Heh!

They say there's a nugget of truth to every decent stereotype, which is why they work like they do... that twinge of recognition that carries the joke. Good on Dave Brooks to show that New York Jews aren't above poking fun at themselves:

Second, I also suspect that you are going to find Sessions irritating but also impressive in his way. I have had a few lunches with him and my impression is that he is one of those sly Southerners who puts on a plain old boy front but is deep down extremely sophisticated and intelligent. This is how we know he is not a a New Yorker or a Jew. In the long history of my people, there has never been one who was willing to appear less smart than he or she really is. We tend to go the other way.

And for everyone getting their sensitive PC antenna's up over the joking at the recent Washington journalists' bash ... sorry folks, that's what traditionally goes on at those things. Michael Steele was a good sport, I thought watching the CSPAN rebroadcast, and probably Hillary and Bill too. Nothing's off limits, as we saw in previous years with President Bush joking about looking for WMD's ... even as dead servicemember's families complained.

Sorry folks. If you don't like it, don't watch it. Or attend. We've got to stand up to these people who find their delicate sensibilities threatened by words, before it's too late and the Nanny Folk people have us all believing that the world revolves around their overly sensitive selves ... and their overachieving sons. ;-)

On a related note, here's a good Greg Stoda column. Sure hope young libertarians are listening...

Well, &*%!

What the &%$@ should anyone !&%*@#$ expect?

Increasingly, it seems, folks are upset - or more than slightly perturbed, anyway - if a coach or athlete utters a naughty word that gets picked up by a microphone.

It happened Sunday night when Los Angeles Lakers boss Phil Jackson, in response to a question after a loss, dropped an F-bomb while suggesting the best idea would be to give the Houston Rockets some (insert nasty word here) credit for doing what they did to win.

Jackson hardly seemed or sounded out of line. Not to me, he didn't.

It's possible that's because my own language frequently comes salted with words such as the one Jackson used. Or perhaps that's because it's not easy to offend me.

But the truth of the matter is that the forum and time frame in which coaches and athletes are interviewed often lends itself to a visceral response. Jackson's team had just lost a playoff game, and the coach - obviously annoyed at what he deemed to be the galling nature of the inquiry - said what he said.

Jackson was indelicate. And, yes, he was seated for a mass interview, which usually dissuades someone from loss of temper.

But, hey, $#@! still happens. Get used to it.

And another...

The whole smokers vs. non-smokers issue can get more than a little nasty.

As a lifetime non-smoker, it never has made any sense to me why some smokers can't or won't understand how intrusive the habit can be in an environment such as a workplace or restaurant. And mark me down as being in favor of laws prohibiting smoking in any public indoor space or within certain distances of a public entrance.

But there ought to be a limit to the restrictions put on smokers, and my line is drawn at the golf course.

Let 'em puff.

Let 'em dip.

Let 'em chew.

Maybe it goes back to memories of my youth playing with my dad - he was a Chesterfield man...

And as a caddie in the mid-1960s at St. Charles Country Club, it was always my distinct pleasure to carry a certain golfer's bag on most Wednesday afternoons and many weekend mornings. Can't recall his name, but the smell of his pipe smoke was delicious ... and he was a great tipper.