Vice President Harry S. Truman plays the piano as actress Lauren Bacall, perched on the instrument,
looks on, at the National Press Club canteen in Washington, Feb. 10, 1945.

After extensively researching the US Constitution this morning before I attacked the crossword puzzle I have discovered that the term Vice President appears in that revered and trusted document and its amendments no less than than twenty four times. In no instance does the term appear near the words "shall be an employee of the executive department," however, the term also does not appear near the words "shall maintain an office in the White House where he will hold secret meetings with the various "Captains of Industry" and where it will be convenient for him, from time to time, to pick up the President by the ears for a good corrective shake."

I guess what we have here is something historians call a "Constitutional Mexican toss up" which will be decided by the courts long after the deaths of the parties involved.

I do believe however, that a cursory study of photograph of the Vice President engaged at his duties above will convince even the most disinclined observer that the Vice President has historically exercised executive functions.

If anyone needs further research on this please wait until later, I still have to deal with that puzzle.

Bob Higgins

Worldwide Sawdust

Rome celebrated spectacular killing events at the Colosseum.  Watching a lion tear apart a Christian was great sport.

Likewise the U.S.A. does some things in an unprecedented spectacular manner.  Certainly dropping the atom bomb following Japan's refusal to accept unconditional surrender during the last days of World War Two calls into question a fateful decision.

Should President Truman have allowed Japan to keep its emperor, whom they considered divine or incinerate Hiroshima and Nagasaki residents when this request was refused?

This remains a debatable question mark in U.S. history.  Some claim the atom bomb attacks saved scored of U.S. lives by ending the war early.  Then came the Vietnam War, spawned dramatically with the domino theory.  Politicians insisted that if Communists weren't stopped in Vietnam then all of Asia would definitely collapse like a row of dominoes.

The Washington Post this morning ran an article, "Bellwethers, Eight Issues That Will Shape The 2006 Elections" or one of a series of articles which is indicative of a coming surf tide of newsprint, virtual and otherwise, which will wash up on the shores of our collective consciousness over the next dozen or so weeks.

Predictions about the midterm election will curl whitely and proudly in the air and regularly and rhythmically slap our calm beaches until we are struck silly with predictions, expert opinions, and statistical analyses of the 06 election.

The diary below was originally posted earlier today on my blog the Intrepid Liberal Journal.

In July 1947, George F. Kennan published an article in the quarterly edition of Foreign Affairs entitled "Sources of Soviet Conduct." Kennan originally drafted the article as a paper for Defense Secretary James Forrestal. When he submitted it to Foreign Affairs, Kennan used the moniker "Mr. X." The piece was known as "containment" and is credited with guiding American foreign policy under presidents of both parties during the cold war.