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Individual Blog Post From Michael Sheldon
Michael Sheldon is the author of The Violet Crow, the first in a series of novels featuring Bruno X, a psychic detective who uses Mad magazine Yiddish and recycled borsht belt routines to outwit the forces of evil in the Philly suburbs.
Saturday, March 22nd 2014
The funniest piece I read this week was Howie Carr riffing on the lack of Native American references in Elizabeth Warren's forthcoming memoir.
Posted Sat Mar 22 2014 15:00
2 of 2 liked this
See for yourself: http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion/columnists/howie_carr/2014/03/carr_elizabeth_warren_writes_new_chapter.
Carr likes to refer to Senator Warren as "Granny" (as in the Beverly Hillbillies), and that brings out the self-righteous ire of all the nags, scolds, and bluestockings on the left. As a public service I am proposing a new nickname, "Cheeky." Senator Warren frequently explained that the family lore, which was the basis of her claim of Cherokee ancestry, relied on the notion that she and her relatives have "high cheekbones." Hence, "Cheeky." This can't possibly be racist or sexist, because it's the feature that she refers to with obvious personal pride.
Now that Cheeky's nickname is settled, let's talk about "You didn't build that." This is her signature argument--that individuals don't really innovate or accomplish anything on their own because...roads. Thomas Edison invented the electric light bulb, records, and movies, but it was the government that did the heavy lifting. Now that's cheeky!
And what about those roads? Haven't they always been there? As in deer paths becoming game trails growing into traces, turnpikes, and highways? Hasn't every culture from time immemorial had roads? OK, maybe nothing like I-95 between Miami and West Palm--heckuva road. But how can the likes of Cheeky and Obama--was he reading her teleprompter?--stand up and say we need to expand government involvement in our lives because we use the roads we paid them to build?
OK. Here's a road that I'm willing to give Obama full credit for. It's a bicycle and pedestrian trail that begins at the Silver Reef Hotel Casino Spa outside of Ferndale in rural Whatcom County, Washington. The paved, elevated, fenced, solar-lit trail proceeds for two miles in a generally southwesterly direction--and then it ends. Cost to build it: $1.71 million. Funding source: The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Nicest bike path I've ever seen. Didn't do squat for the economy.
Carr likes to refer to Senator Warren as "Granny" (as in the Beverly Hillbillies), and that brings out the self-righteous ire of all the nags, scolds, and bluestockings on the left. As a public service I am proposing a new nickname, "Cheeky." Senator Warren frequently explained that the family lore, which was the basis of her claim of Cherokee ancestry, relied on the notion that she and her relatives have "high cheekbones." Hence, "Cheeky." This can't possibly be racist or sexist, because it's the feature that she refers to with obvious personal pride.
Now that Cheeky's nickname is settled, let's talk about "You didn't build that." This is her signature argument--that individuals don't really innovate or accomplish anything on their own because...roads. Thomas Edison invented the electric light bulb, records, and movies, but it was the government that did the heavy lifting. Now that's cheeky!
And what about those roads? Haven't they always been there? As in deer paths becoming game trails growing into traces, turnpikes, and highways? Hasn't every culture from time immemorial had roads? OK, maybe nothing like I-95 between Miami and West Palm--heckuva road. But how can the likes of Cheeky and Obama--was he reading her teleprompter?--stand up and say we need to expand government involvement in our lives because we use the roads we paid them to build?
OK. Here's a road that I'm willing to give Obama full credit for. It's a bicycle and pedestrian trail that begins at the Silver Reef Hotel Casino Spa outside of Ferndale in rural Whatcom County, Washington. The paved, elevated, fenced, solar-lit trail proceeds for two miles in a generally southwesterly direction--and then it ends. Cost to build it: $1.71 million. Funding source: The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Nicest bike path I've ever seen. Didn't do squat for the economy.