With Bush at the Saudi Court:

“'We don’t need America to dictate our enemies to us, especially when it’s our neighbor,' said an insider at the Saudi royal court" (qtd. Maureen Dowd, New York Times 1-16-08). Maureen Dowd describes the amazing opulence of the Saudi Court that oil has generated in recent years, in her column yesterday.

Three years ago, George W. Bush had this to say in explaining why Osama bin Laden had not yet been found: "Because he's hiding."

Now that he's entering his last year in office, it is comforting to remember that the man who told us his administration would not be a nation builder had this to say at the beginning of his term in office: "There's no such thing as legacies. At least, there is a legacy, but I'll never see it." Certainly, there is little doubt that he was absolutely correct about that. The current members of his party who hope to succeed him are running away from his "legacy" so fast they almost sound like Democrats when you listen to them.

Any guesses about which conservative think tank author will issue a book entitled something like "The Bush Years and the Betrayal of America"?

Economy in Free Fall:

While your president Bush is practicing his sword dancing at The House of Saud, new housing starts in America are currently fewer than at any time since 1991, a period that saw more homelessness in the U. S. than at any time since The Great Depression. (See the Times article.)

Note: Computer technology is the first technological advance that has actually reduced jobs rather than creating jobs.

Sign of the Times: Merrill Lynch Posts a $9.8 Billion Loss

The New York Times reports that the investment firm had a total right-down of $16.7 billion resulting in the mega loss of money. Another sign of the market's free fall is Lehman Brothers cutting of 1,300 jobs.

It's snowing in the north-east, but Bing Crosby ain't singin'. What passed for Christmas has come and gone, and we're left with the wisdom of a fool: "I'm hopeful. I know there is a lot of ambition in Washington, obviously, but I hope the ambitious realize that they are more likely to succeed with success as opposed to failure." — George W. Bush, speaking to the Associated Press in Jan. 2001.