quite a great piece by george will, who's approximately as good an op-ed columnist as there has ever been. i particularly like this: "Talk about trillions of dollars has become so commonplace that billions seem minuscule -- even though a billion minutes ago Plutarch (46-120 A.D.) was alive."

Comments

[mr.fun]

I wish Congress would stimulate my crotch.

[A.]

"as good an op-ed columnist as there has ever been."

if plutocracy is your ideal.

[Mike Perinelli]

"...not the first politician to desire prosperity for the people so that they could be more bountiful taxpayers."

Wait...isn't that supposed to be the American dream?

Boo.

[crispy]

you know it's not the opinions, per se, though these are well-thought-out and more interesting than one might suppose. it's the tone, the prose, the argumentation.

[Andrew Dobbs]

I've loved George Will since I was a kid. Across my political maturation--from Marxist high schooler to Democrat college kid to anarchist dropout I've always loved him. He is a fantastic writer and even when you think he's full of shit his prose will almost hypnotize you into agreement.

I saw an interview with him once when he described his life as my dream: "I read, I write and I watch baseball. That's pretty much what I do."

Also, despite being a football fan he once turned a brilliant phrase on the sport: "Football combines the worst in American culture. It is violence interrupted by committee meetings."

If I say one thing that pithy in all my days I'll die a happy man.

[Andrew Dobbs]

Okay, so I just now actually read the Will piece. My stock challenge to Marxist "democrats" is what about the press? It is owned by capitalists and you want to nationalize all the capitalists' property. So wouldn't that mean that all publications are owned by the state? They rarely have a good answer and if you read John Reed's Ten Days That Shook the World you'll see the death of Russia's free press in exactly these terms.

I've been wondering when the US' new toe dipping into socialist waters would mean embattled newspapers rushing to suck on the state teat, independence be damned. It seems Dr. Will has documented just such cases. God save us all...

[crispy]

yes, the point about government ownership of newspapers is extremely cogent. typically, will makes it with extreme clarity. a very disturbing situation to me, especially as i wrote for years for the philadelphia inquirer.