code: def get_var(self, name, recurse=True):
          
          self._dlog("getting var '{}'".format(name))
          return self._search("vars", name, recurse)
docs: Return the first var of name ``name`` in the current
          scope stack (remember, vars are the ones that parse the
          input stream)
  
          :name: The name of the id
          :recurse: Whether parent scopes should also be searched (defaults to True)
          :returns: TODO