The Dr. Strangelove competition


     Date: Wed, 30 May 2001 17:39:30 EDT
     From: B.T.
     To: John Judge
     Subject: The Dr. Strangelove competition


     It's hard to say who's going to come out as the leading Dr.
     Strangelove of the Bush administration. The talk so far has been
     about Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney, but watch out for Treasury
     Secretary Paul O'Neill. He looks like a comer. He recently called
     for the abolishment of ALL corporate income tax, and then followed
     up with this beauty: "If you set aside Three Mile Island and
     Chernobyl, the safety record of nuclear power is really very
     good." (Wall Street Journal corporation, May 25)

     Hmmm, besides his statement being highly debatable, it reminds me
     of that old joke: Apart from that, Mrs. Lincoln, how'd you enjoy
     the show? Perhaps we can also say that if you set aside the
     Holocaust and World War II, the record of the Nazis was not too
     bad.




     From: John Judge
     Date: Wed, 30 May 2001 23:35:32 -0400
     Subject: Re: The Dr. Strangelove competition

     Don't worry, they are working on it. Just like making an evil of
     "partisanship" while chiding Jeffers for betraying party loyalty.
     All they mean by "partisanship" is not going along with the
     Republican agenda, and when you fold to it, you are "bi-partisan"
     (I guess because you can swing both ways?). I don't want political
     parties, but if you are in one, what's the point if you are not
     partisan?

     The Republicans hate checks and balances when they work against
     them; they want a Republican White House, House, Senate and Court,
     that's their idea of Democracy. I'm afraid Jeffers switch will not
     stop them winning most votes, since many Democrats eschew
     "partisanship" and vote with them anyway, but it might change what
     the committees look at or do.

     It's still One Big Party, the GOP (Gas, Oil, Plutonium). As for a
     Strangelove candidate, how about an Assistant Secretary of State,
     anti-Castro Cuban Contragator named Otto Riech?

     John Judge