By: Bernard Weiner  

Dear Diary:

I feel like I been blindsided. What the hell happened? Things were going great: We were beatin' the bejusus out of the enemy in Afghanistan, Ashcroft & I got everything we wanted through the Congress in terms of having a free hand legally, we got the huge tax cut for my supporters, Muslims around the world were letting us do what we wanted in their countries, it was looking good for the Congressional elections and for me in 2004.

True, that obstructionist shite Daschle - pardon my French, he's not an "obstructionist", he's a true Democrat enemy who wants my job - was making life difficult for us in the Senate. We tried to smear the guy, but it didn't really take. (I miss Bubba - EVERYTHING took!) Still, we had the House still in our hands, the press was fairly docile, and the liberals in academia had pulled in their horns, thanks to that list of unpatriotic professors drawn up by Lynne and that suck-up Lieberman.

And then suddenly, whammo! I'm being called Pretzel-dent Bush, and the stand-up comics are having a field day. It wasn't just the pretzel; they wouldn't be making jokes about me - and Teddy wouldn't have come out of the woodwork to challenge my tax cuts - if everything else was going right and they had to 'Watch What They Say'. (Good line, Ari!)

"Even our allies are laughing at us, wondering why we let the stupid son of a Bush claim victory in 2000 when the whole world knows the Bush Family Evil Empire fixed the election with the help of a crooked court."

- BartCop

By: Dianne Feinstein  

At this time last year, I wrote the first of three letters to the President requesting a meeting to discuss California's dire energy situation. These requests were denied. During this period, however, energy executives had access to senior administration officials, including Vice President Dick Cheney.

On the day I sent my first letter, Jan. 20, 2001, California was experiencing its sixth straight day of Stage 3 energy emergencies, meaning that energy reserves were less than 1.5% above demand. The streak would last 34 days and would involve several economically crippling and life-threatening blackouts. During this month, the average price for electricity was about 10 times higher than the typical price for energy in January. Natural gas prices in Southern California were six times higher than they were at the same time in 2000.

Meanwhile, energy companies - including ones that would help to craft the administration's energy policy - were reporting earnings for the year. Enron and its affiliates' earnings grew 97% in 2000 from 1999; Duke and its affiliates' earnings were up 226%; Reliant and its affiliates' earnings increased by 166%; and Williams and its affiliates' earnings grew 127%.

By: Isaac Peterson  

No one is going to convince me that Enron's money didn't have anything to do with the administration looking the other way while Enron raped California, or that the 17 provisions in "our" energy policy that benefited Enron was just a coincidence. It will take a smoother talker than Ari Fleischer or Mary Matalin to get me to believe that the revolving door between Enron and the top levels of the adminstration didn't have anything to do with how this government has run the last year. This adminstration is top heavy with people who were also employed or retained by Enron. No way is it a coincidence that Enron made contributions and got exemptions from laws that would have kept them from doing much of the wrong they did. No way that the lapse in oversight about the way they handled their pension fund and screwed their employees was 'just one of those things'. That's harder to swallow than half-chewed pretzels.

I want to be careful not to imply guilt just by association, but the temptation is too strong. When I hear George W. Gump say that Enron is a model for how the government should be run and a model for privatizing Social Security, I can't help myself. When I find out that Ken Lay had de facto approval over who filled positions in the administration regarding energy, and was considered for a position himself, I don't need to be Columbo to get a clue about what was going on.

Tragedy does not give America a free hand.

Editorial from:  

...Mr Bush, in his black-and-white way, has clearly convinced himself that in what he calls the "decisive decade in the history of liberty", his duty, mission and calling is to direct the triumph of good over evil at home and abroad. "America will lead by defending liberty and justice because they are right and true and unchanging for all people everywhere", he declared.

This is a premise fortified by falsehoods and underpinned by a delusion. The principal falsehood is that the policies Mr Bush now advocates are dictated by an ongoing terrorist menace. They are not. Primarily they are the products of conservative Republicanism, set dangerously loose in September 11's aftermath. There is nothing new, after all, in the idea of Iran, Iraq and North Korea representing an "axis of evil"; the American right has been gunning for them for years. There is nothing new about the ballistic threat. Mr Bush has long wanted missile defences; now he uses September 11 to justify his plan. When Mr Bush speaks of "tens of thousands of dangerous killers schooled in the methods of murder... spread throughout the world like ticking bombs, set to go off without warning", he is not only being irresponsibly alarmist; he is also disingenuously justifying the whopping $48bn defence budget increase he always dreamed of.

"To believe that capitalists will behave honorably just because they are engaged in capitalism is akin to believing that no priest will engage in pedophilia simply because he is a priest. Our godfather Adam Smith somewhere remarked that the view of more than two businessmen talking together in a corner justifies the suspicion that they are discussing devices in restraint of trade."

- William F. Buckey from his book, Give It Back

From:  

This week we celebrate the joys of fiscal irresponsibility. Why, here's George W. Bush (1), topping the list for managing to get rid of the Clinton Surplus within a year. Good job, George! We also have Arthur Andersen LLP (2) - ready, steady, shred! And look, here's Jeb Bush (5), who, by any Congressional Republican's definition, is raising taxes in Florida. Meanwhile, fundamentalism is creeping elsewhere on the list, with the Penryn Police Department (4) deciding that it's Christian to strike, and Pat Robertson (9) deciding that you're next, San Francisco. Bwahaha! Finally, we're pleased to note that George W. Bush (8) has made it onto the list twice this week, since we can't figure out whether he's more comfortable sitting behind the wheel of a combine harvester or driving the economy into the ground. Enjoy!

By: Richard Cohen  

The principle that the government can and should run a deficit to stimulate a sick economy was first propounded by John Maynard Keynes. This is called Keynesian Economics. The principle that the government can and should run a deficit when it does not have to was developed by George W. Bush. This is called Enronian Economics.

It should not be surprising that Enronian Economics has taken over Washington. Both the Texas-based firm and the Texas-based president have so much in common. For one thing, the President was once a friend of Enron's former chairman, Ken Lay. He called him 'Kenny Boy', but since the collapse of the firm, he doesn't call him at all.

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