2009 July | BoWilliams.com

Numb, faint hope

Jul 272009

You know, it’s really been a fine 2009 but for this thing.

I suppose the trendy, mushy, Oprahfied thing for me to do would be serialize the entire situation in agonizing detail, as if fidelity of narrative somehow compensates for the inherent invasions of privacy and the vulgarity of excessive preoccupation.

But I won’t. Whatever other sins of self-absorption I commit on this blog from time to time, I do want to try to stop short of wallowing in bathos.

I am certain my friend is hurting, perhaps more deeply than he ever has, and that much of it is self-inflicted. I am also certain that he and I have consistently held one another to high moral and ethical standards. I accept that true compassion for someone requires continued respect for those standards.

If they continue to live in him at all, then they’ll be there on the other side of the acute situation. Any resumed relationship between us will be the better for it, lacking the additional awkwardness of tortured rationalizations of expediently jettisoned principles.

Conversely, if they have perished, then the game has already ended anyway.

Unmarked police cruisers, real and imagined

Current Events 4 Responses »

Jul 262009

So some clown in a Crown Vic with flashing lights and a PA system pulled over a real undercover police officer in Oakland last week, and was promptly arrested.

Oops. Hey, the guy was on probation too! Smooth, dumbass.

Now I don’t have a cop fetish. Impersonating a police officer is a serious crime, and I have no interest in doing so. But I always thought it’d be fun to buy a retired Police Interceptor, outfit it with a push bar and a large antenna, and see how much nicer people were to me in traffic.

I suspect the difference would be substantial.

I wish you would…

Annoyances 5 Responses »

Jul 252009

…check snopes.com before you click Send.
…just ring up the damned beer. Do you see my hairline? Do you see my waistline? You don’t need to see my driver’s license, asshole.
…not say “think outside the box” even one more time the rest of your life.
…pull up your pants, you pig, and go home and tell your daddy what you just said to that young lady so he can give you the whipping you obviously need.
…shed yourself of the misconception that silence is inherently bad.
…work on your obvious prejudices before crowing endlessly about how inclusive you are.
…go inside instead of giving three separate orders at the drive-through, particularly when your verbal skills are so poor.
…redirect the energy you’re putting into sweet-talking and meeting your mistress toward trying to sincerely understand why you and your wife are estranged.
…think of your children. (But I repeat myself.)
…do what you said you’d do. (Again.)

Who’s really “(acting) stupidly” here, Mr. President?

Annoyances, Current Events, Politics 6 Responses »

Jul 242009

Barack Obama has done an exceptionally rude, arrogant, uninformed, and just plain amateurish thing in saying the Cambridge police “acted stupidly” in the arrest of academic Henry Louis Gates Jr.

Note that Obama made this claim, as yet unretracted, despite admitting twice that he didn’t have all of the facts of the incident.

As an attorney, he should recognize and respect the prudence of keeping his mouth shut under such circumstances.
As the President of the United States, he should recognize and respect the tremendous attention given anything emerging from his open mouth.

But nope, he still doesn’t get it. The presidency is just the latest little project for the eternal community organizer, who looks awfully good in his suit and gives a polished speech. Talented college student, remember?

The president of the city’s police union is now calling on Obama to apologize. I say good luck with that, buddy. There is now much in evidence to reasonably conclude that our esteemed president is an obstinate prick for the sheer hell of it, and he’s not going to apologize without a lot more unrest than a bunch of irritated cops. (If an apology does ever come, it will almost certainly be of the smarmy “I’m sorry you were offended” variety.)

Incidentally, arresting officer James Crowley isn’t backing up a millimeter. He claims no wrongdoing of any kind, and says an apology is neither necessary nor forthcoming. I hope he’s got the gumption to stay with that. It’d be nice to have at least one principled principal in this situation.

It seems the Obama presidency means we’re mostly past white racism. As for reverse racism, it’s still in fashion. – Mona Charen

Indeed. Post-racial idealism my ass.

The Trooper Believer

Menagerie, Popular Culture 3 Responses »

Jul 242009

Everyone’s doing mash-ups these days. For one to be really excellent, it has to be edited flawlessly. It’s also important to me that its constituent elements be truly disparate.

Check and check. Enjoy.

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