The Filthy Rich

The natural waters that bubble out of the Appalachian earth at the world-famous and now moth-eaten Greenbrier Inn in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia have been known for their restorative powers since before the Civil War. Wealthy Southern planters used to go there to soak away the red dirt from their slave-stomping feet. And today the entire Republican House and Senate is up there on "retreat," eating fatty foods and guzzling wine and sitting up to their haunches in the rich body odor of their own power.

Sitting with them in the steam room is El Presidente, who's doing more than his share of sweating, and it's not just from the steam baths.

No, El Presidente is trying to deal with an increasingly independent bunch of Republican lawmakers, who don't necessarily any longer see a reason to risk their own sorry hides to give Mr. Bush what he wants ... like privatizing Social Security, like an easing of immigration laws.

According to Mike Allen's analysis in today's WashPost, "It's the 'no interest like self-interest' rule, and it's every man for himself," said an aide to a Senate Republican committee chairman, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to maintain good relations with the White House. "He's discovering the fine line between having a mandate and being a lame duck."

El Presidente has even sicced Karl Rove on them. Mike Allen wrote, "White House senior adviser Karl Rove worked the crowd [at the Green Brier] and gave the first of several presentations, devoting most of his introductory remarks to Social Security. Rove, discussing the issue at the request of congressional leaders, said that taking it on is important and will be popular."

Hasn't been popular so far, even with the Bush Bureau of Information Retrieval decreeing that the word "privatization" is now inoperative, along with the term "private account." It's "1984" "NewSpeak" all over again, and Rove has decreed that the language for the undermining of Social Security will henceforth be "personal accounts."

Call it what you will. People, maybe, aren't quite as stupid as the White House seems to think. Nor prone to hold their breaths while the rich and powerful go to a West Virginia mountain spa to cleanse themselves of their filth.