L'Esprit de l'Escalier

In a series of mystical visions I encounter the 'gadflies and hornets' of our political culture ~

DAVID BRODER

I'm riding a bike around Washington and spot 'The Dean' going into Politics and Prose, no doubt with the intent of covertly dusting off his own neglected output. I call out as I pass, reminding him that he said of the Clintons, 'They came in here and they trashed the place, and it isn't their place.' And because 'You bastarding douchebag of a cunty old hack' doesn't quite capture it, I instead shout, 'You fatuous fascist. You fast fading flatulent gasbag. You fatuous flatulent fraud. Shut up, Broder. Broder, do you hear me? SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUT UP!!!' The Dean is startled by this unprovoked attack from a cyclist clad only in pajamas and spits up his Metamucil, like a baby who has been burped too hard.

Mission accomplished, I roll on, at ease but not at rest, never at rest. I know this was but one skirmish in a larger war. And so I gird myself for my next encounter with the banality of evil, available wherever the news is sold.