Now Read This: James Wolcott's "Night of the Living Fred"

[CBHagman]

Let me give a shout-out to James Wolcott of Vanity Fair, who deftly skewers the bone-headed and hypocritical any day of the week. Read on.

http://www.vanityfair.com/online/wolcott/


I ended up watching more of the Republican Convention than I intended because the Roddick-Gonzalez quarterfinal was the usual Roddick thumping match--impressive but not pleasurable to watch in its fitful energy and fidgety mannerisms (all that shirt-tugging). During the breaks I drifted over to the speeches, which were soporific and lacking in preservatives. Fred Thompson never quite got a rhythm going and his retelling of McCain's torture as a captive in Vietnam was vivid and forceful, but it reminded me of the testimonials to Bob Dole's suffering after he came back from war (fellow soldiers cavalierly stubbing out their cigarettes in his cast)--a tribute to character and fortitude, but irrelevant as to why we should elect them president now, forties years later.

Lieberman's speech redefined unctuousness. He lubricated unctuousness with his own personal brand of smiling smarm. As a few bloggers have noted, this was a speech that didn't mention President Bush (neither did Thompson's, I believe) but used President Clinton as an applause line. It wasn't much applause but it was more than he got when he praised McCain for trying to address thorny issues such as global warming, campaign finance, and immigration reform--issues that the Rush Limbaugh fans either consider bogus (global warming) or feel McCain was on the wrong side of (campaign finance, immigration). The reaction in the hall to Lieberman's speech reminded me of the SCTV bit in which Love Boat's Gavin MacLeod (Joe Flaherty) pays tribute to One Day at a Time's Bonnie Franklin as her face is flashed on the big screen:

"I think she's a helluva entertainer, folks--don't you?"

Deathly silence.

Just keep going, gang. You'll be glad you did.