or Powell's or me• • •
"Mike and Jon, Jon and Mike—I've known them both for years, and, clearly, one of them is very funny. As for the other: truly one of the great hangers-on of our time."—Steve Bodow, head writer, The Daily Show
•
"Who can really judge what's funny? If humor is a subjective medium, then can there be something that is really and truly hilarious? Me. This book."—Daniel Handler, author, Adverbs, and personal representative of Lemony Snicket
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"The good news: I thought Our Kampf was consistently hilarious. The bad news: I’m the guy who wrote Monkeybone."—Sam Hamm, screenwriter, Batman, Batman Returns, and Homecoming
July 17, 2004
Tom Minchin Is Making Sense
An extremely intelligent letter has been published in the Guardian:
All round the world, leftists are gnashing their teeth at Butler clearing Tony Blair, sensing that he indirectly clears George Bush. The question is not how do we get rid of Bush and Blair, but how do we get rid of Osama bin Laden, Kim Jong-Il and the mullahs of Iran. The left holds endless postmortems on Iraq to keep the focus on governments that it feels are safe to criticise.
Tom Minchin
Melbourne, Australia
Thank God Mr. Minchin is telling it like it is! Leftists all over the world don't want to criticize the leaders of Al-Qaeda, North Korea and Iran -- because, frankly, they've seen the price you pay if you do so.
For instance, Michael Moore has received numerous death threats from people angry about his recent scathing film about Kim Jong-Il. And after Whoopi Goldberg made some adult jokes about Osama bin Laden at a John Kerry fundraiser, she lost her endorsement deal with Slim-Fast.
Yes, if you criticize the Axis of Evil, you know you better batten down the hatches and ride out the hurricane. Meanwhile, there are NEVER any consequences if you criticize the US government. And so leftists, with their endless cowardice, take the path of least resistance. Thank goodness brilliant individuals like Mr. Minchin are around to point it out.
Posted at July 17, 2004 01:11 AM | TrackBackHe also mentions the endless postmortems...because as we all know, the mortem is long since post. Mission accomplished. Amen...pass the ammo.
Posted by: ScottMcW at July 17, 2004 04:31 PMI'm really interested to meet one of these "leftists." I hear about them all the time, but I've never actually talked to anyone who holds the opinions that "leftists" are supposed to hold. I've looked everywhere -- the eastern seaboard, Berkeley, etc. -- and I've come up empty every time.
Posted by: Adam Kotsko at July 18, 2004 01:56 PMScott McW,
Good point. The war in Iraq has been over for YEARS, yet leftists (such as Lord Butler, whom I believe is a Maoist) insist on rehashing everything. I mean, when did all the troops come home? Wasn't it 1996?
Adam,
The leftists you seek are hidden deep in secret underground caverns.
Posted by: Jonathan Schwarz at July 18, 2004 07:23 PMIt's true. Remember those Commies McCarthy talked about in the 50s but wouldn't name names? Well, they were actually captured and deep-frozen in a bunker 30 miles south of Omaha, Nebraska. Noble Joe McCarthy agreed to pretend he was making it all up and take the fall for it so that our national security could be preserved. This is why Ann Coulter speaks so highly of him.
Every time Bob Novak or Tucker Carlson needs an opinion from a "leftist" they thaw one of these guys out. Then they pop him back in the liquid nitrogen when they've got what they need.
Don't tell me you thought they were making these statements up! Why do you hate America so?
