The wordsmith

What I regard as a classic moment in the history of "Saturday Night Live" came in 1988 with a sketch about that year's presidential debates. "George Bush" (done eerily well by Dana Carvey) answered a question with a series of non sequiturs heavily featuring "thou-sand points of light." Asked for his response, "Michael Dukakis" (ably handled by John Lovitz) paused, then with a frustrated motion of his hands said "I - I can't believe I'm losing to this guy."

John Kerry must feel the same way. On Thursday, the Guardian (UK) quoted from an interview Shrub gave about "values" and his presidency:

"This is a country that is a value-based country," he said. "Whether they voted for you or not, there's a lot of values in this country, for which I'm real proud."

I ... can't argue with that ... I guess....

Say what?

Footnote: Another of his great insights. Bear in mind that he's talking about his (supposedly) Christian faith.

"I fully understand that the job of the president is and must always be protecting the great right of people to worship or not worship as they see fit," Mr Bush said. "That's what distinguishes us from the Taliban.

"The greatest freedom we have, or one of the greatest freedoms, is the right to worship the way you see fit.

"On the other hand, I don't see how you can be president, at least from my perspective, without a relationship with the Lord," he added.

So Bush's "perspective" is that only Christians - indeed, only so-called "born again" Christians - can be president. And you thought he was a religious fanatic. Aren't you ashamed now?