Now hear this; now hear this. Don't even think about missing Bill Shipp this week. It's yet another Shipp classic and keeper. The topic -- Sen. Miller

To whet your appetite:

Before he became world famous, Sen. Miller once explained that Mary Ann's patrons served as his down-home focus group for delving into the minds of middle-class Americans. By conferring with them around the breakfast table, Miller said he determined the issues government should address.

In a column in The Washington Post (Sept. 8, 2002), long after Miller had switched his allegiance from the Democratic Party to President Bush, our senior senator wrote that Mary Ann's crowd appeared most concerned about war in Iraq.

"I have jotted down some of the questions that they want the president to answer in building a case for going to Iraq."

Reaffirming his "100 percent" support of President Bush, Miller reeled off his list of inquiries from Mary Ann's restaurant.

Here is a sample:

"Who will join with us in this war and what share will they be willing to bear? There was some grumbling about our boys in Afghanistan 'just doing guard duty' to protect those warlords."

"The old Soviet Union had thousands of nuclear missiles for decades, many of them capable of reaching our major cities, and yet we didn't get into a war with the Soviets. The president needs to explain why Iraq is different."

"What happens after we take out Hussein? How long will our soldiers be there? And again, with whose help?"

"There is concern about too much deployment. We've got our soldiers stationed all over the world. Someone needs to bring us up to date on where they are, why they are there and how long our commitment to keep them there is."

"How does our plan in Iraq fit in with the whole Middle East question? How will it affect Israel? How will it affect our war on terrorism?"

Miller went on, "The people at Mary Ann's know very well who fights our wars — the kids from the middle-class and blue-collar homes of America. Kids like their grandchildren. They want to hear the president say that he knows and understands that.

"Forgive my bluntness, but these folks want to hear the president and the vice president say that this war is not about oil."

Perhaps time and events have provided a few partial explanations. But if Miller received any direct responses from the administration, he hasn't shared them with us. He also has not disclosed to the public whether he dropped by Mary Ann's to announce his findings.
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And it gets even better.

Mr. Shipp names the column (I love it): Mary Ann's customers waiting.