Quote of the Day

  • Terrific quote about writing history. The best way to approach the task–and the worst way

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    Friday, April 20, 2018 2comments Higher education, Quote of the Day No tags Permalink

    I came across this entirely by accident.

    I’ve been reading about the wars of Louis XIV and his tenacious opponent, William of Orange, the Netherlands’ leader who also became king of England with his wife, Mary (as in “William and Mary”), after the Glorious Revolution (1688-89).

    Some of the very best studies are by Paul Sonnino. I don’t know him and, since I’m a political scientist, didn’t know where this distinguished historian was based. UC-Santa Barbara, it turns out.

    On his departmental webpage, I came across this spectacular quote, which he put at the top of his self-description:

    I approach history with a combination of radical empiricism, existentialism, and incomprehension, and I am completely opposed to the postmodern combination of nihilism, preciosity, and political correctness.

    –Paul Sonnino

    If you would like to read 3-4 of Prof. Sonnino’s very short essays on post-modernism, they are here as a PDF.

     

  • “Moron Speaking” Quote of the Day

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    Wednesday, January 24, 2018 0 Quote of the Day , , , Permalink

    The speaker is rapper Erykah Badu (link here)

    “I’m not an anti-Semitic person…. I see good in everybody. I saw something good in Hitler,” Badu said randomly as the Nazi leader had not been previously mentioned in the interview.

    “Come again?” the interview asked back.

    “Hitler was a wonderful painter,” she responded.

    Dissatisfied with her response, the interviewer pushed Badu to explain herself, noting that, contrary to popular belief, Hitler was a relatively mediocre artist.

    “Okay, he was a terrible painter. Poor thing. He had a terrible childhood….I see things like that. I guess it’s just the Pisces in me,” Badu answered.

    Comment: Tragically, her hair is bigger than her brain.

    UPDATE:

    Thanks to the great Tom Elia, who sent me this wonderful scene from Mel Brooks’ The Producers about Hitler the painter.

    Franz Liebekind: You know, not many people knew it, but the Führer was a terrific dancer.

    Max: Really, I never dreamed that…

    Franz Liebekind: That is because that you were taken in by that verdammte Allied propaganda! Such filthy lies! They told lies! But nobody ever said a bad word about Winston Churchill, did they? No! ‘Win with Winnie!’ Churchill! With his cigars. With his brandy. And his rotten painting, rotten! Hitler – there was a painter! He could paint an entire apartment in one afternoon! Two Coats! Churchill. He couldn’t even say ‘Nazi’. He would say ‘Noooo-zeeehz, Nooooooooooooo-zeeehz!’ It wasn’t Noses! It was Nazis! Churchill!…Let me tell you this! And you’re hearing this straight from the horse. Hitler was better looking than Churchill. He was a better dresser than Churchill. He had more hair! He told funnier jokes! And he could dance the pants off of Churchill!…Churchill!

  • Nancy Pelosi calls chairman of House Intel Committee a “stooge of the President”

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    Thursday, March 23, 2017 1 Congress, Donald Trump, House of Representatives, Intelligence agencies, Nancy Pelosi, Quote of the Day, Surveillance , Permalink

    The chair in question is Devin Nunes. 

    House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and the minority leader on the committee is Adam Schiff. All are from California.

    The two Democrats, Pelosi and Schiff, are now going after Nunes with both guns blazing.

    Here’s Pelosi’s latest, quoted in The Hill:

    By being a stooge of the president of the United States, he has demonstrated very clearly that there is no way there can be an impartial investigation under his leadership on that committee. –Nancy Pelosi

    Pelosi’s vitriol has a purpose. She and other Democrats want to convene a special committee or, if possible, an independent counsel, to investigate Trump. Anything they can do to undermine Nunes advances that goal. She added,

    Chairman Nunes acted outside the circle of respect [for his committee by talking with President Trump about these issues.]

    Chairman Nunes is deeply compromised, and he cannot possibly lead an honest investigation. –Pelosi

    See?

    Comment: The “circle of respect” is a concept previously unknown in Washington.

    Sources close to Nancy Pelosi were shocked to hear her associated with “respect” in any way. She had previously avoided any contact with it.

    Fortunately, ZipDialog’s artists were able to capture a picture.

    ♦♦♦♦♦♦

    Hat tip to Tom Elia for the Nancy Pelosi quotation