meaningless statements, vague gibberish, useless qualifications - in short, all the goo and dribble - he found he had nothing left. Everything canceled out.(from the Foundation Series by Isaac Asimov). See below for a fuller explanation.
Via Glenn, here’s their first and last paragraphs, with my executive summary in the middle:PRESIDENT-ELECT Barack Obama came to The Post editorial board yesterday with two messages sketchy on details yet reassuring in approach: a commitment to fiscal discipline, and a determination not to be bound by liberal, or indeed any, orthodoxy.
[snip of the President-elect not answering their questions about what he plans to do about controlling the budget, determining what financial sacrifices need to be made, when - or if - Card Check will be passed, what changes - if any - will be made to our current detainee system, and whether all of this means that he's a centrist.]
Mr. Obama’s indications of ideological flexibility are rather abstract at this point; he has not yet been called on to make the kind of difficult choices about which he speaks so eloquently. But his transition has sounded all the right themes, and, if yesterday’s session is any guide, his presidency promises to begin on the same hopeful, pragmatic note.
For my response, here’s an Isaac Asimov quote from Foundation (pg 71).
“That,” replied Hardin, “is the interesting thing. The analysis was the most difficult of the three by all odds. When Holk, after two days of steady work, succeeded in eliminating meaningless statements, vague gibberish, useless qualifications - in short, all the goo and dribble - he found he had nothing left. Everything canceled out.
“Lord Dorwin, gentlemen, in five days of discussion didn’t say one damned thing, and said it so you never noticed. There are the assurances you had from your precious Empire.”
Obama is not the first politician to do so, but to be given a pass on it by ALL the MSM is an indication that we really don't have a "free press" any more - in the sense that we have a diverse, press that expresses various points of view. It may be free, but it's free only in the same sense that the Democrat Party is not technically an arm of the government.
Except when it's the government and in charge of all three branches ... and the media is its obedient ally.
1 comment:
I know the unions helped Obama get elected, but hopefully this is a sign that he is thinking about this issue a bit more carefully. I really hope that members of Congress start to re-examine this issue as well.
I have no problems with unions, as long as employees choose when they want to form one and when they don't. To that end, I support secret ballot elections and dislike the provision in Card Check which would remove that right from workers. Without secret ballot elections, I think there will be lots of intimidation to vote certain ways, just like political elections in the early 1900s.
Also, I'm against the provision that forces arbitration if a contract isn't agreed to within 120 days. Since businesses can afford to wait that period out fairly easily, the workers would typically lose in any arbitration.
I know there are lots of organizations working to help Congress understand these issues better - and to let them know that they should be working for the American workers instead of the labor unions. For instance, the Friends of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has some more information here - http://www.friendsoftheuschamber.com/email/email4.cfm?id=192
I encourage people to get involved and find out more information about this issue and contact their Congressional representative to make sure they understand your views.
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