In junior high school I was an object of pure ridicule for my dress withdrawal and asocial manner. Dozens of times I saw individuals laugh and smile more in ten to fifteen minutes than I did in all my life up to then.

Mr. Speaker we are a blessed Nation. We have not suffered another attack on our soil since September 11 and we are grateful. We have killed or captured dozens of members of al Qaeda and the Taliban. Our military and intelligence forces are working both hard and smart.

In my home State of Louisiana several institutions of higher education have been impacted by both Hurricanes Katrina and Rita literally dozens across the entire State.

I got that experience through dating dozens of men for six years after college getting an entry level magazine job at 21 working in the fiction department at Good Housekeeping and then working as a fashion editor there as well as writing many articles for the magazine.

I've hung out at dozens of playgrounds bored out of my mind with not even a look of comfort from disapproving mothers all around me. Either they think I'm a pedophile or a deadbeat dad. That's what I get for being a single dad - suspicious looks at the playground.