Sentential Links #65

Time, once again, for our weekly jaunt ’round Blogistan….

:: Once and Again: Oh, YAWN! Gorgeous, well-to-do suburbanites with minuscule problems examined in detail once and again and over and over again. I could not care less. (Aieee!)

:: In my undergrad years I was part of an intense small theatre group that has remained in touch and sometimes close for nearly half a century. I had thought a church might be like repertory theatre and that ministers might be like English actors, moving from part to part smoothly. One for all and all for one.

:: September 11, 2001 was Primary Day in New York State, ultimately postponed. As the law stands now, it will be Primary Day (for all races except the Presidency) on average every seven years. Some people think it ought to be changed to a week later, in order to “Honor the dead”. I don’t. September 11 is a GREAT day to exercise one’s freedom.

:: I don’t know about you, but I’m coming to the conclusion that the Pentagon subcontracted this job to the same guys that James Bond’s enemies always hired to design their headquarters — you know, the one with the prominently labelled SELF DESTRUCT button.

:: Plus, a guy carries around a hammer that can end the world – how cool is that? (Gotta start reading this series….)

:: Which brings us to STUDIO 60 ON THE SUNSET STRIP, NBC’s great white hope from Sorkin and director/producer Tommy Schlamme, the SPORTSNIGHT/WEST WING team. (I’ve heard pretty much unanimous opinion that the Studio 60 pilot is brilliant; what concerns me is the show being consistently brilliant.)

:: In what sense does an event that features four Republicans but excludes the two senators who were representing New York at the time of the event, but who happen to be Democrats, leave aside partisan rancor?

:: My biggest disappointment of the past five years — the biggest by a very long way — has been the way that George Bush transformed 9/11 from an opportunity to bring the country together into a cynical and partisan cudgel useful primarily for winning a few more votes in national elections. (Mine too. I wanted to believe in George W. Bush after 9-11. Aside from the odd business of him sitting in that classroom for so long, I never had a problem with his conduct on 9-11, or in the days after; his speech to Congress a week later was as good a Presidential address as I’ve ever heard, and I strongly supported our invasion of Afghanistan. But the man has been one disappointment after another ever since, and “Mission Accomplished” is when he pretty much lost me forever.)

:: So, in just five short months in Rich Lowry World, we went from “The debate over troop levels” is “somewhat beside the point” and “to think that higher troop levels would have been a magic bullet is to indulge a very American faith in the power of mass to overcome anything” to “There is no mystery as to what can make the crucial difference in the battle of Baghdad: American troops” and “The bottom line is this: More U.S. troops in Iraq would improve our chances of winning a decisive battle at a decisive moment.” It’s not just profoundly wrong; it’s worse than that. It’s ludicrous. (I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw that Lowry was calling for more troops as the solution to Iraq. It’s just astonishing. Maybe the Army Fairy will stick a few brand new armored divisions under his pillow or something.)

:: As we wrap up another ten songs and move ever so slowly toward our ultimate goal, I’d dare you to denigrate my musical taste, but for two things: you can’t because it’s so awesome, and nobody reads this anyway! I can expound on great songs according to me with impunity! Bwah-ha-ha-ha!

:: THWUCK! That’s just plain good writing…although it sounds like someone will be needing a moist towelette later. (This is actually an old post by the Tensor, but I’m linking it because I finished reading Galactic Patrol the other day and I have all this close at mind. I loved the book, I have to admit — I figured I’d enjoy it, but man, it was just a terrifically fun read. I’ll post more about the Lensmen series one day, but for now, I’d note that if anyone out there is looking to read this iconic space opera, start with Galactic Patrol, and not with Triplanetary. Ignore the fact that Triplanetary may be indicated as the first book in the Lensmen series. That may be true in terms of the chronology of the story, but that’s not the order in which E.E. Smith wrote the books, and publishing order is almost always the best reading order. Also, the references in GP to the “ether” struck me as interesting as the book was written several decades after the Michaelson-Morley experiments disproved the existence of the luminiferous aether.)

All for this week. Clear ether!