Eddie Dean and Emily Yoffe
Eddie--
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StumbleUponI'll get to your idea of the Bobo debates in a minute, but I wanted to briefly go back to our death-penalty discussion of yesterday. I was reading part of the transcript of the Jim Lehrer interview this week with Gov. Bush. In it Bush describes how allowing the execution of Karla Faye Tucker to go forward was one of the most difficult decisions he's had to make. You'll recall Tucker was convicted of multiple murders as a young woman. She acknowledged her crime, but while in prison found God and became a fervent evangelical Christian. It's interesting that PBS's Lehrer does not ask Bush why, if this matter weighed so heavily on Bush, he flippantly made fun of Tucker's request for a stay of execution to Talk magazine's Tucker Carlson, but never mind.
In the interview, Bush says he thought Karla Faye Tucker's conversion was real: "I was most impressed by her, and yet my job as the governor of Texas is to uphold the law of the land. My job isn't to judge somebody's heart. I believe that's up to the almighty God to make that decision." This statement is in direct opposition to everything I've heard Bush say innumerable times about his own heart. All during the campaign he has been showing off his heart, asking us to take a sort of spiritual angiogram of it and find him worthy. He cried foul when he was called to task for visiting Bob Jones University and not denouncing their racist dating policy because, he explained, there was no racism in his heart. After finally meeting with the Log Cabin Republicans, a gay organization, Bush said, "We judge people based upon their heart and soul. That's what the campaign's about." So maybe this new statement means Bush will put the judging of such things back in God's camp and ask us to judge him on his actions and words.
Eddie, could you persuade your friend, Bobo, to come out of retirement and moderate the next presidential debates? Maybe he could dunk Gore every time he rolled his eyes or sighed or started droning on like he was explaining to kindergartners why they have to wash their hands after they go to the bathroom. Whenever I see Bush at a debate, I am reminded of a story told by the late, great radio raconteur Jean Shepard. Shepard talked about the terror he experienced at the prospect of being called on in math class. He and fellow mathphobes would crowd in the back of the room hoping the teacher would just forget about them. But one day she called on the student sitting right next to Shepard. This classmate was so consumed by anxiety that it caused him to spontaneously combust, leaving behind just a blue haze. I keep expecting that sometime between now and November we will see Bush standing at the podium one minute, and the next--poof, blue haze.
Emily
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Reader Response from The Fray--to be read after the final entry:
Not only should Bobo the Clown be drafted to moderate the Presidential debates [Thursday's entry], but he should chair every Congressional Committee, be given Joe Lockhart's job, and he should anchor the news on all networks.
--Will Allen
(To reply, click here.)
I know it's all the rage now to demonstrate your liberal bona fides by trashing the Confederate flag in South Carolina or Confederate History Month in Virginia, but Eddie's little diatribe against Governor Gilmore and Richmond, Virginia takes the cake [Tuesday]. I see that he has joined some of those he criticizes in hijacking history, ascribing his beliefs to be in the great tradition of Robert E. Lee.
The natural progression of not honoring Confederate History Month is to begin to impede or discourage tourists who want to visit Civil War sites or Confederate museums and cemeteries, as these people must be misguided at best or racist yahoos at worst. I'm sure that Virginians of all ethnicities who work in tourism-related businesses appreciate all the controversy and would rather not have Civil War tourists staying in hotels, eating at restaurants, or buying souvenirs. And, correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Virginia elect the one and only black governor ever to serve in the 50 states?
If you could find 50 people in Virginia who knew about the Confederate History Month proclamation before this contretemps, I would be shocked.
--Will
(To reply, click here.)
(5/4)
Slate should call this "Whenever You Can Make It To The Table" instead of the "Breakfast Table".
--NT
[See timing of Monday's posts. Matters seemed to improve during the week.]
(To reply, click here.)
So there could be genetically-engineered giant animals [Monday's entry]--but what about when politicians start splicing their genes? Imagine the havoc a 50-foot George Bush would do to the environment--dangerous. Or the monotone bellow of a 100-foot-tall Gore. O the horror.
--Chris
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I have engineered four-legged chickens because my family likes fried chicken legs. We are as of this date unsure of the palatability of these fowl because now we can't catch them.
--eieio
(To reply, click here.)
Today Pharm Animals--Tomorrow Your Mom!
--Seeking Justice
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[This was the title of the post. There was quite a lot more, but this seemed to hit the spot.]
Actually, if the knife that George Harrison was stabbed with had been about a half-inch to the left, he would have died instantly [Monday]. Only those with no knowledge or understanding of violence (which in this post-draft era means basically all of the chattering classes) think that knives are inherently less lethal than guns.
--Tench Coxe
(To reply, click here.)
Re: the possible break-up of Microsoft:
Oh Emily,
Some of us relate:
Poor Bill's the guy everyone loves to hate.
But fear not for your beloved Slate
Just follow His lead,
simply innovate.
--Ann
(To reply, click here.)
(5/2)