Bye, Bye, Tom

It looks like political curtains for your Tom Delay, Bush. Maybe he'll run for re-election. Maybe he'll be re-elected. Who knows... in Texas? Still, he'll surely never again wield the power he has grown used to. "The Hammer", indeed. He's beginning to look more like the anvil. And I don't really believe that he's an evil man, as some might do. I think he's a man who was blinded by power, and by the blind belief in his own rightness. His own righteousness. That's no excuse, of course, for his having used power as he did, but it's the rationale with which I choose to explain it. Anyway, it's always good to see hubris receive its just reward. Good to see that the mighty can still fall.

Watching "Face the Nation" in bed this morning, with two articulate senators arguing positions, Ellie and I agreed that it was unimaginable to see you in a comparable dialogue. While I disagreed with almost everything your Republican had to say, I could at least respect his argument, if only because he seemed like a thoughtful and articulate man. I can't see you in a sustained, intelligent, spontaenous debate, Bush, in part because you lack the language skills. But--as I think I've said before--subtle, complex thought is inconceivable without the language in which to express it. Simple language skills restrict you to the realm of simple thought. Argument involves more than the few learned, repeated phrases and the withering tone you try to adopt in answering questions. It involves the ability to move in and out of thoughts with ease, to thrust and parry, to come up with new responses as you engage the thoughts of others.

Ah, well. It's Sunday. I trust the Good Lord is better disposed to you this week than I am, Bush. Have a good day.