New Deal

People keep telling me FDR was a putz. While that's as may be, the night in 1933 on which he privatized America's banks was the night leadership was invented (oddly, it was on the same year that cowerdice was invented, by Von-Hindenburg).

Last night ignorance was invented. When Henry Paulson dramatically pleaded Nancy Pelosi not to knock down the recovery plan, he was as oblivious to his actual foes as a man kicking his pillow in the midst of a violent dream. It's the republicans, stupid! They would rather see the world's poorest starve and the dreams of all the rest of us crashed than give up their Ayn Randian aloofness.

I just hope this is the last bit of harm they will cause. This morning, as I walked down Yeffet Street, the rain came down in a torrent for the first time since May. This autumn should be the time of true renewal, in Washington, in Jerusalem, wherever renewal is needed. I attach an autumn song and a socialist song as rainy day gifts. Both are unusual versions of familiar tunes, showcasing once more how artists are gutsy where politicians should be.