Is there a candidate on the Republican side who would make such a bad President that GWB would look good by contrast? It’s a tough order, but the Bushoids have found someone who could fill it.
George W. Bush, combining filial piety with bipartisan generosity, has managed to make his mediocre father look like a fine President, and Bill Clinton a great one. But that puts great demands on his successor. To make George W. Bush look good, the next President would have to be a true superstar in the field of ignorant, evil lunacy.
Fortunately, the man has found the hour, and GWB’s mouthpiece Dan Bartlett has found the man.
Author: Mark Kleiman
Professor of Public Policy at the NYU Marron Institute for Urban Management and editor of the Journal of Drug Policy Analysis. Teaches about the methods of policy analysis about drug abuse control and crime control policy, working out the implications of two principles: that swift and certain sanctions don't have to be severe to be effective, and that well-designed threats usually don't have to be carried out.
Books:
Drugs and Drug Policy: What Everyone Needs to Know (with Jonathan Caulkins and Angela Hawken)
When Brute Force Fails: How to Have Less Crime and Less Punishment (Princeton, 2009; named one of the "books of the year" by The Economist
Against Excess: Drug Policy for Results (Basic, 1993)
Marijuana: Costs of Abuse, Costs of Control (Greenwood, 1989)
UCLA Homepage
Curriculum Vitae
Contact: Markarkleiman-at-gmail.com
View all posts by Mark Kleiman