Including 'and' and 'the'

Mary McCarthy's antipathy toward Lilian Hellman's book Scoundrel Time was such that she famously stated, "Every word she writes is a lie, including 'and' and 'the'" -- which has got to be one of the great cappers of the 20th century.

I was reminded of this statement today during Bush's speech on Iraq. I was sitting on the couch, waiting for the Giants-Braves playoff game to start. They held the game so Bush could speak, and he was on ten channels. I couldn't bear to watch it, really, but from time to time I forced myself to turn it on for a sentence at a time. And every sentence was a lie. Like:

This nation in world war and in cold war has never permitted the brutal and lawless to set history's course.

God almighty.

Though I don't have to go into work -- because I don't have a job -- I still got up at 5:00 and went to meditate. Y. kept his mouth shut today, so I had nothing to complain about. Maybe somebody said something to him. Then I went home and went right back to bed for three hours. I spent much of the day -- a clear, hot day with blazing sun, so typical of early fall here -- doing errands and puttering around the house. We're still working in the office, rearranging files. We have the world's worst shredding machine, so bad that it jams after every third sheet, no matter how careful you are. The last time we had a bag of bank and credit card statements to get rid of, I ended up taking them into the office and shredding them there.

Tomorrow I have an interview at the company that just laid me off. If I get this new job, I'll work it. If I don't, I'll stay home all winter and finish my book. I feel it's a win-win situation, so whatever happens, I'm happy. I should have this week, at least, to loaf, though.

I mean whatever happens with my employment situation -- which is so trivial compared to the fact that Bush is getting us into a war that will piss off the entire Arab world for the next forty years. Never mind my employment situation -- if you live in New Delhi, I'd seriously consider moving.