Thursday, February 17, 2005
(10:15 AM) | Adam Kotsko:
The sniffles
Sometimes, when my nose is already completely raw and I still have to blow my nose every 37 seconds, I like to trade up to paper towel, instead of Kleenex. It lasts longer.UPDATE: Have you guys seen this thing floating around about how Roger Ebert and Fidel Castro are both linked in with Islamic fundamentalism? It's set up by the same guy who brought us the "conservatives in academia" faux-controversy. I'm starting to think that derisive laughter is the only possible response to right-wing arguments at this point -- attempting any kind of discussion is simply missing the point. More specifically, here is the kind of sequence I would like Democrats to take. I'll use the Iraq example:
BUSH: I want to go to war in Iraq to stop terrorism.
DEMOCRATS: HA! You've got to be kidding.
BUSH: No, I'm not kidding.
DEMOCRATS: Oh, well, that's stupid. We're not doing that.
Here's how they should approach Social Security:
BUSH: I want to solve Social Security's fiscal problems by expending a huge amount of money to implement a new system that is almost certain to lead to decreased benefits.
DEMOCRATS: HA! You've got to be kidding.
BUSH: No, I'm not kidding.
DEMOCRATS: Oh, well, that's stupid. We're not doing that.
Rinse and repeat. Democrats need to get over their habits of excessive "fair-mindedness" and of hallucinating ideas of "what the American public will like" rather than just trying to do what makes sense.
That's what I like about Illinois governor Rod Blagojovich. (I happen to hear his speeches a lot on NPR.) Sure, it's annoying that he's always bragging about streamlining government and about how he didn't even raise taxes, but he seems to be coming up with some decent solutions to problems that actually seem to exist. Brey, am I totally misunderstanding the guy?
SECOND UPDATE: I just received one of the two rebates by which I was suckered into buying my current computer. There were two: one for $50, one for $150. I received the latter.
My only complaint is that apparently our mail carrier has decided to stop putting the mail into each individual mailbox, opting instead to drop all of the mail for the building into the mail slot, so that it gets mixed in with the ad mailer shit that (up until a couple minutes ago) littered our entryway. That, to me, is unacceptable.
Translation update: I am finally sitting down and reading through the Derrida translation, after finishing it Sunday. I was very frightened of what I would find, but it actually isn't too bad. Today I should be able to get a more presentable draft put together, then hopefully someone with a little more French experience will look over it to make sure I don't make any grave, embarrassing errors. The responsibility for all remaining errors would, of course, remain my own.
Also, I'd like to add that living with a cat who's in heat is a new thing for me. I wish I could help her, but alas! Perhaps I should ask Senator Rick Santorum what options are available.
Let it never be said that I hastily scroll down fellow participants' posts!
