For weeks, you dreaded going to a formal dinner party because you knew the main course was liver. No seasonings. No bacon wrap. No fried onions. Just liver. You tried every excuse, but finally realized you just had to take your antacids and go to dinner.

      Still gagging over the prospect of liver, you sit down at a lace-covered oak table, with fine china, sterling silver dinnerware, Waterford goblets, and linen napkins. It makes no difference. The main course is liver.

       But, then a miracle. The main course is not liver but hotdogs. You're so grateful you're not getting liver, you eat as if hotdogs were gourmet cuisine.

      The next four years is likely to be a dinner of hotdogs. The nation has such low expectations for George W. Bush that anything he does is likely to be met by high-5's. It worked in the debates. We expected to laugh at a moron incapable of understanding complex domestic and foreign policy issues. While Al Gore was being advised to not scare off voters by sounding too intellectual, Americans knew it was doubtful Dubya could even pronounce "presidential debate," much less participate in one.

      With America's expectations that low, and Dubya actually saying polysyllabic words without stumbling, having memorized lines fed to him by a staff of frightened lieutenants, he was declared the debate "winner" for simply saying anything that made sense.

      Dubya's inaugural speech, written by one of the nation's better political speech writers, especially for his boss's style, was nothing more than a lot of clichés. But we immediately thought of it as acceptable, with some political journalists believing the speech was good. "Remarkable" seems more appropriate

      In his first week in office, Dubya showed promise in meeting America's low expectations. His focus last week was on education--a safe enough agenda since just about everyone agrees that our schools (and our new president) need help. He had already set the example of why education was important, numerous times stumbling over everything from math to geography. During his campaign a year ago, he emphasized, "Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning?" That same day, he explained that an educational system that's responsive to the children and parents "will make America what we want it to be--a literate country and a hope fuller country." Two months later, he explained, "Reading is the basics for all learning." And, yet, the Supreme Court elected him, apparently believing that even mediocrity needs representation.

       Nevertheless, Dubya's "average is superior" ploy in his presidential bid is what educators are now using in the schools. It began with grade inflation. Once, a "C" was the average grade. But, students and their parents became upset that a report card full of C's was really a failure of the system. Surely their fragile psyche could be undermined by being average, was not average. Pressured teachers soon realized that being liked was proportionate to giving high grades. Little Johnny and Sally could now go to college or choose among several job offers in fast food franchising.

       Soon, more than half of all graduating classes, high school and college, were graduating with at least a "B" average--but their SATs and GREs were decidedly below average.

       The educators were shocked and dismayed at this discrepancy between grades and test scores. Now, the educators, who rely upon tests to show worth, could have done a lot of things. They could have set the bar higher, challenged students to reach beyond their own limits, strengthened the curriculum, even improved teacher knowledge.

      What they did, instead, was to change the definition of "average." When the SAT scores began declining, and America's school children were routinely ranking below the "top 10" of all nations on most standardized tests, scores were merely "recentered." Since a 500 is the standard called "average," and more students were scoring below 500 than above it, the testing officials needed to massage the numbers. What might have been a 450 previously was now "recentered" to be a 500, again guaranteeing that half the scores would still be above the newly- inflated average. Teaching wasn't any better. Children weren't learning more. But, combined with grade inflation, just about all students were now above average. Worst of all, parents, educators, students, taxpayers, and the media almost never cried out, "This is a farce!" They bought into the numbers and said, "Now Johnny can go to the college of his choice," with its own grade-inflated transcripts and lower standards of expectation. After all, we have little use for intellectuals--just ask "Wooden" Al Gore.

      If we expect and demand little, then even the most minute performance is seen as "exceptional." During the next four years, Dubya will advise us of even more ways to use that ruse -- and in time, think of how many of today's school children will be every bit as qualified as Dubya to be our president.

       This week's presidential theme is "faith-based action." As a nation, we must have faith that the brilliant Jefferson and Madison, political enemies but intellectual equals, foresaw even this administration and factored it into the base that made this nation. What they didn't envision is a that the people would enthusiastically accept a dinner of hotdogs, whether in education or politics.