'Don't just do something; stand there!

As for our prisons, there is little I can say in defense of these schools for scoundrels. I believe the entire problem needs further dissecting. To paraphrase an old English rhyme, the world has a long tradition of imprisoning the thief who steals the goose from off the common and ignoring the greater felon who steals the common from the goose. Our politicians appear to exemplify the latter. More certainly, our politicians are accelerating the pace of alienation from the voters and concerned citizens.

I enjoyed Fareed Zakaria's GPS program in which he interviewed two former Secretaries of the Treasury, Robert Rubin and Paul O'Neill. Democrat and Republican respectively, the two were reassuringly on the same track. They agreed that confidence in government is eroding and that current financial reforms miss the mark.

O'Neill was outspoken in his observation that our tax system is idiotic and should be reformed along the lines of a VAT or consumer tax. He noted that he had been preaching such reform in the early days of the Bush presidency. He also noted that he was fired for opposing the Bush tax cut for higher income bracket people and for denying the existence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Going strongly against the Republican talking points, he confirmed that tax cuts for the rich are not a good idea when the government needs money for such efforts as financing a war, reducing national debt, and rebuilding our social security and medicare systems. I personally have found it confounding that while the government needs tax revenues to operate, the economy is said to be stimulated by reducing them. It is not that I don't understand the economic arguments, but rather I find them contradictory.

Your comment that heads of state want to be their own foreign secretary reveals an insightful and well read mind. The veracity of this is well driven home when one considers the blunders of our past presidents going all the way back to the post Kennedy era. Nixon may have been an exception as he seemed to have relied heavily on Henry Kissinger to break our commitment to Vietnam and to open up China. In spite of his international upbringing, O appears to have little international savvy. As for the gaiety of nations about which you so fondly speak, there isn't any. The world is in the doldrums over failed globalization which, like socialism, appears to be more and more the equal distribution of poverty. I would like to back off that statement a bit as there is considerable wealth in the world, but it is intensively hoarded by a very few individuals and nations with phenomenal caches of sovereign funds at their disposal. Moreover, it may be premature to condemn globalization as it is only in its infancy.

Reports on theDeepwater Horizon venture continue to confuse everyone. Late news is the hole has finally been successfully plugged. Later news is that another relief well effort is now being made to plug it once and for all. This is just poor reporting by people who understand little or nothing about the oil industry.

The sluggish economy continues to have ill effects here in Central Texas. A pervasive grumpiness and prickliness prevails among many denizens who otherwise would be of high and hopeful spirits. The media adds to this public malaise by taunting O' for sending his wife and one daughter off to Spain at monumental public expense. Their reasoning; O should not preach tightening public purse strings on the one hand and partying like a billionaire on the other. My call is that the Presidents of the US and their families should take ample time off from the stress of their positions.

Meantime, the Fat Lady has submerged again, possibly holidaying herself after a long world tour and a costly wedding. Why do I get the impression that world leaders don't take her seriously? Her errant husband, her femininity, her liberalism? Surely it is not her physical stature, which seems to be overpowering the weight of her intellect.