Creatins

"The senator [Clinton] argued for the creation of an across-the-board 10-percent cut in corporate taxes for American factories..."

(Devlin Barret -- Associated Press)

Why, Devlin? Why?? Why must everything -- every dollop of mustard spilled on the sidewalk around a hot-dog cart and every scheme up the sleeve of a carpet-bagging jobholder -- be a "creation"?

My god. Will it never stop?? Is there something wrong with me because I don't "create" a pot of coffee in the morning? Should I be "creating" phone calls? Isn't it an act of "creativity" when I change the oil in the car?

I will repeat myself: The word "create" is now a delinquent of lexicon and requires stern disciplinary moratorium. This is because of the idiotic explosion of "creation" in the 1960's, after which every dopey coat-hang-wire & paper-mâché twit on the scene is applauded for his "creativity" and all this "creating" is just goddamned giving me the winds.

Is it just me?

Stop it.

A Weight Of Alternatives

Colby Cosh -- who once honored me as a "gifted vitriolist" -- points out the discombobulation of McDonald's in his normal even-headed style, which I appreciate. Really: it's receding at a fantastic rate, but there is still a place in the world for that sort of treatment.

On the other (mailed-fist) hand, Steve at "Little Tiny Lies" approaches the same matter differently, with an effect reminiscent of Greg "Pappy" Boyington calling out the Japanese Air Force on his radio while circling over their home-drome.

I love 'em both.

Ignoramuses On Parade

On March 2, one Stephen Gillers, writing in the Houston Chronicle, argued that The Lying Bastard "could be just the ticket for Kerry". He observed:

"The first objection, the constitutional one, can be disposed of easily. The Constitution does not prevent Clinton from running for vice president. The 22nd Amendment, which became effective in 1951, begins: 'No person shall be elected to the office of the president more than twice.'

No problem. Bill Clinton would be running for vice president, not president. Scholars and judges can debate how loosely constitutional language should be interpreted, but one need not be a strict constructionist to find this language clear beyond dispute. Bill Clinton cannot be elected president, but nothing stops him from being elected vice president.

True, if Clinton were vice president he would be in line for the presidency. But Clinton would succeed Kerry not by election, which the amendment forbids, but through Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution, which provides that if a president dies, resigns or is removed from office, his powers 'shall devolve on the vice president.' The 22nd Amendment would not prevent this succession."

That's true: the 22nd Amendment would not prevent it.

It's the 12th Amendment (ratified in 1804) that would do that, in its final sentence. Go look it up.

You wanna know the worst part? "Gillers is a professor of law at New York University."

(My attention drawn to this by Bob Hunt.)

Memo To Greg Swann

I despise them, too. Always have.

That Reason bit is utterly disgusting, throughout.

Step Away From The Camera

Did you know that cops don't like it when you watch what they do? Even worse: you'd better not take pictures.

Got Dots?

Connect this Glenn Reynolds item to this from Andrew Sullivan in Time.

Personally, I don't see it. On the other hand, I said the rotten old hack, Gephardt, would be the Democratic nominee. [shrug]

In any case, however, pay attention to Sullivan's next-to-last paragraph, which goes to something I've said for a long time now: the next Democratic administration will inherit a machine that Bush & Co. have tended with great, uhm, "care".