Coronation Day
I'm freshly back from three weeks on some islands in the Indian Ocean (fortunately one of the safest places in that ocean during the recent tsunami), and ready to get back to work here. For today just a couple of quick hits.
If tomorrow's coronation of W. is supposed to be such a show of freedom and democracy why is it looking more like an unholy alliance between a fascist dictator's triumphal parade and an unseemly public purchase of influence by large corporations?
How can the Democrats in the Senate expect to have any credibility when they seem unwilling to consider voting against someone like Condi Rice for Secretary of State? If she hasn't been willing to actually answer questions, or consider the possibility of wrongdoing by this administration, during either this appearance, or while testifying in front of the 9/11 commission, when will she ever answer hard questions? And how damaging is is to our place in the world to be appointing someone to a top diplomatic post when she is known to have a tenuous relationship with the truth?
It cannot possibly be legal for this administration to be using the civil servants within the Social Security Administration to push a political agenda. It is time for the Democrats to seize on this issue and clarify for the public and the administration what some of the limits of presidential power are. Yes, it is a Republican administration, but that does not give them sovereign control over whatever portion of the federal government they wish to seize. There are a number of agencies whose proper functioning relies on their credibility with the public. The Bush administration seems determined to undermine as many of these departments as possible.
It is extremely disheartening to see the coverage so far of Ahnuld's proposed new budget for California. While the LA Times features his upholding his promise to not raise taxes, they seem to be glossing over his promising to not cut education and health care. At some point the type of severe cuts being proposed here, and in New York by Governor Pataki, will hopefully highlight for people what the consequences of continuous tax-cutting will be.
More coming in the next few days.
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