We think we can't survive without deficit spending - but we soon won't be able to survive with deficit spending, either.

It may not be fair, but it's true that in politics - in TV broadcasting, in any public figure - people pay attention to your appearances. One of the things we were all talking about was Al Gore won't be running for president unless we see that he's losing weight. Americans usually elect a taller man president.

While, as I recall, conservative little boys practice quick draw with their cap guns while playing cowboys and Indians, apparently liberal little boys practice how fast they can throw up their hands to surrender to the guys in the black hats.