By Wlady Pleszczynski on 2.12.02 @ 6:25PM
A Washington inquisition, the death of a princess, and other morality plays.
LET'S BE ROLLED: If you want your blood to
boil, read Byron York's dissection of
the ongoing Democratic effort to destroy the nomination of Charles
Pickering to the federal bench. Pay special attention to the
inquisitional demeanor of Sen. John Edwards. This Southern charmer
is one bad man, and he wants to be our next president. He'd destroy
Atticus Finch if he had to. If the White House and Senate GOP
tolerate being rolled by his likes, they'd better come up with a
new slogan.
SO LONG WINTER: Aren't you surprised that at least
the outdoor portion of the Winter Olympics hasn't been canceled? So
you might have thought if you'd noticed an
op-ed last Friday entitled "Winterless Olympics" and
co-authored by Salt Lake City's Democratic mayor and writer Bill
McKibben, a professional scold. Their dire warning the day this
year's games were set to open: "[T]he future of the Winter Games is
in danger, because winter itself is in danger." It's the Kyoto
syndrome, in other words, as seen in "computer models [that] show
clearly that, of all seasons, winter may change the most." So let's
cut energy consumption and resist those "fossil fuel lobbyists" in
Washington. According to the mayor, the people of Salt Lake City
are already "committed" (whatever that means) to cut CO2 emissions
to meet the goals of Kyoto Protocol, "to which all industrialized
nations except the United States (under the Bush administration)
have voiced commitment" -- and we know what that means: Posturing
is all that matters to the doomsday professionals.
WHERE THERE'S SMOKE: The death of Britain's
Princess Margaret has been a boon to a different set of scolds. The
long
obituary in the Washington Post couldn't get off of
the subject of her heavy smoking and drinking, a subject the
New York Times' -- in keeping with its superior command of
the obituary form --
handled with greater subtlety. Instead, it included such
morsels as the time the princess referred to my favorite American
ethnic group as "pigs" or the fact that a lover she broke up with
committed suicide 18 months later. Best was this anecdote:
"Mr. Aronson relates in 'Princess Margaret' (1977) how at a
party in Beverly Hills she once told Judy Garland through an
intermediary that she would like to hear her sing. Angered by the
form of the request, Miss Garland replied, 'Tell her I'll sing if
she christens a ship first.'"
That's the spirit.
And in that spirit, the best writing on Princess Margaret was
filed by Mark Steyn, the most knowing and fearless voice and wit in
all existence. But as with any master of the tour de force, the
effect is ruined if he's read in small doses. So for the right sort
of Steyn soudbite, read the
whole thing.
SOUR MEOWS: Kitty Kelley's streak of bad luck
continues. The day the Princess died she was complaining in a
special letter to the Washington Post about the nice
things George Will had said about Queen Elizabeth five days
earlier. She blasted the queen for being mean to the late Princess
Diana, for refusing to step into a Catholic church, for staying
away from the mourning for Diana -- and for never crying in public,
not even at her own father's funeral.
In fact, according to Ms. Kitty, the only time the queen ever
betrayed emotion was when the royal yacht was decommissioned in
1997. Fortunately, she doesn't tell us if the queen is wrong on the
subject of Elton John as well. But what was it that Kelley revealed
in her book The Royals several years ago? Something about
the queen's active romance with her prince? Might it not have
dawned on Kelley that the royal yacht had been the scene of some of
the couple's happiest moments?
topics:
Energy, Oil
