John Gushue . . . Dot Dot Dot

Tony Snow

Tony Snow, who served as the press secretary in the White House between 2006 and 2007, has died following a second bout of cancer, according to reports this morning. Snow was that rarity among press secretaries: openly combative, brazen, and funny. His style sometimes disarmed the press corps; in fact, he appeared to earn some admiration simply because he was so abrasive with them. I tried to find Snow's appearance on The Daily Show after his exit to prove the point. All the same, I don't think Snow helped George W. Bush much. During that time, Bush's presidency continued a freefall in public confidence.

A thought on international relations

"The great nations of the world have always acted like gangsters, and the small nations like prostitutes."
- Stanley Kubrick, 1963 (while making Dr. Strangelove)

A thought on Peter and Paul

"A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always count on the support of Paul."
- George Bernard Shaw

A thought on justice and force

"Justice without force is powerless; force without justice is tyrannical."
- Blaise Pascal

A thought on clenched fists

"You cannot shake hands with a clenched fist."
- Indira Gandhi

Talk trash, like a candidate

Can you talk trash like a candidate? More to the point, can you determine which candidate said what slammin' comment? Try this online quiz, from Radar magazine's site.

Lester B. Pearson

On April 23, 1897, Lester B. Pearson was born, outside of Toronto. Pearson grew up to become Canada's prime minister, serving between 1963 and 1968. Pearson - called "Mike," even those with whom he was not familiar - is among a small number of politicians who earned their stripes first in diplomacy. Pearson won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1957 for his part in dealing with the Suez Crisis. Pearson was elected leader of the Liberals the following year. He died in 1972, which means my generations doesn't have much of a memory of him at all. For younger people, I would imagine they know his name through the Toronto airport.

A thought on fitting words into your diet

"Man does not live by words alone, despite the fact that sometimes he has to eat them."
- Adlai Stevenson

A thought about politicized songwriters

"I am optimistic. If I wasn't, I'd just write chick songs and make a lot more money."
- Steve Earle

A thought on economics and politics

"Under capitalism, man exploits man. Under communism, it's just the opposite."
- John Kenneth Galbraith