- Jun 30, 2004
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I am becoming very weary of discovering GOP lies that the responsible media has either failed to recognize or ignored for lack of time and resources.
For instance, not far along in the Trump administration, I observed a "presentation" he made, broadcast on all the established media, touting all the EPA regulations he was doing away with. Behind Trump, there was an 8'x4' wooden palette, stacked with reams of white paper piled 4' high. In fact, one could conclude that the paper was merely computer printer or xerox paper with the packaging removed. You could even see the discontinuity in the stacks at regular 2" intervals, indicating that the paper was simply fresh, opened packages of printer paper stacked one on top of the other.
Most federal agencies have regulations published in paperback by the Government Printing Office -- renewed annually -- most likely and at most about four volumes on average. So this display of Trump's was merely a ploy to influence public opinion and amplify the myths held by his base.
This morning I turned on the TV to tune in CSPAN. We expect CSPAN to live up to its reputation as a public service channel, and avoid being a sounding board for lies. This time, Jeb Bush was interviewing Betsy DeVos, former Education Secretary under Trump. I always knew the woman was totally unqualified for the job; I think I'd even concluded long ago that she was stupid. But what I saw and heard today takes the notion of stupid to a level I would never imagine.
DeVos had just published a new book -- "Hostages No More: The Fight for Education Freedom and the Future of the American Child". I have not read this book. Nor do I intend to, given the nonsense I heard today. I've discussed this sort of "vetting" before with regard to FOX News. If I occasionally visit FOX news to find -- every time -- an instance of deliberate deception and Falsehood, it reinvigorates my resolve to avoid using FOX as a serious source of information.
So what did Betsy say, as summary excerpts from or about her book?
First, she told a story about the main education building at 400 Maryland Ave. And -- as Betsy noted -- there are two other such buildings or parts thereof: FOB 10, just down the street from the FOB 6 at Maryland Ave., and some part of the offices at the old HEW North Building, just across the street from FB 6. I have been in and out of those buildings over a period of some 25 years. I have been in the sublevel or basements of those buildings.
So the story. She observed that there was a large room in the basement of the main building, where they kept boxes of textbooks. And she explained it was her top priority to get all those textbooks "out to the schools" where they could be put to use. So she asked around for the key to this locked room in the basement -- couldn't find someone with a key (whether DOE, GSA, or any number of custodial entities). Finally, she found one employee who had the key. So, according to her, they went to the room and unlocked it. Then, the man with the key told her they couldn't remove the boxes of books until they could get some "union employees" to do it.
LIE # 1: There is no big storeroom in the basement of FB 6 or any of the other two buildings. It's a parking garage, with the vehicles of mostly privileged political appointees jammed side to side. If there is any type of "storage room", it is merely a partition with cyclone fence with surplus furniture.
LIE # 2: The US Department of Education has NOTHING to do with "textbooks"; it doesn't "warehouse" textbooks, doesn't "review" textbooks. The management of public school textbooks is exclusively the purview of the states, counties and school districts, together with the authors and publishers of textbooks.
LIE # 3: No federal employee is required to join the federal employee unions (which, by the way, cannot even bargain for wages). Membership is purely voluntary. No federal employee or federal official is going to insist that "only union employees" can perform any or all tasks performed by the civil service.
It's a shame that there isn't some statute that makes telling lies like this a crime. And think of all the chuckleheads watching CSPAN who are actually going to believe every word of Betsy's Bull Shit.
Of course, who's going to believe me? I've seen it all firsthand, but -- of course -- even in retirement, I'm part of the "DEEP STATE". I can't be trusted!
For instance, not far along in the Trump administration, I observed a "presentation" he made, broadcast on all the established media, touting all the EPA regulations he was doing away with. Behind Trump, there was an 8'x4' wooden palette, stacked with reams of white paper piled 4' high. In fact, one could conclude that the paper was merely computer printer or xerox paper with the packaging removed. You could even see the discontinuity in the stacks at regular 2" intervals, indicating that the paper was simply fresh, opened packages of printer paper stacked one on top of the other.
Most federal agencies have regulations published in paperback by the Government Printing Office -- renewed annually -- most likely and at most about four volumes on average. So this display of Trump's was merely a ploy to influence public opinion and amplify the myths held by his base.
This morning I turned on the TV to tune in CSPAN. We expect CSPAN to live up to its reputation as a public service channel, and avoid being a sounding board for lies. This time, Jeb Bush was interviewing Betsy DeVos, former Education Secretary under Trump. I always knew the woman was totally unqualified for the job; I think I'd even concluded long ago that she was stupid. But what I saw and heard today takes the notion of stupid to a level I would never imagine.
DeVos had just published a new book -- "Hostages No More: The Fight for Education Freedom and the Future of the American Child". I have not read this book. Nor do I intend to, given the nonsense I heard today. I've discussed this sort of "vetting" before with regard to FOX News. If I occasionally visit FOX news to find -- every time -- an instance of deliberate deception and Falsehood, it reinvigorates my resolve to avoid using FOX as a serious source of information.
So what did Betsy say, as summary excerpts from or about her book?
First, she told a story about the main education building at 400 Maryland Ave. And -- as Betsy noted -- there are two other such buildings or parts thereof: FOB 10, just down the street from the FOB 6 at Maryland Ave., and some part of the offices at the old HEW North Building, just across the street from FB 6. I have been in and out of those buildings over a period of some 25 years. I have been in the sublevel or basements of those buildings.
So the story. She observed that there was a large room in the basement of the main building, where they kept boxes of textbooks. And she explained it was her top priority to get all those textbooks "out to the schools" where they could be put to use. So she asked around for the key to this locked room in the basement -- couldn't find someone with a key (whether DOE, GSA, or any number of custodial entities). Finally, she found one employee who had the key. So, according to her, they went to the room and unlocked it. Then, the man with the key told her they couldn't remove the boxes of books until they could get some "union employees" to do it.
LIE # 1: There is no big storeroom in the basement of FB 6 or any of the other two buildings. It's a parking garage, with the vehicles of mostly privileged political appointees jammed side to side. If there is any type of "storage room", it is merely a partition with cyclone fence with surplus furniture.
LIE # 2: The US Department of Education has NOTHING to do with "textbooks"; it doesn't "warehouse" textbooks, doesn't "review" textbooks. The management of public school textbooks is exclusively the purview of the states, counties and school districts, together with the authors and publishers of textbooks.
LIE # 3: No federal employee is required to join the federal employee unions (which, by the way, cannot even bargain for wages). Membership is purely voluntary. No federal employee or federal official is going to insist that "only union employees" can perform any or all tasks performed by the civil service.
It's a shame that there isn't some statute that makes telling lies like this a crime. And think of all the chuckleheads watching CSPAN who are actually going to believe every word of Betsy's Bull Shit.
Of course, who's going to believe me? I've seen it all firsthand, but -- of course -- even in retirement, I'm part of the "DEEP STATE". I can't be trusted!
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