Wednesday, August 30, 2006

Truth Telling

I have paraphrased Mary McCarthy's remark on Lillian Hellman to apply to W: "Every word he speaks is a lie, and that includes 'and' and 'the'." But I am here to admit that I was wrong. Occasionally, the man tells the truth. In my defense, however, I would offer another idea that I have espoused frequently: that we tell the truth in our jests.

From Maureen Dowd's column today:

"Doing his stations of the Katrina cross, President Bush went for breakfast with Mayor Ray Nagin at Betsy's Pancake House.

"As Mr. Bush tried to squeeze past some tightly placed tables, a waitress, Joyce Labruzzo, teased him, saying, 'Mr. President, are you going to turn your back on me?"

"'No ma'am,he replied, with a laugh and a pause for effect. 'Not again.'"

(I suspect that Ms. Labruzzo wasn't really teasing.)

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