Buchanan trumps Obama
Patrick Buchanan joining criticism of Barack Obama as "elitist and out of touch" for saying that some Americans "cling to guns or religion" in troubled times:
"This is very demeaning to simple working-class folks."
Then again, do you think our politicians could find a way of defending "simple working-class folks" from being demeaned without demeaning them?
News Headline: "Clinton portrays herself as a pro-gun churchgoer."
And will cling to both for as long as it takes.
News Headline: "Clinton: 'Not relevant' last time I went to church, fired gun."
Can we please let her cling in peace?
Goldman Sachs Group CE0 Lloyd Blankfein, who received $70 million in compensation last year, on why stockholders should not have more say on executive salaries:
"It would create a cloud, a constraint, a limitation on decisions that have been at the heart of what a board has done."
Such as see to the necessary trough construction for its members.
News Item: "The relatively quiet black hole at the center of our Milky Way could one day reignite, spewing forth so much radiation that the sky would never darken."
Were you running out of things to worry about? QT was a little worried that you were.
News Item: Survey finds that 71 percent of American voters believe that politicians sometimes "embellish the truth" when describing themselves.
As we search for just exactly the right word to describe the alertness of 29 percent of the American electorate.
News Headline: "Hillary does shot of Crown Royal, beer chaser at Indiana bar."
Taking a page from Sargent Shriver, who, when campaigning as the 1972 Democratic vice presidential candidate, went into a New Hampshire bar and announced:
"Beer for the boys! And I'll have a Courvoisier."
David Magdziarz, a Chicago reader, regarding a suggestion that if Charles Dickens had written a cookbook, it might have been called Crepe Expectations, reports that no ancient Roman manuscripts survive of Gaius Petronius' Saute-icon.
News Item: Colin Powell, asked about a meeting of top White House officials during which torture techniques were discussed in detail, tells a reporter he lacks "sufficient memory recall" about such a meeting.
Talk about political skills. Is there any aspect of the Bush administration that its officials can't not remember?
News Item: A fatwa is issued by the Dubai Islamic Affairs Department to ban the printing of names that include "the 99 names of Almighty God" such as Abdul Rahman, Abdullah and Abdul Salam on urine specimen bottles.
We had to suspect the day would come when there were urine fatwas.
News Item: "A noisy wedding reception led California police to use a Taser to subdue a groom before arresting him along with his new bride. . . ."
The memories of the little things that go wrong at a wedding are often the most treasured.
QT What Passes for Miracles These Days Update:
An image of Jesus has been found in a stain on the side of a non-stick cooking pot in Fort Collins, Colo.
From the QT Archive of Knowledge:
• • The starting pay for pilots at regional airlines is $20,000 a year.
• • Richard Nixon was an accordion player.
QT Grammar R Us Seminar on the English Language (cont'd):
R.J., a Naperville reader, regarding QT's reminder that "err" rhymes with "fur," writes:
"Merriam-Webster lists your pronunciation second. The first listed, and thus preferred, pronunciation has 'err' rhyming with 'air.' "
Which goes to show you that some dictionaries need a thorough erring out.
The plural of "genus" is "genera," by the way.
So to answer the question of Oscar Lopez, a Chicago reader, who wondered what the plural of "Lexus" is:
Lexera.