Maybe I’m not so dumb.

In 1729, Jonathan Swift wrote A Modest Proposal for Preventing the Children of Poor People in Ireland from Being a Burden to Their Parents or Country, and for Making Them Beneficial to the Public.

I wish I could believe that President Bush was being satirical when he vowed to veto the renewal of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program. Damn those kids and their “I wouldn’t call it a plot, just a strategy” to get health care.  

Why bother providing health care for them when “a child will make two dishes at an entertainment for friends; and when the family dines alone, the fore or hind quarter will make a reasonable dish, and seasoned with a little pepper or salt will be very good boiled on the fourth day, especially in winter.”

BTW, Bush also claimed that “[S-CHIP] came in when I was the governor of Texas; I supported that.” But it seems that’s not the whole truth, according to the editors of The New Republic, who claim “Bush fought efforts to create an expansive S-CHIP program in Texas.”