01
Jul
Is Bush In Trouble?
*POLITRICIANS AWAKE*
*BE VIGILANT*
*EDUCATIONAL TESTING DEBATE*
Last night, while watching the cable channel VH-1’s fine profile of the late reggae musician and friend Peter Tosh, who I learned was slain on–get this date–September 11 (1987), I was reminded of his wonderful term, “poli-tricks.” He often spoke of “politricians” (and the “shitstem”) while his music called for the legalization of marijuana and “equal rights and justice.” Peter would smile to learn that the politicians are coming out of their winter hibernation, like some groundhog, to crank up a war of words and hot talk to get attention in a country which isn’t sure whether it should, or shouldn’t, seriously take the latest warnings about a possible terror threat being played way back on page 8 of the usually alarmist “fear sells” New York Post.
“LOOK FOR THE UNUSUAL”
Colin Powell says go about your business but be alert. Condaleezza Rice says the president wants Americans “to look around them and see if anything looks unusual.”
Nope, Condi, nothing unusual yet.
Al Gore has come out of the closet, cranked up the rhetoric and attacked the Bush White House for using the terror war for political advantage. Colin Powell snipped back, “That’s patent nonsense.” And on Rupert Murdoch’s “Fox and Friends” the trio of commentators were sounding more like cheerleaders for their polyp free leader than ever, outdoing themselves in a pose of patriotic correctness. “How dare he,” was the operative attitude.
Nothing unusual there, either.
PLEASE TELL US THE TRUTH
Over on Wall Street, WorldCom is being chastized by the Security and Exchange Commission. “We’re demanding that they make a statement under oath telling the American public exactly what went on and what their true financial condition is,” fulminates Chairman Pitt. Duh? Doesn’t the SEC know? Where were its regulators when all this was going on?
Regulators not regulating! Again, nothing unusual there.
GUARDIAN: BUSH IN TROUBLE
Writing in The Guardian today, Larry Eliott thinks what must be the unthinkable for Condi and Co. “George Bush is in trouble. WorldCom’s collapse is one scandal too many. In the United States, it is being talked about as Wall Street’s Watergate. It’s that serious. Despite his 70% approval ratings, President Bush knows that there are political and economic ramifications of the perception that corporate America is run by a bunch of greedy crooks, and that these same greedy crooks have been using their money and influence to buy political favours. That explains why the president went ballistic at the G8 summit in Canada last week when asked about the $3.8bn (£2.5bn) fraud and why at the weekend he was urging that those guilty of corporate crime should do time in jail rather than face financial penalties. The idea of Bush the regulator seeking to use government intervention to prop up Wall Street is hardly convincing, given his record. It certainly has not impressed the Democrats, who are seizing the moment to press for tougher accounting standards and have promised to hound the Republicans on corporate sleaze until the mid-term elections in November.”
CEOS FLEE
While the English press is bracing for a political firestorm as the fallout from this crisis, American satirists are having a field day. Not sure where this item sent to me by Dan Cassidy in San Francisco came from, but it is funny:
“REMAINING U.S. CEOs MAKE A BREAK FOR IT
Band of Roving Chief Executives Spotted Miles from Mexican Border”
“San Antonio, Texas–(Rooters) Unwilling to wait for their eventual indictments, the 10,000 remaining CEOs of public U.S. companies made a break for it yesterday, heading for the Mexican border, plundering towns and villages along the way, and writing the entire rampage off as a marketing expense.
“They came into my home, made me pay for my own TV, then double-booked the revenues,” said Rachel Sanchez of Las Cruces, just north of El Paso. “Right in front of my daughters.”
“Calling themselves the CEOnistas, the chief executives were first spotted last night along the Rio Grande River near Quemado, where they bought each of the town’s 320 residents by borrowing against pension fund gains. By late this morning, the CEOnistas had arbitrarily inflated Quemado’s population to 960, and declared a 200 percent profit for the fiscal second quarter…”
THE QUID PRO STATUS QUO
Speaking of jokes, there’s one going around in Israel about President Bush’s speech, which openly aligned the Administration with the line of the Sharon government re: Y Arafat, a position which most of Europe rejects.
“Why did it take so long for Bush to give his speech?’
Answer: “He had to wait for it to be translated from Hebrew.”
It appears as if a pro status quo in the form of a pro-quo quo is beginning with the Israeli military shutting down a few settlements on the West Bank, ostensibly for security reasons but actually as a sign to the Arab World of its reasonableness.
Reports the NY Times: “Israel’s defense minister said Sunday he would close many outposts in the West Bank built without official permission.” The Israel lobby in the US is now pressuring the government to cut off all financial aid to the Palestinian Authority. Yasser Arafat seems to have ignored Bush’s calls for his political liquidation and is offering to meet anyplace, any time. The White House seems to be fuming and will not agree, although the public and the press needs to be reminded that one makes peace with one’s enemies, not one’s friends.
THE OCCUPATION GRINDS ON
No so funny is the ocuupation of the West Bank that gets little attention in the US press. Here’s a comment from the Israeli press. From Ha’aretz: daily.com”
“A million people under curfew
Few if any Israelis can understand what it means to be under full curfew for 10 days, incarcerated with the children in a crowded house, usually without an air conditioner or a computer or games to play, maybe a barely functioning television set. But the worst thing is the unnerving density of the close quarters.
“Even Israeli parents - who as of today have to figure out how to get through their children’s endless summer vacation and are worried about having to keep them cooped up at home for fear of terrorist attacks - are also incapable of grasping how intolerable it is for the Palestinians to be imprisoned for days and weeks at a time with the children in their meagerly furnished homes, while threatening tanks continually rumble by and every sortie outside is liable to end in disaster.
“Very few Israelis have experienced curfew and it is very unlikely that many of them are spending their time thinking about the fact that within an hour’s drive from their homes nearly a million people - some 800,000 in the cities of the West Bank along with the residents of some of the surrounding localities - have been locked into their homes for days under severe conditions…”
CHINA, HONG KONG ANNIVERSARY
Today, July l, marks the 5th anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to China. What is happening there? Thomas Crampton of The International Herald Tribune notes that persecution of the press and Falun Gong is up:
“HONG KONG: Five years after the silk flag of China first fluttered above government buildings in this former British colony, Hong Kong’s 6 million residents face retreating democracy and increasing interference from Beijing.
“Activists say that civil liberties have eroded while academics belittle as a lie Beijing’s promise to safeguard the territory’s autonomy for 50 years.
“Many of the worst fears for Hong Kong have not come true. Soldiers of the People’s Liberation Army stationed in the former British barracks are rarely seen on the streets. The wheels of capitalism still run faster and freer than just about anywhere else in Asia.
“The city also retains a unique status within China. In addition to having a high per capita income and an educated population, Hong Kong is the only part of mainland China where freedom of the press, protest, speech and religion are officially permitted. But despite these dressings of freedom - and an agreement with Britain that Hong Kong would move toward direct elections by 2007 - the territory’s first Beijing-appointed chief executive, Tung Chee-hwa, has spent five years trimming back grassroots democracy.
“In Hong Kong you can still shout,” said Margaret Ng, a member of the Legislative Council. “But the government need not listen.”
PRESS PLEDGES ALLEGIANCE
The US press pledged its allegiance to the pledge of allegiance last week when an Appeals court made the obvious point that the pledged required of all school children every day violates the wall between church and state with the phrase “under God.” Our friends at Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) took a look at the lopsided coverage of the controversy that the decision prompted.
“In the aftermath of an appeals court ruling that the Pledge of Allegiance was unconstitutional, nearly all the commentary in the country’s leading newspapers criticized the decision. But some of the more alarmist arguments used to defend the phrase “under God” actually tended to support the judges’ finding that including it in the Pledge is an impermissible government establishment of religion.
“Of the 10 largest-circulation dailies in the country, six had run editorials on the ruling as of June 28; all six attacked the decision. Editorialists called it “a fundamentally silly ruling” (L.A. Times (6/27/02) or an “addled opinion” (Wall Street Journal, 6/27/02). The New York Times (6/27/02) said it “lacks common sense,” while the Washington Post (6/27/02) compared it to a “parody.” The appeals court “went way overboard,” in the opinion of Long Island Newsday; for the New York Daily News (6/27/02), “the sooner this decision is overturned, the better.”
“Signed columns in the top papers had little more balance. Jeffrey Rosen in the New York Times (6/28/02) criticized the ruling’s “polarizing vision.” In the Washington Post (6/27/02), Marc Fisher criticized “a court steeped in the arrogance of political correctness.”
” A column by the Chicago Tribune’s John Kass (6/27/02) ran under the headline, “Ruling on Pledge Is a Slap in Face to All Americans.” Marc Howard Wilson (Chicago Tribune, 6/28/02) called it “typical San Francisco lunacy” and “misguided grandstanding.”
” In a twist, the L.A. Times (6/28/02) ran a feature by staff writer Martin Miller, who described himself as an atheist but attacked the non-believer whose lawsuit prompted the decision as “sullen, cantankerous and litigious…intolerant, pushy and self-righteous.”
“Compared to these harsh attacks on the ruling, supporters were muted. The Washington Post’s E.J. Dionne (6/28/02) mustered half a cheer for the decision in an op-ed headlined “Wrong for the Right Reasons.” The Chicago Tribune’s Eric Zorn (6/27/02) noted that he had criticized mandatory recitations of the Pledge in the past, and invited readers to view those columns on his website.”
EDUCATIONAL EXCHANGE WITH THE NEW YORK TIMES
Educational testing is another one of those sacrosanct issues. It has particularly upset my brother Bill, a high school teacher in Massachusetts, who challenged the argument that it is a wise policy. He is particularly troubled by much of the media coverage and has been waging his own war of words in the Boston Globe, whenever they allow him to be heard. Of late, he has taken on the New York Times after reading another pro-testing article, this one by James Traub, in the Sunday magazine section. He wrote to the paper — and got a response. Here, let me let him tell you about what happened:
“Did you notice that the New York Times Magazine printed no–that is, zero– letters critical of that pro-testing article printed several weeks ago? Over a period of two weeks, there were 6 letters for and none against. Meanwhile I knew that I and at least one other member of CARE (an anti-testing group) had written critical letters, so I knew there were some in the Times in-basket. Armed with this fact, I tried to break through the wall of silence at the NYT Magazine, but received only automatic email responses confirming that they had received my note. Finally, I decided to go for broke and email the Publisher, Arthur Sultzburger. What follows is the exchange as it unrolled (or unraveled):
************
“Dear Sir,
“First my bonefides: I’ve been reading the Times for 40 years, from the Bronx to Boston, with nary a day missed. In short, I’m a loyal reader and I know what’s what.
“I tried to complain to the NY Times Magazine editors, in a not-for-publication note, that they ran only letters in favor of the Standardized Testing article, printed a few weeks ago. I knew that several contrary articles had been sent but not printed.
“For my troubles, I received a automatic e-mail confirmation that my note had been received…and two more “pro” letters were printed this week. This is terrible for my blood pressure.
“Doesn’t basic fairness and the Times’ own high standards suggest that some effort should have been made to balance the discussion? It seems like a modicum of care would have achieved this.
“Disappointed in Brookline (but still waiting for my NY Times),
“Sincerely,
Bill Schechter”
***************
THE PUBLISHER RESPONDS
“Thank you for your e-mail. Due to the volume, I cannot promise to answer every e-mail sent. But I do promise to read every one. Arthur Sulzberger Jr.
“[Mr. Sultzberger then wrote back and said he was forwarding my note to the editor of the New York Times Magazine]
*********************
“Dear Mr. Schecter,
“The publisher forwarded your note. Sorry about the automated response; we get a lot of mail, and we feel a technology-triggered response is at least better than nothing. I’ve checked with our letters editor about your complaint. James Traub’s “The Test Mess” did prompt a great deal of mail, but as it happens nearly all of it (over 95%) was in favor of standardized testing. We did get a few letters with the opposite point of view, but in a situation where the reaction is so lopsided, we don’t feel any obligation to print them just to achieve an artificial balance. The letters column has fairly accurately reflected the thrust of our mail, which is one of our goals (the other is to print the most interesting letters.) Hope this news doesn’t send your blood pressure soaring. We do appreciate hearing from you.
“All best,
Adam Moss
Magazine Editor”
***********
Dear Mr. Moss,
Thank you for your letter (and the personal touch!). There is a pretty strong anti-testing movement in Mass., and in other parts of the country. I don’t think the anti-testing forces constitute a mere 5% lunatic fringe. Apart from regular parents, there are many eminent educators, black and white, who dissent. Mr. Rothstein who writes theTimes’ regular education column also tends to be critical. All sane people share the goal of better schools. The question of how this is to be achieved (particularly in a society with a growing inequality of income) is not a settled one. The danger of running only one side of an argument is that it may help to create the very lop-sided public opinion that the newspaper then reports (or assumes) as fact. And I would venture that a little conflict would not only create more interest in a letters column, but also deepen the search for truth. Mr. Traub, after all, had a very particular thesis as part of his general “pro-testing” argument. Yet, many of the individuals and groups responsible for bringing state testing to Massachusetts, are not actually known for their long-standng concern for African-Americans or the urban poor.Anyway, the issue of balance and fairness is an important and complex one. Again, thanks for considering my note and taking the time to respond.
Best,
Bill Schechter
MEDIA NEWS FROM EUROPE
In today,’s media news, the fate of Jean Marie Messier, the embattled ruler of the Kingdom of Vivendi remains uncertain. There was a wide gap in the press coverage I sampled: Reports the New York Times. “The Bronfman family, overruled by the Vivendi Universal board in its call for the resignation of the chairman, Jean-Marie Messier, has its lawyers looking for a loophole that would allow it to try again to oust Mr. Messier.”
The Guardian says he’s gone: “Vivendi Universal’s Jean-Marie Messier set to resign over the next few days. The Independent challenges that, claiming, “Vivendi Universal’s Jean-Marie Messier could be demoted to non-executive chairman.” Meanwhile the Financial Times reports that Jean-Rene Fourtou of Aventis is put forward as temporary replacement for Jean-Marie Messier.”… In Germany, Variety reports that Kirch Media creditor banks are now calling the shots at the company, and will begin reviewing offers for the fallen broadcasting giant today…In England, the government is about to launch BBC3.
Meanwhile in America, conservative columnist William Safire is complaining on the New York Times op ed page this morning that Washington can’t seem to get its propaganda act together:
Our public expression happily continues with lively responses worldwide. Please share your comments by writing: dissector@mediachannel.org
