Pin the Tail On the Donkey

If I remember correctly, "Hotel California" was an oblique rant against capitalism/consumerism (as most music back then was). As usual, we confused money with class. We watched Bill Clinton, whose presidency made him rich beyond his wildest dreams, utterly disgrace himself. We watched the Bush's - who were rich already - maintain a quiet dignity even under a hail of abuse. We consistently attacked what we thought was the easier target. Today, we have a president who is spending us into oblivion. The Hotel has become the nostalgic, but essentially worthless metaphor in a fire sale. Any house built on a mere body slab has no depth.

Our troubles began when AT&T bought off the old guard with early retirements. Then they rehired diversity by the numbers. It continued when we eased out the old lions on Wall Street with golden parachutes. Then we hired brash young guns and asked them to find new ways of cooking the books. It all worked out so well for us.

It all culminated, of course, with us printing a sign with the word “LEADER" on it and pinning it on the first black man to come down the pike. The only other requirement we were looking for was that he be capable of reading a teleprompter.