“See the USA in your Chevrolet.

“America is asking you to call.

“Drive your Chevrolet through the USA.

Things are not always as they appear in the Middle East. Appearances can also deceive whenever an Israeli prime minister and a U.S. president get together in Washington.

“On Aug. 17, 1942, a nationally syndicated columnist wrote that she had received ‘a very stern letter’ after commenting about the weather, ‘...and so from now on I shall not tell you whether it rains or whether the sun shines where I happen to be.’

When Meredith Willson wrote the wildly popular musical “The Music Man” half a century ago, Harold Hill proclaimed trouble had come to River City, Iowa, in the form of a pool hall, which he claimed would corrupt young people unless the local citizens bought the musical instruments he was selling and got their kids into a marching band. He promised that playing music would keep kids from “fritterin’ away their mealtime, suppertime, chore time, too” and going to the track to watch “some stuck-up jockey boy sittin’ on Dan Patch.”

The Environmental Protection Agency has submitted a “finding” to the White House Office of Management and Budget that will force the Obama administration to decide whether to limit greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act.

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step,” said Confucius. But a journey of whatever length presumes one has a destination in mind. With President Obama’s executive order authorizing expanded federal funding for research using stem cells, produced from the destruction of human embryos, the destination will be left up to scientists, as will any “speed controls.” The sky, or in this case the depths, will be the limit.

President Obama’s campaign theme of ending politics as usual and creating a new bipartisanship that will get things done for the American people is about to be tested now that he has the power — or at least some of the power — to make it happen.

Welcome to Washington, “Mr. President.” I know you’ve been here before for a short time as senator, but this is different. This is The Big Time, the world stage and you are the leading man.

Like pigs waiting in line to get their snouts in the feeding trough come many of the nation’s governors — on the heels of the mayors — asking Washington for bailout money.

Examples of faith abound at this time of year. There is the faith children put in Santa Claus to bring them stuff that magically no one seems to have paid for. Call it a “bailout” for kids.

Most children have probably finished their Christmas lists to Santa Claus. Some elected officials, however, are still compiling theirs.

During the Great Depression and World War II, truly challenging times, there were songs that boosted the spirits of our parents, grandparents and great-grandparents.

“You’ve got to be taught to hate and fear

You’ve got to be taught from year to year

It’s got to be drummed in your dear little ear

In an age when “big business” and “corporate greed” seem to be synonymous in the public mind, some bright lights occasionally emerge from the darkness brought on by AIG big spenders and over-the-top high-livers.

Remember when Democrats lamented the growing budget deficit and spoke of the burden our children and grandchildren would face if we didn’t put our fiscal house in order? That was when Republicans ran the federal government and Democrats opposed tax cuts.

When Barack Obama takes the oath of office on Jan. 20, 2009, he will do so in the 30th anniversary year of the founding of the so-called Religious Right.

More than the economy has melted down. What remains of big media credibility has also liquefied and won’t recover anytime soon, if it ever does.

People who put faith in government to solve national or even individual problems are headed for deep disappointment, if it hasn’t already arrived. Still, that doesn’t stop politicians from attempting to sell political snake oil to the gullible. No one ever lost money betting on the ignorance of the uninformed masses.

When Speaker Nancy Pelosi took to the floor of the House on Monday to blame Republicans for the financial turmoil and charge them with a laissez-fare attitude toward regulation, it seemed like a calculated effort to shift attention and accountability from what Democrats have done to create the current conditions. Fortunately, we have YouTube so Democrats can run from their records, but they can’t hide.

It isn’t often that public outrage peaks so close to an election, but this is a rare moment in history when “we the people” can exact a price from the political leadership that has duped, scammed and lied to them, contributing mightily to the current financial mess.

One question ABC’s Charles Gibson neglected to ask Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin during his interview with her last week was this: You are young enough to be John McCain’s daughter. Twenty-eight years separate you. Will you be able to walk into the Oval Office and say, “Mr. President, you are wrong about this and here is what you should do instead”?

Some political pundits have said that if it were not for his last name, he might have been the Republican nominee for president this year. But former Florida Governor Jeb Bush tells me he is happy to support the McCain-Palin ticket, which he predicts, perhaps predictably, will win. Of Gov. Sarah Palin, he says, “She has generated so much enthusiasm, which was the one element of the campaign that was completely missing.”

The “civil forum” featuring presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain may not have been as exciting as Michael Phelps winning his eighth Olympic gold medal, but it was civil and it was a forum from which emerged useful information.

Russia’s invasion of Georgia on the pretext of “protecting” Russian peacekeepers stationed in the separatist enclave of South Ossetia and ending the “ethnic cleansing” of native Russians living there, is a sobering reminder that the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989 was not a sign that old-line communists were ready to walk the sawdust trail of repentance and convert to capitalism, democracy, human rights and religious freedom. Quite the contrary.

At the beginning of this long political season — if there ever was a beginning, since campaigns are now nonstop with only the players changing — it appeared this one might, just might, be different.

There is a reason the psalmist warned, “Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.” (Psalm 146:3)

Despite a report by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom that the Islamic Saudi Academy in Alexandria, Va., has continued to use textbooks that teach hatred of everyone not of their specific brand of faith, the U.S. State Department has yet to act to close down the school.

It is understandable that those who think President Bush has done a poor job want to replace him with a Democrat they think might do a better one. What is not understandable is why voters, who think Congress has performed poorly, would vote to keep the Democratic majority in place and, according to many polls, expand it.

There is a reason progress in Iraq is not receiving more attention. It isn’t that Americans are “bored” or “tired” or have “moved on” or “don’t care” or “have already made up their minds that the war was a colossal mistake.” All of these are variations on themes articulated by certain liberals, Bush-haters, Barack Obama supporters (but I repeat myself) inside and outside the big media.

“Life is a banquet, and most poor suckers are starving to death.” — Auntie Mame

In today’s political climate, a liberal Auntie Mame might say that life is a banquet, which the government must pay for, and that those who can’t afford a place at the table should behave like it was an all-you-can eat buffet.