Yearly Archives: 2004

bush’s flip flops

This entry was posted in bush Election 2004 on by

The Center for American Progress is keeping track of bushflops and I think this is a fine public service.
It will be a better one if they do not resort to bushian distortions. For instance, number 2 on their list today is Iraq Funding:

2. Iraq Funding
BUSH SPOKESMAN DENIES NEED FOR ADDITIONAL FUNDS FOR THE REST OF 2004…”We don’t anticipate requesting anything additional for [Iraq for] the balance of this year.” [White House Budget Director Joshua Bolten, 7/29/03]
�BUSH REQUESTS ADDITIONAL FUNDS FOR IRAQ FOR 2004 �I am requesting that Congress establish a $25 billion contingency reserve fund for the coming fiscal year to meet all commitments to our troops.� [President Bush, Statement by President, 5/5/04]
Seems like a flip flop until you look closely.
Bolton is talking about either calendar or fiscal year 2003 and when asked about 2004 said that he did not know what the requirements would be. The bush request quoted above is for fiscal year 2005 which begins October 2004.
There are many good examples of bush flops and no need to use faulty ones.
Via Tim Dunlop.

Shrek 2

This entry was posted in Movies on by

First: do not leave when the ending credits start! Wait until they start again.
The movie is fun. Plenty of chuckles. Just the thing if you would like to spend a couple hours just hangin’ out and not dealing with life’s serious issues…unless you want to get in to that layer of the movie.
Parents: it is PG rated. I chuckled at the sexual humor and innuendo, Rabelasian flatulence, typical pratfalls and didn’t chuckle much at the violence.
At the showing I attended with Mrs. Modulator the audience was probably 1/4 sub-teen with the rest being junior/senior high school types and adults. There were plenty of times I could just imagine the accompanying parents cringing at the thought of junior later asking about one scene or another.

Ending the Addiction

This entry was posted in Capitalism Constitution Culture Domestic Terrorism Drug Laws Law Enforcement Libertarianism on by

Nope, not drug or alcohol addiction though I suspect Bill Masters, sheriff of San Miguel County, Colorado would support individuals working to end their addiction.
Instead Masters argues that it is time to end the drug war addiction:

“The only reason why drugs and crime have expanded to reach every Mayberry village in the country is our blind obedience to misguided laws and police tactics that just do not work,” Masters writes in his essay introducing the collection. “It is time to admit our own folly and stop our addiction to the drug war.”

What does the drug war addiction cost:

According to research cited in Master’s book The New Prohibition, state and federal authorities spend more than $9 billion a year to imprison close to half a million drug offenders. More people are sent to prison for drug offenses than for violent crimes, a trend that’s been consistent since 1989. The overall cost to the justice system of arresting, convicting, punishing and supervising drug offenders stands at about $70 billion a year.

$70 billion??? I suspect that we could find much better things to do with that money. Including, of course, rehabilitation and retraining for the ex drug war addicts.
The Masters article via Avedon Carol.

bush’s nader

This entry was posted in bush Constitution Election 2004 kerry Libertarianism US History on by

On Friday Michael Medved spent part of his radio program bashing libertarians or, in his words, loosertarians. I say part because I listened to only 15-20 minutes. He may well have spent the entire show on this subject. Does anyone know if other talk jocks have taken up libertarian bashing now that there has been so much discussion about bush possibly loosing the libertarian vote?
Medved’s attack, at least while I was listening, was primarily ad hominem and without substance.
I found it particularly interesting that Medved, a lawyer, found it important to put down one of the Libertarian candidates because this candidate was teaching an 8 hour class on the U.S. constitution in conjunction with the Libertarian convention. This suggested to me that Medved perhaps does not consider the consitution important or important for the president to understand.
g w bush has sworn to uphold the constitution but can you imagine him teaching a class on the constitution? Even one as short as 8 hours?
Just to be fair and balanced: while kerry’s presentation may be smoother then w’s it is not at all clear that either Yale grad could teach this short course.