February 14, 2004
Cult of w
Krugman hammers away at w and company for including 27 pictures of w in the fiscal 2005 budget document:
By my count, this year's budget contains 27 glossy photos of Mr. Bush. ...My knee jerk reaction to Krugman's column was that the budget document was something worthy of saddam or the great leader.It was not ever thus. Bill Clinton's budgets were illustrated with tables and charts, not with worshipful photos of the president being presidential.
The issue here goes beyond using the Government Printing Office to publish campaign brochures. In this budget, as in almost everything it does, the Bush administration tries to blur the line between reverence for the office of president and reverence for the person who currently holds that office.
Well, a 'quick' look shows that there are 16-17 pictures of bush in the first 191 pages of the document (I got bored at that point...there was still a way to go until the end). And there were more pictures of others along with at least a few charts and graphs. As much as I'm tired of looking at bush this document seems more like a corporate marketing piece then a glorification of bush (of course I reserve my right to change my mind on this once I've read a few sections).
I suspect that the primary readers of the document will be economists, a few journalists and congressional staffers devoted to whoever is paying their salary. I'd rather the bushies had saved our money and simply given them the text and the numbers.
Posted by Steve on February 14, 2004
