Monday, September 10, 2007
Shiny, Shiny White House News
I get the White House rss news feed though I rarely look at it. When I do, I'm mostly looking for humor and satire fodder. Because the view consistently presented in these press releases is so sunny it could cause blindness, I have to be cautious. If one believed these items, the world would appear to be the USA's oyster and every citizen should bow down in gratitude to the wisdom and beneficence of the Bush administration. There are no problems just wonderfully effective solutions by the heroic and glorious Team Bush. Is this markedly different from any other administration? I don't know.
Of course the White House isn't going to be eager to list problems but it still overpoweringly reeks of PR rather than any remotely accurate reality. Try these recent stories:
Fact Sheet: Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) 2007 Bonus quote from the page: "Our challenge is to strengthen the forces of freedom and prosperity in this region. One of the most important ways we can do so is through the expansion of trade and investment." - President George W. Bush, Remarks at APEC Business Summit, 9/7/07
Fact Sheet: More Than 8.2 Million Jobs Created Since August 2003 Including this factoid: "Real After-Tax Per Capita Personal Income Has Risen By 11.9 Percent – An Average Of Over $3,500 Per Person – Since President Bush Took Office." The question is whether "average" is used here to mean average or median, two very different things. "For example, in the odd series 1, 4, 9, 12 and 33, 9 is the median. In the even series 1, 4, 10, 12, 33 and 88, 11 is the median (halfway between 9 and 12). Note, the median is not necessarily the same as the AVERAGE (or mean). For example, the median of 2, 6, 10, 22 and 40 is 10 but the average is 18." (Source for "median") In other words, with the number of US billionaires skyrocketing the average probably moves up but the median might actually be declining. (Note: I'm not a economist, just speculating here.)
Fact Sheet: Strengthening the Forces of Freedom and Prosperity in the Asia Pacific ties in nicely to the quote in the first example I listed.
All of this does nothing to inspire confidence in me. I'm so used to the Bushies lying and misrepresenting... well, everything, I would revise my view of the world if they said water was wet.
Of course the White House isn't going to be eager to list problems but it still overpoweringly reeks of PR rather than any remotely accurate reality. Try these recent stories:
Fact Sheet: Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) 2007 Bonus quote from the page: "Our challenge is to strengthen the forces of freedom and prosperity in this region. One of the most important ways we can do so is through the expansion of trade and investment." - President George W. Bush, Remarks at APEC Business Summit, 9/7/07
Fact Sheet: More Than 8.2 Million Jobs Created Since August 2003 Including this factoid: "Real After-Tax Per Capita Personal Income Has Risen By 11.9 Percent – An Average Of Over $3,500 Per Person – Since President Bush Took Office." The question is whether "average" is used here to mean average or median, two very different things. "For example, in the odd series 1, 4, 9, 12 and 33, 9 is the median. In the even series 1, 4, 10, 12, 33 and 88, 11 is the median (halfway between 9 and 12). Note, the median is not necessarily the same as the AVERAGE (or mean). For example, the median of 2, 6, 10, 22 and 40 is 10 but the average is 18." (Source for "median") In other words, with the number of US billionaires skyrocketing the average probably moves up but the median might actually be declining. (Note: I'm not a economist, just speculating here.)
Fact Sheet: Strengthening the Forces of Freedom and Prosperity in the Asia Pacific ties in nicely to the quote in the first example I listed.
All of this does nothing to inspire confidence in me. I'm so used to the Bushies lying and misrepresenting... well, everything, I would revise my view of the world if they said water was wet.
Labels: Bush, Bushies, lies, PR
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