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
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"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
May 05, 2006
History's Greatest Bullies
After Richard Cohen pointed out what an appalling bully Stephen Colbert was toward Bush last Saturday, Mike and I started thinking about the larger issue. We began with the assumption that Colbert's the greatest bully who's ever lived...but realized that, as horrible as it is, there are a few who may have been worse. Emphasis mayâ€â€Âwe think the jury's still out. You can see the other contenders, and register your own views, here.
Posted at May 5, 2006 04:53 PM | TrackBackI nominate Joseph Welch, who bullied poor Joe McCarthy with "Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?"
Posted by: slim at May 5, 2006 06:46 PMAnd those black bullies who so harassed Bull Connor's dogs.
Posted by: WIIIAI at May 5, 2006 06:57 PMCindy Sheehan, of course.
Posted by: Bob at May 5, 2006 07:45 PMThe Chinese guy who bullied those tanks at Tiananmen Square.
Posted by: WIIIAI at May 5, 2006 07:48 PMSophie Scholl. Teenage girls are soooo intimidating.
Federico Garcia Lorca. Beat up Franco with his words, who had him shot in self-defense.
Posted by: Saheli at May 5, 2006 08:16 PMGeneral Custer. Uh, wait...
Posted by: Jonathan Versen at May 5, 2006 11:53 PMWhy, Jesus Christ bullying the pharisees, of course.
Posted by: abb1 at May 6, 2006 02:46 AMFidel Castro, who has been bullying the U.S. for more than forty years and JUST WON'T STOP.
Hugo Chavez, too.
Posted by: Aaron Datesman at May 6, 2006 06:32 AMGive that man a cigar.
Posted by: Jonathan Versen at May 6, 2006 11:15 AMThe worst couple:
Anna Akhmatova
Osip Mandelstam
for their relentless bullying of Lavrenty Beria and Stalin.
Don't forget "Der Weisse Rose", the small "White Rose" group of Germans who harassed and abused the poor Nazis, coercing Hitler into composing yet another "signing statement" and having them executed. And that bully Dietrich Bonhoeffer, too.
Posted by: at May 7, 2006 07:56 PMLet's not forget Ghandi and his outrageous bullying of the British Empire.
Posted by: brynn at May 8, 2006 07:44 AM(Ooops, that should be spelled "Gandhi")
Posted by: brynn at May 8, 2006 07:45 AM
