I support the renewed use of chain gangs. I see nothing demeaning in constructive labor, like road building or trash collection; I see nothing inhumane about shackling prisoners together to prevent escape; and I see nothing cruel or unusual in society's insistence that every able individual (whether average citizen, welfare mom, or incarcerated felon) earn his/her keep.

Congratulations to us, America!

Candidate Barrack Obama won my support in 2008 with his powerful forward-looking promise of renewal; in 2012, incumbent president Barrack Obama will have to earn my vote with the promise fulfilled. Break a leg, Mr. Obama!

It was fascinating how quickly on election night the historical revisionism began. As the outcome became clear, one Conservative commentator favorably equated the fervor of evangelicals who twice supported Bush with the enthusiasm of progressives now committed to Obama. But Bush was a bumbler with a mediocre intellect (at best) who could barely mutter a coherent sentence and should reasonably have inspired no one; whereas Obama obviously posseses a prodigious intellect and is capable of soaring rhetoric that can inspire and uplift even his critics; the pundit confused zealotry with zeal.

What a pleasure this is going to be--a president who has at least demonstrated mastery of his (and our) native tongue!

Designer Genes

Though I could replicate the core of me,
And clone a couple dozen more of me,
Abstinence I would demand of me--
One is all that I could stand of me!

The question is no longer whether we can clone ourselves, but why we would want to.

Verities

Financial planner advises saving for retirement: "The more you have, the better off you're going to be"!

Papal Emissary: "If a miracle is a miracle, it's a miracle"!

The wife murdered her husband, then killed herself; investigators disclosed that the couple "may have had marital difficulties"!

A psychologist testified that the teenage mass murderer "has a personality defect"!

After the bank robber was shot dead, the police spokesman announced, "The subject is no longer a threat to anyone in this area"!