Comments on: Dept. of Cooptation

By: Jabba the Tutt

Jabba the Tutt — Wed, 29 Jun 2005 23:22:13 +0000

President Bush has tagged Germany’s contribution to the Iraq reconstruction effort as “important” following a meeting with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder in Washington.

Actually, this is a plot by Bush to utterly destroy Schroeder and his SPD in the fall election. Bush accuses Schroeder of involvement in the Iraq War. This is the kiss of death. ;^)

By: Knucklehead

Knucklehead — Wed, 29 Jun 2005 17:04:28 +0000

CAProphagia? You eat hats?

I don’t but apparently some do. I’ve told they taste like sh*it.

By: richard mcenroe

richard mcenroe — Wed, 29 Jun 2005 00:30:46 +0000

CAProphagia? You eat hats?

By: JenLArt

JenLArt — Tue, 28 Jun 2005 19:52:09 +0000

I have great hopes for Angela Merkel, too, but if she does to the unions what Baroness Thatcher did in the UK, it will work, but think of the political price PM Thatcher paid and which the Tories are still paying in Britain…

Talk about “damning with faint praise,” President Bush’s “I appreciate your focus.” is hilarious and brilliant!

(How can people say he’s not intelligent?!)

By: Kyda Sylvester

Kyda Sylvester — Tue, 28 Jun 2005 16:08:06 +0000

Indeed, Knucklehead--anyone who's ever owned dogs and cats at the same time knows all about that. And did you ever happen to see this "exercise in poor taste"? Ack, Roger, we need a new thread!

By: PJ

PJ — Tue, 28 Jun 2005 15:48:17 +0000

Merkel sounds heartening, and so does Rita Verdonk of the Netherlands.

http://www.expatica.com/source/site_article.asp?subchannel_id=19&story_id=21013&name=Morocco+denies+Verdonk's+claims+over+dual+nationality

Maybe with these two Maggies in charge, there is hope for Europe yet.

By: Knucklehead

Knucklehead — Tue, 28 Jun 2005 15:38:22 +0000

There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Kyda, than are dreamt of in my sensibilities. Caprophagia is, well, quite common and certainly not limited to opossums.

By: Kyda Sylvester

Kyda Sylvester — Tue, 28 Jun 2005 15:24:32 +0000

Well, boys, I did a little research. Wordwizard does a pretty good job covering the subject and from it I conclude that Dubya's was not a "shit eating grin". Apparently the term is country colloquial and orignated as "possum eating shit" grin (for a possum this evidently is a good thing). As anyone who has lived among them knows, possums will eat just about anything, but until now I wasn't aware that s**t was on their list of delicacies.

By: Bruce W.

Bruce W. — Tue, 28 Jun 2005 13:50:01 +0000

Kyda and Knucklehead:

I think in the classic/original meaning of SEG, the grinner is the one that has just been forced to swallow something nasty and is trying to put a fake happier face on it. Not unlike the chimpanzee world where the wide grin often is a display of discomfort or subservience to a dominant male. So Schroieder here is the SEG-er.

But I do think the term SEG has become confused and morphed into meaning the expression of the person made most happy by the person who has been forced to yield/concede, etc.

Where’s Safire when we need him?

W’s smile is just good old fashioned satisfaction.

By: Knucklehead

Knucklehead — Tue, 28 Jun 2005 12:40:16 +0000

Kyda,

Is that what’s known as a “shit-eating grin”?

JMO, but I don’t think it is a classic SEG. More like it’s kissin’ cousin – the Cat That Swallowed the Canary Grin (CSCG). Herr Schroeder has just mumbled, “What happened to that lovely little bird I had in my hand a few moments ago?” and Mr. Bush, desperately trying not to erp up little feathers, can only smile and point toward the two little birds in the bush outside the window.

Once he’s managed to swallow both bird and CSCG, we get the “I appreciate your focus” quote which is pretty much the same as saying, “Yaknow, neighbor, I’m danged pleased you stopped pitching your manure over the fence onto my property. I was becoming concerned that persuasion had to proceed beyond the gentle stage.”