George Will: Bush lucky that Hillary was the talk of Talk"Reporting of Bush's several uses of the f-word, Karen Hughes, Bush's communications director, who travels with him, says, "I don't remember those words being used." She says Bush agrees with those who say such language is inappropriate. Carlson, who says he remembers the words, quotes a Bush aide who says Bush "used to say `f--' a lot more before this all started." Again, what is troubling to Republicans who have plighted their troth to this man is not that they think he is a coarse or cruel man. Rather it is that Carlson's profile suggests an atmosphere of adolescence, a lack of gravitas -- a carelessness, even a recklessness, perhaps born of things having gone a bit too easily so far.
Bush has recently referred to Greeks as "Grecians," Kosovars as "Kosovians," East Timorese as "East Timorians," conservatism as "conservativism" and confused Slovenia with Slovakia. Such slips are understandable; none is a flogging offense. However, having committed them, Bush should take care not to exacerbate the suspicion that he has a seriousness deficit. When he was asked by Carlson to name something he isn't good at, he should not have said, "Sitting down and reading a 500-page book on public policy or philosophy or something."
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CYA time on Capitol Hill - By DOUG THOMPSON
"Worried Republicans, concerned about emerging questions of President Bush’s sale of stock in Harken Energy Corp. before its financial problems went public and Vice President Cheney’s role in accounting problems at Halliburton Co., are also checking to see how much money they received from executives and PACs from both companies.
“It’s ass-covering time,” admits a Republican consultant. “Everybody’s scrambling to give themselves deniability.”
With WorldCom’s record bankruptcy filing today and revelations over the weekend that Bush knew about Harken’s problems before he dumped his stock, the taint of scandal is spreading over Washington like a dark cloud."
Here's an interesting view from -----
http://home.flash.net/~rhmjr/index.html ---- It gives jr. more slack than I would, but lots of truth in it overall-----
"It has been reported that corporate losses and accounting adjustments have wiped out earnings back to around 1997. This makes the bull market of the late 1990s appear to be an illusion. What else that we believe is real is really an illusion?
Let’s see now,
(1) corporations have been spinning their earnings to create a false perception of their value,
(2) public accounting firms and financial institutions aid and abet corporations crooked accounting practices,
(3) wall street firms spin their buy recommendations to keep you in the market even while the market declines by 50-75%,
(4) media spin the news and select which stories are newsworthy, ultimately the policies of wall street and the government, where were the news media when it came to warning you of this bear market?
(5) government spins economic figures (CPI, GDP, unemployment count) to hide/disguise the effects of their (spending) activities,
(6) government spins their budget with off budget items to pretend they have a surplus all the while borrowing more money each and every year,
(7) our current market troubles did NOT begin with Mr Bush being elected President, but, began with a decades long evolution of business practices, so, IT IS CROOKED for politicians to start blaming President Bush
(8) government intervenes in the stock market (read plunge protection team) to keep the illusion alive that we are not in a bear market, just a bull market correction, even though the Nasdaq is down 75%, and the S&P and OEX indicies are down by more than 50%,
(9) the value of the US dollar is zero, but, as long as enough people believe the dollar has value, then it does. Have you ever played musical chairs? When the dollar begins falling internationally, who will end up in the last chair? You?
(10) the US income tax (16th amendment) is a tax on corporate profits, not on the salary of citizens of the 50 states. This fraud is now coming to light and will become known as the greatest financial fraud in the history of man. If you live and work in one of the 50 states and don’t work for any government, then there is no law requiring you to file a tax return and pay an income tax. The next time anyone says you must file/pay an income tax, ask them to “show you the law”.
The bottom line here is that many of the things you hear or read from politicians, wall street, news media and corporate press releases is crooked. This information always contains an element of truth to make you swallow the rest and the ultimate aim is to control your behavior. If you believe the economy is fine, then you will be a buyer or just not sell. In the meantime, your money is being stolen.
There are many illusions in our society. I have mentioned a few above. As our market falls another 40-50% from here, people will begin rejecting all things that are crooked. Politicians had better be careful, because once it starts, it will not end with just corporations."