Bush & Company

Sarah, Sarah, don't you get it?
Pittsburgh never will forget it.
The Phillies aren't the ones you mean---
The Pirates are the team you mean!

Ms. Palin has her own campaign
Apart from Senator McCain;
Since it seems sure that he can't win,
Sarah's game plan can begin

By showing that she's not like him,
Her mentor's cherished goals to shelve
And head straight for 2012.
After a certain interim,

She'll take those voters for a ride
Who don't know she's unqualified.

Ms. Palin has her own campaign
Apart from Senator McCain;
Since it seems sure that he can't win,
Sarah's game plan can begin

By showing that she's not like him,
Her mentor's cherished goals to shelve
And head straight for 2012.
After a certain interim,

She'll take those voters for a ride
Who don't know she's unqualified.

Would the maverick McCain of old, who eight years ago was annihilated by Lee Atwater-inspired smear tactics, have dreamed that he would employ similar tactics in his next presidential campaign? Has he changed that much or is he simply revealing a side of himself heretofore hidden?

Terrellita Maverick, member emeritus of the board of the San Antonio chapter, The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, takes exception to her family name (which became a word that Webster's defines as a dissenter, one " . . . who takes an independent stand apart from his associates") being used to describe Senator John McCain. He is, writes John Schwartz, quoting her in the October 5 Sunday Times, ". . .in no way a maverick. . ." Samuel Augustus Maverick in the 1800s was a Texas rancher who broke the mold by not branding his cattle and subsequent Mavericks have been well-known liberals. Mr. Schwartz goes on to quote Ms. Maverick as saying that her entire family cringes at Mr. McCain's many mentions of himself as a maverick, despairing. "Oh, my God, he said it again." In fact, the senator's running mate terms both herself and Mr. McCain as "a team of mavericks."

Whereas Sarah Palin may simply be continuing to be herself, John McCain has ruined his reputation as a true maverick to become the worst kind of politician, one he has criticized others for being and which he said he would never be. If he doesn't win this election, he will have made an utter fool of himself for nothing

This is, my friends, just where it's at:
Ms. Palin's talking through her hat;

Soon she may toss John on the shelf
And run next time for prez herself.

Meanwhile, John's people, jumping ship,
Alarmed by lack of leadership,

May join Ms. Sarah as a tool
That makes John still a bigger fool.

Scott McLellan's tell-all book, WHAT HAPPENED (Public Affairs) May, 2008, created an uneasy stir in the DC loop. A venting of spleen, Scott both criticizes and defends his old friend and former boss, President George W. Bush and at the same time, attempts to explain his own part in administration shenanigans.

The powers that be were oh, so sad
To have been so unfairly had
By one of them, their very own.
Who would have thought the faithful Scott
Would put them in so tight a spot?
Who would have dreamed, who could have known?

Yet Scott said once he'd seen the light,
His conscience made him do what's right
(Albeit with a touch of spite)
As well as show he was contrite.

John Dean remarked Scott soon would know
Who is his friend and who his foe.

Our best-known whistleblower continues to implore potential whistleblowers to come forward.

So many documents lie hidden
That tell of deeds better forbidden;
Some know, like Daniel Ellsberg, facts,
About deceits and heinous acts.

Is there another brave beanspiller
Who'll tell the truth? This war's a killer.
It seems clear that we sorely need
Someone to follow Ellsberg's lead.