Year of the Rat

In the traditional Asian calendar, there are twelve lunar years, in fashion similar to the Western zodiac of lunar months. Each of the years is assigned an animal, and people born in that year are said to carry the traits of that year’s animal. 2008 is the Year of the Rat. For Asians, the symbolic rat is charming and clever, has lots of friends and often a lot of money as well. The more I think about it, that fits the United States political scene just now. Certainly it is very easy to imagine any of the remaining major contenders for President as rattish in their character and behavior.