Meanwhile in America.

• Author: Sacco, Joe

There was a time when Mike struck fear into the hearts of his friends, when a visit from Mike meant smashed furniture, ruptured sewage lines, and the prospect of finding him passed out on your futon.

THITH ITH GREAT.

Perhaps not since the Visigoths sacked Rome has anyone "partied" quite as hard as Mike.

And now that he's here visiting me, I don't know what to expect. I've just bought a couch set, and I'm waiting with newly acquired bourgeois trepidation for the evenings first spill or discharge.

THIS IS GREAT.

But Mike has been declawed.

HOW ARE YOUR PARENTS?

He's married now, with two kids. He's an engineer on cargo ships and spends half his time at sea. Mike is fulfilling his high school dream.

Talk turns--as it always does with Mike--to old friends, the missing and the gone forever.

IT'S BEEN EIGHT YEARS SINCE BILL DIED.

JESUS. THAT LONG?

No one I know cares as deeply about old friends as Mike. They live in his heart even if their ashes are long scattered. I suddenly feel shame in his presence.

Even back in high school, before our more personal losses, Mike exhibitted a streak of sentimentality that unnerved me. He would get almost teary eyed about the assassination of his hero J.K.F., an event which had taken place when we were barely out of diapers.

HE WAS SO YOUNG. HE STILL HAD SO MUCH TO GIVE.

When most of us thought politics was squaresville, Mike was already a committed Democrat. He did volunteer work for Ted Kennedy's 1980 campaign; Mike even chauffeured around some Kennedys in his '58 Chevy.

I ask what he thinks of Bush and Co., and among Mike's only printable comments is this on the tax cut:

I GOT $800 BACK, BUT THAT WAS BULLSHIT.

I'D JUST AS WELL IT WENT TO PAY DOWN THE DEBT.

I CARE ABOUT THIS COUNTRY MORE THAN BUSH DOES.

I MEAN I'LL TAKE THE MONEY, BUT HE COULD GIVE ME $80,000 AND I WOULDN'T VOTE FOR HIM.

And what of his precious Democrats?

I'VE WONDERED WHERE THE DEMOCRATS HAVE BEEN.

THE LIBERAL DEMOCRATIC CORE IS STILL IN PLACE, BUT IT'S THE MILKTOAST DEMOCRATS WHO'VE TAKEN OVER THE PARTY, OTHERWISE THEY'D BE ON BUSH'S ASS.

THEY'RE NOT A LOYAL OPPOSITION ANYMORE.

THEY DON'T THINK ABOUT THE PUBLIC GOOD. F.D.R. WITH THE NEW DEAL AND TRUMAN WITH THE FAIR DEAL WERE LOOKING OUT FOR THE INTERESTS OF THE MASSES.

SO WHO WOULD YOU SAY THE DEMOCRATS REPRESENT NOW?

WHOEVER GIVES THEM THE MOST MONEY.

I HATE TO BE CYNICAL I HATE THAT.

That's okay, Mike. Have another beer.

Still, one has got to admit the crop of Democratic candidates is...