“Frog-march”

Last updated on: April 9, 2013 at 11:38 pm By Fred Clark

I can't be the only one who had to look up this evocative phrase. The dictionary wasn't terribly helpful: frog-march vt [Informal, Chiefly Brit.] to grasp by the arms and force to walk along So why "frog"? Word-wizard comes through: Cassell’s Dictionary of Slang FROGMARCH verb [mid-19th century and still in use] to carry someone face down, one person holding onto each limb; used on drunks or recalcitrant prisoners. And: Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang FROG-MARCH verb [shift... Read more

Suffering? That’s bad too, I guess

Last updated on: February 11, 2014 at 6:52 pm By Fred Clark

Today's column from David Broder in The Washington Post demonstrates why Broder is "The Dean." Which is to say it demonstrates why he is the ultimate Washington insider. Which is to say it shows that he's completely freaking out of touch. Broder's theme is "discontent" among the electorate. He examines the California recall and "the Howard Dean phenomenon" as evidence of anti-establishment sentiment among the hoi polloi and ponders how these relate to previous periods of electoral "discontent" and their... Read more

Heads will roll

Last updated on: February 11, 2014 at 6:51 pm By Fred Clark

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Earlier today, while some of us were still sleeping or watching the Eagles game, more responsible bloggers were already kneedeep in posts about today's big news — which is sure to be big news for many days to come. Mike Allen and Dana Milbank of The Washington Post have dug deep and discovered an honorable official in the Bush administration. The bombshell of the week was this report from MSNBC.com, revealing that the CIA had formally requested the Justice Department... Read more

Farewell Sidd Finch

Last updated on: April 9, 2013 at 11:34 pm By Fred Clark

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"The Curious Case of Sidd Finch" was one of the greatest April Fools pranks of all time. For that, and for scores of other reasons, this is sad news: George Plimpton, the New York aristocrat and literary journalist whose exploits in editing and writing seesawed between belles lettres and the witty accounts he wrote of his various madcap attempts to slip into other people's high-profile careers, died yesterday at his home in Manhattan. He was 76. Plimpton's writing gave other... Read more

Say hello to my little friend

Last updated on: February 11, 2014 at 6:50 pm By Fred Clark

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Early on in Al Franken's Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right, while Al is dissecting the sloppy and inaccurate Bernard Goldberg, there's a strange little aside. Goldberg cites as an example of media bias, an off-air comment from a CBS producer who called Gary Bauer — the former head of the Family Research Council and longshot Republican candidate for president — a "little nut from the Christian group." Here's the... Read more

Take the bait or take the pledge

Last updated on: February 11, 2014 at 6:49 pm By Fred Clark

"Just watch me." That was how President Bush responded when asked how he planned to spend $170 million in an uncontested primary campaign. The Bush campaign will likely spend a good chunk of that money attacking his Democratic challengers. He has enough money to attack them all, but that won't be necessary, and it's not how this nasty little game is played. The key to this low road is to go after the frontrunner(s) — especially whoever appears like they... Read more

Happy Birthday

Last updated on: February 11, 2014 at 6:48 pm By Fred Clark

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On Sept. 26, 1888, Thomas Stearns Eliot was born. I know "The Waste Land" is regarded as his masterpiece, but my favorite is "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock." There's a novel's worth of character and theme packed into those 130+ lines. when I first read this poem in college, I thought it was terrific. Now it seems more terrifying, and more fearfully rich the older I get. It's fun to imagine which would have bothered Eliot more: That... Read more

The Ditech Factor

Last updated on: February 11, 2014 at 6:48 pm By Fred Clark

I don't like the Ditech Guy. You probably don't either. Then again, I'm not sure we're supposed to like him. The mortgage lender seems to be taking the annoying-is-better-than-ignored advertising strategy in their omnipresent ads on CNN. (Is this a regional thing, or does everyone have to endure a barrage of Ditech ads whenever watching cable news?) I suppose this strategy works, or else — like spammers — they wouldn't do it. The problem with the Ditech ads isn't only... Read more

Krugman and Qoholeth

Last updated on: April 9, 2013 at 11:30 pm By Fred Clark

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Brad DeLong posts what he says is his all-time favorite Paul Krugman essay. In it, Krugman exposes former House Majority Leader Dick Armey as a liar and a fool. You probably already knew both things to be true about Armey, but go read the essay anyway. Krugman's topic is actually the effect and the policy implications of wealth inequality. What I found most helpful and compelling in the essay is his parable of two different simple societies and the different... Read more

A backwards “K” at the U.N.

Last updated on: February 11, 2014 at 6:46 pm By Fred Clark

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After two days of meetings at the United Nations, the Bush administration came away with no new pledges of international troops or funds to assist with the securing and rebuilding of Iraq. White House officials hastened to say that this wasn't a failure because the administration never actually tried to recruit new aid. "The president did not come here to ask people for troops," one unnamed aide said. If you don't actually try, the reasoning seems to be, then you... Read more

In 1 Peter 1, what does Peter say is more valuable than gold?