I am reminded of this when we hit the second moose

I’m not nearly as fanatical about Fafblog as any number of other folks are, but the following piece, “drivin with Donald,” is pure gold. Better, even. I’m quoting it in its entirety because, well, it’s that good. (Also because it’s related to the previous post here regarding a real-life Rumsfeldian incident, albeit without Rumsfeld’s involvement.)

Though I should also take care to note that, even supposing you do read the whole thing here [which, let’s be honest, you shouldn’t], a trip to Fafblog is wholly warranted on account of the most excellent “picture” that accompanies the grade-A documentary writing.

Anyway, here it is:

Donald Rumsfeld is no perfectionist.So we’re ridin on down the road in our Cross Country Journey of Inner Discovery and Of Course the American Dream when Donald Rumsfeld hits a moose.

“Maybe we should stop an get a tow truck,” says me.
“Gosh, that seems pretty excessive,” says Donald Rumsfeld. “I mean, was a moose hit? Yes. Do the antlers sticking through the windshield make driving trickier? You bet. But should we just turn around and quit because the road got a little bumpy? I’d say no.”

One thing about Donald Rumsfeld that you have to give him credit for is he always cuts through the crap to tell it like it is in his no-nonsense style. I am reminded of this when we hit the second moose.

“Moose happen,” says Donald Rumsfeld. “There are moose, and we’ll hit ’em. That’s the way it goes. We’ve lost two tires and the brakes. That’s life. I’m drunk, legally blind and have been charged with eight counts of vehicular manslaughter in the last three years. Gotta deal with it. Nothing’s perfect.”
“If you think about it the more moose get hit by us, the fewer moose there are to get hit by us!” says me.
“I like the way you think,” says Donald Rumsfeld.

Donald grabs a beer an misses a pedestrian. Hooray! One of the moose is still alive an kicks at the engine. “Bad moose,” says me. “No beer until you stop.” Donald Rumsfeld throws an open bottle a Coors at the back seat to put out the fire.

“Are parts of the car on fire? Sure. Would we like them not to be? Of course. Have I gone insane from three decades of snorting military-grade rubber cement? Quite possibly. Do we need everything to be perfect for us to go out on the road? Well, that’s absurd,” says Donald Rumsfeld.
“That’s very true,” says me. “We cannot make the perfect the enemy of the terrible.”

The bridge up ahead is either out or doesn’t exist. But if we waited for everything to be perfect before we did stuff well then we’d never get anythin done! Forward, onward, downward, Donald Rumsfeld!

(via Alas, a Blog)

It was an honest mistake

Really, it could have happened to anybody.

A 20-ton piece of road machinery mowed down a fence and a couple of trees on property belonging to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld (news – bio) after the brakes apparently slipped and the machine rolled away.

“It was a freak accident,” said Michael Trujillo, director of public works for Taos County.

(AP: “20-Ton Machine Mows Down Rumsfeld’s Fence” [August 20, 2004])

Read the full post »

For the visually-oriented

An excellent, informative graphic via the venerable NYT that does a beautiful job of illustrating verbiage of the Democratic & Republican conventions. The below image is but a snippet of the larger graphic; click on it to see the creation in all its glory.

nyt convention graphic

(the image’s original URL is this: http://graphics7.nytimes.com/images/2004/09/02/politics/campaign/20040902_words.gif; mad props to Pandagon for pointing it out)

Your Guide To Springfield USA

From the Springfield Zoo and Botanical Gardens to Mt. Swatzwelder Historic Cider Mill to the Spirograph Factory—you’ll find it all in this disturbingly complete map of the Simpsons’ home town.

(via, of all places, PLANetizen)

Indeed

“Peace on earth depends on our ability to secure our living environment.” — Ole Danbolt Mjoes, head of the Norwegian Nobel Committee

My fellow Americans Citizens

Simon Schama (yes, that Simon Schama) concocts a speech for John Kerry.

You see, my fellow Americans, when it comes to true security, George W Bush and his administration have a simple message for all of us and that message is “Good luck, pals, you’re on your own.” Short of body armour? Write home. Job security outsourced? Hey, don’t come whining to us. Plenty of reconstruction opportunities in downtown Baghdad! Worried about social security entitlements once that big national debt hits the fan? Well, that’s why we want to privatise a chunk of social security, linking it to the fortunes of the stock market! Excuse me, what’s that you say about “boom and bust”? Don’t be nervous nellies! It’s only your lifetime’s payments we’re talking about.

It’s honestly not the most excellent speech ever–though what speech is?–but it’s interesting, given the source (Schama, that is). Also curious is that it’s printed in The Guardian.

Anyway, possibly worth a skim, if not a read.

(Guardian: “Dear John, try this … “ by Simon Schama [October 8, 2004])

Newsflash

We found that students’ perceptions about [math and English] become more negative throughout secondary school.

(Society for Research in Child Development/EurekAlert: “Teenagers’ perceptions of math and English,” by Karen Melnyk [September 17, 2004])

Dear Umbra…

…I’d like to choose my brand of gas with more conscience. Would you help?

A goodie-filled column by Umbra Fisk over at Grist Magazine. The answer to the actual question (i.e., what’s the least bad gas company?) is relatively inconsequential compared to the various links offered up in the process:

(Grist Magazine: “The Rank and Vile: On choosing the least evil gasoline company,” by Umbra Fisk [September 20, 2004])

So You’ve Been Taken Prisoner by a Billionaire Colombian Drug Lord

I hate it when that happens, don’t you?

Lucky for you Dan Weaver AKA Delta Force Col. Tom Smits can get you out alive.

(via The Morning News)

The Maul of America

There is no doubt that the Mall of America is a ready display of American culture’s addiction to consumerism and the myth that personal possessions will boost self-esteem. It’s also an outpost of a half-century of urban design predicated on the notion that America has enough room, energy, wealth, and moxie to continue building drive-up giant market places that sooner, rather than later, get thrown away.

(via PLANetizen/Michigan Land Use Institute: “The Maul Of America: A “city within a city” it’s not,” by Jacob Wheeler [September 12, 2004])