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Who says you have to have something to say?

Tom Dispatch in fine form recording our politicians, with little to tell, are cashing in on book deals:

"Here's a tip for tough times. If anywhere in your genealogy you can find the name Bush or Obama, or anything close to either, no matter how distant the ancestor, start writing and, while you're at it, contact the nearest "literary" agent! A contract could be in the offing. As everyone knows, President Obama has written two wildly successful books, which have made millions, and since his run for president began, whole bookstore shelves have filled with what can only be called Obamiana, including Obama: The Historic Campaign in Photographs, Barack Obama: 44th President Collectors Vault, Barack Obama for Beginners, Michelle Obama: First Lady of Hope, The Faith of Barack Obama, Thanks and Have Fun Running the Country: Kids' Letters to President Obama, as well as a pile of Obama books for kids, and that barely scratches the surface.

Now comes the news that the president's Kenyan half-brother George, a community organizer, is writing a book for Simon & Schuster for a mere six-figure advance. So are a half-sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng (for Candlewick Press), and Michelle Obama's brother, Craig Robinson (for Gotham Books). TomDispatch hears that Bo Obama, too, may be searching for an agent and inking up that little paw to sign on the dotted line.

As for the Bushes: Daughter Jenna proved so naturally skilled with the pen (and the deal) that, at age 25, based on a nine-month UNICEF internship in Central America, she had already published her first book, Ana's Story: A Journey of Hope, signed up for a piddling $300,000 or so with HarperCollins (now, in more straitened publishing times, redubbed just plain Harper). Jenna's children's book, Read All About It, followed, selling 80,000 copies. Mom hit her stride this January with a deal for a memoir estimated to be in the range of $3.5-5 million ("I look forward to working with Scribner and the Simon & Schuster team as I tell the stories of the extraordinary events and people I've met in my life, particularly during my years in the White House.")

Now, Dad's made his deal, too, $7 million worth of it for a Nixonian-style volume of critical life moments as "the decider." According to an aide, "He's having a lot of fun doing it. He's reliving some great moments, and thinking about how he can bring the reader into his shoes or put them in his seat for a fascinating period in history." Here at TomDispatch, we're not so sure we'd care to be "in his seat" for years we remember by adjectives other than "fascinating." But we have no doubt that it's going to be a lot of fun for the former prexy, even if he did come up $8 million short of Bill Clinton's contract for My Life. That's what tough times are all about, after all. Maybe he'll call it War and Pieces (as in smashing the world into...).

Anyway, where were we? Oh yes, I think we were talking about cashing in. At least that's what Nick Turse is certainly talking about in his nifty Class of '00 Bush memorabilia piece, a twist on the series he's been doing these last months for this site on Tough Times in America."

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