by the Way . . .

I don't understand the negative reaction to the Republican plan to send everyone $100 to pay for gas this weekend. Many parts of the world are said to run on baksheesh, so why can't we? Baksheesh comes from the Persian word بخشش , meaning a gift. One of the 5 tenants of Islam is the giving of alms to the poor. The giver is made more holy by the action. In fact, in Pakistan and the Muslim world the giver of alms often salutes the beggar for having given the opportunity to gain merit. So this should be understood as a Republican salute to the motorist, and in no way connected with the upcoming election.

The NYT reported some outraged motorists as emailing sentiments like "Do you think we are prostitutes? Do you think you can buy us?" And Rush Limbaugh suggested Congress was "treating us like we are a bunch of whores." Boy, does that show how out of touch some people are. It is $100 Rush. At least we know something you haven't been doing in the last 20 years. Our senators know what they are doing, as Dr. Frist's chief of staff pointed out: Constituents "believe government out to step up to the plate rather than loll around in the dugout" ("loll" is an intransitive verb meaning "lie" or "flop"). Baseball metaphors show the team is sincere. David Winston, a pollster who advises the Republican leadership, called the rebate an intuitive way to show the voter the Republicans were on their side. "It is like putting the American family budget ahead of oil company profits."

The Democrats are extremely critical. Senator Debbie Stabenow proposed raising it to $500. Swing for the fences, Debbie! Another weekend is coming up!