[lbo-talk] best of/to Carl

[Eric]

[Carl's passing is sort of weighing on me. Even though I never met 
him in person, he was the first listmember I corresponded with 
offlist, over nine years ago. And even though I disagreed with him a 
lot politically and thought he was entirely too rational, there was 
undoubtedly a great deal of passion motivating those bon mots. As 
therapy for myself and in tribute to him, I thought I'd post just a 
few of his words from a more-or-less random month, December 2006. 
You're missed, Carl Remick. I might even make myself read some 
Emerson tonight in your honor.]


>From: andie nachgeborenen <andie_nachgeborenen at yahoo.com>
>
>But you'd expect to pay the plumber ...
>Why the bitching and moaning about lawyers?

I guess most people think of plumbers in connection with waste disposal but
associate lawyers with waste creation -- a less satisfactory service to
spend money on.

Carl

The war on Iraq has, predictably, revealed the "hyperpowerful" US not merely
as a paper tiger but as a tissue-paper tiger at that.  Donald Rumsfeld's
most memorable comment of the entire Iraq fiasco was, "As you know, you go
to war with the army you have."  You'd think the US Army had been in the
same shape it was on the eve of World War II -- reduced to training with
wooden rifles and trucks marked "I'm a tank" -- rather than being the
product of zillions of dollars spent on the highest-tech weaponry and
equipment over many decades.

How long will it take for Americans to see that their military establishment
is not the nation's protector but an insidious parasite that eats up the
nation's resources and produces nothing but trouble ariound the world?

Carl

And of course, Americans on average look like crap these days because of
overly informal attire and the nation's relentless waddle toward
hyper-obesity.  But at least Americans can swaddle their tubbiness in pretty
durable duds.

Carl

Yes, the timing and substance of this editorial are revolting.  I was
particularly stunned by this sentence:  "The need for more troops has for
some time been obvious to Americans."  What has been obvious for some time
is the need for *less usage* of US troops worldwide.

Quite a turd in the old Xmas stocking from the NY Times.

Carl

With flaming drinks Hitch was filled to the gunnel,
Saying, bent over with head in a funnel:
"With my head up my ass
It will soon come to pass --
I'll see the light at the end of the tunnel!"

Carl

I see The Decider's hand in this -- 2006 was a real annus horribilis for
anus horribilis GWB, so hanging Saddam allowed the Commander in Chief to
close out the year on a symbolic triumphal note, no matter how huge the
collateral costs.  The hanging might coincide with Eid al-Adha, but I see it
as a last Christmas present for GWB ordered by the man himself.

Carl

Glad to see US TV network execs are mindful of both their solemn obligation
to serve history -- by grabbing an "iconic image" of Saddam swinging by the
neck -- and their need to exercise "a measure of taste" to affirm what
classy a operation American civilization is.  The war on Iraq has been
executed with such exquisite finesse so far, I would hate to see it marred
by anything gauche here at the endgame.