   k / o                                        politics +
culture  Monday, January 29, 2007  Bush and Cheney in the
National Kitchen  If there were one overarching metaphor for the
current U.S. political situation I think it would be this.  U.S.
politics in January 2007 is like a huge stove top, like one
might find in an industrial kitchen, with 16 or 20 open burners,
a huge frying surface and all sorts of ovens, broilers and
grills...all of them in active use.  On each cooking surface we
can find what we might call one of the "issues and controversies
of the day" in various stages of preparation.  Iraq...Bush's
"surge" and the Congressional anti-surge resolutions...is
clearly the main course. Iraq is hot. Minimum wage is simmering
on a side burner. As is the Scooter Libby trial, the 2008
Presidential race, the Gonzales recess nominations, the national
debt, our nation's health care crisis. There are all sorts of
smaller dishes...Jim Webb's speech is cooking right along side
Dick Cheney's CNN interview and G