Monday, August 17, 2009

Jesus Bartley

The NY wuss patrol, otherwise known as the wsj Editorial Board, flicked Sarah Palin Friday for "inelegant" language regarding Obama's end of life bureaucratic decision makers. His "death panel" was of course her phrase. What a pathetic and repulsive way for the legacy of the great Robert Bartley, with his nervy hybrid headlines, see above for my amateur attempt, to spin out.

David Warrin, of Ottawa (Ahhhh... recall the Canadian offensive of yesteryear?), writing for Real Clear politics, had a more clear-eyed take on Palin's decision to drop the niceties:

Candour is when you tell a truth that is disturbing,
in language so unambiguous that persons in polite company will not want to hear you.
It is a way to lose the respect of the genteel -- of those who are "respectable" in the shallowest sense.
Rude language is quite unnecessary to this end: the hard truth itself, spoken plainly and publicly, will give sufficient offense.
Remember, Mr. Gigot and your league of inclusivists, Jesus, the ultimate practitioner of elegant charity, was rarely nice.