Monday, November 27, 2006
Wingnut Welfare, Bush Family Style
Much joking is being made in the reality-based portion of the blogosphere about Bush's plans for a colossal $500 million "presidential" library at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. "What, for one coloring book?" is a typical joke hurtling around the internet about this. Except that it's really not about the library. It's about the accompanying wingnut propagandist hatchery and sheltered workshop for the otherwise-unemployable children of the privileged who couldn't swing internships at the other fascist factories:
The half-billion target is double what Bush raised for his 2004 reelection and dwarfs the funding of other presidential libraries. But Bush partisans are determined to have a massive pile of endowment cash to spread the gospel of a presidency that for now gets poor marks from many scholars and a majority of Americans. The legacy-polishing centerpiece is an institute, which several Bush insiders called the Institute for Democracy. Patterned after Stanford University's Hoover Institution, Bush's institute will hire conservative scholars and "give them money to write papers and books favorable to the President's policies," one Bush insider said.How Maoist of them. Will their tomes come out with red bindings? But my favorite part of the article is at the very end:
It remains to be seen whether Bush's low standing in the polls and his rejection by voters in the midterm elections will make it harder to raise funds. That was true for former President Jimmy Carter, who struggled to fund his library center after being defeated by Ronald Reagan in 1980. But planners believe hometown and Texas pride will outweigh any drag from Bush's diminished political fortunes. "The money will be there," a senior Bush adviser said. "The President is very popular in Dallas and the library will be great for the city and SMU." There's another major inducement for potential donors: Their names aren't required to be made public.Gee, you'd think they'd be proud to be associated with the Boy-King. Especially since he's so allegedly popular in Dallas and all.
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