Academic

Since Anna blogged this yesterday, I have been wondering what would be the less charitable word than "farce" to describe the events in Washington over the past few weeks. Whatever that word would be, I need it now to describe McCain's attempt to rebrand the failed bailout bill:

"The first thing I'd do is say, let's not call it a bailout, let's call it a rescue because it is a rescue. It's a rescue of Main Street America. We haven't convinced people that this is a rescue effort, not just for Wall Street, but for Main Street America."

So I am over at Thesaurus.com ... searching for just the right word:

burlesque, caricature, comedy, extravaganza, forcemeat, harlequin, harlequinade, joke, mime, mockery, nonsense, parody, ridiculosity, satire, sham, slapstick, stuffing, take-off, travesty 

Forcemeat? It means "a mixture of finely chopped and seasoned foods, usually containing egg white, meat or fish, etc., used as a stuffing or served alone." Apparently, this shows up under "farce" because it's also called "farcemeat."

Ridiculosity sounds like something Stuart Scott would say on SportCenter. The thing is, it fits McCain's proposal perfectly. It is the noun form of this: "causing or worthy of ridicule or derision; absurd; preposterous; laughable: a ridiculous plan."

So let it be written: John McCain's plan to call the $700 billion financial package a "rescue" rather than a "bailout" is a ridiculosity of the highest order.