Meanwhile in America.

• Author: Sacco, Joe

The journey of a thousand miles begins with bad news--Johnny Cash is dead.

BILL, GEORGE, ANYONE BUT YOU JOHNNY!

I'm moving back to my old stomping grounds--Portland, Oregon.

All the way up I-5 I fiddle with the radio dial, but I go 500 miles before I luck in to Cash's deep, rich baritone.

FINALLY!

HEY LOOK A YONDER COMIN' ... COMIN' DOWN THAT RAILROAD TRACK ...

I perk up, hopeful again. The voice, if not the man, is still with us ...

IT'S THE ORANGE BLOSSOM SPECIAL BRINGING MY BABY BACK ...

I bet the burger-flippin,' ketchup-squirtin' side of George W. Bush like Johnny Cash, too, and I wouldn't begrudge him the pleasure--though it's hard to imagine President Tax-Cut-To-The-Cheneys listening very closely to the Man In Black's signature song--

I WEAR THE BLACK FOR THE POOR AND THE BEATEN DOWN LIVING IN THE HOPELESS, HUNGRY SIDE OF TOWN ...

On the first night in my new, lonesome apartment, my old pal Rich drops by to bid me a warm welcome. We gather around a bottle of whisky--my only piece of furniture at the moment--and discuss music, life, and the current administration.

IT'S HARD TO IMAGINE A PRESIDENT SO RELENTLESSLY AWFUL.

Welcome to Oregon, which had the highest unemployment rate in the last two and a half years, and isn't particularly amenable to Mr. Bush.

And it's here in urban Portland that Bush draws the most heat. Sometimes I throw out his name just to marvel at the savaging it gets.

DID YOU HEAR BUSH'S SPEECH TO THE U.N.?

I CAN'T LISTEN TO HIM. I TUNED IN TO THE POST-SPEECH ANALYSIS ON THE RADIO, BUT I PHYSICALLY CAN'T LISTEN TO HIM.

The Original George Bush, George W.'s pappy, used to face such rowdy protects in Portland that he dubbed it "Little Beirut."

Meanwhile, I'm rediscovering my old favorite places, and in one dive where they still call you "honey," I get an earful from a waitress about the President's most recent fundraising toe-dipping into town.

HOW MUCH WAS IT TO HAVE LUNCH WITH HIM? $2,000 A PLATE?

HE'S COLLECTED THE BIGGEST ELECTION WAR CHEST KNOWN TO MAN.

$3.95 A PLATE

HE'S NOT WELCOME HERE.

HAVE YOU SEEN THAT MOVIE 'JFK'?

IT'S JUST THE SAME PEOLE 30, 40 YEARS DOWN THE ROAD ... THE C.I.A. AND MAFIA WORKING TOGETHER.

THERE'S NO...