Since my little boy is taking a nap, I decided to dig into the latest novel I'm reading: The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen. The book is so good, I had to stop reading and talk about it, but Carissa is working. And if Alex was awake, I suspect he wouldn't be interested.

I know, the book is three years old and most who wanted to read this book will have done so by now. I've had the book for over a year, but just didn't get around to it.

Here's the thing: it's certainly not the plot that has me so enthralled. It's nothing but a family drama, and I've lived enough of those. It's not the characters, because they are so completely drawn out that I am certain of my dislike for them. So why in hell am I reading it?

It's the writing! Franzen writes about average people living average lives, but in a way that is absolutely engrossing. The characters are so real, the sense of place so palpable...he makes the mundane fascinating. I haven't read any of his other work, so he may have just hit the jackpot here.

Only two writers have been able to do this to me over the past few years; Wally Lamb in I Know This Much is True (not so much in She's Come Undone), and to a lesser degree Richard Russo in Empire Falls.

There. Just had to get that off my chest.

I'm glad the topic of fiscal responsibility came up. To the Bush Administration, I would offer this free advice: you cannot simultaneously decrease revenue and increase spending and expect to be fiscally responsible. I would think that would make sense to a someone with an MBA from Harvard. Or anyone else.

Bush as a "CEO President"

This moniker given to him by his supporters, often used to explain how great he is, really leaves me baffled. It has been touched on to varying degrees in other places, but here is my take.
As I understand it, the theory goes that what makes Bush great is his ability to delegate authority (and, apparently, responsibility) to the great staff he has surrounded himself with. This prevents him from being bogged down in policy minutia. He then takes the summary information his staff presents him with, and applies "decisive leadership skills" to lead our country in the right direction. His apologists seem to say, "He may not be the smartest guy, but he really knows how to manage his staff and make decisions." Thus he is more like the CEO of a large company, and less of a traditional President.

It's clever in a sense, because as we've seen whenever a problem occurs, Bush can plead ignorance. His mid-level managers (Rumsfeld)may have mentioned there was a problem (Iraqi prisoner abuse) a few months ago, but he never heard about it again. He assumes the problem is being dealt with. Therefore, it's not Bush's fault and he can't be held responsible. This situation is analagous to the pre-9/11 intelligence (there was chatter, but Bush got a memo saying the FBI was looking into it).

I rehashed all of that so I could say this: if a CEO of a Fortune 500 company is made aware of serious (life-threatening, criminal) situations going on in his company, isn't it that person's responsibility to follow up on those issues? A CEO in the business world cannot say "I thought it was being handled." The CEO must stay on top of issues like this, or he/she will be fired. It really is just that simple. In fact, the CEO and all the managers involved would probably be fired.

I know I'm preaching to the converted. To me, my diatribe is rational, critical thinking. To Bush supporters, I am being a liberal elitist. Can we ever speak the same language?

Heading off to work in the morning is never a "good time" for me, but
lately Alex has not been too happy with Daddy leaving. He cries and cries, and I have to keep walking out the door.

Carissa always takes him to the window though, and he waves to me as I get into my car. I know he gets over it quickly, but it's still hard to take in the moment.

He's walking quite often now, and we no longer have to "suggest" that he try walking. Often I catch him letting go of the wall and crossing the living room, always with a big smile on his face. He holds his arms out in front of him like a zombie. Very adorable if I do say so myself.

It's been a long day and I'm too tired to talk politics. But don't worry, I have a lot to say.

First things first...

Consider the Progress Report a daily must read:

www.centerforamericanprogress.com