A friend emails to ask for ideas he can pitch to an editor for a populist column designed to appeal to - and shock and outrage! - middle America. Ideally, he says, you'd want some example or combination of:
“1. Kids endangered somehow
2. Taxpayer money wasted3. Fat cats bilking the little guy4. Government out of control5. Decency/common sense gone out the window
Well, the Ethanol Boondoggle satisfies 2, 3, 4 and 5 while the War on Drugs manages to go one better, mmeeting each and every one of these requirements.
Somehow however I doubt this is the message my friend's editor wants to hear.