The Boob That Won't Die

America arguably faces its greatest collection of challenges since World War II -- an economy sliding past recession and into depression, two wars, and a climate crisis, for starters. You would think that George W. Bush and his administration would be spending their final weeks working hard to avert disaster at home and abroad. But instead, the Bush administration is focused on boobs on the boob tube. Five months after a federal appeals court overturned the Federal Communications Commission's $550,000 fine against CBS for airing the Janet Jackson "wardrobe malfunction" boob incident during the 2004 Super Bowl, Bush has ordered the FCC to appeal the court's ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court.

I predicted this Supreme Court appeal five months ago, but that was before the economic meltdown that began in mid-September. It's pathetic that, with just weeks remaining in his presidency, Bush is instead focused on boobs, and throwing away America's legacy and resources to kowtow to the right wing and big business instead of trying to help this country avoid catastrophe. Unfortunately, such misplaced focus is no longer shocking to me, or, I suspect, to the rest of America.

Given the recent election results, I can only say to Republicans, how's that working for you? Perhaps the best answer came from the Republicans' own Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky: "Our members, in one way, are kind of relieved by the departure of an administration that became unpopular and made it very difficult for us to compete."

The word "boob" seems appropriate to describe the situation, in more ways than one.