How to say the date this year? Judging by last night’s New Years Eve broadcasts, I think American media may have finally abandoned the “Two-thousand” construction when saying the name of the year. I heard a lot more “Yippee, it’s Twenty-Twelve!” than “Two-thousand-twelve” on the teevee machine.

Don’t let the Fox interview of Mitt Romney fool you. David Gergen does an interview of Mitt revealing the the Mitt you haven’t met yet. He’s just like you and me, sorta.

Over a lifetime of watching the political dances and games, there are a few things that can always be counted upon. The deficit hawks invariably claim that they are really, really, really only interested in “cutting out the fat honest.” Except that public sector budgets have been slashed so many times over these last few years, the politicians are not only slicing meat and bone, they are carving up the gourmet cuts, all in the name of some nebulous “greater good” and “sacrifices must be made by the courageous.”