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"When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less."

"The question is," said Alice, "whether you can make words mean so many different things."

"The question is," said Humpty Dumpty, "which is to be master that's all."

—Louis Carroll

Two items in the news: a congressional committee warns that Chinese telecom companies might be spying on us, and the Secretary of Defense warns about "cybersecurity." One report even says that Chinese-made equipment used in businesses here sends data to China at night! What's the story?

Last summer I compared the GOP to a mutinous first-mate on the Titanic, steering  the economy into an iceberg in hopes of taking over when the captain goes with the ship, while forgetting that they're "in the same boat."

If our economy was the RMS Titanic, Republicans would be like an ambitious first mate, so eager to seize power from the captain that he steers the ship of state into an iceberg, thinking he'll take over when the captain goes down with the ship. Republicans have forgotten — or no longer care — they're on the boat too, and they're working very hard to ensure that the country will be nearly ungovernable should they succeed in seizing the reins of government.

If it seems like the White House is arranging deck chairs on the Titanic, the GOP is busy measuring the the captain's quarters for drapes, even as the ocean pours in. And the tea party orchestra plays on, with just one song on the playlist — "Under the Sea."

Chrystia Freeland's recent NYT column casts the one percent as the first-class passengers on the RMS Titanic — standing on deck in their life-jackets, telling jokes and sipping cocktails as ship goes slowly down, oblivious to the fates of those in steerage, and asking "Will the lifeboats be seated by class?"

President Obama and Governor Romney continue to take to the airwaves with competing ads that claim each is tougher than the other in confronting China's predatory trade practices.

Not so long ago, the U.S.-China Business Council released a study showing that U.S. exports to China have risen over the past decade.  Their point was, isn't this great-- trade with China means that U.S. exports keep growing.

Billy Koehler died on March 7, 2009, for lack of health insurance. Mitt Romney said on Oct.