Could they stand on their hind legs? Do you think?

performing pastel-colored poodle,
in a clown and poodle show
[OCRegister]

Ari Berman in The Nation takes a look at the Dems, embroiled in their running soap opera of duck and cover. Hide from it all but be The Alternative --also known as The Candidate:

Iraq returned as a central theme in George W. Bush's State of the Union address this year. With the war on the minds of many members of the public and with the 2006 midterm elections approaching, it seemed natural that the opposition party would forcefully challenge the President's policy.

When I was growing up (a black girl in a very white world I might add), it was common for people to call the chinese takeaway "the chinky", the corner shop was the "paki shop" and black people were "nignogs" and "darkies". If you were lucky and very very good, you might be referred to as "the coloured gentleman". While some people today in Britain might find it acceptable to continue with these derogatory terms, most find it abhorrent. If you have ever been on the receiving end of this kind of language you would understand fully why the situation had to change. The saying when I was growing up was:

I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IT IS LIKE TO BE POOR.
I came here to Greece from a wealthy European country. I came here through choice. I came with money to support myself. I was not leaving England due to unemployment. I came here of my own free will, in search of adventure, to discover something different, to experience life in another country. I have had the pleasure of working in my professional field here. I have never had to take a low paid menial job without insurance. I am privileged

I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IT IS LIKE TO LIVE UNDER PERSECUTION.
I did not flee England fearing for my life or for the lives of my children. I have never lived in a war-zone. I have never been attacked because of my religion, my beliefs or my ideas. I do not know what it is like to lose family members or limbs or my sanity because of war, bombings, massacres or ethnic cleansing.

Support our government workers? What? After New Orleans?

We say, "we support our troops," but last night I realized that our "troops" don't always carry weapons. Sometimes our "troops" carry the law and rules and regulations in their hands. Sometimes they merely make a call and action takes places that saves lives through an act of mercy. But they have to have the means. They have to have the tools.

I had dinner with a career civil servant of a senior rank. She was sick at heart. She spoke with pain about how she had watched program after program get dismantled by administration after administration. The machinery to make things happen, gutted. She saw staff reductions and funding reductions. The staff, reduced to half the original number of people, works longer hours with a greater over-all case load. There is mandatory over-time without pay and still it is popular to say that the government is "bloated."