On Fri, 10 Jan 2003, W. Kiernan wrote:
> On the contrary it was one of those rich pricks (admittedly an
> outstandingly stupid and indiscreet one) who, laughing, repeatedly
> publicly referred to the midmorning massacre of three thousand Americans
> (by the millionaire son of his millionaire father's billionaire business
> partner!) as "hitting the trifecta".
To be fair to that outstandingly stupid and indiscreet rich prick (I admit, I do take this fairness stuff too far), he wasn't referring to the deaths of 3000 people, but rather to the subsequent conjunction of war, recession and a national emergency. He said that on the campaign trail he had said he would never, ever create deficits -- except under those three conditions. So, he was saying, it may look like I've just broken an enormous promise much like my father's Read My Lips thing, but in fact I havn't. The chuckle was supposed to sound emollient.
Of course he was lying through his teeth. He never mentioned any such escape clause on the campaign trail. And none of them had anything to do with the deficits he created.
I don't know if it can be safely generalized, but most rich Texans I've met personally have taken enormous outsize umbrage at anyone calling them a liar. They act like it's an unforgiveable crime of honor they'll revenge on your face. Which soon terrifies and bullies people into not doing it. Which leaves them free to chuckle and lie happily to their hearts' content. Which is really useful.
Some days the discourse of dominance seems just like the discourse of dominants.
Michael