Fashion Sense Thinks Bush is a Better Illusionist Than Blaine

David Blaine's dive of death wasn't considered to be a great success. Now the Bush administration is trying to keep its credibility among Republicans while bailing out Wall Street. If they succeed, it will be one of the greatest illusions of all time. [Click on the image for a larger version of this cartoon. The text reads: 'Leda's father was at her place watching financial news on her plasma screen TV, and he was going ballistic about the stock market, so she came over to my place, and we watched re-runs of David Blaine hanging upside down for sixty hours and making his supposed dive of death, and Leda said, "Actually, that was pretty lame," and I said, "A lot of stuff he does is pretty lame, but Houdini showed that taking senseless risks can sometimes be spectacular," and Leda said, "But Blaine didn't even stay upside down the whole time; he took breaks," and I said, "It would have been too risky to be upside-down the whole time -- it could have made his head explode or something," and she said, "Now that would have been spectacular," and I said, "The rabbit and I like him because he doesn’t use any animals in his act, and also I think he’s trying to tell us something," and Leda said, "What?" and I said, "He was hanging upside down over New York while the government figured out how to bail out Wall Street, and he didn’t do a very good job of it. Maybe he wants us to know that big finance is the greatest escape artist, and the government is the real illusionist, as they try to make a multi-billion dollar bailout at taxpayers expense seem reasonable," and she said, "So Blaine represents the little guy who has to manage his own risks, while the Bush administration doles out corporate welfare and turns everything they’ve ever said about the free market upside down," and I said, "It’s enough to make your head explode," and she said, "I think I better go check on my dad," and after she left, the rabbit and I tried to do a little levitation act, which is our way of saying we'll have to hang tough until we see how the latest Wall Street illusion works out.']