Terribly Good Food Part III: Saucy Love is Back

The McRib is delicious. Ground pork pressed into a "rib" form, cooked, and dunked into a vat of generic barbeque sauce. What's more, click on this link for some sexy McRib related music.

I was riding a bus down the street when I saw the good news.

If God had only perservered after his seventh day of rest, he would have made the McRib.

Terribly Good Food, Part II

Archway Cookies, the big, cheap cookies that were forever soft, has gone out of business.

They had a cult following but I don't know if people connected over their love of these chewy (though I would say mediocre) cookies.

Story from a site that seems to ship out 'specialty' foods.

By far my favorite item from their collection, though, and I am lamenting big time here, is their Circus Animals with the delectable soft icing. These were, by far, my favorite kind of cookie as a child. Sorry mom!

NPR Watch: Clinton In

NPR said it, I just heard it. But the sources are anonymous, so I'll wait until the WSJ prints it up for me.

Are Vampires Sexy?

Why am I totally in the dark about this stuff? I guess when it comes to the underworld you can't be too choosy. Mummies--too much clothes. Goblins--unsexy name and childlike disposition. Trolls--too short, can't wear heels when going out with him (or her if it's a Trollbian).

Okay. Titanic - bad movie. But a poor Irishman, or the late 20th century imagining of one? They fight AND dance, that's ladybait! Just ask anyone who's hot stuff at the honky tonk, that plus mechanical bull and you're a country-fried dream.





The girls on NPR were saying, "the lines [from the new Vampire movie] are cheesy but you don't think of them as cheesy." Oh yeah, they're into him. You know girls dig a guy when everything he says is pure gold hilarity, romance, and insight. Same vice versa, but guys don't try listening to girls much no matter how hot they are. Sexual attraction for guys also has a sort of white noise effect, which includes women's voices, cars honking, and authority figures that can arrest, fire, or ground you.

Too bad for teen boys. To be like a poor Irishman, just take some dancing lessons and learn not to wince when you land a punch and it hurts your poor knuckles. Vampire though? Well, they're not real. And they look like goths.

Reality Bites: Calorie Laws

In New York City, fast food chains have to show calorie counts. This can be a dealbreaker for some foods, I'm afraid! Take Cinnabon: 100% daily nutritional value for the SOUL, but very little otherwise.

Regular Cinnabon: 850 Calories

Pecanbon: 1150 Calories

Cinnabon may need to seriously revisit the recipe books if these laws go into effect across the nation.

Career RIP: Tucker Carlson

Both on and off Dowd is Worthless, I've been praising MSNBC. High octane without negativity. Well, Keith Olbermann can be overbearing but he's trying to conjure the spirit of Edward R. Murrow. I forgive him just because he's trying to be someone else. Besides, I think for the ladies (at least for Marge Simpson) he's easy on the eyes.



But what happened to the young Republican upstart Tucker Carlson? This link suggests that the future is uncertain if not finished for Tucker. Now it's back-to-back Olbermann and Maddow with no relief.

Part of the problem with Olbermann and Maddow's format is that they're accustomed to lengthy talks (some might say diatribes I didn't say diatribes) that scare off the opposition on their show. But 'skewering' and bringing out guests to argue with them is one of the highlights of TV News. It encourages spontaneity, for one. Who's going to take on Olbermann with his You Sirs and Maddow with her preplanned "Prove me Wrong" segments? Tucker loved to bandy about with Rachel Maddow, it was really funny to watch, and you might of learned something about both sides. Though, admittedly, it would frequently go off on tangents.

Also, the bowtie. The bowtie is the only GOP accoutrement worth anything. The straw hat is just too barbershop.



In Memoriam: 2005-2008

Australia - Are you prepared for the let down?

Perhaps it's the season, perhaps the gloomy outlook on America's future (and the world's too, but we're supposed to win), but it's times like this that I look forward to a big, epic cinema production whose ultimate goal is to come close to Gone With the Wind in scope. You may not like Gone, but you'd be hard pressed to come up with something that can topple it.

Enter Australia. Please, please be an epic movie. The movie posters were promising two hours of conquering and conquered, armies and technological changes, and some love and loss. But these previews seem to be all love and loss between the two main characters! No, I want this to be like a James Michener book (he wrote Tales of the South Pacific), whose big-scope works knew no bounds.

Hawaii - about Hawaii
The Source - about the history of the Jewish People
The Covenant - about the history of South Africa
Poland - History of Poland
Texas - History of Texas
The Drifters - Sweeping novel about hippies in Europe

Most of his books were bestsellers, some for a really long time. James Michener makes other authors look like wieners. Some author will sit on TV saying, "oh, you know, I was always curious about the Cold War." Well, James Michener would probably start a book on the cold war in 10400 B.C. when the Bering Strait had an ice bridge on it.

What is this season's Apocalypto? I want it to start at the Big Bang and explain it to me in narrative form!

David Brooks: Amen, that's funny!

From the David Brooks' op-ed today.

"Already the culture of the Obama administration is coming into focus. Its members are twice as smart as the poor reporters who have to cover them, three times if you include the columnists."

People, US, watch what you pay for

The NYT ran a story today (thank you contributor Jess) about Angelina Jolie putting editorial requirements on the exclusive interview after the Twins were born. Essentially, they had to focus on the good Angelina and not, say, the Hollywood Angelina (whatever that is).

While they got a big payout, I can't help but think that People could get smeared a bit. The magazines are 'fun reading,' that is, Bill Gates and Sec. Gen. of the UN Ban Ki Moon don't grab it while waiting for a flight. (I do, if someone left it on a bench). But, it's not as much fun if they're going to double stuff their fluff with personality-saving stories. I want to hear about crazy stuff and the expensive purses, not charity.

I, Wellsmus, citizen of the world, pointed back to the Bono + Angelina + Jeffrey Sachs "End of Poverty" ideas when they came out in 2004-5. After throwing money (rather carelessly) at problems for decades, their solution was to throw a huge amount of money at the same problems, but this time it would work because the amounts would just be enormous.

Not only can we call Angelina to the floor on something like this, but I can't get up on her shoe collection, or amounts of platinum vs. gold. Maybe she doesn't wear jewelry at all.

Most critically, I need this information to feed friends of mine who filter out the interesting stuff and tell it to me, which has been a rich part of my life.

I need dirt, I want it all over her! C'mon magazines! Gimme what I really want.

Oh, and as far as a dirty actor who hasn't done as well with his image, Mr. Tom Cruise, at least his movies this year have been or will be more interesting.

Breadline 2009: Please Sir, I Want Some More!

Bush has announced an extension of unemployment benefits. An additional 13 weeks of unemployed goodness onto the end. And, for all of you considering your nonjob futures, this starts coming after your regular unemployment, which is half of a year typically if you've worked for a few years.



Does this, pray tell, include Gov't food?



Food stamp initiatives to come in the new admin!

Christmaswatch 2008: Gifts no one expects

Cat in a cardboard tank? Things made of legos? Toast Wallet?

CURIOBOT

Thanks to contributor Jess

Maury is the People

I felt like Rip Van Winkle when people told me about Maury a few years ago. I had last checked out of the talk shows when they had more bodyguards than audience members on Jerry Springer. Kinda ruined the real-life aspect of it. Maury, though, has a heart that shines through, while Springer always seemed to be an agitator (where none was necessary).



Thanks to Literating, we have this revealing episode of Maury, which shows how in touch with people he is. One of the young prostitutes on the show laughed when asked about having sex for a cheeseburger. I don't think he got very far with her, or any of them, but I learned a lot about people today, and I have Maury to thank.

Maureen Dowd could learn a thing or two from Maury, as could most of the staff at the NYT. He's judging people, but he's understanding too. There were a couple parts where I almost cried.

This guy is with all kinds of people, he gets with everyone. I hope to attend this show and witness him in action.

Morning Joe on the Rise

TV NEWSER, a superhighway of a blog about Television News, reports that Morning Joe has bested American Morning this week for ratings. But it's still below Fox & Friends.

Three reasons:

Sensible talk: with all-stars on all points of the partisan spectrum
Erin Burnett: smart, funny, easy on the eyes
Mika and Joe: Chemistry folks!

One more reason: The show moves pretty fast. Besides, CNN is too authoritative for me. I feel like more variety and opinion might pop up in Joe's show.

CONGRATULATIONS MORNING JOE CREW!!! CONGRATULATIONS MSNBC IN GENERAL.

Bill Clinton, cont.

In reading today's column, I continued to learn about Bill Clinton's personality. It's making me regret not reading "My Life."

I leave the article not being sure of whether Bill Clinton is an asset or a liability to Hillary Clinton's political future (State Dept or otherwise).

Asset: Loved by the world, worldwide connections, makes America look good.

Liability: Worldwide conflicts of interest, bitterness at the new president (he does have this way of hesitating on camera when talking about Obama, even post election), pulls in the lecture fees $$$(this should be irrelevant but people, in wanting money and credit, are turned off by others getting money and credit)

When it comes to comparing presidencies, though, I would hope that Bill Clinton would realize it's too early to call. Bill Clinton's years were overall prosperous and enriching, but also, in my opinion, not incredibly dynamic. Welfare Reform, Serbo-Croatian Intervention, NAFTA, Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Israeli-Palestinian Talks. And, of course, a raft of controversy distracting the government from helping Americans fulfill American Dreams. But no 9/11 to fight, no credit crisis to unfold.

Barack Obama, though, is playing for high stakes: win big, lose big.

I leave the article feeling a bit bad for Bill Clinton, that he can't sink properly into the background when necessary. If he had just not been president, I indeed think that would be possible in this not yet post feminist era. (who the hell is Mr. Pelosi?)

And, as others have noted, Maureen Dowd has revived his the President-elect's pre-college name of Barry to be his four-year moniker. Her freewheeling monikers remind me of the guy in the office who hasn't left the frat behind. Oh wait, does he look like

Stephen Colbert (AKA HERO), Scoops 2005

In one of his joke segments where he miraculously gets someone to sit with him (not a hapless Representative, oh those were the days!), he breaks this out:



Click here to read the article. It's about the "Are Men Necessary?" book and frankly we're not there yet, but we'll get there.

DVD Gripe - French ed.

I just want to know, why on earth is this movie not available in the US? We have all kinds of crazy titles from Criterion and other arthouse releases. When people talk about art house cinema, this movie often rears its hallowed head.

If you don't believe me, look at the gushing praise from this site at the Film Forum.
How do you petition for movies to be released on DVD?

Christmaswatch 2008: CDs

CDs may be a great gift idea this year because they're relatively affordable. They also hearken back to an era when music purchase was a serious part of being a music fan.

For some of us, it still is.

Here are a couple of CDs on my Amazon.com Wishlist, and I think that they're good for fans of certain types of music. They're released as of this year, I believe:



Little Willie John, Nineteen Sixty Six: The David Axelrod & HB Barnum Sessions.

These are unreleased album sessions that Little Willie John cut at some point before he began serving a lengthy prison sentence, which cost him his life. His King compilation appears to have gone out of print, but I highly recommend this artist to fans of the young James Brown, Please Please Please era. This is high-energy R&B.



The Nerves: One Way Ticket

There are three ways to be familiar with the Nerves without knowing them: The first is that their frontman, Peter Case, wrote and performed "Hanging on the Telephone" which Blondie covered on Parallel Lines. The second is that Peter Case went on to form the Plimsouls, which had the hit, "A Million Miles Away." The third is that the Plimsouls were in the movie "Valley Girl" (Nicholas Cage's first), playing themselves in a seedy Hollywood bar. High-powered LA punk or power pop. Any fan of male-led retro rock should dig this.

More to come! If you have compact disk recommendations, feel free to let me know. Christmas isn't the same without some gifts under the tree!

New York Feels New Kind of Pain

What's going on? Rampant quoting of Los Angelinos speaking the harsh truth of New York, at least from the perspective of those who do not know the ins-and-outs of how to shop here:

“We have lots of these stores in L.A.,” Ms. Bandaryan said. “We just wanted something new.”

New York Pobrecita! Tough medicine and at the worst time, no doubt. Does L.A. have tax-free clothing shopping on items under $100 dollars that are not accessories or shoes? I don't think so, please let me know if I'm wrong.

'Debate' Continues with Fire, Despite Lack of Fuel

Just when I thought that the election was well behind us and the coming months ahead square in front of us, New York Magazine has a cover story about Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin.

I don't know if the article is true or not, or will be true in the future. It's a predictive article and largly from the author's point of view, with a few quotes from notables. File under News Analysis. My optimism, of course, stands in the way of getting on this writer's boat, but it's gotten me into trouble before. (Ever been flat out denied a phone number from a cute person in a bar? Optimism!)

Before the internet, I would have brushed this article aside as running too late to be relevant. The comments prove otherwise. Fiery, blistering criticism of Sarah Palin and a whole bunch more. I also won't quote the comments.

Like I said, I don't care about the loser candidates, but that doesn't matter! If people are worked up and commenting like crazy, we don't need to drop the issue, but keep rolling with it:

CRASH TITLES ON THE SHELVES IN MARCH 09

REALITY TV SHOWS

MOVIES, TV AND PROJECTION

MORE ALBUMS FROM THE CAPITOL STEPS

EXTRA SHOWS FROM A SHOW THAT HASN'T BEEN FUNNY FOR YEARS

I'm not sure why our society likes to dwell on things. The best I can hope for is that it charges people up to do something, such as run for office in the next four years. I don't think this study shows the whole picture (it only counts candidates who made it to the primaries of their elections and also doesn't count local elections) but this study shows that less women ran for state and U.S. office than previously.

Where's the positive angle? That's the post NY Mag Cover story question.

New Reality Show Ideas

I think we can all get into some new Reality TV:

"Get with the people idea"

HOBOS - A Reality show about hobos. When they're voted off, they have to HIT THE ROAD, JACK.


SUGAR PLANTATION - It doesn't have to take place in the U.S. I'm thinking foremen vs. cane cutters.

"Rich people"

DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES OF MEXICO CITY - Again, it doesn't have to take place in the U.S.

NASCAR WIVES - More sugar in your tea of strife?

"huh?"

COFFEE/CHOCOLATE COCOA BUYERS - Travel to exotic parts of the world to purchase, essentially, legalized drugs. And maybe real drugs too.

REAL LIFE VAMPIRES - Apparently, some people take the fantasy of vampires as something they can act out in real life.

If you have an idea, feel free to comment (also anonymous commenting)!

Counterpoint - Straight to the Source

Detroit, long maligned by (effective) foreign competition. It hasn't been what it once was for longer than I've been alive. White flight? Fuggedaboutit!

But, let's look at some of the pros from Detroit Free Press:

Here is a 3-minute article with some Detroit Facts that shed positive light on our auto industry

And, for emotional reasons for a voice of frustration, a columnist quoted in the NYT today.

To respond to the columnist, I say that we need to care deeply about Michigan and Detroit. It's an enormous state with heritage. Sometimes, though, you need to build manufacture something else. AND SOMETIMES you need to tap out with bankruptcy, which, again, does not mean loss of pensions and unemployment for all. (Before your flights home to see family this year, click your heels together three times and say, "bankruptcy protection." I guarantee you will be transported to your home.)

Note that neither article contradicts the "deadly triangle of death" I underlined from the Journal op-ed and that is well-known. It's the stuff that's not directly related to car manufacturing that provides Detroit's death grip.

Morning Wellsmus: Bankruptcy is not a bad word

From Wiki, Chapter 11 is "rehabilitation or reorganization." Isn't this what ALL the big three automakers need?

This morning's Journal has an op-ed that lays bare bankruptcy. The auto industry has this treacherous triangle that is more like a hex, and it consists of auto dealers (who have special laws that protect them), the unions (workers get paid whether they're working or not), and the pension plans for retirees (more money goes to them than to current workers).

If you have a second, read this article by NYU Law Prof Mark Levine (not Mark Levin the ultra-conservo).



None of these things, under bankruptcy, will cease to exist. They will, however, have to change.

Congress, not the Secretary of Treasury, will vote yes or no on an auto industry bailout, and because the above makes so much sense, I believe we will hear a lot of back scratching. Michigan's votes could get very costly to the taxpayer.

Following up on my own post

I thought a bit about why they're not jumping on infrastructure to stimulate the economy: is it too New Deal? Are they afraid of raising the ire of conservatives? For the record, I'm not saying WPA, but I am saying a few new bridges. Put a bow on them and call it my christmas present. A few refurbed tunnels can be my stocking stuffer.




Anyone has insight or links on this it's much appreciated.

ChristmasWatch 2008

Ho Ho Ho! It's hard to get people gifts for Christmas, so here is one suggestion that was a hit last year. I got some of this chocolate from a client last year. I'm not sure why they gave it to me, though it may have grossly affected my decision making abilities for the entire year.



My parents went so far as to say it was the best chocolate they'd ever tasted. They've put in orders with me already.

Burdick's Chocolate in New Hampshire

No Name Sources but aak! Bill.

Politico reported that there may be real vetting problems with Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, and the Obama White House.
Does this make sense? Yes. Are there traceable sources? No! File under developing story.



Even on a theoretical basis you'd have to separate the two. The way I see it, there are plenty of places in the world that the U.S. WON'T be able to help/pay attention to, and Bill Clinton can have those (you know with his Global Initiative). Head's up, Papua New Guinea!

Looking for a bridge to somewhere

Tom Friedman's new column struck a chord with me that's been ringing since post 9/11. When George W. Bush told the consumer to start consuming, I felt that he was pushing against values of thrift and saving. Tom Friedman is right that George W Bush did not come out and remind people to raise their savings rates.

I'm not even sure if George W Bush's pronouncement actually caused people to spend money any more than our highly functioning market-based consumer economy does. But he did make consumerism patriotic, causing a quasi-religous backlash with the Church of Stop Shopping.

The money I spend is the money someone else will spend: that is our economy. Yet, what if the money the government spends is based more on infrastructure? I wish that Tom Friedman had debated this point; it is still fresh in my memory that a high-traffic bridge in Minneapolis collapsed, killing 10 people. Employed construction workers equal paychecks spent on consumer goods, much like a stimulus check (albiet reduced b/c of capital expenditures by construction companies. B/c our economy is largely consumer based, capital expenditures like heavy equipment and buildings do not strike at the 'core' of our economy like encouraging consumer spending).

What if the money that people spend, even, is based on something a bit more proactive than buying consumer products? One idea is to have tax credits (or rebates or pretax deductions) to join gyms, get nutrition programs, and see personal trainers. This is anti-free market, I realize, but theoretically it could chip away at the single greatest expense our federal government faces: Medicare.

Tom Friedman's idea seems to be the quick fix, but I think that as long as we're going to try another stimulus, we should try something new, because the last one's worth was diminished by people paying down debt.

Update on my own post (see below)

To sum up the below, I have a solution proposal to get girls interested in programming. And boys too, of course!

One solution proposed in the Times Article is to create the Action game equivalent for girls. But, my solution has to do with actually programming something; theirs just makes yet another product to buy. There is something to be said for encouraging the act of programming as opposed to just encouraging computer gaming.

Enter Inform. A free program that works on many platforms and allows people to create text-based games using natural language programming.

Briefly, natural language programming is based on a platform that eschews programming language based on UNIX, C, BASIC, FORTRAN, and others. It makes programming easier for young folk.

Click here for the INFORM website. (FYI the program is free). I hope to, over Thanksgiving, test Inform and respond back to show how it works, and how well it works.

But, just as aspiring authors should read the classics, so should aspiring text-based gamers 'read' the Infocom classics: Zork, Sorcerer, and Seastalker, among many.

AND, to show what text symbols can do, I encourage anyone remotely curious to take a turn through NETHACK, a game created out of ASCII symbols that has, as a hallmark feature, RANDOMIZATION. That is, every 'dungeon level' is different each time you play. How cool is that?! Oh, it's free too.

Have I Got a Game For You!

The NYTimes reports that, although women make up slightly over half of the science and engineering graduates (According to the National Science Foundation) they make up only 22% of the Computer Science graduates in 2006, down 6 points from 5 years before.

The article suggests that computer gaming, which sucks kids into computer use and subsequent interest in programming, needs to reach out to girls. In the "girls play with dolls and boys play with guns" rubric, the boys have certainly got their gun games. Yet, what of girls' games?

I reminisced a bit this weekend about a few old games that I not only loved, but got me interested in programming: text based games! Quite simply, there were no graphics, just text commands like "turn left, turn right, forward, inventory, and hit Ogre." Graphics require an additional level of complexity that make it harder for one person to program, but a text-based game could feasibly be imagined and programmed by a young person. I was too lazy, alas.

A simple solution: create some of these games (they are akin to a 'choose your own adventure book' which in my memory was beloved by boys and girls alike) and release them for free on the internet! Create facebook apps and other things to reach out to young girls. They will see, when looking at their brother's violent first person shooter games, that they are similar to the text based games in that they are based on figuring out puzzles and mazes (unlike in that you don't need finger dexterity).

Okay, these games are not perfect and they may need explanation, but they are intriguing and like solving a story. The article didn't specify the types of games girls would like to play, but I think these are at least worth a shot.

What's for dinner? Terribly good food. Part 1

White Castle is delicious, otherwise people would not eat it. There are so many other choices! It's a ridiculous restaurant idea to serve burgers much smaller than would fill any appetite, unless you eat at least four. And yet, like so many ridiculous things such as the "Las Ketchup" song or the "Milkshake" song, it gets stuck in your head for days. In the case of Spain, "Las Ketchup" was on repeat for at least a year.

The burgers taste great. The point is to eat slowly enough that you don't feel sick by eating one or two too many.

Adult Female - 3-4 burgers (to start)
Adult Male - 4-6 burgers

The fries are decent crinkle cut and in my experience they are not fresh out of the fryer when you get them. They do not add the flavorings like McDonald's, which puts beef flavoring, sugar, and salt on their shoestrings to make them "perfect." Needless to say, if you can do without fries, just get two more delicious burgers.

Click here to find the White Castle near you. Note how many parts of the United States do not have White Castle Restaurants.

Be careful of the Church's Chicken attached restaurant, though. I chose the chicken over the burgers one night and it had been sitting under the heat lamps for hours, most likely. White Castle's specialty is burgers, and due to their size they cook them pretty much when you get there.

New addition: Charlie Rose Interviews on Maureen Dowd Blog

Please to direct your eyes to the lower right corner of the screen! There will be Charlie Rose interviews just a click away, in addition to other Maureen Dowd related internet content. Up for review soon is the Charlie Rose interview in 2005 to discuss Maureen Dowd's book, "Are Men Necessary?"

Bill Clinton era over, says Dowd

Bill Clinton hasn't been president for years, yet this is the fear that Maureen Dowd believes is a talking point this Sunday. She solely focuses Her Sunday column is on media fueled rumors about Hillary Clinton as a possible Secretary of State. If this were true, it would be a backstep for Obama, according to Maureen Dowd. Maureen Dowd read into Obama's rhetoric about bringing Change, that he would not work with Hillary Clinton (because she is the wife of the ex-president of eight years).

Other points of irrelevance: campaign strife, Bill Clinton's possible meddling, bureaucratic paperwork that Executive Branch employees have to fill out, and whether or not Hillary would enjoy diplomatic tasks.

What is remarkable about the column, though, is that it says very little. To reduce it to a sentence: Obama would contradict some of his promises by taking on Hillary, but Hillary, even though she had campaign team problems, would still be able to do a good job.

But Barack Obama made no promises of the kind, Hillary's campaign team only looks problematic when lined up against Obama's (universally regarded as the best campaign in history), and after those falsities and mis-characterizations, we're left with Maureen Dowd's endorsement. I shouldn't have to write this, but Maureen Dowd weighing in on campaigns and appointments only brings up bad memories. Al Gore. Impeachment trial. Pulitzer.

Maureen Dowd's column is not looking like itself these days. Where are the below-the-belt punches? Where are the paragraphs that beg for even a hint of research?

Perhaps Maureen Dowd is not sure how to attack the forthcoming presidency. If she's going to continue to attack the biggest guy in the room, then she's got to have a good strategy. It's humbling to know that this supposed Washington insider has to act like a Normal Person: she can't pass judgement on Obama because he's given people little to criticize or praise. He's not president yet, as he's reminded people.

Yet, there still is a sitting president and some very real (not to mention confusing) problems going on in America and the World. A fair few opedders used their spaces to expound on these varied issues: Tom Friedman, David Brooks, Paul Krugman, and Bob Herbert.

Nicholas Kristof wrote an airy piece about kids who network for social causes. It was inspiring, though, to learn that some kids can touch a nerve profoundly before they're in Middle School. I hope Nicholas Kristof takes some of these children on his worldwide trips so that these future mini Kristof's familiarize themselves with cultures who have different takes on the world, on human worth, and even on the act of charity itself.

Dick Cavett, Speech Grammarian

If it weren't for the Simpsons, I would have no idea who Dick Cavett is, and I believe that other people in my generation feel the same way. In one of the most joke-laden episodes ever created, "Homie the Clown," Dick Cavett plays an irksome hanger-on to Homer, who he believes is Krusty the Clown.

It was a noble performance, and without having any exposure to his talk show, I assumed it indicated his wit and sagacity. Oh, but his new column has removed all doubt.

Dick, numero uno of most-emailed articles this Sunday morning: The Wild Wordsmith of Wasilla. Note that this was not published paper, this is an NYT Blog.

The essence of his article, riffing from Maureen Dowd's Sarah's Pompom Palaver Article, is that Sarah Palin has poor grammar in speech.

Both Maureen Dowd and Dick Cavett have struck a low blow with this theme. Quite simply, there is a difference between speech grammar and written grammar. To quote someone's speech verbatim, unless they're giving a speech (which is written in advance and, in presidential races, written by a team of people), is going to yield grammatical errors unacceptable in writing. Sentences run on in speech because the speaker is finishing a thought rather than designating a pause for a period. In fact, I am reassured that Sarah Palin does not speak like a textbook because it indicates that her answers are not rehearsed. Rehearsal of answers and always saying the right thing is an excellent way to prevent honesty from seeping through. What's more, I will give Katie Couric credit for picking questions that avoided canned answers.

Their columns take the high-handed approach of judging someone's manner of expression as a prerequisite for public office (or even public exposure). It is right to judge someone for the adequacy or inadequacy of the answer, but to infer that idiosyncrasies indicate a lack of intelligence is frankly another shot fired in the culture war. There are many people who identify with Sarah Palin, the person. By making fun of her way of speech, will that attract people to the new presidential agenda or galvanize them as the cultural opposition?

As a side note, I am not a grammar crusader but I do have a comment for Dick Cavett's combination of grammar and style: his article had 9 rhetorical questions, two back-to-back parenthetical remarks, and one declarative sentence ended with a question mark. It's a blog and an opinion piece, but it seems that Dick Cavett wants to fight this grammar-culture war in the trenches and not from up high.