February 5, 2005 by s.z.

Who Said It?

Our Mystery Guests from last time were:

1.   Andrew Sullivan.  Congrats to amblongus for identifying him.  (This one was kind of hard, because other people were saying remarkably similiar things about Harry Reid, but Andy puts that extra dramatic touch on the "incredibly lame" that lets the cognoscenti know that it's him.) 

Oh, and consider this our farewell to Sullivan, because, as you probably know, on Tuesday he made the following announcement:

After much hemming and hawing, I've decided to put the blog as you've known it on hiatus for a few months. The Dish will still exist, the site will be updated weekly with new feature articles, and I'll still post when I feel like it. But it won't have the regularity or content of the past four and a half years. Why? The simple answer is that I want to take a breather, to write a long-overdue book, to read some more, travel to Europe and the Middle East, and work on some longer projects.

Some bloggers, including Michelle Malkin, noted that Sullivan had two fundraisers last year -- it's galling to them that Sullivan is now going to be writing a book and traveling the world on the dime of those who donated to (and bought ads on) his abandoned blog.

However, most people couldn't care less about what Sullivan does or doesn't do, which is presumably why he's leaving.  Sully Watch explains it best:

The real reason for Sullivan to suddenly (well, not so suddenly, really, if you think about it) stop blogging was more related to his blog’s inability to regain the commanding heights in the rightblogging ecosystem it once held from the more virulent and reactionary LGF and Powerline, where not coincidentally he picked a fight in the last couple of weeks.

And here's Sullivan, blogging post-announcement:

Conversation chez moi:

Me: "I keep getting anxiety attacks that I haven't blogged. Then I have to remind myself: it's ok."

Boyfriend: "Honey, you're a nerd."

Um, you can stop blogging anytime now, Andrew.  Seriously.  Just put down the keyboard and never look back!

2.  Our second mystery guest, the one who somehow worked the fact that he's read at least two books into a question about how he thinks history will remember him, was indeed President George Bush.  M.S. was the first to name that semi-illiterate!

3.  And the interviewer who found it so amazing that George can read was the beloved old hack Cal Thomas. 

Congrats to caj, for identifying Mister Thomas.  And in his honor (caj's -- Cal has no honor), here is more from that interview:

THE PRESIDENT: I read a lot.

Q: I know.

THE PRESIDENT: And I like to read. And it's - that dumb thing, that's the elites who put that out.

Q: It's great, it works well for you.

THE PRESIDENT: I like it. I like it.

So there you have it: George Bush actually likes to read, and has read as many as three books.  And Cal thinks it's great that George is dumb, because "it works well" for him.

Now, who said this?

Our mystery guest is upset because the Wash Post's Richard Cohen wrote this: "[Jerk] ended a segment about Hamilton College by providing the name of the college's president, Joan Hinde Stewart, her e-mail address and the school's phone number. Then, with blood dripping from his evil heart, he asked his deranged viewers to 'keep your comments respectable'."

And here's [Jerk] now:

Deranged viewers? Can you believe this Cohen guy just insulted you and millions of people all over the world? Can you believe the arrogance and nerve of this man? In his eyes, anybody watching this program right now is unbalanced. Here's more from Cohen:
"Because [Jerk] had, in effect, organized an Internet lynch mob, a collection of cyber-goons — one of whom threatened to bring a gun — the school simply junked the program. It chickened out."
Now Cohen must be self-destructive to write this kind of a loopy column. A committed progressive who rarely strays from the liberal template, he has to know that Churchill's story was reported all over the place. It's huge news on talk radio and on the Net. Millions of Americans are angry about the situation and they all aren't watching “The Factor.”

Sure, Churchill and Hamilton got threats. I get them every day, along with defamation, slander and libel. And who drives that kind of hate? Richard Cohen and his pals, that's who.

Okay, this one is pretty easy, but I thought you deserved a break after having to I.D. a third-tier hack like Cal Thomas (who probably was given a grant by The Department of Agriculture to advance the Administration's policy on how dumbness works well for the President).

2:27:51 AM