Thursday’s Lunch

It’s not really writer’s block but a sporadic lucidity that occasionally informs me that I actually have nothing to say. I support Barack Obama. That’s not going to change the mind of someone who doesn’t. My faith is in God. That’s not going to change the mind of someone whose isn’t. I’m certain that being fully human involves a moral imperative. That’s not going to change the mind of someone who isn’t. I’m not really convinced that the goal in life is to change someone else’s mind, but that’s not going to change the mind of someone who is. I wonder why I’m here. That doesn’t mean that anyone else does, or if they do that they’ll arrive at the same answers as I. I ponder, and I am grateful for the opportunity to process the words that come from wondering.

Have I Died…

…and gone to heaven? My favorite pundit on my favorite candidate:

Why Barack Obama Is Winning by Joe Klein

Excerpts from Klein’s Interview with Obama

Where Did Baby Come From?

Many of the mothers I anonymously deal with each day are the ages of Rachel and Rebecca. “One night stand” is part of the lexicon for those who have no idea who fathered their child(ren). Others already have several children by as many fathers who in turn have several more children by different mothers. America’s bastard baby industry is not experiencing a decline; indeed, it is thriving. Endeavors such as the one I’m employed in are humane to the degree that the attempt is made to ensure that these little “surprises” don’t go hungry or unclothed, but that assumes an ethical and moral mindset on the part of parents that obviously have neither. We don’t track how the money we disburse is used, and that is just as well. My heart goes out to these young women who are similar in age to my daughters but little else. I can take no credit for the women Rachel and Rebecca have become, but I thank God that something impressed them with a sense of responsibility to something greater than themselves. There’s a horrendous tragedy in the making in this country, and neither Democrats nor Republicans are equipped to deal with it. I credit much of Rachel and Rebecca’s “wisdom and stature” to the communities of which they were a part growing up, and it is the development and promotion of such communitarianism across our country that well may be our only hope for the future.

An Apology

Once again I have embarrassed Mary in public. I am truly sorry. Had she known thirty-eight years ago that I was going to become nothing more than an angry old man she might well have thought better of committing the rest of her life to our marriage. My only defense is that at the time I didn’t know that I was going to become an angry old man.

The civil unrest of the late sixties and early seventies may have served to forecast my latter day temperament. I was anti-war, anti-Nixon, and actually went so far as to participate in some of the ubiquitous protests of the time. There was no embarrassment, however, because I found myself caught up in a widespread movement to peaceably work against injustices that obviously needed to be brought down.

Today, however, I discover that I am just a cartoon railing at the establishment. The fact that the Transportation Security Administration has now robbed me of two pocketknives in as many months is upsetting to no one but me. I have questions. Why was the TSA working security for a presidential campaign rally in the first place? Why was TSA enforcing security measures intended for airports at a high school football field? Why was no one other than me upset?

I guess that my appropriate response should have been to amiably fork over my pocketknife of two weeks that I had just purchased to replace the pocketknife of thirty-one years. I guess I should have said to the TSA personnel, “Sure, you take it. You’re just doing your job.” In the forty-eight hours that have passed I have only become more disgusted with myself. It isn’t within me to be so acquiescent. And, I’m even more disgusted with myself because I succumbed to the tension of the moment and didn’t simply stand outside security in protest. I’d seen Barack before and such a silent vigil would have been far more meaningful than the futile argument I engaged in with a TSA official who was “obeying Secret Service orders” (seriously, that’s what he told me). Besides, my humiliated best friend was already on the other side and I was feeling badly about the anguish and embarrassment I was causing her.

At the ripe old age of fifty-eight I seem to be coming up with some pretty convincing arguments that its time for me to just curl up and die. I’ve fathered two beautiful and brilliant daughters, I’ve offered the best of what I am to my wife, and it’s becoming increasingly apparent that my worth to society is on the decline. Perhaps after I cast my vote for Obama it will be time to go. It may be time to amend the codicil to my will instructing that the only words I wish for on my tombstone are “talk is cheap…for that, I’m truly sorry.”

TSA NABS HANNA SECOND TIME

(10/25/08) Las Vegas, NV--
Duly diligent Transportation Safety Administration personnel today confiscated a pocketknife from Mark Hanna, 58, of Las Vegas, as he attempted to enter the Barack Obama presidential campaign rally at Bonanza High School. Only weeks ago (see 09/03/08), TSA took Hanna’s pocketknife of thirty-one years at Las Vegas’ McCarran International Airport in an action he decried as robbery. The “weapon” taken off Hanna today had been purchased two weeks ago in Flagstaff, Arizona, while Hanna was there visiting his daughter, triggering immediate questions of how Hanna had successfully smuggled the Swiss Army blade past authorities at the Hoover Dam checkpoint. Department of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff has warned of the danger posed by repeat offenders, making Hanna’s second apprehension in as many months cause for possible alarm at an increase in terrorist activity. Election officials staved off questions of whether or not today’s incident might be indicative of tactics that could be used to deny eligible citizens their Constitutional right to vote. Magnotometers at polling places might be considered a violation of civil rights and so the method is first being tested at less contentious public assemblies (see Articles 20 and 23) to observe public reaction. The TSA official that talked Hanna down before successfully disarming him said that this was the first actual attempt to bring a pocketknife into the secured premises out of approximately 7,500 who had already been screened. Hundreds of would-be assassins could be seen turning back after watching Hanna get caught. Said Hanna, “Be afraid! Be very afraid!”

Palin's future, according to Garrison Keillor

GARRISON KEILLOR

SYNDICATED COLUMNIST



We are a stalwart and stouthearted people, and never more so than in hard times. People weep in the dark and arise in the morning and go to work. The waves crash on your nest egg and a chunk is swept away and you put your salami sandwich in the brown bag and get on the bus. In Philly, a woman earns $10.30/hour to care for a man brought down by cystic fibrosis. She bathes and dresses him in the morning, brings him meals, puts him to bed at night. It's hard work lifting him and she has suffered a painful hernia that, because she can't afford health insurance, she can't get fixed, but she still goes to work because he'd be helpless without her. There are a lot of people like her. I know because I'm related to some of them.



Low dishonesty and craven cynicism sometimes win the day but not inevitably. The attempt to link Barack Obama to an old radical in his neighborhood has desperation and deceit written all over it. Meanwhile, stunning acts of heroism stand out, such as the fidelity of military lawyers assigned to defend detainees at Guantanamo Bay-- uniformed officers faithful to their lawyerly duty to offer a vigorous defense even though it means exposing the injustice of military justice that is rigged for conviction and the mendacity of a commander in chief who commits war crimes. If your law school is looking for a name for its new library, instead of selling the honor to a fat cat alumnus, you should consider the names of Lt. Cmdr. Charles Swift, Lt. Col. Mark Bridges, Col. Steven David, Lt. Col. Sharon Shaffer, Lt. Cmdr. Philip Sundel and Maj. Michael Mori.



It was dishonest, cynical men who put forward a clueless young woman for national office, hoping to juice up the ticket, hoping she could skate through two months of chaperoned campaigning, but the truth emerges: The lady is talking freely about matters she has never thought about. The American people have an ear for B.S. They can tell when someone's mouth is moving and the clutch is not engaged. When she said, "One thing that Americans do at this time, also, though, is let's commit ourselves just every day, American people, Joe Six-Pack, hockey moms across the nation, I think we need to band together and say never again. Never will we be exploited and taken advantage of again by those who are managing our money and loaning us these dollars," people smelled gas.



Some Republicans adore her because they are pranksters at heart and love the consternation of grown-ups. The ne'er-do-well son of the old Republican family as president, the idea that you increase government revenue by cutting taxes, the idea that you cut social services and thereby drive the needy into the middle class, the idea that you overthrow a dictator with a show of force and achieve democracy at no cost to yourself -- one stink bomb after another, and now Governor Palin.



She is a chatty sportscaster who lacks the guile to conceal her vacuity, and she was Mr. McCain's first major decision as nominee. This troubles independent voters, and now she is a major drag on his candidacy. She will get a nice book deal from Regnery and a new career making personal appearances for forty grand a pop, and she'll become a trivia question, "What politician claimed foreign-policy expertise based on being able to see Russia from her house?" And the rest of us will have to pull ourselves out of the swamp of Republican economics.



Your broker kept saying, "Stay with the portfolio, don't jump ship," and you felt a strong urge to dump the stocks and get into the money market where at least you're not going to lose your shirt, but you didn't do it and didn't do it, and now you're holding a big bag of brown bananas. Me, too. But at least I know enough not to believe desperate people who are talking trash. Anybody who got whacked last week and still thinks McCain-Palin is going to lead us out of the swamp and not into a war with Iran is beyond persuasion in the English language. They'll need to lose their homes and be out on the street in a cold hard rain before they connect the dots.

Reflection on Superiority

A dismissive and condescending memo sent out by a senior administrator yesterday caused me to remember Jerry Farber’s essay, The Student as Nigger. Dr. Mary Smith “required” our freshman English class at Nebraska Wesleyan to read it, and it’s sad to realize that things haven’t really changed in the forty years since Farber indicted the institution of education. There are those who crave positions of power and authority because they feed on the subservience of those “beneath” them. This is nothing new. It appears to have been going on since the dawn of humankind. The competition paradigm requires a winner and a loser (as does primitive evolution) that rewards the victor with the privilege of belittling and demeaning the defeated. From my study of it, I am convinced that the Christ’s revolutionary gospel is that of a non-hierarchical paradigm of cooperation. Certainly those who revel in being “king of the mountain” have little incentive to level the playing field and have every reason to keep us niggers in our place. I continue to pray that those of us who are subjected to bigotry and authoritarianism can remember Jesus’ admonition to turn the other cheek, to walk the extra mile, and to love one another—even our enemies (i.e. masters). It may well be the day of reckoning for those who covet injustice and abuse power, because it looks to me like there’s a nigger headed for the White House, and that’s good news for all of us!

Subject: Protect Your Right to Vote Now

We are on the eve of one of the most historic elections of our time. And the last thing America needs right now is another election that leaves us uncertain of its legitimacy.

Unfortunately, there are enough shenanigans going on to raise serious concerns.

The biggest of them all: Attorney General Mukasey and the Department of Justice (DOJ) are walking away from their sacred responsibility to guarantee smooth and fair elections.

While the government is engaged in a highly-publicized attempt to raise the specter of voter fraud against groups who have been working hard to register poor and minority voters, DOJ is doing little, if anything, to deal with the real problem --hundreds of thousands, maybe millions, of registered voters who may turn up on Election Day just to be turned away.

I just asked the DOJ to take decisive action before Election Day to protect the right to vote for everyone. You can do the same here:

http://action.aclu.org/protectthevote

Election officials should concentrate their limited resources on expanding access to the ballot box and protecting voters. Demand that the Department of Justice act to protect voting rights.

After that, take the time to read:

The Leader We Deserve By MICHAEL KINSLEY


And while I’m playing editor, let me encourage you to read Steve’s comment yesterday and go to the link he provides. The hour is at hand.

Let’s Begin Now!

I’m unintentionally observing Thanksgiving early this year. As each day brings us closer to November 4, I am profoundly grateful that the democracy which undergirds this great Republic of ours appears to be working. I haven’t been able to completely shed my lingering fear of some autocratic takeover of our government, but knowing that I and millions of others are still free to cast our ballot for Barack Obama encourages me. We will only know for sure on November 5, but the present indications of a swelling grassroots movement in our country inspires a kind of genuine hope that has been noticeably absent for almost a quarter century now. It is encouraging to witness the failure of the neo-cons dirty little tricks this time around even as I watch McCain embrace the tactics that were used against him in 2000. There is no question that those of us who seek fundamental change in the direction this country is headed cannot let up until the last polling place in America closes its doors. Evil has deeply rooted itself in the American political psyche and is not going to give up without a fight, but we do have before us the opportunity to prove that stronger than wrong is the right!

Monday’s Lunch

Here I am again, well-fed, secure and safe in the cubicle my employment affords me, taking the latter half of my lunch hour to try to think of something meaningful to say. God is good. Amen.

I’ve pretty well narrowed it down to one question for my Creator. Why me? How do I explain my good fortune when so many of my species suffer hunger, violence, and injustice?

I am blessed by the love of my wife, my daughters, my family and my friends. How do I explain my good fortune when so many of my species know little more than anger and hatred?

I suspect God will remain silent, not because the answer to my question is not known, but because there is no replacement for genuine gratitude. I may never know why I am so blessed, but my thanksgiving to God shall be made manifest through my attention to those not as fortunate as I.

Déjà vu

For What It's Worth - Buffalo Springfield 1966

There's something happening here
What it is ain't exactly clear
There's a man with a gun over there
Telling me I got to beware

I think it's time we stop, children, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down

There's battle lines being drawn
Nobody's right if everybody's wrong
Young people speaking their minds
Getting so much resistance from behind

I think it's time we stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down

What a field-day for the heat
A thousand people in the street
Singing songs and carrying signs
Mostly say, hooray for our side

It's time we stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down

Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life it will creep
It starts when you're always afraid
You step out of line, the man come and take you away

We better stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
Stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
Stop, now, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
Stop, children, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down

The Color of Their Skin?

I thank Mary for sharing this thought-provoking comparison with me so that I can now share it with you:

Obama/Biden vs McCain/Palin: What if things were switched around? Think about it. Would the country's collective point of view be different? Could racism be the culprit?

Ponder the following:

What if the Obamas had paraded five children across the stage, including
a three month old infant and an unwed, pregnant teenage daughter?

What if John McCain was a former president of the Harvard Law Review?

What if Barack Obama finished fifth from the bottom of his graduating class?

What if McCain had only married once, and Obama was a divorcee?

What if Obama was the candidate who left his first wife after a severe
disfiguring car accident, when she no longer measured up to his standards?

What if Obama had met his second wife in a bar and had a long affair while
he was still married?

What if Michelle Obama was the wife who not only became addicted to pain
killers but also acquired them illegally through her charitable organization?

What if Cindy McCain graduated from Harvard?

What if Obama had been a member of the Keating Five?
(The Keating Five were five United States Senators accused of corruption
in 1989, igniting a major political scandal as part of the larger Savings
and Loan crisis of the late 1980s and early 1990s.)

What if McCain was a charismatic, eloquent speaker?

What if Obama couldn't read from a teleprompter?

What if Obama was the one who had military experience that included
discipline problems and a record of crashing seven planes?

What if Obama was the one who was known to display publicly, on many
occasions, a serious anger management problem?

What if Michelle Obama's family had made their money from beer distribution?

What if the Obamas had adopted a white child?

You could easily add to this list. If these questions reflected reality,
do you really believe the election numbers would be as close as they are?

This is what racism does. It covers up, rationalizes and minimizes
positive qualities in one candidate and emphasizes negative qualities in
another when there is a color difference.

Educational Background:

Barack Obama:
Columbia University - B.A. Political Science with a Specialization in
International Relations.
Harvard - Juris Doctor (J.D.) Magna Cum Laude

Joseph Biden:
University of Delaware - B.A. in History and B.A. in Political Science.
Syracuse University College of Law - Juris Doctor (J.D.)

vs.

John McCain:
United States Naval Academy - Class rank: 894 of 899

Sarah Palin:
Hawaii Pacific University - 1 semester
North Idaho College - 2 semesters - general study
University of Idaho - 2 semesters - journalism
Matanuska-Susitna College - 1 semester
University of Idaho - 3 semesters - B.A. in Journalism

Education isn't everything, but this is about the two highest offices in
the land as well as our standing in the world. You make the call.

And while I’m letting others do my work for me today, you can not do better than to spend a little time with good ol’ Joe:
The Obama Surge: Will It Last? By Joe Klein

“Only the Good Die Young”

If ever a president deserved to be assassinated, it is George W. Bush. The criminal corruption of the United States Constitution during his administration has done inestimable harm to our civil rights and to our standing in the world. Like O.J. Simpson, Bush and his cronies may eventually face justice, but it will be tragically after the fact and of little consolation to a nation they have nearly brought to ruin.

History, however, proves that those who ought to have been murdered to get them out of office have not been the target of such violence. Three of the four presidents who have been assassinated (Abraham Lincoln, James A. Garfield, and William McKinley) were Republicans, with John F. Kennedy being the only Democrat. Bush et al are protected by the fact that their adversaries are enlightened people who shun violence and seek reasonable and rational solutions to problems.

This unfortunate truth is what places Barack Obama in increasing peril. The idiots that have supported Bush in the past and McCain now are the very ones whose Neanderthal mentality views violence as the answer. McCain brags that for generations his family has viewed patriotism as “fighting” for their country. An intelligent, compassionate and diplomatic worldview is an affront to such primitive ideology, and the representative of such an enlightened view seems ultimately to become the target of violent attempts to destroy it (see Jesus).

I continue to pray that We the People still have control of our democracy and our country. The next three weeks will tell. There is going to be sore little satisfaction in saying ‘I told you so’ if the neo-cons more fully reveal their evil selves by openly grabbing the reins of power they have so immorally wielded the past eight years.

Until We Admit

We enjoyed a wonderful weekend with Rebecca and Kevin in Flagstaff. One of my parental behaviors has been trying to imagine what the world must look like through my children’s eyes. Rebecca gave me a brief glimpse when she declared the economy off limits for discussion while we were there. The more I thought about it, the more I could understand her feelings. We the People have been betrayed by our government with its bailout of contemptibly corrupt businesses. As if $700 billion wasn’t bad enough, the truth about the addition $1.5 billion worth of “sweeteners” to sway previously nay votes borders on the despicable. Now that we’ve let selfish greed define the American character there’s not a whole lot to stand up and wave the flag for anymore. From Main Street to Wall Street to Capitol Hill we are awash in debt with no one but ourselves to blame. I want to believe that November 4 is going to change everything, but that doesn’t really account for what we’ve done to ourselves and what we’re willing to do to put things right.

Yom Kippur Reflection

Why is it so difficult for me to be at one with You? [Being a panentheist permits me to use the personal pronoun.] I am literally nothing without You, and yet my oft times erroneous reasoning allows me to believe that I am. Through the gift of volition You have made it possible for me to think of You as optional, as real or not real. You make it rain upon the just and the unjust just to prove the point. I am deeply grateful that You have not imposed an awareness of your presence upon me because that permits me the freedom to draw near, but it also permits me the freedom to turn away, much to my personal peril. Like a moth to flame I am so easily attracted to material things and mortal thought. These are so tangible, so readily available as to make You seem little more than fantasy. And yet, in my most lucid moments I remember that I am nothing without You. How do I even begin to express my profound gratitude for your lovingly patient forgiveness? Each time I choose to seek You, You are there, no matter how many times before I have put You out of mind. To your glory and honor may I this day resolve to ever strive to improve the relationship to which You are always present that I may know the peace which passes all understanding of being at one with You.

We Need A New American “Holiday”

Contrite is another word that I don’t hear much. Synonymous with penitent, it defines a feeling of sorrow or regret for one’s sins. I don’t hear anyone admitting that they’ve done anything wrong. I find that most disturbing in the context of the present financial crisis. Ironically claiming credit for more years of experience, John McCain just doesn’t seem to get that this means he’s been part of the problem for the past quarter century, not part of the solution. It’s been said that the two most difficult words in the English language are, “I’m sorry.” (The three most difficult being, “I don’t know.”) Yom Kippur begins at sundown this evening, and I think that, as Americans, we are missing a significant opportunity by not declaring tomorrow a national day of atonement. When AIG executives go on a half-million-dollar junket following their bailout by U.S. taxpayers it speaks volumes about the kind of selfish greed that has put all of us in this predicament. Yes, not only would I like to see those executives have to repay the money and be terminated, true revival of the American spirit is not likely to occur until they would confess their sins and apologize to us who have been wronged. Are you listening, W?

What In God’s Name Is Wrong With Us?

Media from around the world covered Cirque de OJ:
Simpson in isolation, focuses on future

Why isn’t the world-wide media covering this instead?
Prosecution details injuries girl suffered

Who’s Fault?

I don’t see the word penitence being used much these days. Perhaps that is because no one regrets wrongdoing. I suspect that it may be more accurate to say that we all regret the wrongdoing of someone else thereby avoiding self-incrimination. As I watched Bill Moyers' August 15 interview with Andrew Bacevich I was struck by Bacevich’s repeated admonition for us to look in the mirror. Congress found it necessary to take time out from the bailout to observe Rosh Hashanah, but I can’t help but wonder if that’s going to include Yom Kippur which begins at sundown next Wednesday. We’re all pretty good at pointing the finger of blame, but we’re all pretty bad about accepting culpability. Through the representatives we elected to govern us we have saddled out children, grandchildren, and probably our great grandchildren with an incomprehensible debt just so that we that we can selfishly enjoy the now. We the People are responsible for our current predicament, and for as long as we deny that truth will we suffer the consequences.

Meditation

To those I love there are some things I must say. Your close attention is requested, not as a requirement but in the prayerful hope that my thoughts may be worthy.

I am unquestionably American. That is all I have ever known. In the context of Hebrew Scripture I am a God-fearing American in that my faith is in that which I reverently perceive as transcendent in every way, realized and not yet comprehended, to me. I find myself experiencing the era of American history in which we must—and I think may be about to—discover the power of God’s love to guide creative progress as the viable alternative to the historic paradigm of destroy and conquer.

There is no thought more unchristian than “country first.” This is an oath of allegiance to empire that utterly contradicts the ancient and universal maxim to love God first and foremost. The attempt to justify a definition of patriotism which is distorted by the assertion that God blesses imperialistic dominion is sacrilege of the highest order. Such allegiance is an archetypical expression of an egocentrism which can never harmonize with a reverential devotion to It, the Great Other, the Higher Power, God. Each one decides if such corruption is tangible evidence of the antichrist made manifest to human experience.

Putting God first naturally evokes an abject confession of having fallen short, of having missed the mark, of having failed to understand, appreciate, and experience the holistic and symbiotic unity of Creator and Creation. I come to God as an American who is undeniably God’s before I am America’s. I am therefore fundamentally at odds with every admonition to put anything before God, country included. The claim of discipleship is, therefore, authenticated through practical agreement with the Greatest Commandment as revealed in, by, and through the Christ.

Prayer of Confession

Gracious God,
When compounded on a daily basis my transgressions are innumerable. How many waking moments are diminished by not fully being that which You created? I am blessed that You know me and cursed by my inability to let such knowledge become my wisdom. Depraved and despicable are words not too strong to describe me who woefully ignores the plight of the least. I find my faith too often preoccupied with the mortal at the expense of my atonement with the immortal. You never leave me, but I am far too often ignorant of your abiding presence. You have given me life and yet I continually rationalize that devotion to You is somehow not necessary. Forgive me, I pray. Amen.

What An Idiot I Am!

Let me see if I understand any of this. If I went out today and drove off the dealer’s lot with a 2009 Hummer H2 priced at $60,900 for which I paid nothing down but agreed to repay the loan over 60 months during which time the APR increased by 10% annually, and then I discover that the cost of gasoline (what do you know? no one seems to be able to provide the mpg :-) added to the ever-increasing loan payments makes it unaffordable, I lose the Hummer while the dealer goes to Uncle Sam and asks to be reimbursed the whole amount because otherwise it’s going to go out of business—because it's done the same stupid thing with a million other stupid people like me—have I got this about right? Oh, I’m sure I don’t, because I’m just a godless, bleeding heart, tree-hugging, nigger-and-queer-loving, Prius-driving, abortion-promoting liberal. Those of you who believe in one had better start praying to God that we re-elect all the folks who got us into this mess in the first place, because it’s clear they understand much better than I.

The Bush Who Cried Wolf!

Once upon a time there was a little man named George who very much believed he was the center of the universe. Although George had some friends who shared his belief, there were just as many or more who didn’t. George very much wanted to be in control—of everything—and he set about to devise a plan (ala McCain, a strategy) that would fulfill his wish.

So it was that one day George cried out, “The godless liberals are ruining this country that God intended for us Christians. The godless liberals want abortion, gay marriage, and euthanasia more than they want manifest destiny. We need to be afraid of these godless liberals who want nothing more than to destroy our right-wing ideology, and we must defeat their attempt to unconstitutionally grab the reins of our government.” And some of the people believed George and had the Supreme Court appoint him President.

After the horror of September 11, George again saw an opportunity to cry out, “The godless Iraqis are taking over the world, the United States included. They’re going to destroy us unless we ‘bomb them back into the Stone-Age’ first. And some of the people believed George and attacked Iraq; never-minding that George had invented the whole story just to scare the pants off them.

And now, George is crying, “The economy is collapsing, the economy is collapsing! The taxpayers (this is George’s euphemism for United States citizens) must give me a trillion dollars more to bail out my buds (remember Kenny Boy?) in the financial sector from the consequences of their greed.” But lo and behold, the House of Representatives (the Constitution’s euphemism for those elected to represent We the People) stood up to George and said, “No!”

This certainly threw George for a loop, and he can think of nothing more to do than continue to cry that the economy is collapsing. Maybe it is. Maybe it isn’t. But we’ll never know the truth by continuing to listen to the Bush who cried wolf!