Smartertimes.com's favorite Bush administration official so far is Michael Powell. Here's how the Federal Communications Commission's chairman, son of General Colin Powell, responded to a question yesterday about the "digital divide" between those who can afford new technology and those who can't: "I think there is a Mercedes divide. I'd like to have one; I can't afford one. I'm not meaning to be completely flip about this. I think it's an important social issue. But it shouldn't be used to justify the notion of essentially the socialization of the deployment of the infrastructure."
How does the New York Times react when someone makes an intelligent point that challenges the liberal orthodoxy? Naturally, reporting the matter in its business section today, the newspaper wheels out its liberal sources to explain to its readers what Mr. Powell has said wrong. One representative calls Powell's remarks "insensitive and elitist." Another says Mr. Powell "seems to have become isolated from the realities of life for most Americans."
Later in the article, Mr. Powell is quoted as saying, "I think there is a lot of garbage on television. There are a lot of things children should not watch. But I don't believe that government should be your nanny." Does the Times react to that quote by trotting out two experts from a Christian conservative group -- or Senator Lieberman, for that matter -- to condemn Mr. Powell's remarks as insensitive and to argue that the government does have a role to play in limiting sex and violence on television? Of course not.
'Americans for Peace': An article in today's New York Times about reaction by American Jewish groups to the election of Ariel Sharon identifies one group as "Americans for Peace." The correct name of the group is "Americans for Peace Now."
Late Again: The New York Times this morning runs an editorial on President Reagan's 90th birthday. The birthday was yesterday, and common sense would have dictated running the editorial then, rather than waddling in behind the curve.
Conflict of Interest: An article in the metro section of today's New York Times reports, "William C. Thompson Jr., the president of the Board of Education, said yesterday that he would resign from the board within two months to comply with an ethics ruling that bars him from raising money for his campaign for city comptroller." The story never says who made this "ethics ruling," and what logic, if any, it was based on. If it were really unethical for politicians to raise campaign funds while they hold office, the entire Congress would have to resign immediately.