note: i did not swim today.

the united states has always been friendly to quacks and mountebanks and false accusers; that is an essential teaching of this country's literature from the days of mark twain to those of lewis lapham. like pumpkin pie and the bald eagle, the con game is so utterly american that it probably deserves its own series of postage stamps. but something is different today. the quack and the mountebanks own the place, and everyone knows it. the con game is our national pastime. everyone either is in on it or has a plan for getting in on it soon.

thomas frank,
rendezvous with oblivion