I am in a Police State of Mind

LIVE FROM SEATTLE!

THE WEEK IN REVIEW!!!!

-Hey - boy are my feet tired!

-6 days of street protests sure take it out of a guy! What do I think I am anyway? A KID??!!

- And by all appearances the WTO is about as well organized as the protestors but better armed! With much more generous expense accounts!

-Whereas Michael "Roger and Me" Moore and Ralph Nader had to share a room at the Holiday Inn "Express."! Oh sure - the Motel 6 would have even been cheaper but they couldn't resist the "free breakfast bar" and complimentary copies of USA Today - their favorite newspaper! Next to the Wall Street Journal!

-I actually saw Ralph Nader speak at Victor Steinbruck Park on Wednesday (12/1)- he is still charmingly boyish and passionately committed at 106 years of age!

-I also saw the charismatic Jose' Bove' - the French sheep farmer who endeared himself to millions worldwide when he bulldozed down a McDonald's in strict violation of local building laws and international trade agreements! He left his bulldozer at home - dang-it! Just when you need one!

-I also saw Michael "Roger and Me" Moore hanging around outside the Key Arena Tuesday night (11/30). Michael "Roger and Me" Moore is of course NOT to be confused with Michael "New Zealand Former Labor Leader and Corporate Sycophantic Suck-up and Reigning Supreme Leader of the WTO" Moore, who, of course, was also in town. Having both of these guys in town was highly confusing and was a direct cause of the mass confusion and rioting of last week. In any case, Michael "Roger and Me" Moore was on his cell-phone ordering a pizza from Domino's just before addressing an audience of striking Kaiser Aluminum workers...this is why his speech lasted exactly 30 minutes!

-Michael "Roger and Me" Moore, in his address to the steelworkers, said that, in America, 1 percent of the population controls 90 percent of the wealth - and has 99 percent of the political power! Gee - which one of the hundred U.S. Senators do you think is NOT in the pocket of Big Money? Slade Gorton (R-Wa.)? Ha ha ha ha!

-Mayor Paul Schell has made a statement that now it is time for "the healing" to begin! And lots of us would also say it is time for "the firing" to begin!

Well I am certain that I will have much more to say once I have time to process all that happened during this amazing and surreal week. Let us just say that I am very grateful that the W.T.O. conference is over, the barricades are down, the curfews are over, and that there will once again be the free flow of goods and commerce and martinis and manhattans in downtown Seattle!