from a reader in Boston.
Mark Shea’s term “The Great Enema of 2002” is memorable;
however, I find it too optimistic.
My _Random House Word Menu_, under “fusses and troubles”, has several dozen possibilities, among which are:
commotion and crash
flap, fracas, and furor
imbroglio
megillah, mess
screw-up, snafu, stink
wreckage
Among these, I prefer “crash” and “wreckage”.
I hope they will be followed by The Purge.
As far as the Bishop’s conference goes, I’m not sure we can hope for anything resembling what you and Mark have described so… colorfully. We have to pray and trust that the Holy Spirit is going lead our shepherds. Emily said it best yesterday:
We need to remember that the Holy Spirit is the one in charge of making sure this conference blesses the Body. And frustrating as it may be, He does not always work in ways that make sense to us or that we can easily and quickly evaluate.