Send in the Clowns by Bob Herbert at the NY Times

[applegrove]

Op-Ed Columnist
Send in the Clowns
New York Times
By BOB HERBERT
Published: October 6, 2007
It’s embarrassing.

"Go to Columnist Page » The U.S. is going through a transitional period at least as important as the early post-World War II years. New worlds in energy, technology, the economy and global interdependence are either upon us or coming fast.

Yet much of the nation’s top leadership is either wasting its time on complete nonsense or trying with great determination to push us back to the era of top hat and tails.

Among other things, Republicans are trying to figure out what to do about Larry Craig, the loony senator from Idaho who got caught in a public toilet behaving as if he thought the promised land was just one stall away.

Democrats, unable to do anything about George W. Bush’s policy of eternal war in Iraq, found themselves reduced to fulminating in official Congressional proceedings about the latest wackiness from Rush Limbaugh.

.......SNIP"

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/06/opinion/06herbert.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin

[musette_sf]

1. i must say that i am disappointed

with the NYT's shift of columnist schedules. Bob Herbert gets relegated to Saturday now, which was the perfect place for Maureen "DLC Queen" Dowd and her ramblings. Herbert is a truth-teller of unpleasant truths. now only those who are news junkies will read one of his weekly columns. very sad.

[applegrove]

3. At least they got rid of Times Select fees. For those on the forums

it will still remain easy to come across the NYTimes Op-Ed columnists.

[musette_sf]

9. thank goodness for that

and yes, i was one of the suckers paying my $39.95 a year. they got two years out of me. but being raised in NYC, i had to have me my NYT every day.

[applegrove]

10. I am in Canada and paid $50.00 for the privilege...while I could afford it.

I missed it a great deal.

[TwilightGardener]

2. Great article--thanks!

[applegrove]

4. Yes. I like Bob Herbert

[tomreedtoon]

5. One complaint; college degrees won't help.

What's the point in getting a college degree if the only job you get is flipping burgers or sweeping Wal-Mart stores?

The worlds of technology that Herbert talks about exist in other countries, not the United States.

He's right that neither party is addressing the important issues, but at least in this column, he didn't go far enough into detail about the economy. Maybe he's addressed it elsewhere; I haven't been able to read the NYWT until they lifted the pay-for-play provision.

[applegrove]

6. Safest bet is to get a degree in the sciences or something practical

like business, social work,etc..or to get a certificate as a radiology technitian.

[tomreedtoon]

11. But those are non-productive "service" professions.

They're little more than high-priced burger flipping. Especially business, which is only a religion, not a process for getting anything done. And who will be able to afford radiology, since no one will be able to afford it, because we won't have national health care?

Herbert was talking about professions where things are made, like manufacturing. At least I thought he was. If he's not, it's the old Republican "service economy" that created Wal-Mart, put lead in our kids' playpens and sold tainted hamburger.

My point is that college education is worthless for "service" professions. What we need are real companies that produce products that the rest of the world wants to buy. When we get those, then a college education may become something more than four years of drugs and sexual experimentation with a little learning.

[applegrove]

13. Just imagine that oil will hit $200 a barrel sometime in the future. All

jobs that use oil in the production process will be lost. What will be around and medical profession jobs, and jobs where you think something up but have the option of it being produced somewhere else..like pharmaceuticals, software design, nanotechnology, biology firms. Not to mention ethanol (if it really does end up replacing oil...it may not).

[yoyossarian]

7. How DARE Bob Herbert question our glorious leadership!

"The future looks so bright
I gotta wear shades..."



T-shirts, mugs, buttons n' cards at
http://cafepress.com/laughcity

[pwb]

8. thanks for reminding me of a song i love Judy Collins,send in the clowns.

[CK_John]

12. If you want a future and make a living, start building rickshaws. n/t