''We are interested in reality,'' presidential spokesman Scott McClellan said. ... McClellan said the economic forecast was simply the work of ''number crunchers.'' He said Bush - who bills himself as the first president with a Master of Business Administration degree - was not a statistician or predictor.
-- AP on the President distancing himself from his comment that new economy will add 2.6 million jobs this year; no evidence the scale back was inspired by fear he himself will lose his job
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Don't Call Me: A federal appellate court overturned a district court's decision that the national do-not-call registry law was a violation of the First Amendment because commercial speech alone was specifically targeted. The opinion is well reasoned in mostly easy to understand English, which is always a good thing (I'd also note that Supreme Court opinions appear to be shorter and more concise these days, somewhat ironic given there are a lot fewer of them than there were ten or so years ago). It also accurately reflects the current understanding "commercial speech" gets somewhat less protection.
I still am bothered by the fact that charitable and political calls are not covered. A private "No Soliciting" sign [to use a comparision to the registry cited by the opinion] can block out Jehovah Witnesses as much as those who sell magazines, and who's really more annoying? And, I'm not so sure that politicians and charities are necessarily so much less "abusive and deceptive" because they are selling a cause instead of a purely economic good. Compare a push poll that taints an election vs. one selling a bank service. In point of fact, the latter might actually be more productive in the long run.
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Put A Fork In Him: Ah well, Dean is officially done ... I stand by my belief that his Internet campaign, forceful message, and alternate vision served a valuable purpose in this campaign. He was at the end of the day an incomplete candidate, but they too have their roles to play. Sen. Edwards [the more electable Lieberman? see also] might have benefited from his staying on, if Dean was not now a largely defanged sort that was not much of a threat to Sen. Kerry, while bleeding off a few essential votes that might have gone Edwards' way. Anyway, Edwards cheerfully continues the fight ... some even comment that his website is more exciting than Kerry's!