Mayor Bush of the Potemkin Village of Economyville

WACO - The President's Economic Forum held here Tuesday raises the question, "By how much don't they get it?"


The range of opinion at this shindig went from A to B. This wasn't a forum - it was a pep rally. Sis-Boom-Bah City for the old cheerleader. President Bush said Baylor University "put on a good show." Got to agree. It was one of the most sophisticated phony political events I have ever witnessed.


Such attention to the details of stagecraft - the lovely flag painting behind them at the plenary session, the helpful hints on the backdrops: "Corporate Responsibility," "Better Health Care," etc., for those too dumb to figure it out from the vapid speeches. The wonderfully artificial inclusion of "real people" - all of whom just happen to think George W. Bush is divine.


This Potemkin Village of diversity lacked just one thing: anyone with a good idea. Any 10 ex-employees of Enron could come up with a long list of recommendations on how to fix things so this doesn't happen again. But they weren't invited.


The country is in a world of economic trouble because of an immense tax cut for the rich and 20 years of deregulation. So everyone at Potemkin Village favored more tax cuts for the rich and slashing that terrible government regulation that is strangling big business today.


We could dismiss this exercise in complacent stupidity for the silly political charade that it actually was, but there was a real danger at Waco, too: the horrible possibility that Bush actually believes that was a cross section of America.