I'm no fan of Maureen Dowd's but . . .

[realthog]

. . . the concluding sentence of her NYT piece the other day about Sarah Palin's various homicidal attacks upon vocabulary, grammar and (in the larger sense) syntax deserves mention. It is a very simple observation that should be made more often:

True mavericks don’t brand themselves.

Comments

[louismaistros.livejournal.com]

You can't blame her handlers for this, as they have gotten in the habit of phonetically spelling the word "new-clear" on her tele-prompters:

http://www.observer.com/2008/media/sarah-palin-and-new-clear-option

But in a debate, without tele-prompters, she is helpless as a babe.

[fledgist.livejournal.com]

Until she does her 'come upstairs' wink.

[realthog.livejournal.com]

"Until she does her 'come upstairs' wink."

Is that what it is? I'd assumed she had conjunctivitis.

[sarcobatus.livejournal.com]

Maybe she's been getting poked in the eye too much . . . by accident . . .

I heard that one's aim doesn't get better with age.

(I can't help myself sometimes. Just gotta say what comes to mind!)

[realthog.livejournal.com]

"I heard that one's aim doesn't get better with age."

Sort of Night of the Living McCain, you mean?

[sarcobatus.livejournal.com]

You betcha.

[realthog.livejournal.com]

Well, doggone!

(Fortunately, or you two'd be hurling it into the hot tub along with the others . . .)

[louismaistros.livejournal.com]

I believe she has a certain appeal to the Nazi fetishists out there. They dream of saucy three-ways with her and Ann Coulter.

Now, quickly, go scrub your brain out with lye soap to erase that image from your mind. It stings, but can be effective.

[sarcobatus.livejournal.com]

I heard from Thog that vodka's better than lye for scrubbing out one's brain.

[louismaistros.livejournal.com]

Sounds more pleasant! Will try that next time I have a need.

[fledgist.livejournal.com]

Now that is just evil.

[fledgist.livejournal.com]

No, just the badger game on a national scale.

[realthog.livejournal.com]

"they have gotten in the habit of phonetically spelling the word "new-clear" on her tele-prompters: http://www.observer.com/2008/media/sarah-palin-and-new-clear-option"

That is very funny!

[louismaistros.livejournal.com]

If you were to put this in a work of fiction it would be deemed implausible to the point where folks would complain about their suspension-of-disbelief being seriously tampered with.

As it is, my suspension-of-disbelief regarding actual events is on hiatus. Please wave some sort of flag when it's safe for me to re-engage. I cannot keep up on my own.

[realthog.livejournal.com]

I put things like this into The Dragons of Manhattan and at least one of the reviewers has complained the satire is "too broad".

I mean, it's fuckin' real life, isn't it? I never dared posit something like Troopergate -- now that, I'd have thought, would've been straining credulity: not because of the level of corruption, which sadly we've come to expect of the Republicans (and even some Democrats, perhaps three of them. See? I can do "balance"!), but the sheer fuckwitted banality.

The only thing Trooper Wooten did right according to Gov Palin and the First Dude was, it seems, not be black.

[louismaistros.livejournal.com]

at least one of the reviewers has complained the satire is "too broad".

That is too funny.

Someone famous once said something along the lines of: the main difference between fiction and nonfiction is that fiction has a responsibility to maintain plausibility, whereas nonfiction has no such constraints. It might have been Mark Twain, I don't know.

Ond day I'm sure "Dragons" will make the leap from "too implausible" to "not fictiony enough." I would actually bet money on that, and I am not a betting man.

[realthog.livejournal.com]

"the main difference between fiction and nonfiction is that fiction has a responsibility to maintain plausibility, whereas nonfiction has no such constraints"

I know the quote but, like you, can't for the moment place it.

[louismaistros.livejournal.com]

Well, whoever said it, the sentiment is, unfortunately, pretty damn timeless.

The human race sure is an interesting group. A species whose sheer showmanship is unparalleled in the history of the earth. So we've got that going for us.

[sarcobatus.livejournal.com]

That's just plain sad. Sad, I tell you. But the show must go on.

[louismaistros.livejournal.com]

Sad, surreal, and the stuff of nightmares. It is David Lynch on crack.

[sarcobatus.livejournal.com]

It's David Lynch on David Cronenberg on crack.

[louismaistros.livejournal.com]

David and David on crack in a hot tub with Sarah and Ann. And not just regular crack. The cheap stuff.

[realthog.livejournal.com]

I'm tiptoeing away from you two.

It's enough to drive a man to lye soap.

[sarcobatus.livejournal.com]

Just don't drink it.

[fledgist.livejournal.com]

No, bad acid.