First Hitchens, then Vaclav Havel, now Kim Jong-Il. Is the Reaper suddenly tired of people who spent their lives trying to give Communism a bad name? Generally speaking, I am no friend to the Reaper, but he seems to be on a roll here. And they do over-abound, these tiresome specimens.
Of the three, I think it was Havel who irritated me most. All that prosing about morality. When you hear somebody talking about morality, it's time to count the spoons.
I vaguely remember him coming to the US, after the Velveteen Rabbitation(*) or whatever they called it, and delivering an obsequious half-hour of abject flattery to that contemptible institution, the US Congress. He was much cheered by the elected soup-hounds. Damning, eh?
But it gets worse. The strangest things happen in New York. I was in a taxi earlier today, and the driver had his radio tuned to NPR -- yes, NPR -- and I had to hear a good quarter-hour of eulogy to Havel by none other than Madeleine "Babykiller" Albright. Now that's really damning. If you ask me.
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(*)I mean no disrespect to that wonderful book The Velveteen Rabbit, which I used to read to my kids, when they were little. There was never a dry eye in the house. Nowadays, of course, they're tough-minded and unsentimental. I just hope I live long enough to see them become soft-headed and sentimental again, like their dad.
Comments (5)
Hot damn! Trifecta!
Saw the news about Havel and Our Glorious Leader on the front page of the Post this morning. Man, it's sure going to take one hell of a leader to fill Kim's glasses, if you know what I mean.
I felt a slight tinge of sadness when reading about Havel on the same front page, but knocked it back by reminding myself about how he came here and gushed all over the place about how great America was, as if all there was to this country was Frank Zappa and the Velvet Underground. I can give the guy some props for his taste in music, but, still... yeah, you can be sure the guy was a bastard when he gives gushy speeches to Congress (spit) and is eulogized by Madeleine Albright on NPR -- who, no doubt, aired the Wicked Witch Of The West without the slightest trace of irony.
Posted by Mike Flugennock | December 19, 2011 8:55 AM
Posted on December 19, 2011 08:55
But are any of these three equal to that techno-mage, Steve Jobs?
No?
No.
Well, there. Get with the entrepreneurial techno-future, commie. And stop trying to sully the memory and mission of Jobs, by discussing the deaths of lesser lights and dimly brights. Come years end, we should only be saying, "Thank Jobs."
Posted by Jack Crow | December 19, 2011 8:59 AM
Posted on December 19, 2011 08:59
A comeback opportunity for Dion DiMucci?
Posted by Sandwichman | December 19, 2011 10:01 AM
Posted on December 19, 2011 10:01
As much as one hates to cheer for people passing on, one has to cheer for certain people passing on.
Of the three, Kim Jong-Il was undoubtedly the worst, but I think that Christopher Hitchens beats Havel on sheer perversity. This was a man who cheered Ken Starr and betrayed his friend, Sid Blumenthal.
Posted by Charles | December 19, 2011 2:38 PM
Posted on December 19, 2011 14:38
Ken Starr rec'd too few well-deserved cheers, IMHO. He stymied Clinton's neoliberalism for almost two years, on the cheap.
Posted by Jack Crow | December 19, 2011 3:33 PM
Posted on December 19, 2011 15:33