George W. Bush, Philosopher-King

[atommom]

(Another little :wtf: moment from Slate)

George W. Bush has waited until the eve of his second inaugural to let us know that he doesn't hate pointy-headed intellectuals after all. Instead, he now confesses, he's one of them. On the subject of Social Security reform, "It's exciting to be part of stimulating a debate of such significance," President Bush told the Wall Street Journal this past week. "It really is the philosophical argument of the age."

You may be surprised to learn that the president views Social Security reform as a philosophical question, the kind of groovy give-and-take subject that's appropriate for drug-induced dorm-room bull sessions. But understanding why he framed the subject that way is critical to understanding the impetus behind Social Security privatization. Opponents of personal Social Security accounts have been trying to knock down the president's plan—to the extent that he has one—by tackling it as a mathematical puzzle and carefully explaining that the numbers don't add up. "There's no Social Security crisis," is one version of this argument, explaining how relatively minor changes in benefits and taxation can preserve the system in its current form. The other is to poke holes in the arithmetic of privatization. Slate's founding editor, Michael Kinsley, went so far as to offer a logical proof of how privatization would fail to fix Social Security. But submitting the answers to a math test during a philosophy exam is a sure way to flunk.

http://slate.msn.com/id/2112357/fr/rss/

[Demit]

1. at least that author is calling a spade a spade. Here's his last graf:

"Here's what a straightforward discussion of the philosophy behind the Social Security system would look like: Democrats support welfare for old people, on the grounds that it creates a safety net for capitalism's losers, who might otherwise live in poverty. Republicans oppose welfare for old people, on the grounds that it reduces incentives to work and save, it gives the government too much money to spend, and it makes people overly dependent on the government for their retirement. That's an honest debate. Let's have it."

Bush and the Repugs wouldn't know honest if they fell over it. They know they need to lie, in order to cheat, so that they might steal. If ALL the media would frame what the actual debate is, citizens would quickly see through the scheme and understand that the Repugs do NOT have their best interests at heart. They would understand what a raw deal this will be for them.

[atommom]

2. Exactly. Why can't we have that conversation?

This is one more way the media is failing all of us.

[tom_paine]

5. We cannot have that conversation because the Busheviks long ago abandoned

Old American Values for the New and Improved Goebbelsian Propaganda which promised them and then DELIVERED tremendous amounts of unchecked power to them.

The media has failed us yes, but only insofar as the Democrats have in the same way of not realizing who and WHAT they were dealing with, then trying to placate the New Kinder and Gentler Nazis by compromise and working within the rules.

Our New Amerikan Nazis may be Kinder and Gentler, but they share some fundamentally similar core values with their spiritual antecedents, including contempt for Liberal Weakness such as compromise and "working within the rules".

[Jack Rabbit]

3. The piece must be read to get the value

The headline is ironic. That doesn't necessarily show in print.

If Bush is a Platonic philosopher-king, then I am a retired Kamikaze pilot.

[Demit]

4. ???

[atommom]

6. I think we all get the irony ... Slate is not one of the media

outlets that would seriously consider Bush a philosopher of any kind. My :wtf: was directed at the POTUS and all those who might seriously think he's engaging in a "philosophical argument" here. It's truly ridiculous that he would try to present himself as an intellectual of any stripe. He's not into logic, reasoning, or examining evidence. But most of the media will not question him when he claims that he knows best.

So, we agree. If he's a philosopher-king, I am Xena the warrior princess.