Tao of Pauly

Sunday Morning Required Reading...

1. George Plimpton: Simply Nothing Short of Astonishing is written by Ira Berkow and appears in today's NY Times.

Here's an excerpt: "There are very few writers who are so funny when they write that they can make you laugh out loud, but Plimpton was one of them... This feat was accomplished by dint of his art, his brilliant use of the English language and a fearless quirkiness... And there was his devotion and his assistance in a variety of ways to writers and writing... I once received a note from Plimpton asking me to contribute some thoughts on a particular subject (it was gift-giving) that he was putting together for a magazine. His last line read: "Drollery permitted."... Drollery was only one of the many extraordinary gifts that those who knew, read and admired George Plimpton will remember and cherish and miss."

2. Rush, Happy Pills, and the Right: Rush Hour... What Rush Limbaugh's Bad Week Means for the Right and for his Empire is written by David Skinner and appears in The Weekly Standard.

Here's a bit: "This has to be the worst week in Rush Limbaugh's storied career--and yet things could get much worse still. The king of political radio resigned from a side gig doing football commentary on ESPN because of what are being called "racially-charged comments"; at the same time, another story broke that Limbaugh has a serious drug habit, and as a result has become ensnared in a large narcotics investigation in Florida."

3. Iraq & the Middle East: The Real Patriot Act is written by Thomas L. Friedman and appears in today's NY Times.

Here's an excerpt: "First, we need to successfully partner with Iraqis to create a free, open and progressive model in the heart of the Arab-Muslim world to promote the ideas of tolerance, pluralism and democratization. But second, and just as important, we need to set an example ourselves, in order to get others — both potential allies and longtime adversaries — to buy into our war, to believe that we are not just out to benefit ourselves or protect ourselves, but that we really are out to repair the world."

4. Recall Coverage: Everybody Wins! With One Tiny Exception, of Course: The Citizens of California is written by Larry Miller and appears in The Weekly Standard.

Here's a bit: "CALIFORNIA HAS ALWAYS been a little crazy, you know, really. It was in Twain's day, and it is with or without Hollywood. Frank Lloyd Wright once called Route 66 "a chute down which everything loose in this country is sliding into Southern California." I carpet-bagged out here, myself, and I'm as certifiable as anyone else. Proud of it, too. Hell, we're all a little loopy out here, I guess. Americans will always dream about moving to California and then, in the same breath, say, "Of course, they're crazy, you know." They're right on both counts."

5. More Recall Coverage: It's Who You Know is an article written by Robert Scheer and appears in The Nation.

Here's a sample: "If Gray Davis is replaced as governor by Arnold Schwarzenegger, chalk it up as a Hollywood victory of illusion over substance. It's an illusion exploited by the state's right-wing Republican leadership, which has rejected one of its own, Tom McClintock, for an actor whose political program, beyond the one-liners, is virtually unknown...

What script will he read from now, who will do the writing, and will he again freely lie to advance his career? He has pledged firm allegiance to the Bush White House, never mentioning the 3 million jobs lost nationally and $500 billion in red ink run up under this Administration. Nor has he uttered a word of criticism of Bush's Texas cronies who so ruinously gamed the California energy market...

Schwarzenegger's campaign is run largely by veterans of former Gov. Pete Wilson's administration, and if he wins, he is expected to turn to Wilson for advice on filling the top state jobs and on future judicial appointments. Aside from having raised taxes and unemployment dramatically, the Wilson years are best remembered for the divisive campaigns against undocumented immigrants and welfare mothers. Does Schwarzenegger, who claims to be so interested in the welfare of kids, realize that millions of them who are poor were hurt by Wilson's policies?

Schwarzenegger's political scriptwriters are pro-big business and fervently anti-labor. This is a candidate who takes campaign money from powerful corporate players but blasts unionized workers, including those in law enforcement and fire departments, as reprehensible special interests..."