Patterico's Pontifications

4/21/2005

Would The Distinguished Gentleman From Minnesota Rise? (Oh? Really? Sorry.)

Filed under: General,Government,Morons — See Dubya @ 12:03 am



James Lileks pumps out a blistering Screat (my coinage for a Screed masquerading as a Bleat, for those familiar with his abstruse nomenclature) on the arrogance of the Senate. Worth your time, like you needed me to tell you that. In a just world Lileks would already be grinning at you from your Sunday LA Dog Trainer’s editorial page, while bloggers would instead be heaping scorn on an obscure and penurious Robert Scheer who self-published on a vanity site, writing about his new towels and pestering George Soros for money.

Or in an even juster world, Lileks would be in the Senate himself, giving wedgies to Ted Kennedy, baiting Robert Byrd mercilessly, and making loud squishing sounds whenever Voinovich walked into the room.

I do, however, take issue with this statement of Lileks’:

Such airs! They’re the only branch of government that regularly advertises its special nature and higher purpose – it’s like having a special branch of the Kiwanis made up entirely of bankers who announce, before each meeting, that they’re better than the realtors and insurance salesmen. And why? Because there are fewer of them.

Has he checked in with the Supremes lately? Because if you want a regular, sanctimonious frenzy of self-lubrication, I think they’ve got the Senate beat. And there are fewer still of them.

UPDATE: THE BEST KEPT SECRET ON THE INTERNET

Am I breaking some VRWC taboo by pointing out that Lileks has a new syndicated political column up every Thursday for free at Newhouse News? He never links to it, which makes me think I’m giving out insider info here. Here’s his latest effort on John McCain’s preening. These pieces are a little shorter and targeted more for a general audience than the fine old screeds archived on Lileks’ site–think Jonah Goldberg’s syndicated Townhall columns vs. his longer, snarkier, pop-culture-loaded, digression-laden G-Files. (And speaking of which, why doesn’t Townhall pick these up?)

If I’m giving away the VRWC secret weapon here, Mr. Rove, I will submit to your humble correction. Just keep sending the checks.

4 Responses to “Would The Distinguished Gentleman From Minnesota Rise? (Oh? Really? Sorry.)”


  1. Well, there are fewer experts in quantum physics than there are Special Forces soldiers, but I know who I’d want to drop at night into a warzone.

    I’d prefer to drop the Senate in the warzone, followed by the Special Forces. Of course, I’d give the Special Forces parachutes.

    billy-jay (6e752e)

  2. The problem with the Newhouse site is that their archive is incomplete, and they never update it. If you look at the Lileks archive, for example, you find that the second-most-recent item in the list is from December.

    If anyone knows of an up-to-date archive of Lileks’ Newhouse pieces — or better yet an RSS feed — I’d love to hear about it….

    Wiz (041bc8)

  3. Yep, the Newhouse archive stinks. But they usually get the newest Lileks pieces up on Wednesday afternoon. You just kind of have to catch them as they come up. I’ve given up on finding older pieces, alas.

    Apassionata (2fe562)

  4. And the height joke in the headline is unworthy of you 🙂

    Apassionata (2fe562)


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