The New York Times > Opinion > Op-Ed Columnist: Bush Disarms, Unilaterally

Today's NYT has two columns that address two aspects of the same problem. As Friedman points out "It's as if we have an industrial-age presidency, catering to a pre-industrial ideological base, in a post-industrial era.". That the US standing, in anything but its military capacities, is plummeting in reference of the rest of the industrial world does not seem to concern President Bush, who feels, like General Franco before him, answerable only "to God and to History". While Bush spends political capital on privatizing Social Security, an ideological goal if there ever was one, many of the problems of adjusting our society to the needs of the post-industrial age go unattended. The country seems all effervescent about gay marriage, but unconcerned about the high poverty rate. This administration has grabbed all slogans, any slogans, to misrepresent the fact that its policies are regressive and not in the public interest. Elected representatives, like Tom Delay, put bluster before honesty. Not that there never was corruption in high places before, but the brazenness is prodigious. How long will it take before the backlash comes?
The New York Times > Opinion > Op-Ed Columnist: Bush Disarms, Unilaterally