chomsky silentbob Mandate for Change or Business as Usual - Noam Chomsky As the victors were recovering from the celebration of their electoral triumph in November[1993], the front-page headlines read: "The Economy: Aides plan a scaled-back early agenda." "A group of aides to President-elect Bill Clinton is preparing an economic plan for the Democrat's early days in office that would postpone action on some of his more sweeping proposals in favor of a moderate increase in infrastructure spending, preliminary steps to control rising health care costs and a series of business tax breaks that rated little mention during the campaign," political correspondent Peter Gosselin reported. In the following days, Clinton's advisers, including those on the progressive fringe, reiterated the message, which had been understood all along by corporate-financial sectors; the steadiness of the markets and strength of the dollar were among the many indications of the general satisfaction with Clinton's imminent victory in the business world, which was soon to be reassured further by his top appointments and indication of priorities. The magic word in Clinton's campaign had been "Change," a reorientation of policy toward the needs of the great majority of the population who had suffered from Reagan-Bush "trickle down" economics -- in practice, an upward flood -- and had swept Clinton into office on the promise of an end to the party for the rich. But it would be unfair to speak unkindly of the newly-elected President for clarifying at once that the fine words of the campaign were not intended seriously, that the "Mandate for Change" proclaimed by a Clinton think tank meant "Business as Usual," as it did when Eisenhower's PR team coined the phrase. "Campaign pledges [are] made to be broken," Harvard political scientist and media specialist Marty Linsky explained when President Bush called for "revenue enhancement" after winning the 1988 election with a pledge not to raise taxes. To accuse Bush of violating his campaign pledge was a "political cheap shot." When he led the public in his "read my lips -- no new taxes" chant, Bush had merely been expressing his "world view," making "a statement of his hopes." The same precepts hold for his successor. Only the most naive, who do not comprehend the democratic system, could think that their political representatives mean what they say. Sophisticates understand that "elections and governing are different ball games, played with different objectives and rules." "The purpose of elections is to win," Linsky elaborated, expressing the contempt for democracy that is standard fare among educated elites; and "the purpose of governing is to do the best for the country" -- where "the country" is to be understood as "those who matter," though honesty on that score as well would be too much to expect. February 1993 000914 ... splinken he's also a linguist. 000914 ... typhoid with effects extending to automata theory in mathematics... yeah, this bugger's everywhere. hehe. (the man behind the desk at the tiny bookstore says: "we don't cary him" and means it. i don't know why i asked, i could tell by his face when i walked by...) 000914 ... lokkust propaganda and control of the public mind 000914 ... whitney give me what i need to know 030201 ... x the density of his intelligence takes awhile to filter into my brain 030202 what's it to you? who go blather from