In the wake of Katrina, several commentators are looking at the “conservatism” of the Bush administration in a fresh light. What does it mean to profess “conservatism” while pursuing wild foreign adventurism, growing the government radically and running up record deficits? This defies the definition of conservatism. But this piece in an obscure paper in Wisconsin takes the analysis several steps further. http://tomahjournal.com/articles/2005/09/05/opinion/02rundiocolumn.txt
Here's a sample quote: “There’s nothing good about big-government conservatism. It’s an iron triangle of politicians, lobbyists and industry wallowing in the spoils of government contracting and favoritism linked to campaign contributions. The recipient of big-government liberalism is likely to be a 90-year-old who can’t get out of bed, or a pregnant teen in need of pre-natal care. The recipient of big-government conservatism is a Halliburton executive or someone who lobbies on Halliburton’s behalf.” Very well put. The second piece, “Katrina and the Limits of Conservatism” does a more traditional review of the Administration's performance using the usual benchmarks. www.americanprogressaction.org
Here's a press release that came in today, too late to make the community calendar in this week's Alibi. Sounds interesting:
“At the same time as world leaders take up global poverty at the U.N., young leaders in Albuquerque will get their own chance to weigh in on this issue. On this Friday, September 16th, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. students at Bates College will have the unique opportunity to talk “face to face” via live videoconference with leaders at the United Nations' 2005 World Summit.
Then, students will have a chance to ask questions and make brief comments about how they can be involved in realizing the Summit's goal of halving world poverty in the next decade. The location of this event is at the University of New Mexico, Woodward Hall RM 118, lower level. The series is sponsored by Americans for Informed Democracy, a non-partisan educational organization that seeks to engage Americans in discussion about the future of the U.S. role in the world.”
