The American Spectator

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Sharpen Your Axe

1.15.09 @ 6:01AM

TOO MUCH FUN NOT TO
Re: Jeffrey Lord's Wouldn't It Be Rich: Should the Right Bush Obama?

I, for one, will engage in an intellectual "name calling" of the new occupant of the White House and his equally deserving better half...
-- Gene Simmons

The Democrats, the American hard left, and their enablers in the media (please forgive the redundancies) set the new standard for political civility and restraint in their treatment of George W. Bush over the last eight years. Applying their standard to the president-elect, it's not too early to declare the socialist administration of the painfully inexperienced, arrogant, condescending, jug-eared clown, Barack Obama, a failure....

As you sow so shall you reap.

At least that's what we conservatives would do if we shared the left's instincts...
-- Jerry Shenk
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

Jeffrey Lord's article regarding the Bush-bashers was right on target. However, not all such scribes are from the east or left coasts. From the depths of Lake Woebegone, Garrison Keillor frequently mocks President Bush. Keillor, though, doesn't refer to him by name. His sarcastic attacks use the expression "Current Occupant" (of the White House).

In a column of January 7, 2009 that begins with an enumeration of people unable to lead normal, productive lives and ends with a discussion of public urination, he injects this barb:

"And we allow the Current Occupant to leave the Mansion d'Blanc with a big grin in a couple weeks, his self-esteem apparently fully intact, imagining that his legacy will emerge golden and shining in a hundred years after all of us are deceased. He is one of the cheerfullest idiots you ever saw, a man who could burn down his own house and be happy that the patio was still standing. Had Congress impeached him, his defense would have been that he was not capable of understanding the charges."

It would seem that President Bush will be sorely missed in Minnesota. Without him to attack, Keillor will have to begin singing the praises of Al Franken. But then, it should be recalled that the Minnesota state bird is the loon.
-- Stan Welli
Aurora, Illinois

  THE GROWNUPS REPLY
Re: Larry Thornberry's Baseball for Grownups:

Great article! This 54-yr old guy couldn't have said it better!
-- Tom Clark

Enduring the cold (and waiting for training camps to open) in Rochester, New York

It was 1958; the first year the Dodgers played in L.A. after making the move from Brooklyn. Mom and I were still living in Palm Springs. That season, my best friend's dad took us to several games in Los Angeles to see one of California's two new major league teams. (The Giants moved to San Francisco that year, too.)

The first four years the Dodgers were in southern California, they played at the Memorial Coliseum. Dennis' dad used to get us to the stadium several hours early so we could sit near the player's tunnel entrance and collect autographs. We'd also sit under a big ol' tree near an area where Dodger players could park their cars -- then make the walk to the tunnel.

One afternoon after getting a few of those '58 Dodgers to sign our 8x10 team photos, Den and I decided to take a break under that big ol' tree and wait for the St. Louis Cardinals' team bus to arrive. While sitting there, looking over our fresh collection of John Henry's... I spotted this young guy with jet black hair, wearing a white shirt and tie and carrying a tweed coat over his arm... just kind of strolling along the sidewalk and heading toward the tunnel. As was our m.o., Dennis and I would check to (1) see if the guy in question was a baseball player, then decide (2) if should we bother to get the autograph. See, back then... we really only wanted signatures of the All Stars.

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