Bushs War on Democracy
By
Clay Waters
May 19, 2006 - 10:44am
"I don't know how far action will follow rhetoric, but some days it sounds like the administration is declaring war at home on the values they profess to be promoting abroad." - New York Times executive editor Bill Keller, in an email to left-wing investigative reporter Murray Waas, as reported April 26 on mediabistro.com.
Tell it To Reagan, Bork, Thomas, Newt....
"The Huffington Post came along at a time when the liberal penchant for polite discourse was being buried by the unalloyed opinions of conservatives, who used talk radio and the Web to tilt the playing field in their favor. Ms. Huffington put the same kind of megaphone on the left at a time when the old hallmarks of civility and fairness were no longer prized, and in this new world, a bit passé." - Media reporter David Carr, in his May 15 column about Arianna Huffington's left-wing celebrity blog.
Al Gore or a NYT News Article?
"...with resource consumption and environmental destruction rising at unsustainable rates, plenty of people view the future with alarm. That spotlights technologies like nuclear power, genetic engineering and nanotechnology, which are often cited as crucial to heading off economic and environmental disaster." - Business reporter Barnaby Feder, May 17.
The Machines Made Us Do It
"Because of a word processing malfunction, an article on April 21 about the Afghan parliament's endorsement of 20 of the 25 proposed cabinet ministers misstated the name of a deputy from Kabul who forecast further discussion of three of them. The deputy is Kabir Ranjbar, not Caber Ran bar." - May 1 correction.
Responsible Rhetoric on a Serious Matter
"[Bush's] plan to deploy 'up to 6,000' National Guard troops to free the Border Patrol to hunt illegal immigrants is a model of stark simplicity, one sure to hearten the Minuteman vigilantes, frightened conspiracy theorists, English-only Latinophobes, right-wing radio and TV personalities, and members of Congress who have no patience for sorting out the various and mixed blessings that surging immigration has given this country." - From the May 16 lead editorial on Bush's illegal immigration speech.
From the Folks Who Don't Want to Legislate Morality....
"To people who take the threat of global warming personally, driving a car that spews heat-trapping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere can be a guilt trip. But to help atone for that environmental sin, some drivers are turning to groups on the Internet that offer pain-free ways to assuage their guilt while promoting clean energy." - Anthony DePalma, April 22.
A Revival from the Reagan Years
"But even if their arrival together on Broadway is just a fluke, it may still signal a reawakening, at least among artists and arts organizations, to the idea that the widening gap between rich and poor poses possible dangers to the country's social fabric....An experimental revival of 'Waiting for Lefty,' peopled not by cabdrivers but by disgruntled greeters at Wal-Mart, seems a distinct possibility. Just don't make it a musical, please." - Theatre critic Charles Isherwood on two new Broadway shows with labor themes, April 23.
Convicting Anti-War Disruptors Would Put "Grandmotherhood on Trial"
"The defendants called themselves 'grannies' because they are all old enough to be grandmothers, even if some of them are not, and because in their view, grandmothers are a core American value, as patriotic as mom and apple pie. Essentially, Judge Ross had found himself with grandmotherhood on trial in his courtroom....When it was over, the grannies seemed ready to do it again. 'The decision today says the First Amendment protects you to protest peacefully,' Mr. Siegel said, addressing his clients outside the courthouse after the verdict. 'So - go do it!' And the grannies cheered." - From Anemona Hartocollis' profile of 18 left-wing anti-war "grannies" arrested for blocking a military recruitment center in Times Square.
Rush Limbaugh, Conservative Hypocrite
"Before his own problems with painkillers surfaced, Mr. Limbaugh had regularly told listeners that drug users should be jailed." - Jeff Leeds, April 29. The most popular supporting quote for that position is from Limbaugh's TV show, back in 1995.