September 17, 2003

silhouette3.JPG From the desk of Jane Galt:

Clark snark

I have nothing to say about Wesley Clark's run, for the nonce, except to note that Mark Fabiani, former Clinton aide of "vast, right-wing conspiracy" fame, is his advisor. Mark Fabiani is one of my favorite spinmasters for several reasons. First, he allowed members of the VRWC to give up the pretense and just admit that they're plotting the downfall of the Republic. Second, he inspired the Fabiani society in New York, an organization of conservative think-tankers and journalists that is just like the organizations on the left, except people clap in the wrong places, like when Bush is mentioned. And third, he makes breathtaking misuse of the word literal. Mr Fabiani is the fellow who told us, as a member of the California spin team on the power crisis, that they were "literally at war with these out of state power generators", something that I would have paid cash money to see. And then he went and told a newspaper in San Diego that any Democrat trying to do what Mr Bush has done would have been "literally crucified". Which just goes to show what happens when you let the religious right worm their way into a party.

Posted by Jane Galt at September 17, 2003 1:08 PM | TrackBack | Technorati inbound links
Comments
Posted by: Parker on September 17, 2003 3:42 PM

Perhaps he is literally trying to be metaphorical...

Posted by: Stentor on September 17, 2003 4:19 PM

With Fabiani on staff, Clark will literally win the nomination.

Posted by: Orbitron on September 17, 2003 4:51 PM

It's pretty funny to see Bush supporters criticizing someone's English.

Posted by: space on September 17, 2003 5:14 PM

Tip of the day: When criticizing somebody's use of English, try to avoid the phrase "cash money" if at all possible.

Posted by: old maltese on September 17, 2003 5:55 PM

Oh, Orbitron and space, the sensitivity of it all.

'Cash money' uses a figure of speech intensifying the noun.

And as for Bush, well, he lied, right? How does that rate next to his strategery?

Be well.

Posted by: Parker on September 17, 2003 6:00 PM

Lucky for us that Orbitron was able to remove his tinfoil hat long enough to discern that by poking fun at Mr. Fabiani's use of the word 'literally' we MUST be Bush supporters.

Or is it that every non-Orbitron comment is from a Bush supporter?

Either way, the incisive logic and subtle humor displayed are breathtaking - or at least instructive...

Posted by: TomCom on September 17, 2003 6:30 PM

How can any member of the Vast Left Wing Charnel House literally vote for a man, um, person who was literally in the Military?

Oh well, maybe in the view of the FL Sup. Ct. & The 9th Cir. it is just confusing to vote literally.

Posted by: Ward on September 17, 2003 7:38 PM

To me Wesley Clark is living proof that all defense spending is not good. The guys appears to be the quintessential bureaucrat. His passionate embrace of progressive taxation on Meet the Press made me want to puke.

Posted by: Ryan on September 17, 2003 9:38 PM

"His passionate embrace of progressive taxation on Meet the Press made me want to puke."

I was also shocked to hear this country was founded upon the principle progressive taxation. Even Zinn wouldn't have the cajones to spew that nonsense.

Posted by: Oliver on September 17, 2003 10:23 PM

Yup, because there was no manipulation of the power supply in California by Enron and their cohorts. None at all.

The tooth fairy told me.

Posted by: Tom Maguire on September 17, 2003 11:09 PM

This is so funny I am literally ROTFL. While typing.

Posted by: Dave J on September 18, 2003 12:25 AM

Arrrgh!!! People using "literally" to mean "figuratively" is literally my all-time biggest pet peeve. Although I too would definitely have paid "cash money" to see Gray Davis literally at war. As I recall, the Sac Bee painted a rather amusing word picture of him on horseback, Bear Flag in hand, at the head of the California National Guard's victory parade down the streets of Austin.

Posted by: PJ/Maryland on September 18, 2003 2:41 AM

Arrrgh!!! People using "literally" to mean "figuratively" is literally my all-time biggest pet peeve.

Is that what Fabiani meant? I've seen people misuse "literally" to mean "very much" or "seriously". (I think it's from "literally" being taken for "really", and so becoming an intensifier.) Tom's "literally ROTFL" is a good example. A usage note at Dictionary.com says this mis-usage goes back a hundred years.

Of course, using it in this way is literally illiterate.

Posted by: SunKing on September 18, 2003 2:52 AM

Clark is dangerous. Simply dangerous. In spite of all the dirt that is being dug up on him, his credentials are just too great for anyone to overcome. He's going to say all the right things, and I'm not so sure the President is going to be able to hold onto support no matter who he runs against.

Posted by: Luis Mondragon on September 18, 2003 9:51 AM

For those to whom "cash money" appears to be redundant, in the agricultural labor camps of my youth it was always contrasted to "scrip money" or "boss money", which was only good at the company stores. Thus, cash money was more valuable because of its flexibility.
Here's all the best wishes for a more urban lifestyle. - Luis

Posted by: ....a moment with Easycure on September 18, 2003 11:05 AM

Bet on Bush in the election, it's literally cash money.

Posted by: Dark Avenger on September 18, 2003 1:01 PM

Yah, when the economy recovers next year, Bush will be unbeatable.

Posted by: Logical Reasoning Fairy on September 18, 2003 6:56 PM

Two more members of the OLLL (one-liners leftist league) heard from. Amazing that folks so quick with with a quip do so in demonstration that they lack a sense of humor. In spite of that, I have been authorized to assign them a limited-issue Certificate of Recognition for attempting to use logical reasoning. Good work and keep practicing, guys.

Posted by: Al Frankenstein on September 19, 2003 1:18 AM

True, "literally" often is misused to mean "very much" or "seriously," but in the phrase "literally at war" literally is literally being used figuratively.

Posted by: Thorley Winston on September 19, 2003 9:10 AM
Arrrgh!!! People using "literally" to mean "figuratively" is literally my all-time biggest pet peeve.

How about people who say “borrow” when they ought to say “lend”?

Posted by: Parker on September 19, 2003 9:22 AM

I think this thread has now OFFICIALLY 'jumped the snark'.

Or maybe it did so literally...

Comments are Closed.