I laughed before you breathed


Francis Picabia, Dessins pour 'Littérature', 1921–22

* Top ten conservative idiots. excerpt:

7. Ann Coulter

"Ann Coulter has previously been a CPAC stalwart, giving incredibly popular speeches there in previous years which variously referred to Muslims as "ragheads" and John Edwards as a "faggot." So it was something of a shock this year when the organizers announced that she had been cut from the conference's list of speakers. It almost makes one wonder what a girl has to say to get invited to CPAC these days.

"Now Ann Coulter may be a lot of things, but a quitter she is not. (Which, let's face it, is rather unfortunate.) She had no intention of giving up on the opportunity to spew some hatred in public, and so some of her supporters at the Young America's Foundation (one of CPAC's sponsors) decided to smuggle her into the conference by inviting her to speak at an unofficial Q&A session.

"Hooray for the Young America's Foundation! Without their enthusiasm and resourcefulness, the know-nothings at CPAC would never have been treated to such gems as:

COULTER: ...the only Democrat who can stop her now is B. Hussein Obama. His strongest selling point is that he is one of the least dangerous people I know named Hussein. Other than that, Barack's really been kind of coasting on his record, since his first big accomplishment of being born half-black. I keep hearing people say, 'Oh, Obama could never be elected because he's half-black. You know, 'cause we're just such a racist country.' What are they talking about? He wouldn't be running for president if he weren't half-black. He'd be Dick Durbin with less experience.

"Well done, Ann. It's about time someone stuck it to those lucky-duck half-blacks! They've been treading on our necks for far too long!"


* "For a while, Criticism travels side by side with the Work, then Criticism vanishes and it's the Readers who keep pace. The journey may be long or short. Then the Readers die one by one and the Work continues alone, although a new Criticism and new Readers gradually fall into step with it along its path. Then Criticism dies again and the Readers die again and the Work passes over a trail of bones on its journey toward solitude. To come near the work, to sail in her wake, is a sign of certain death, but new Criticism and new Readers approach her tirelessly and relentlessly and are devoured by time and speed. Finally the Work journeys irremediably alone in the Great Vastness. And one day the Work dies, as all things must die and come to an end: the Sun and the Earth and the Solar System and the Galaxy and the farthest reaches reaches of man's memory. Every thing that begins as comedy ends as tragedy. -- Roberto Bolano The Savage Detectives