Bush Letter on Leo

[Higgins]

I'd forgotten all about the Snow Leopards of Pakistan. Here's an article with a letter about Leo the Snow Leopard from Barbara Bush:

http://www.state.gov/g/oes/rls/rm/2006/73246.htm

[William Haskins]

I'd forgotten all about the Snow Leopards of Pakistan. Here's an article with a letter about Leo the Snow Leopard from Barbara Bush:


so revealing on so many levels. for instance, why is barbara bush signing her letters as "laura"?

is anything these people do free of subterfuge?

[rugcat]

so revealing on so many levels. for instance, why is barbara bush signing her letters as "laura"?

is anything these people do free of subterfuge?William, I must say, with all due respect, that I find your use of sarcasm here unwarranted and a bit troubling. Clearly Sokal has made a mistake in attributing the letter to Barbara Bush, but who here among us has not stumbled at times?

Furthermore, it's not clear from your post whether you are chastising Sokal in a roundabout way or if you believe there is a plot afoot and are making a serious comment about the perfidy of the Bush administration. If your posts contain this ambiguous attitude, it then becomes difficult to reply in an appropriate manner.

If I've offended you in any way I apologize in advance.

[William Haskins]

i'm certainly not offended by being called out for offending you over my offensive reply to sokal.

this letter thing just really has me rattled and my social mores and ability to interact within the community have been shaken to their core.

can someone please tell me what this means? it's driving me nuts:

This beautiful cub is an ambassador of friendship; but just as more important, he is an ambassador of education.

i'm vexed beyond measure, and should probably be ashamed of myself for pointing out such a horrid grammatical mistake being posted on a government website; after all, who here among us hasn't stumbled.

even so, i can't help but think it's some kind of code.

i need to go to church and pray over this.

[SC Harrison]

I can tell you exactly what she did, because I have to pay attention not to do it myself:

but just as more important

She either started out with "just as" and then decided to change it to "more" and forgot to delete the other, or "more" came first and "just as" was the afterthought.

But if Leo is just as more important, his letter deserves a third reading before the envelope is licked.

[William Haskins]

yeah, i do the same thing.

look, i'm just being a smartass. call it a last hurrah before sarcasm is prohibited for good.

here's why i didn't give this thread the profound respect it apparently deserves:

the letter itself is more than a year old (taking it out of contention as a 'current event'). and, on its face at least, there's nothing conspicuously 'political' about it.

since sokal posted only a link and a single line about his musing over it, it is (to me, at least) his own failing that this hasn't stirred spirited discussion.

my spidey-sense tells me it's tangentially related to US-pakistan relations in the context of martial law there; some indictment of bush's coziness with a military strongman. if it is, say so.

but, then, maybe it's some statement about the caging of exotic and endangered animals. if it is, say so.

maybe it's just a boastful post about sokal's impressive memory. if it is, say so.

we just don't know because of the cryptic nature of the original post.

[Magdalen]

There's another typo, (depth, the depth) in the paragraph above the one cited by Mr. Haskins. I too suspect this is really some sort of code. Leo = OBL, Bronx Zoo = Gitmo, Breeding = waterboarding, etc.

[Higgins]

so revealing on so many levels. for instance, why is barbara bush signing her letters as "laura"?

is anything these people do free of subterfuge?

And why is the Leopard called Leo?

[Higgins]

yeah, i do the same thing.

look, i'm just being a smartass. call it a last hurrah before sarcasm is prohibited for good.

here's why i didn't give this thread the profound respect it apparently deserves:

the letter itself is more than a year old (taking it out of contention as a 'current event'). and, on its face at least, there's nothing conspicuously 'political' about it.

since sokal posted only a link and a single line about his musing over it, it is (to me, at least) his own failing that this hasn't stirred spirited discussion.

my spidey-sense tells me it's tangentially related to US-pakistan relations in the context of martial law there; some indictment of bush's coziness with a military strongman. if it is, say so.

but, then, maybe it's some statement about the caging of exotic and endangered animals. if it is, say so.

maybe it's just a boastful post about sokal's impressive memory. if it is, say so.

we just don't know because of the cryptic nature of the original post.

I thought you'd all be concerned about calling a Leopard Leo.

Now I like nearly extinct large cats as well as the next person. But that's a recent development.

[Higgins]

William, I must say, with all due respect, that I find your use of sarcasm here unwarranted and a bit troubling. Clearly Sokal has made a mistake in attributing the letter to Barbara Bush, but who here among us has not stumbled at times?

Furthermore, it's not clear from your post whether you are chastising Sokal in a roundabout way or if you believe there is a plot afoot and are making a serious comment about the perfidy of the Bush administration. If your posts contain this ambiguous attitude, it then becomes difficult to reply in an appropriate manner.

If I've offended you in any way I apologize in advance.

I'm confused about all this civility. Let me hasten to clear the air. Clearly I typed "Barbara Bush" because I assumed the current President's mother had a thing about big cat safety .... after all as a boy George W. Bush had to be dissuaded from making himself a Halloween Costume in the guise of the Tiger of Malaya, General Yamashita. The dapper, imaginative lad apparently thought the evil General was some kind of talking animal. And yet, apparently she and Laura read his moving statement before he was hanged for war crimes to him at bed time. I mean Barbara would read that moving statement of Yamashita's to little Georgie every night before he went to sleep to make up for the fact that he had to go trick-or-treating in a less animalistic costume.

And last, Yamashita's moving statement:

http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?ItemID=8734

[William Haskins]

i feel vindicated.

[Bravo]

and people were wondering why ratings were low...

[ColoradoGuy]

call it a last hurrah before sarcasm is prohibited for good.
Sarcasm prohibited? I'm wounded by your words, sir.

[William Haskins]

I'm wounded by your words, sir.

seems to be a lot of that going around...

[SpookyWriter]

seems to be a lot of that going around...
I would think it precludes being a communicable disease.