Nicholas Lemann and Judith Shulevitz
Dear Nick,
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StumbleUponFunny, Wolverton doesn't sound Jewish. But you never know. One of her many parents could have changed his name from Zevburg or some such rough Yiddish translation. In any event, from your description of the menu, if she is an M.O.T., she is not an observant one. Do bison have cloven hooves? Do they chew their cud? If the answer to either of those questions is no, then I am afraid they must be classed with the unclean creatures of the earth.
Speaking of Jews whose names get changed, I would like to take this opportunity to reassure certain Fraysters that in my last post, I did not mean to bash Yehoshua, a.k.a. Jesus. I meant to bash politicians who take his Christian name in vain. I am very fond of my co-religionist, however much his memory has been used to torment our people in the 1,970-odd years since he first began to exhort his fellow Jews to mend their ways, thereby taking up an ancient Israeli profession--prophet--previously practiced for generations, though it paid rather badly and probably did not make his mother Miriam happy. I am just as disgusted when Jewish politicians make sanctimonious use of their religion, as Joe Lieberman did on occasion during the campaign.
A few quick questions: Why weren't Rumsfeld and Paige invited to the dinner, if Defense and Education are so dear to Bush's heart? And what about that tequila in the sabayon--isn't our president a teetotaler? And I would like to draw your attention to Jacob Weisberg's excellent "Ballot Box" today, in which he seems to argue that Bush is headed for deficit spending, whether he admits it or not. Do you buy his thesis that the Democrats will soon discover the frustrations of being the party of fiscal responsibility? And if you do, does this make being a Democrat sexier or less sexy?
But all this talk of state dinners is making me hungry, so I shall sign off and head downstairs to the kitchen. Luckily you seem to be feeling secure enough about your popularity with the American people that we're allowed to consume French cuisine. I can tell from the smell wafting up that you're making your most elitist cheese soufflé.
Love,
Judith
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Reader Comments From The Fray
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[Notes from the Fray Editor: Don't like restaurants? Then let's discuss home cooking, and get some ideas for tonight's dinner, in this thread here. One of the cooks, Will Allen, has this to say elsewhere (context not really important, but he had been accused of pre-judging people): "I nearly always allow someone to clearly display their banal, wooden-headed, nature before denouncing it." There was an interesting thread on prison officers, the word 'perversely', and insults, starting here. Everyone was in cheerful mood in the Fray: Ex-Fed was able to start joke threads here and here (warning: this one was considered tasteless by another poster.) Ex-Fed also proposed marriage to one of the Breakfast Tablers, here: we're being a little circumspect because this involved being rude about the other BT-er. And there was a fan letter from Zeitguy to Judith Shulevitz here.]
If there's anything "unique" about American society, it's the amazing extent of our ability to think that we're somehow different from every other civilization in history. Maybe it's because our particular culture has only been around for a few hundred years, in a land where we are cut off almost completely from the ancient civilizations that have been around significantly longer. I don't know. But bored, whiny rich people? That's nothing new
--Mangar
(To reply, click here.)
It's not the self-pity that bothers me so much, though it's bad enough, but the truculence and righteous indignation and desire to grind the faces of the poor it seems to lead to.
To put it another way--what, exactly, are the rich and powerful so pissed off about? What is it that they want that they're not getting? 100% of the wealth instead of a mere 90%?
--Kassandra
(To reply, click here.)
(9/5)