Back in the 1950s the Demo-cratic Party was striving to expand the modern welfare state that had been founded during the administra-tion of President Franklin Roosevelt 20 years earlier. Certain Republicans criticized GOP①legislators in Congress for being too willing not just to cooperate with Democrats, but to follow their lead. Critics derided such lawmakers as "me too" Republi-cans because whenever the Democrats announced that they wanted to create a new social pro-gram, these politicians allegedly replied, "Me too!"

　　According to Stuart Carlson, this situation has now been reversed. As Republicans lead the war effort in Washington and push to reduce taxes despite the impact of a tax cut on the budget deficit or social spending, many Americans wonder what has happened to the Democrats. Why are they not challenging the Republicans more boldly? Stuart Carlson depicts the Democratic Party as a nervous donkey holding up a sign that says "Me, too!"

　　Carlson has a diagnosis to offer: the Dems are suffering from "SARS" - only he means not a rampant form of pneumonia but the dreaded "Simpering Acquiescence to Republicans Syndrome". And Dr Carlson kindly posts a list of symptoms in his "health alert". Chi-nese readers will find all except the last self-explanatory. In English, public officials, corporate executives and the like are said to "cover their tails" when they take steps to avoid criticism. The idea is that a soldier is aware of what is happening in front of him, but much less so of what is approaching from the rear. He needs to pay attention to what lies in back of him if he wants to avoid surprise attacks.

　　Bold action always draws criticism. If legislators are always "covering their tails", then they're probably more worried about the consequences of acting than about the consequences of doing nothing. And what has doing nothing ever achieved in politics?

　　健康警告！

　　SARS(对共和党人赔笑默许综合症)继续困扰国会山

　　症状如下:

　　★声带麻痹

　　★脊椎软化到酸奶似的程度

　　★在被问及任何有关爱国主义的问题时都会大汗淋漓

　　★条件反射般地用枕头或其它软物保护屁股