I was working up a good head of steam the other day about the ladybugs. Those of you from around here know what I'm talking about. And those of you from the under-infested parts of the world probably think that ladybugs are cute little harbingers of luck. Yeah, it's real cute when you come home on a sunny autumn afternoon and find the outside of your house — previously inanimate — all poltergeist-y and alive with squirming red with black polka dots. And it's really lucky when you have to cover your children's faces and tell them "Run like the wind kids and whatever you do, don't inhale!"

Anthrax doesn't scare me. But the ladybugs give me nightmares!

I wanted to write a humorous column on the finer points of living among the ladybugs. Do not attempt to appear cool and cavalier by slugging 'em down along with the beer they have fallen into. Ladybugs have no natural enemies. One taste and you'll know why.I wanted to give you my decorating tips for life in ladybug land. Neutral colors go best with the wispy orange trails they leave behind. In short, I wanted to be the Martha Stewart of the ladybug-infested set.

But then I remembered the political situation. There's America's new war — where we bomb a whole country in order to kill one man (not that we are officially aiming at anyone in particular, mind you) while dropping care packages on them. I imagine the packages include little bread and butter notes that read "Sorry we blew up your entire village. Have a cookie on us." And I thought about the hypocrisy of our government declaring an all-out war on terrorists while our tax dollars still support a military training school at Ft. Benning whose alumni include some of the most illustrious terrorists of Latin America.

And I remembered that closer to home Gov. Swift is bullying two Turnpike board members because they are "giving in to pressure from drivers" rather than giving in to pressure from the governor, as they were apparently appointed to do. And I recalled hearing about the nearly half million dollars in severance packages that were handed out to departing MassPort dead weight while the desperately-needed Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) program was de-funded leaving neglected and abused children virtually voiceless in our court system.

And then I wondered what business I had making jokes about ladybugs or anything else when there are so many deadly serious issues to address? But like I told my kids when they caught me in the act of vacuuming up billions of their new little ladybug pets — "It doesn't kill them, kids. It just changes their perspective."

So I guess I'll keep making jokes about ladybugs and politics and life in general.  It certainly won't kill us to laugh a little more. And who knows? Maybe it'll help to change our perspective.

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