The Mallaby interview, as I said before, is especially good. I had seen glowing reports in Business Week of the book. He sounded great, as Doug said, until he wilted when confronted with facts.
I am apalled at how poorly critical messages get out, even by those who could benefit by them. I watched the debates, trying to answer the questions before the candidates. Bush was pretty easy -- tort reform and No Child Left Behind were especially predictable. When Kerry had an opening on his environmental question, I though, "Now here comes the championship debater." Thud! He blew it. Just as Bush failed in his first debate because he had never been challenged for 4 years, Kerry, filled with fluff and statistics, was not all that impressive. I once get screwed up with the date and went to Nader's sister's house for a meeting with Nader & other people working on a project. It turned out that I spent 2 hours with him alone. I had never encountered anyone like him. When I spoke of something that was not of interest he tuned out completely, thinking about something else. When the conversation moved back to something of interest to him, his mind worked like a powerful computer. I did not sense any personal warmth. I doubt that he would recognized me the next day, but he could have creamed the others in a debate. Sorry for the ramble, but the show struck me as powerful evidence of the poverty of political discourse in the country today. -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail michael at ecst.csuchico.edu
