I just love the Institute, so I’m willing to forgive James Lileks an awful lot. I sort of figure that political rantings always get a little out of hand leading up to elections. I enjoy his writing style enough that I’ll wait this out and pick up later, I suppose. It’s the painting of all people to the left of him politically with the unpatriotic brush that annoys me. That and the “I’m the only one who can see we’re really at war here!” thing. Hell, I’m far, far left of Lileks politically, I opposed the invasion of Iraq, and I also think we are potentially in for a major shitstorm. I just don’t agree with his conclusions about what we should be doing about it.
I love all of Lilek’s writings. I’m with Mr. Moto.
BTW “Gnat” is short for “Natalie,” which is the child’s name. I’m a sucker for sentimental stories about children, though. I think the kid’s adorable.
Yeah, he makes me laugh out loud, but he sure doesn’t like like anything about the counterculture or antiestablishmentarian thought. I remembered in one bleat how he smugly refered to what we used to call the silent majority as “the L7 crowd”…as if anyone even understands that expression anymore*. By that I assume he meant anyone who doesn’t live in the liberal megacities of the coasts.
(L7 = socially and/or culturally “square”, by the fact that the L and 7 together form a crude square).
I liked the nickname Gnat, though. And my life wouldn’t be the same if I couldn’t go Gobblin’ whenever I felt like it.
Lileks is amusing when he’s doing stuff like The Gallery of Regrettable Food even if it isn’t much different than what David Letterman does with “Supermarket Finds”,“Dumb Ads”, and other similar bits on his show.
Still, for me, his politics do get in the way of my enjoying him. It’s not just because he’s conservative. He’s a smugly parochial and chauvinistic supporter of all things right-wing for whom George W. Bush can do no wrong. He would be a lot more tolerable if his “Bleats” exhibited even the slightest bit of wit of someone like P.J. O’ Rourke. Instead, he just regurgitates the spewings of Rush, Hannity, O’Reilly, et al., without even the slightest bit of independence or originality.
Why do I keep reading him?
“Sandy Berger, Clinton-era National Security Advisor and ‘informal’ advisor on the same to Senator Kerry, is under investigation for cramming his khakis with classified memos and taking them out of the National Archives. Hey, It’s happened to us all. You have an orange for lunch, your hands get sticky. Things happen. But let’s play everyone’s favorite game, What if He Was a Republican? Imagine Dick Cheney caught filling his socks with documents on pre -9/11 security procedures. Imagine a hidden camera snapping shots of Condi slipping secret memos in her foundation garments. We wouldn’t be hearing about impeachment, we’d be debating the probity of rolling a guillotine towards the White House, and whether the heads should be arranged alphabetically on the fence spikes, or by seniority.”
What exactly is your problem with that last one, Eve?
I’m completely disgusted with political jabbering from both sides right now, but even I can tell when someone’s employing hyperbole to make a point.
Sure, it’s a bit over the top, but the underlying point is valid.
Well, no, it’s not, actually: Clinton got railroaded for a blowjob, but Bush gets a free ride for subverting the Constitution, lying to get us into a war and erasing the separation of church and state? Lileks is one of those “all Republicans right, always; all Democrats wrong, always” obsessives who just make sensible Republicans cringe.
Oh, and I also think some of the things Clinton did (a-hem!) sucked; and I think some of the Republicans’ policies are right on-target. It’s Lileks’ knee-jerk leftie-hatin’ screeds that annoy me. If a Democrat rescued a kitten from a burning building, James would insist Hillary set fire to the building after tossing the kitten in first.
Clinton got “railroaded” for commiting perjury in a court case in Arkansas. While I liked the guy,and thought the whole impeachment thing was retarded, I don’t consider that trivial.
The whole Wilson/Plame thing turned out to be bullshit, and it appears now that there was actually some substance to the whole african yellowcake thing. I’m not seeing much in the way of corrections from the media on this, and that’s about the best they could do in terms of a Bush scandal.
Sandy Berger stands accused of committing a felony which would serve no purpose other than to obscure the record concerning recent foreign policy, and it’s getting almost no play.
There is an inconsitancy there.
I used to enjoy reading the Bleat, but when he goes off on political tangents he tends to piss me off. His arguments are disingenous.
If I may make a suggestion: Don’t let the politics get in the way of enjoying the other fine qualities of a good writer.
As a Libertarian/conservative, I learned a long time ago to disassociate politics from art. Because otherwise, there would be precious little for me to enjoy. So I can love the music of Wilco, despite the fact that they are flaming leftists. I can think very highly of Paul Newman, both as an actor and a philanthropist, despite the fact that I agree with almost nothing he has to say.
I even like much of Michael Moore’s stuff, despite despising the man. TV Nation had some hilarious stuff on it, and much of his social commentary was hilarious and bitingly accurate.
Real talent is hard to find. Don’t let a person’s politics get in the way of enjoying their other gifts.
Hey, I live for the cute stories about the kid and the dog (also his movie/music/culture commentaries)!
But yes, he is one twitchy little man. We had a thread back when his wife was temporarily unemployed about how he sounded positively suicidal, and I suggested that he’s been sounding borderline manic-depressive for a long time now. I don’t read his “screeds,” as he calls them, but he’s so angry and so fearful and he chuckles at himself for making getaway plans to Fargo for When the Big One Comes but the point is he actually has a getaway plan for When the Big One Comes.
I think he’s basically a great guy and probably a hell of a lot of fun to talk to (as long as you don’t bring up politics), but my God – I think he would just have a nervous breakdown if anything really awful happened to his family. I worry about him. 
Wise words. I’m on the other side of the fence to you, but give me P. J. O’Rourke over a ton of leftist writers any day.
[QUOTE=Left Hand of Dorkness]
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Card writes two weekly columns in a local free rag called The Rhinoceros Times and arrogant, bloviated ass does not begin to describe him. “Uncle Orson Explains it All” Uncle Orson Reviews Everything" Uncle Orson’s International Update" -sheesh! He knows what restaurants are best and why, which movies suck (anything with Meryl Streep) why Goerge Bush is “our Abraham Lincoln” (I’m not kidding.) He is very dangerous in that he is intelligent, educated, persuasive, and preaching to the choir 'round here.
We interupt this thread with Breaking News…This just in…
An area writer’s politcal views apparently are different than the political views of Straight Dope poster Eve. The man, obviously insane, was quickly subdued by local law enforcement and sent for psychiatric evaluation.
We now return you to your regularly scheduled thread…
And about bloody time, too!
I used to find his political Bleat bits interesting, even when I didn’t agree with him, because I thought he was a smart guy whose reasoning was worth listening to. He’s gone a little crazy these days, though, and it does bother me that he’s really seriously ready to head for the hills when they come for Minneapolis.
But, and this is the important part, he always warns you when he’s about to bore the crap out of you. I read it for what Gnat and Jasper are up to, and then he tells me he’s about to go off about how misguided I am and I click elsewhere.
And I love me some Stagworld.
Mary-Kate! No, wait…less filling!!
Damn.