I learned from her that my father wasn't a racist. He was an equal-opportunity hater. Anyone different -- any nationality, ethnicity, or race -- was worthy of his casual contempt. Many of those he hated on general principles he liked personally and spoke of with admiration, when he got to know them. He's gone. I think about him a lot.
My sister and I discussed the impact on the 2008 presidential contest of Sarah Palin's womb.
And I find myself living in a state without economic development. It has economic arrested development. In one week's time, the newspaper has reported that state unemployment bounded skyward to 8.6% -- a three point gain in a month; AND that the local casino, the state's third largest source of revenue, is almost surely heading for bankruptcy. Understand, Rhode Island is desperately trying to sew closed a $425 million deficit tear. This is a seriously bad time to lose a huge chunk of slot machine change.
It is also the week of the proposed $800 million bailout. The FBI is investigating Fannie, Freddie, Lehman and AIG for fraud at the highest levels. Voters want someone flogged. They'd let the bailout off the scrutiny hook, I think, if someone senior in each company were flogged. I'm not talking metaphorically. Isn't it time for a return to corporal punishment, reserving it for destructive greed?
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