Washington Affairs

3 February 2003


State of the Union, C+
President George W. Bush gave his State-of-the-Union address to Congress and received generally good reviews, suggesting that so little is expected of him by anyone that merely giving the speech would count as a success. A better speech was given in rebuttal by Governor Locke of Washington State -- all the more so since he answered the President's speech deftly and clearly with no time afterward to rewrite his own. What a man says ought to count more than how he says it, but Mr. Bush said little enough. Click here to read more.

NASA Loses Astronauts, Shuttle, Purpose
Shortly before landing on Saturday, the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated over Texas with the loss of all seven crewmembers. Their deaths are mourned across the globe, and the word "heroic" has been used more times that one can count. Even so, the period of investigation and reflection that lies ahead must answer the most fundamental question "What is space for?" To date, NASA has failed to answer even badly. Click here for more.

Affirmative Action Debate Misses the Point of Learning
The usual pundits appeared on TV and radio when the US judiciary got involved with the affirmative action admissions process at the University of Michigan. The right argued that a color-blind society should have no racial quotas, while the left maintained that people are being denied access to Camus, Kant and Copernicus because of their race. What no one asked is "why does a university education matter anymore?" Click here to read on.