Gambler's Ruin.

I missed Dubya's press conference last night -- I taught my two last sections of the term, then headed for an arts fundraising shindig downtown (where I picked up a celebrity sighting in Chiwetel Ejiofor) -- but, frankly, it doesn't sound like I missed much. "With two in three Americans disapproving of the way Bush has handled Social Security, many political observers thought it would be prudent for Bush to cut his losses and negotiate a bipartisan compromise on Social Security...Instead, Bush held a prime-time news conference and doubled down on his bet." Dubya tries to regain the Social Security initiative by declaring he'll cut benefits for everyone but the poor. Privatization and lower benefits? Hey, what a deal!