"He instinctively can find the shining greatness of our American culture and does a good job of highlighting it (although he also does have those rare lapses when he writes about hockey, but that is something caused by impurities in the Eastern waters or something)." Erik Keilholtz
Under the patronage of St. Tammany
Mark C. N. Sullivan is an editor at a Massachusetts university. He is married and the father of three children. Email
Saturday, October 02, 2004 'Dovima with Elephants,' Richard Avedon, 1955
In the wake of Thursday's debate, and because Casablanca was on tonight, here's "Knock on Wood," performed by Dooley Wilson.
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I'm with Bush on substance, but criminy, was he inarticulate the other night. Lileks' post-debate screed is bracing (TSO, too, likes the Dying Swan reference), as is Martin Peretz on Iraq. If only (famous last words) the case could have been made with something approaching verve or clarity in the debate: Is Tony Blair available for Round Two?
A reader in the Old Dominion states: "John---I can't agree more. I love Bush to death, but he does make me nervous when he speaks. I also grew up cursed to be a Red Sox fan, and honestly, when I watch Bush, it's like watching the Red Sox with a one run lead going into the late innings of a playoff game: You just know they are probably going to screw up so you don't even want to watch. Last night, I got that same feeling."
So, here is my solution: make the day AFTER election day a holiday. Give official endorsement to the notion of going out after voting and getting absolutely stinko. Let the hangover reign on Election Wednesday. It would be a good symbolic act to what happens when the idiot candidates and insane laws all go into effect. Vote. Feel Sick. Vote. Taste the consequences of allowing the unwashed hordes access to voting machines. The electorate is one group of monkeys that will absolutely NEVER type up Hamlet.
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Armavirumque's James Panero goes deep undercover to a MoveOn.org literary reading.
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This Amazon listing is made funnier by the recommendations for books of similar interest, specifically the third.