What's the distance between a throng of customers waiting outside a Wal-Mart for "doorbuster" deals and a throng of destitute people waiting in line for bread? 

With the clock ticking on George and Dick, this old bit of news came to mind:

The energy services company that Dick Cheney served for much of the last five years as chairman and chief executive has agreed to let Mr. Cheney, the Republican vice-presidential candidate, retire with a package worth an estimated $20 million, according to people who have reviewed the deal.

New York Times, August 12, 2000 (http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9502EEDE123FF931A2575BC0A9669C8B63)

To steal a line from Condi, no one could have predicted . . .

On the op-ed pages of this morning's NY Times: Donald Rumsfeld and Ahmad Chalabi. Maybe the Times can get a pardon from Bush for its recidivism.

(Links intentionally omitted. Your time is better spent reading about yesterday's Northwestern's 27-10 victory over the Fighting Illini. http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/college/illinois/chi-23-brite-illinoisnov23,0,5768733.story)