I'MMA LET YOU FINISH
Damn straight.
Bravo Matt!
wait, is that a YES song? don't know that one.
He thinks he's so funny.
The only Yes song I can remember is "Close to the Edge."
Someone got a new CD recently! It's the only explanation.
Up next: Atrios drives us all batty with Cindy Lauper references.
I'm thinking Tull.
Matt's comments are sometimes even more lively and involved than Eschaton's, hard to believe but true. He's earned his spot at TAP, and I wish him all the best. But I still like it here, and what's wrong with Cindy Lauper?
The scene opens in a hospital room. Some poor sap has advanced lung cancer. He's in bed, immobile with tubes and beeping equipment all around him. The tumor has not yet metastasized, but the it is growing fast. The condition is critical.
Three doctors are discussing his case. The patient, one Ira Q. Public, is barely conscious but listens from his bed, able to hear through the haze of painkillers only as if in a dream, but unable to act:
Dr. Stronzo: "This man has cancer! His only hope is for us to remove both legs!"
Dr. Entiero: "But, he has lung cancer--why on earth would you remove his legs? That's absurd. I'm against it."
Dr. Stronzo: "What?! You think WE SHOULD JUST LET THIS MAN DIE OF CANCER?!"
Dr. Entiero: "No! Of course not! It's just that I..."
Dr. Innocente: "I don't like the idea of surgery. It's such a violation. We should only use surgery as an absolute last resort."
Dr. Entiero: "Well, sure, but don't you think that that's the situation..."
Dr. Stronzo: "What the hell do you know about it, Entiero? I'm SICK AND TIRED of your INTERFERENCE! I've pioneered the development of totally new leg removal procedures for the past ten years, in consultation with some of the worlds leading surgical supply companies. I KNOW what I'm talking about! I KNOW how to get a job DONE! We can perform the surgery and have Mr. Public out of here in a week. The health of the patient should come before your PETTY EGO PROBLEMS!"
Dr. Entiero: "Wha? Ego problems? What the hell are you talking about? All I'm saying is that this guy needs the right kind of surgery if he's to have any hope of surviving."
Dr. Innocente: "Entiero, why are you such an advocate of surgery? Don't you care about the humanity of our patients, who have entrusted into our care not just their bodies, but also their very SOULS? I used to follow you're advice. I thought we shared the same values. But I'm sorry to say I have to side with Dr. Stronzo on this one. You have to put the patient's interests ahead of your ego.”
Dr. Entiero: “? What? I...” (turning toward the patient) “What about the...”
Patient (eyes wide with panic): “Mmmmmph!”
(fade to black)
Stay tuned next week for the next exciting installment of First Do No Harm!
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/
amg.d...ghtning|Strikes
Great first instalment, mondo dentro. You might want to add some blood or T & A. It's also nice to know what "stronzo" means. Where's Dr. Hijo de Puta, though?
IMO "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" has that nice urgency one-hit wonders have, like Joan Jett. And "Locomotive Breath" should be played at least once a week.
Montro, that was great! (smile)
So too was Matt's. It is indeed alarming to see the ex-liberal hawks sliding over to neo-con territory, and hard to understand in persons who, ya jes' know, are able to read. Reading Atrios (I am Atrios), Kos, Yglesias, and all you others, (too numerous to mention, but valuable beyond words) helps keep me grounded in the knowledge that, no, I am not some crazy ex-hippie loon living the past glories of democratic ideals.....or maybe I am, but not the only one.
Please don't compare him to Kinsley---Kinsley started The New Republic's decline (Hertzberg was the one who really stood up for standards at the mag), provided the prototype for liberal punching bags with his performance on Buckley's show, he brought Kaus and other TNR also rans to Slate, and generally writes timid, tepid commentaries. He did a great job on stem cell, but he better given that he has Parkinson's and stands to benefit from that line of research.
cat - you are far from being the only ex-hippie living the glories of democratic ideals - (I left out the "loon" and the "past")
I'm right there with you, ex-hippie and all the rest.
We aren't loons, and right now the glories of democracy seem to be past, but I'm banking on those glories not being gone. And I think you and I and the others like us are keeping them alive.
rich, I agree with you about Kinsley--and I actually like the guy, much as I do Matt Y. Both are smart cookies. But Kinsley does indeed represent the the gold standard of untelegenic, wonky, liberal punching bags. Maybe he's the Lexus to Colme's Honda, but there's nothing that says "liberal" from the point of view of right wing semiotics quite like manifest intelligence that is, at the same time, totally ineffectual.
And, uh, I just think Atrios might be right that Matt Y. is the next Kinsley. So, I guess that means, unlike our fearless leader, I'm not that excited by the news.
Of course, I could be wrong. But, to paraphrase the blogger formerly known as bluto, I prefer my intelligent commentary backed up by a pair of brass knuckles.
Somehow we've got to figure out how to get to the NeoLiberal hawks.
It seems like they suffer from some pretty heavy dementia. If they didn't want to be progressive, they wouldn't want to wear the "liberal" badge. But where the trauma of 9-11 seemed to kick many of us into a more politically conscious state, many, many people bought into this "war of civilizations" insanity.
There are a lot of people using the NeoLiberal label in order to advance their own often financial agenda. But I'm referring to the suburban types that have retreated into their TVs and drink Tom Friedman's kool-aid. To many people that buy the RoveCo product but know better, Fear is the Mind-killer.
So we've got to get them beyond it.
Don't fool yourself. There are FAR more NeoLiberal Hawks coming back--in shame over what happened in Iraq--than stubborn proto-neocons.
Friedman and his ilk are a dying breed.
Anybody but Bush.
Atrios, there's no need for Luskin to out you with a subpoena. If you can go deep enough into Yes that you can cite one from The Ladder, that proves that you *have* to be Ed Sciaky.
Mondo, Rich -- my immediate assumption was that atrios had declared Kinsley to be dead. I can get behind that. The glass is half full, right?
Matt is tremendously quick and fluent, and his snark really is good for TAPPED. Some of his instincts are bad, though, and his personal experience is extremely limited.
Calling someone the heir to Michael Kinsley is no compliment. While Kinsley is capable of thoughtful analysis, he has a certain Colmesian quality.
It should be no revelation that people trembling on the brink of neoconservatism are basically wimps. They admire the strength of the military types, the certainty, the daring, the vision. But the military types were just as certain when they installed Saddam Hussein in power, just as daring when they landed in Lebanon, just as visionary when they committed half a million troops to VN.
The civilian who goes out and protests the war, knowing that the Justice Department is taking his/her name, putting him/her on a blacklist, tapping his/her phone, perhaps even making a slot ready for him/her in a "detention center", as Oliver North did for people opposed to the Central American war... that civilian may be as brave as any Silver Star medalist. We should revere them both.
Neocons are chicken...uh...hawks who send other people to die for them.
Being a hawk-- even a lapsed liberal hawk-- means never having to say you're sorry-- or wrong-- ever.
Why is that so hard to comprehend?
Were I a homophobe, I would say that I imagined unspeakable sex acts between Buchanan (married, no kids -- uh huh....) and Kinsley. It's a damn good thing I'm not, or you all would be having bad dreams tonight.
Matt Y. has a hard edge, actually, and a pretty good sense of balance. He also likes to stir the s**t. I think he'll do fine.
Maybe I'm just so jaundiced from reading the posts here, but sometimes I have a hard time telling when Atrios is being sincere and when he's being sarcastic. I hope this is a compliment?
i remember new republic turning during the early 80s. im not sure who was editor then, but i dont think it was kinsley.
Atrios,
Better than calling him the next Kinsley, would be to call him the anti-Kaus.
He's young, he's smart, he has hair and a future. He's everything that Kaus is not.
hey, watch the hair comments, bub. you might hurt...a friend of mine's feelings.
" Michael Kinsley's heir apparent"
I think you mean "Michael Kinsley's rosy-cheeked heir apparent"
A-yep.
thanks
Filmizle
thank you
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