Arianna Huffington and Harry Shearer
Entry 15:
Hey, Arianna, I thought you liked the idea of presidents apologizing for things they actually did, as opposed to Clinton apologizing for things other people did. I haven't read the complete transcript of Suharto's farewell address--I'm saving that for some month when I'm in traction--but I would suspect he didn't apologize for his invasion of, and subsequent massacre in, East Timor. But, to misquote Ev Dirksen, half a million people here, half a million people there, pretty soon you're talking real genocide.
As for the attentions lavished upon me at the Steve Forbes dinner, I just chalked that up to the charisma deficit in the room that night (present company excepted).
The way I understand it, American companies like to have Chinese launches for their satellites because that's the cheapest and fastest way to get the birds into orbit. This whole incident, therefore, would fall under the rubric of what Ronald Reagan incessantly described as "the magic of the marketplace." Are we against that now?
Harry Shearer
Arianna Huffington is a nationally syndicated columnist. Harry Shearer is host of radio's Le Show, a screenwriter, an actor, and provider of several voices on The Simpsons.