Just to note

one seldom sees it said this bluntly:

Used boots fetch $3 and old salt-and-pepper shakers bring in a buck at a makeshift flea market along Highway 27, presumably not what President Bush and Republicans have in mind when they herald a vibrant economy.

Times are "very good for the rich and very, very bad for the poor" who "can't afford to live," laments Larry Mitchell, 43, a now-and-then merchant peddling his wares recently in a submarine sandwich shop parking lot. He says the middle class is "having a hard time."

In the Ohio River Valley, where people decry high gas prices, stagnant wages, lost jobs and factory closures, many don't buy the claim that the economy is humming along.

I'm sure the Dow Jones is up overall, and housing statistics are good, and the unemployment number is being trumpeted somewhere. But Mr. Mitchell is right, and he says all that needs to be said. All I can say is: where are the Democrats on this? It's being handed to them on a platter, and they insist on treating it like the head of John the Baptist.

Maybe if they'd quit acting like Salome....