Game-Show Politics

Beginning of article

WASHINGTON -- Many of us wish the clock could be stopped. And perhaps, just perhaps, by staying in that wonderful dream state, most of our problems could be solved.

Half-awake, what passes for our brain goes into a replay of what we saw a few hours before on television: two people competing, one so confident from the onset of the contest, apparently assured a victory. Suddenly, the other, a beginner in the game, starts to grasp for a laurel wreath apparently within grasp.

The beginner has problems. He throws out some old and trusted family friends and pushes aside, never to be discussed again, some youthful problems. He changes images a couple of times and …