A Look at the Bush Era, Harper's Index Style

Posted by Isaac Fitzgerald, AlterNet at 11:25 AM on January 14, 2009.

Harper's has released a retrospective of the Bush years Harper's Index that is both hilarious and saddening. Here's just a taste:

Estimated percentage by which Social Security benefits would have declined if Bush’s privatization plan had passed: –15

Estimated total calories members of Congress burned giving Bush’s 2002 State of the Union standing ovations: 22,000

Percentage change since 2002 in the number of U.S. teens using illegal drugs: –9

Percentage change in the number of adults in their fifties doing so: +121

Number of White House officials in 2006 and 2007 authorized to discuss pending criminal cases with the DOJ: 711

Number of Clinton officials ever authorized to do so: 4

Percentage of the amendments in the Bill of Rights that are violated by the USA PATRIOT Act, according to the ACLU: 50

Estimated number of U.S. intelligence reports on Iraq that were based on information from a single defector: 100

Number of times the defector had ever been interviewed by U.S. intelligence agents: 0

Date on which Bush said of Osama bin Laden, "I truly am not that concerned about him": 3/13/02

Days after the U.S. invaded Iraq that Sony trademarked "Shock & Awe" for video games: 1

Days later that the company gave up the trademark, citing "regrettable bad judgment": 25

Take the time to read it all here.

Tagged as: bush, bush era, harper's index, harper's magazine