Words That Are Missing From the Campaign

I'm back from speechifying in Seattle (where I'm afraid I drew some crowds from Michael Moore.) Now I'd like to crank up blogging at least till the election.

First, I hope you'll peruse my Big Salvo which shows how calamitous our present leaders are, even if you believe in an assertive America that acts vigorously in the world. Just one fact - that we have fewer divisions ready for active duty in an emergency than before 9/11 - should give any conservative or moderate pause. (Per capita, we now have fewer soldiers guarding our homeland than before Pearl Harbor.) These obstinate ninnies have laid us bare, used up our reserves and embroiled us in a land war of attrition during times that call for maximum agility.

Now for something new Through each presidential term, I keep a list of words and phrases that might be prominent, come the next election. This year, some are curiously absent. Before 2001, for example, Republican leaders forecast a tidal wave of indictments against Clinton era officials, once the GOP took over the Executive Branch. Yet, for four years that promise of punished perfidy went unfulfilled. The "i word" has gone unmentioned.

Frustratingly, nobody seems willing to remind folks of that promise. Pres. Bush sent hundreds of lawyers trawling through file cabinets to prove the Clintonites "The most corrupt administration in history." Pat phrases like that fed the indignation wars of the nineties. Only now?

Lo and behold. All that vindictive searching, for a result of ZERO INDICTMENTS? Dang... but that would make the previous administration the... the... (gulp) most honest and least culpable in US history! Gasp.

Now let's ask the most fervent W supporter to lay money on odds that THIS administration will score similarly, under an honest and open system of justice, when its tenure ends. I'll even give a bye on the first 20. (No wonder they are fighting so savagely to stay in office.)