CA Note from M.Dash

We think of him as a distant cousin: Jon Carroll, columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle, who this week referred to Ashcroft & Company as "inept fascists" who "can't even run a police state right" has pretty much nailed the reaction of non-Californians to California's budget crisis and recall election. Here's the link to Jon Carroll's CA column.

DASHNOTE:

If you missed Anatol Lieven's essay (ostensibly a book review) in the Nation, you should read it now, linked here: "The Empire Strikes Back".

It's as true now as it was when it was written, way back in June or July. (Published in July 7, 2003 issue.)

Here's a taste: "Given its immense wealth, the United States can afford a military capable of dominating the earth; or it can afford a stable, secure system of social and medical entitlements for a majority of its aging population; or it can afford massive tax cuts for its wealthiest citizens and no tax raises for the rest. But it cannot afford all three..."