Cavett
"You must be this tall to ride."
Posted on 04/13/2008 2:30:17 AM PDT by KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle
There’s something about General Petraeus that brings out the most quotable in liberals. Most recently it was LA Times wine critic Matthew DeBord who must have been auditioning for a fashion column as he critiqued Petraeus’s uniform and, especially, his many tacky, tacky medals awarded for service to his country. Righteous indignation about that from Uncle Jimbo, hilarious sarcasm at Iowahawk. Take your pick.
That was yesterday. Today it’s talk show host Dick Cavett, who I’m glad to learn is still alive, getting all hot and bothered about General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker in the New York Times.
Petraeus commits a different assault on the listener. And on the language. In addition to his own pedantic delivery, there is his turgid vocabulary. It reminds you of Copspeak, a language spoken nowhere on earth except by cops and firemen when talking to “Eyewitness News.” Its rule: never use a short word where a longer one will do. It must be meant to convey some misguided sense of “learnedness” and “scholasticism” — possibly even that dread thing, “intellectualism” — to their talk. Sorry, I mean their “articulation.”
Yes indeedy, Dick, where does this Petraeus fellow get off pretending like he’s some sort of intellectual? Poor clod only has a Ph.D. in International Relations from Princeton University.
But clever Dick can’t resist the lure of those bright, shiny medals:
I can’t look at Petraeus — his uniform ornamented like a Christmas tree with honors, medals and ribbons — without thinking of the great Mort Sahl at the peak of his brilliance. He talked about meeting General Westmoreland in the Vietnam days. Mort, in a virtuoso display of his uncanny detailed knowledge — and memory — of such things, recited the lengthy list (”Distinguished Service Medal, Croix de Guerre with Chevron, Bronze Star, Pacific Campaign” and on and on), naming each of the half-acre of decorations, medals, ornaments, campaign ribbons and other fripperies festooning the general’s sternum in gaudy display. Finishing the detailed list, Mort observed, “Very impressive!” Adding, “If you’re twelve.”
But if you’re a grown-up New York Times reader, if you move in the elite circles that Dick does, then valor, patriotism, and service to your country are just a clever punchline.
Baldilocks zeroes in the artillery:
When you’re soon in that rest home, Mr. Cavett, you can spend your remaining days thinking about how you have wasted your life; something which better men than yourself–like General Petraeus and General Westmoreland (RIP)—will never have to do.
Ouch. But it’s true. Dick Cavett has led, by most measures, a successful life, and yet in spite of his success he’s now shown himself to be a petty, envious, and ungrateful little man.
Perhaps the saddest part is that all this effete sniping represents an improvement in the tone as compared with the last time the General testified before Congress.
Do either one of you know how I can “ping” this to the specific attention of whichever individual(s) handle(s) any/all of the veteran-oriented lists hereabouts, please?
Ping!
Ping.
Libs would have been offended if Petraeus had shown up in BDUs, too.
In 1951, General MacArthur and President Truman met for a conference at Wake Island. Though not noted for a small ego, Mac met the presidential plane wearing only his usual khakis, not even a necktie.
Truman was offended, the press got wind of it (somehow), and Truman’s fellow liberals complained about the general not wearing full-dress for such an august occasion.
The episode was immortalized in the Hollywood movie starring Gregory Peck.
Chameleon-like, libs will adopt whatever position they need to discredit or disrespect fighting men. It is almost a law of nature.
Libs like Dick can never understand military service although they are willing to enjoy the benefits os someone elses. And they are threatened by the medals. If little dickie had ever won any awards he would probably carry them around too.
self-ping for later
Yo.
The world is so upside down...
It feels like we’re living in the twilight zone...
ping
You gotta see this one.
It never ceases to amaze me how childish and imbecillic media people can be sometimes.
“Libs like Dick”
Truer words were never spoken.
Legislators should have their own medals for things like earmarks, bribes, bedding interns, getting away with drowning your date, creative uses for FBI files, using IRS audits as weapons, etc.
I am shocked. I mean Dick Cavitt’s still alive. That’s a piece of trivia that might win you a free beer at the local pub.
Sadly, DICK is only saying what Dick Durbin, Nelson Rockafeller, Bill Clinton, Harry Ried, and the majority of Liberals think. At least he’s honest about his contempt of the military and doesn’t pretend to “support the troops” like most liberals.
LOL!
Female libs don’t.
"Cavett? Oh, sure. Little know fact: inventor of the cotton briefs 'panel' for men. Dead as a doornail."
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