] When scientists learned last month that the word
] "evolution" had been removed from Georgia's proposed
] science curriculum for middle and high schools, some
] wondered what else might have been deleted.
]  
] Some feared that the big-bang theory the dominant
] scientific theory about the origins of the universe
] would be absent.
]  
] Their fears were well founded.

I've heard they made some interested edits to the history curriculum as well...

GA Classroom curriculum stupidity goes beyond evolution

Yup, here it is if you missed it. The Daily Show on the Meet the Press Interview. The facial expressions are something that didn't make the transcript. This might have been a very different interview had I seen it on video.

On Lisa Rein's Indictment: Daily Show On The Shrub's Meet The Press Interview

JLM says: Freedom of the press in action. The word 'skewer' comes to mind. Looking back, this interview will be seen as a turning point.

I say: This oped is sharp.

Mr. Bush's Version (of History? of the Present? of Reality?)

There is much to comment on in this interview. Too much, perhaps.

Its clear he is really spinning hard on this intel commission out of the gate.

I wouldn't be pissed off about his comment about not testifying. Its a matter of fact. Same rules applied to Clinton.

The war issue is something I've already discussed. Iraq was a threat. Iraq was not an imminent threat. Thats what they sold. They were wrong. Now they have to explain it. This doesn't mean that going into Iraq was a bad idea. He explains clearly what the benefits were. He is being honest there. The primary problem that I have with it was related to the international law issue. Not what we did but how. Bush misrepresents what he did when we talks about going to the international community. They drove the international community away, and they did so intentionally. They set a poor precedent for international relations. But I have a hard time saying they were wrong about the war per say. Its hard to say for certain. The world is clearly a safer place without Saddam Hussein, but there have been costs.

I greatly appreciate his careful respect for the armed services, and for the families connected to them. This guy is calling families every day. You can tell it has effected him.

I think he is playing the wrong card when he talks about jobs. The unemployment rate is not a good indicator of the health of the jobs situation in the country. If I were running for president I would promise to create new data points which more accurately include the number of people who are underemployed or who have left the job market.

I am also skeptical of what he has done for small business, and innovation. He isn't specific. Tax cuts on dividends coupled with expensing stock options have clearly cost the innovators. I look forward to hearing what the hell he is talking about.

As far as the deficit is concerned, this is DIRECTLY connected to the issues of international law I raise above. You don't have the sort of economic assistance from allied powers that you had with the Gulf War. Possibly Bush is attempting to avoid his father's fate? Bush Sr. said "no new taxes" and then ended up having to raise them because of the Gulf, and lost an election because of it. Bush Jr. is really juggling to pull this off. The reality is, raise or lower taxes, he's pretty much fucked either way. The fiscal conservatives listed (SIC, Cato is not a "conservative" group!) are wrong in the sense that Bush has proposed DEEP cuts in regular spending. Moreso then anyone in recent memory. This is a complex fish to fry and Bush deserves credit and blame alike. You show me a candidate with Bush's general fiscal responsibility along with Clinton's diplomacy and I'll show you America's first libertarian president.

Bush is not responsible for the country becoming more partisan. Bin Lauden is responsible. The interviewer really nails him in the end with the polling, but conspiracy theories about skull and bones is a little silly for MSNBC. Its a public service organization. Get a fucking grip. You sound like Robert Anton Wilson!

In the final analysis, I have mixed opinions about Bush, but he has a clearer message then John Kerry.

I too have a question I would have asked that was glaringly missing. I wonder if mine is the same as Jeremy's. I can sum it up in one word, which I piped to md5sum and posted here:

fa599b3d72699e176dec80a2739e5115

NBC -- Meet the Press with GWB

] Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said he had ordered a
] plan drawn up for the evacuation of 17 settlements in the
] Gaza Strip, which he said eventually could lead to the
] relocation of almost all of the 7,500 Jewish settlers
] currently living in Gaza, an Israeli newspaper reported
] Monday.

Sharon Says He Wants Plan to Remove Gaza Settlements (washingtonpost.com)

] We strongly encourage the state of Georgia to incorporate
] the entirety of the AAAS benchmarks. A complete science
] education is essential to scientific literacy and to our
] state's economy.

Please sign! Save Georgia from itself! First the Ten Commandments, now this...what part of "separation of church and state" DOESN'T FREAKING APPLY?!!

Georgia Science Education Petition

] Thanks to the GOP takeover of Washington, and the harsh
] realities of the Big Sort, economically lagging parts of
] the country now wield ultimate political power, while the
] creative centers--source of most of America's economic
] growth--have virtually none.

This is a very good article that gets off to a slow start. It resonates with a lot of the things we've been discussing here. The author is arguing that the migration of creative people from the midwest into the country's urban centers during the .com boom created the political situation which led to the Bush win in 2000. (The Democrats' political base is now concentrated into smaller geographic areas, cutting their electoral edge on the GOP.) Now the creative class is politically disenfranchised.

You can see this directly in the election. Bush is offering tax cuts to people who are handling multi-million dollar inheritances and who make most of their money from capital gains. Dean and the other Democrats are offering to help families who make less then $50,000 a year. They talk about manufacturing jobs and steel workers. This country's economic future is not going to be built by steel workers. It is also not going to be built by the bored and dull sons of sons of sons who have more money then you can count and no real ambition as a result.

This country's economic future has always been built by people who are both capable of building it and motivated to do so. This author is arguing that we might not see it at all. He is seeing brain drain out of the US to Canada, Europe, and Australia. We wouldn't feel that right now if we had it, as the US isn't using the people they have. What's cutting a little muscle when you aren't running at top speed? The authors suggest a serious risk that the next runner to the front of the pack is likely to be a country that creates opportunities for the creative class, and right now thats not us.

'Creative Class War' by Richard Florida

I've decided to rerecommend this. This site is really a wealth and it easy to overlook the details. Every issue has a link to a detailed discussion of what the different answers mean. You can check your opinions versus presidential candidates, popular political figures, and you can also have it give you a detailed explanation of your positions versus democrats, republicans, libertarians, and authoritarians. Its a much, much better assessment the the "five questions" quiz. There are a few things that are funny about the site, such as the use of the word "authoritarian" in most cases unless discussing an actual politician who scored that way, in which case the word "populist" is used.

I scored most like Jesse Ventura, John Kerry (My biggest disagreement with him is that he is too supportive of China.), and apparently the "natural law" party candidate... More on that in a moment.

VoteMatch Quizzes

] Can you believe President Bush is still pushing the
] cockamamie claim that we went to war in Iraq with a real
] coalition rather than a gaggle of poodles and lackeys?
]
] His State of the Union address took his swaggering
] sheriff routine to new heights.

This is a fun rant about the State of the Union Address. Sharply critical of everyone.

Riding the Crazy Train

] Second, sometimes smashing someone in the face is
] necessary to signal others that they will be held
] accountable for the intolerance they incubate. Removing
] the Taliban and Saddam sent that message to every
] government in the area.

This is a good series. This article offers a sound bitey version of why we went to War in Iraq.

War of Ideas, Part 5