From Kevin Drum, February 2003, via Atrios, via Sadly, No!, the most telling, condemning, and indicative blogpost in history:
Unlike, say, during the Tonkin Gulf incident, this administration is under intense scrutiny. There’s enormous distrust of what they say, and they know it. They won’t get the free pass that LBJ did.
What’s more, they know that everything they say is easily verifiable once the war starts. No one ever pressed LBJ for proof of what happened in the Tonkin Gulf, but there will be dozens of countries and dozens more NGOs who will be looking very closely at what we find in Iraq after ground forces move in. It will hardly be possible to fake vast numbers of mobile weapons labs, swimming pools of anthrax, ballistic missiles, and the like, and if those things aren’t found in substantial and convincing quantities George Bush will be lucky to escape impeachment, let alone win reelection.
Not only did he escape impeachment, and not only was he re-elected, but his supporters at the CPAC this week were heard to chant “Four More Years!” I feel like I’m taking crazy pills.
Filed under: Election
Jon Stewart has no writers right now, but he just does not need them. I will say, though, that America needs him.
- Eric Miller, millerec@etown.edu
Ted Stevens, famous for using tax dollars to fund a bridge to nowhere, and who once referred to the Internet as a series of tubes, is now, surprisingly, taking on big oil. You cannot find a more perfect example of corporate corruption than Exxon, who continues to post world record profits:
An Alaska jury hit Exxon with a $5 billion verdict in 1994, but Exxon hasn’t paid a dime of it. Instead, it has appealed the case for so long that 8,000 of the original class members in the lawsuit have since died without seeing the case resolved.
Read the whole entry at MoJo.
The worldest largest, most lucrative company, refuses to pay a single cent to atone for its crimes. 14 years, 5,000,000,000 dollars, 8,000 deaths, not one cent paid. Classy.
- Eric Miller, millerec@etown.edu
Filed under: General Interest
The overall tone of the article suggests that happiness should be revered as a byproduct of a meaningful life, rather than an end in itself – found, for instance, in pill form. Plus, happiness and complacency often travel together:
“If you’re totally satisfied with your life and with how things are going in the world,” says Diener, “you don’t feel very motivated to work for change. Be wary when people tell you you should be happier.”
But there’s very little money in sadness, or even balance. This applies to some important institutions.
- Eric Miller, millerec@etown.edu
