea as intelligent design. First global warming, now this; there is never only one cockroach in the kitchen.
President Bush’s new plan, or at the very least, hope, is to tighten our borders. Given Bush’s past experience as a border-state governor, I am shocked why it has taken so long for him to announce that he has a plan for tightening our borders and also will put effort (a speech on Monday night) in backing it. The plans proposed in Congress of making undocumented immigrants criminals and having an official process to legalize them are both absurd. The first would severely disrupt life as we know it and the second can lead to employers taking advantage of their illegal employees, not to mention, it would drive costs, and therefore prices, up at many businesses that currently employ these workers. The alternative, therefore, would be to focus on borders and have a greater patrol staff on the perimeter.
This story has made barely a drop in the headlines, and the story is that President Bush, using his well-practiced talent at picking well-qualified candidates for important positions, will have appointed all seven Governors of the Federal Reserve Bank, the Supreme Court of the economy. One of the nominees, Kevin Warsh, is particularly troubling. At the ripe old age of 35, Warsh was an economic adviser to President Bush, previously graduating from Harvard Law and then working at Morgan Stanley. No economics degree nor PhD. The lack of experience is remniscient of Harriet Miers. Yet Congress has given as much thought about this Fed Governor as much as they thought and pondered about New Orleans’ levees a month before Katrina, which is not much at all. It’s troubling.
Mencius said to President Bush, “Suppose a subject of your administration’s, having entrusted his wife and children to the care of FEMA, were to go on a trip to Houston, only to find, upon his return, that Michael Brown had allowed his wife and children to suffer cold and hunger, then what should be done about it?”
“Break with Michael Brown.”
“If Paul Bremer was unable to keep the occupation army in order, then what should be done about it?”
“Remove him from office.” (Yeah right.)
“If the whole realm within the four borders was ill-governed, then what should be done about it?”
The President turned to his attendants and changed the subject.
Two things filled me with hope in Bush’s State of the Union, both science related. One was his call to wean America off of it’s addiction to foreign oil by developing alternative energy sources (and NOT drilling in Alaska, which was not mentioned), something that is vastly important if it indeed can be accomplished. The Republican reception of the idea was not too positive, nor was current pal Saudi Arabia ecstatic, but the way to pulling this off is by couching the language in the name of scientific research, which Bush has partially done.
Which brings me to the second positive: Bush’s call to increase funding for fundamental research. As someone who values a science education (being a physics major myself), this is a propitious development, and is one of the few good things that has been the product of Republican lobbying. Again, we’ll see if the President’s words translate into action once the budget is released next week. My fingers are crossed.
Bush’s top political strategist has been keeping a low profile these days but, like the scenes in the Where’s Waldo? books, if you look hard enough through the political landscape, you’ll find where he’s located – in this case, the Republican National Committee’s winter meeting.
It’s pretty amusing that Rove’s manner of praising Bush was to regard him as him as “one of history’s consequential presidents.” Sure, I’d agree with that assessment too, Karl. After all…not all consequences are good ones and not everyone who is “important” should feel proud.
con•se•quen•tial
adj.
1. Following as an effect, result, or conclusion; consequent.
2. Having important consequences; significant.
3.
a. Important; influential.
b. Pompous; self-important.
But is it too little, too late?
Though not exactly an admission of error, Bush’s televised speech from the Oval Office (his first since announcing the invasion of Iraq in March 2003), nonetheless proved to be a step in the right direction.
I wonder how the NYTimes article that reported on how Bush allowed the NSA to eavesdrop on domestic phone calls abroad jeopardizes national security. It sounds like Nixon. Here’s Bush:
Yesterday the existence of this secret program was revealed in media reports, after being improperly provided to news organizations. As a result, our enemies have learned information they should not have, and the unauthorized disclosure of this effort damages our national security and puts our citizens at risk.
I suppose it would jeopardize the American people’s faith in their President when they know that he not only fabricated war evidence, but also used the fabricated war to justify other illegal dealings that impinge on people’s rights. Maybe if President Bush gets impeached, it will improve national security.
I’ve not got much more to say than has already been said. This is very much not over, however. That’s something that really needs to be made clear.
Also, the folks at The Corner are really dumb propagandists. Wait, isn’t that their job?
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