With the writers' strike (barely) over, a lot of us have spent more time reading or watching cable. Thank God for cable, where they show the same movies over and over, often on more than one channel at a time. It wasn't too bad during the first six weeks, when we were able to memorize all of the Cole Porter lyrics from De Lovely. But then things went steadily downhill as the cable networks started scraping the bottoms of their barrels with the likes of Earth Girls Are Easy. Occasionally, we got a reprieve with reruns of the likes of The Producers. But we could always retreat to the Internet world of The New York Times or USA Today (the “McNewspaper”).

The Producers was a hit on Broadway, and a hit movie. Why? Because it was funny and, as it turns out, making fun of history can be quite effective. But can we make fun of current developments? A recent headline read: “FEMA Will Test Hurricane Trailers for Formaldehyde.” Well thank you very much! And why are we in this kettle of fish? Don't we have enough unsolved problems as a result of Katrina? It has been two and a half years, for heaven's sake!

Did it take the world that long to discover Hitler was a monster? Don't think so. According to the article, FEMA discovered elevated levels of formaldehyde in the temporary housing structures that it supplied to occupants who lived in them for more than two years. Well, what's the problem? We let Hitler's forces gas the innocent, so perhaps killing off the poor in Mississippi and Louisiana isn't such a stretch. Sarcasm aside, there is still truth to that old tried and true saying, “If you don't stand up and speak out, who'll be there when they come after you?” (Better watch out!)