Brad DeLong's Semi-Daily Journal (2004)

"They just don't write 'em like they used to."

There's worse uses of time than to re-read old Kinsley pieces. "The Double Felix" is as enjoyable as ever.

Someone set up us the bomb.

and What a coincidence that he happened upon that very magazine just as Kevin Drum and Jane Galt were using the word in their blogs.

I used to love Kinsley's appearances on CNN Crossfire in the mid-nineties. Even if he wasn't terribly telegenic, his intelligence and focus shone through, and he got off some memorable zingers. I particularly remember a segment on the budget with Phil Gramm. Gramm was mouthing the usual platitudes about cutting $30 billion in spending, without giving any specifics. Kinsley homed in, repeating again and again "Name a specific program that you are going to cut." Gramm continued to hem, haw and evade throughout the program, but Kinsley wouldn't give up. After a half-hour of Kinsley's pushing, Gramm finally, in the last minute of the show, squeezed out an answer, looking like he had a serious case of constipation- "Legal Services."

Kinsley shot back: "OK, that's half a billion dollars, now where are you going to get the other 29 and a half billion?"

It was so refreshing to see someone who wouldn't let these jerks off the hook on substance. Another great moment was a show on gay marriage with Andrew Sullivan and GOP troglodyte Dick Armey as guests. At one point, Armey started a sentence with "Well, Michael, suppose you and Andrew were to get married..."

Kinsley broke in with "...or you and Andrew, for that matter."

Brad, you gotta do something about the grammar in that title.

Bruce,

The improper grammar in the title is in reference to a long-running

..internet joke (I forget, no html here)

http://www.planettribes.com/allyourbase/story.shtml#hist

Kinsley is an extraordinary talent. His pieces ought to be collected and republished.

Anyone know why he left Slate for the LA Times?

He published at least one collection ("Curse of the Giant Muffins") back in the late 1980s, and I believe has published one other since then.

I was going to make an Iacocca joke (that it's the only true 'autohagiography') on the previous thread, but didn't bother. I could've been a portender!

'Auto' is one of those victims of truncation that has now outgrown its Latin origin.

Did I say Latin? Shame, shame! After just having re-read the Iliad (for Troy), no less.

I actually also read Kinsley for inspiration . . . a collection called "Big Babies." It has columns going back to the late '80s, so chait was probably reading the book before that one.

There's nothing odd about it at all.

Or --

The Confessions of Aleister Crowley; An Autohagiography. by Crowley, Aleister
Editions: Hardcover (Farrar Straus & Giroux, June 1, 1970

I'm Changing My Name to Chrysler
by Tom Paxton

Oh the price of gold is rising out of sight
And the dollar is in sorry shape tonight
What the dollar used to get us
Now won't buy a head of lettuce
No the economic forecast isn't right
But amidst the clouds I spot a shining ray

I can even glimpse a new and better way
And I've demised a plan of action
Worked it down to the last fraction
And I'm going into action here today

CHORUS:
I am changing my name to Chrysler
I am going down to Washington D.C.
I will tell some power broker
What they did for Iacocca
Will be perfectly acceptable to me
I am changing my name to Chrysler
I am headed for that great receiving line
So when they hand a million grand out
I'll be standing with my hand out
Yes sire I'll get mine

When my creditors are screaming for their dough
I'll be proud to tell them all where they can all go
They won't have to scream and holler
They'll be paid to the last dollar
Where the endless streams of money seem to flow
I'll be glad to tell them what they can do
It's a matter of a simple form or two
It's not just renumeration it's a liberal education
Ain't you kind of glad that I'm in debt to you

CHORUS

Since the first amphibians crawled out of the slime
We've been struggling in an unrelenting climb
We were hardly up and walking before money started talking
And it's sad that failure is an awful crime
Well it's been that way for a millenium or two
But now it seems that there's a different point of view
If you're a corporate titanic and your failure is gigantic
Down to congress there's a safety net for you

CHORUS

:-D

A good example of why I think Kinsley has to be the most overrated liberal pundit of the last 20 years. Just look at what a big disappointment Slate has been (and continues to be with his old TNR crowd running the place).

Possunt quia posse videntur - They can because they think they can

Ad praesens ova cras pullis sunt meliora - Eggs today are better than chickens tomorrow (a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush)

Facta, non verba - Deeds, not words (Actions speak louder than words)