The Other White Househttp://www.whitehouse.org/ This is not the official site of the White House. The tip-off might be the fact that the bird on the seal of the presidency is not an American eagle but rather a vulture. And then there's the merchandise from affiliated site Cafepress, which include a whole line of "wifebeaters (sleeveless undershirts) bearing slogans like "Jesus votes Republican and "USA: 300 million a&#h&#&# strong. A steal at a mere $17.99. There are also political buttons bearing inspirational sayings such as "I love Arab oil and "USA: We own the planet. These are also available in the form of bumper stickers, thong underwear (think of all the dubious "bush puns) and even Christmas ornaments. The humor is sophomoric and the spelling less than stellar, but so what? It's good, semi-clean fun at the expense of George Bush, the religious right, and various conservative targets. The most inspired regular feature is a hilarious column called "Ask the White House, which consists of fictitious interviews with conservative pundits. Comedian Dennis Miller, who started out as a liberal favorite, defends his rebirth as a crypto-fascist apologist for the Bush administration: "Within seconds of 9/11, my entire worldview was altered. I realized that I was washed up as a comic and that there was a huge glassy-eyed Fox-Murdoch demographic out there that, like Linda Lovelace before them, was willing to swallow anything. Prince Bandar bin-Sultan bin-Abdulaziz Al-Saud replying to Jeffrey from Los Angeles, who wants to know how the prince and President Bush get along so beautifully, in spite of the fact that one is Muslim and the other Christian: "President Bush and I practice the same religion: Capitalism. First Daughter Jenna Bush, on who is her favorite relative: "Cousin Noelle iz da bomb! (Noelle, daughter of Florida Governor Jeb Bush, was busted for prescription fraud in 2002 when she illicitly tried to buy Xanax at a Walgreen's pharmacy - then, while in rehab, she was busted for the possession of 0.2 grams of crack cocaine). Jenna herself was busted in 2001 for using a fake ID to purchase liquor (she was 19 at the time, under the legal drinking age of 21). Which brings us to the children's section, in which youngsters wishing to flout authority are told that "ignoring boring laws written to control poor people is not only a harmless rite of passage, it's a sacred Bush tradition - the escapades of Noelle and four other "Bush kids are cited as proof. And for extra yucks, there are a few fawning/phoney handwritten letters from schoolchildren to President Bush, tips for junior smokers sponsored by R.J. Reynolds, a list of signs to look for so that children can recognize if their parents are unpatriotic and can then turn them in, and other elements of "an ambitious initiative to take education out of the hands of liberal atheists who believe our ancestors were baboons. Like I said: Not the most subtle attempt at humor you've ever seen, but it works anyway. And if you want more of the same, the canonical list of satirical songs, videos, screeds and gear about George W. Bush and his administration can be found here: (http://bushandcheneysuck.com/links.htm). Reality Checkhttp://nationalpriorities.org/http://mfso.org/ Satire is liberating and necessary. But the laughter it induces can sometimes obscure the painful realities that inspired the satire in the first place. When that happens, it's good to go back to the source. The National Priorities Project is a non-profit organization whose slogan is: "Turning data into action. Its stated purpose is "to offer citizen and community groups tools and resources to shape federal budget and policy priorities which promote social and economic justice. One way it does this is through a counter that that keeps track of the cost of the war in Iraq (based on Congressional appropriations). If interested, you can then find out the cost per state, per person and per American household. And how much of a difference the same amount of cash would make if spent on world hunger, worldwide immunization, or other causes. Numbers, however, do not tell the whole story. For how much the war in Iraq has cost the U.S. in human terms, we must turn to Military Families Speak Out (mfso). There are many poignant letters, and here are two random excerpts. From Christy K., whose son is serving in Iraq: "Recently I saw a picture of a women standing in front of a pile of shoes amid the rubble which was once her town. She had identified her dead child from his shoes. I could hear her scream a half world away. Mr. Bush, do you hear that scream? From Joyce and Kevin Lucey, whose son, corporal Jeffrey Lucey came back to the U.S. suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and eventually committed suicide: "After Jeff s death I prayed for the weapons of mass destruction to be found; we waited for the network of terrorism to be found and destroyed and we waited for that link of Iraq to 9/11 [but] none of the original premises for that war were realized.
