02/14/2002

Opportunity Knocks

In a surprise move, the White House announced today that Interior Secretary Gale Norton is to be replaced by former Enron CEO Kenneth Lay. Press Secretary Ari Fleischer said the sudden appointment was triggered by the recent removal of Mr. Lay from the Enron board of directors. “Ken Lay is a valuable player in any organization,” Mr. Fleischer said. “We knew we had to make an offer quickly before he was snapped up by someone else.”

President Bush, speaking from the Rose Garden, said, “Some people see challenges, I see opportunities. We have an opportunity to make American government more efficient, the way business is.”
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By floegel | Posted in Commentary | Comments (0)
02/07/2002

The Return of Tricky Dick

Richard Nixon, banished from office by scandal and shame, spent the final 20 years of his life trying to rehabilitate his reputation. It was to no avail. Nixon could run, but he can’t hide, not even in the grave. His legacy is Watergate and always will be. The crimes and – more important – the cover-up that ended the 36th presidency will remain a case study on how not to handle a political scandal.

Watergate is the text for an intensive seminar in political science now underway at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. The seminar is led by Vice President Dick Cheney and concerns not a box full of audiotapes, but documents related to the energy task force he chaired last year.
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By floegel | Posted in Commentary | Comments (0)
01/31/2002

The Silence of Colin Powell

Colin Powell has broken his silence in the classic Washington way, with a leaked memo. He’s also broken ranks by being the first member of the Bush administration to suggest that the Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters held at Guantanamo Bay be treated as prisoners of war.

The secretary of state was shocked, shocked I tell you, to see his pro-POW position revealed in the Washington Times. Since the Bush administration seems to be constitutionally incapable of plainly stating its position, we’ll have to try to interpret this development the way the Romans used to augur the future by reading the entrails of birds.
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By floegel | Posted in Commentary | Comments (0)
01/24/2002

Everyone’s Doing It

I have a friend, let’s call her Wilma. Last year, Wilma started a company that would, among other things, conduct international transactions. Starting a business, like buying a house, means your name appears on all sorts of mailing lists. Among the many solicitations Wilma received was a bulky envelope from Nicosia, Cyprus. The envelope was jammed with flyers offering unethical business services.

“Flags of Convenience,” screamed one flyer. A flag of convenience is a country, like Cyprus or Panama or Liberia, which will allow ship owners to register vessels with a minimum of regulations about safety and seaworthiness or fair employment practices or clarity of ownership – nagging little details like that.
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By floegel | Posted in Commentary | Comments (0)
01/17/2002

Princes, Presidents, Pretzels

Prince Harry, third in line to the throne of England, has been discovered drinking beer and smoking pot. Average behavior for a 16-year-old, and it would have been strictly a family matter if only the family in question wasn’t so bloody famous. It’s legal for 16-year-olds to drink in England and while smoking pot is technically illegal, authorities tend to turn a blind eye. Prince Harry’s great-great-great grandmother, the famously sober Queen Victoria was a pot smoker. She toked to relieve menstrual cramps. The first pot café opened in England last year, offering an alternative to the UK’s famous formula of beer-and-brawling. Eleven of the 15 nations of the European Union have either legalized marijuana or do not prosecute its use. And now you can buy pot with Euros.
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By floegel | Posted in Commentary | Comments (0)
01/10/2002

Don’t Cry for Me, Argentina

In the 1980 Republican presidential primary, candidate Ronald Reagan promised both tax cuts and a huge military buildup. Rival candidate George H. W. Bush ridiculed the idea, calling it “voodoo economics” and saying it would lead to budget deficits.

As is often the case in politics, rhetoric triumphs over reason. Mr. Reagan’s rhetoric overwhelmed Mr. Bush’s reason. Mr. Bush swallowed his pride – and perhaps his good sense – and filled out the bottom of Reagan’s ticket. For the next eight years, the nation bathed in deficit spending.
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By floegel | Posted in Commentary | Comments (0)
01/03/2002

On Thin Ice

On New Year’s Day, I was skating with friends on a frozen pond. The sun was bright, the wind was crisp and we would have been frost-bitten were we not so well-dressed and well-exercised.

The pond is about a mile long and half a mile wide. As our skates clicked over the dark-gray surface, we discussed whether this was truly a pond or a small lake. As it turns out, surface area is only one of four criteria which distinguish ponds from lakes, the other three being depth, subsurface vegetation and uniformity of temperature.
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By floegel | Posted in Commentary | Comments (0)