Eugene David<br>...The One-Minute Pundit

Posted 5:26 PM by Gene

One last word [we hope] on you-know-what -- which, while we will say it doesn't differ much from what we'd said before, and to little exposure, is still mightily worth posting:

[S]urrender may be the keyword here. What, for instance, is this dismal rush to lower the national colors all the damned time? At times of real crisis and genuine emergency, such as the assault on our society that was mounted almost six years ago, some emotion could be pardoned. But even then, the signs of sickliness and foolishness were incipient (as in Billy Graham's disgusting sermon at the National Cathedral where he spoke of the victims being "called into eternity"). If we did this every time, the flag would spend its entire time drooping. One should express a decent sympathy for the families and friends of the murdered, a decent sympathy that ought to be accompanied by a decent reticence. Because Virginia Tech—alas for poor humanity—was a calamity with no implications beyond itself. In the meantime, and in expectation of rather stiffer challenges to our composure, we might practice nailing the colors to the mast rather than engaging in a permanent dress rehearsal for masochism and the lachrymose.

P. S. THE NEW YORKER couldn't resist: SMOKED MOZZARELLA COMES THROUGH -- with TACO TALK!!!!! (See the URL)

We will not read it. We would hope this time he came through with some sauce, so he can be laughed out of the profession -- or more likely, so America's Most Overrated Editor can nominate him for 15 National Magazine Awards.