According to today’s newspapers:
o Preschoolers who watch a lot of TV are more likely to become bullies later, says a new study from the University of Washington’s School of Public Health.
o While President Bush propounds the theory that Social Security is in crisis and suggests moving contributions over to Wall Street – though, the White House concedes, that won’t solve the crisis – David Broder notes today that the health care system is, in fact, in crisis, spinning out of control.
(Also, in a recorded message on my phone answering machine today, retired Dodger manager Tommy Lasorda explains that Bush Social Security plan would not affect retired folks but would help younger Americans. Oh, and Progress for America, for whom Tommy shilled, would be delighted were I to call Rep. Heather Wilson, telling her that I’m with George W.)
o Having lost manufacturing jobs a while back, we are now losing service jobs to other countries, writes business columnist Dale Dauten. But we're still good consumers. "So, how long will it take us to spend the economic nheritance of the Greatest Generation?" he asks.
o Florida Republican Senator Mel Martinez knew nothing about it, of course, but that memo explaining how the GOP could profit from the Teri Schiavo case came from his office. You remember the memo portrayed the case as a "great political issue" with which to excite the party’s pro-life base.
Why am I telling you all this? Because there was another noteworthy story in today’s newspaper that puts all these into context.
The new chairman of the FCC, Republican Kevin J. Martin, told cable TV operators to do less violent kids’ shows. NOT!
No, I made that up. In fact, Martin warned the cablel guys to clamp down on indecent programming themselves or the Congress will get after them.
Connecting these stories permits us to really understand this White House’s strategy. It is to campaign against indecency (sexual stuff, of course, and abortion) as a cloak for its class war against the not-rich.
Permit me to spell it out. The White House agenda includes freeing big business of all restraints, even if that means exporting jobs. Also, destroying Social Security. How? By diverting billions of dollars from it to Wall Street's banks and brokerages. Killing two birds with one stone.
How better to hide that agenda, anti-middle-class and anti-poor, than by waving the banner of morality? The American flag, too, of course. Hey, if you cannot use God and Country to divert attention from your own corruption, what good are they?