For a lesson in how to wield the English language, check out George Will’s column in the Washington Post. You needn’t agree that “Trump is no longer the worst person in government” to enjoy — or choke on — Will’s use of $10 words. I plowed through the first paragraph, thinking maybe it was just a humorous or sarcastic come-on for the rest of the story. But no, the entire piece was written with thesaurus in hand. (I wonder if he talks that way, too.)
I don’t read Will’s column very often, but in this case the title intrigued me. Plunging in, I encountered words and phrases like “feral cunning,” “oleaginous,” “toadyism,” “obsequiousness,” and “lickspittle.” And that was just the first paragraph. I got so wrapped up in and distracted by the verbiage that I couldn’t really tell you what was said, other than that the subject was Vice President Mike Pence. Particularly distracting was the phrase “oozing unctuousness from every pore.” Intentionally or otherwise, it immediately reminded me of one of my favorite lines from My Fair Lady — “Oozing charm from every pore / He oiled his way around the floor.” That’s Pence, for sure.
Ultimately I dashed off a brief comment: “Pence is the best reason we have for not impeaching Trump.” (Will had used up all the good words.)
I take pride in the fact that not once did I need a dictionary while reading a column by the winner of a Pulitzer Prize for Commentary. But I am wondering now if that prize was given for insightfulness or just overwriting.
This VP has the eyes of a snake, no wonder potus got him as his VP, he thinks that he is safe in the Oval Office with this bloke as the back up.
It seems that pence is starting to make a run for the nomination on 2020 from what I read in the NYT this morning.
Is there no honour amongst the GOP anymore?
Anybody with a thought of running for the presidency in 2020 is already working on it. But my blood curdles at the thought of Pence in the White House.
and so would mine be if I lived there, he is an evil looking man
The answer is, no. The once-principled party here in the 21st century has abandoned even the pretense of standing for anything except contempt and hatred of opposition to its emotions relative to guns, abortion and regulation. Prior to 2008 there was a good case to be made that their fear of deficit spending might be based on some sound reasoning but their support of Trump’s massive tax cut for the rich reveals that to have been pure hypocrisy. I understand that George Will is no longer a GOP member.
I commend George Will if he left the GOP. Seems to me anyone with a conscience and half a brain would bail on that party, but I admit to an extreme and ever-increasing bias against Trump supporters.
(I realize your comment was directed to ElBoB, but I thought I would acknowledge it in case he isn’t following.)
Glad you did! Thanks.
If Geo Will. is who we think of as Dubya, then he has gone up mightily, in my estimations.
George Will is a political commentator. And Wikipedia shows him as a Republican.
Correction. Jim was right. I found a two-day-old headline that says “George Will, Joe Scarborough lead midterm exodus from GOP.”