A very, very low-fi Power Point graph fromProfessor Robert S. McElvaine at Millsaps College
Okay, we've had enough griping and arguing around here to last at least another 500 blogposts. Boring. Your not quite daily source of not quite news or information is threatening to turn from "Burque Babble" into "Slit Your Wrist, Here's How". Where's the fun in that?
What we need is a topic we can all agree on (or at least 98.2% of us). The New York Times tonight links to a "History News Network" survey in which 107 of 109 people who call themselves Historians consider the presidency of George W. Bush to be a failure.
That's 98.2%. The NYT Editorial Board post is then followed by the usual boatload of reader comments, ranging from the sublime to the highly-medicated. Check it out.
And be sure to check out the HNN link. The low-fi PowerPoint graphs (example at the top) are very, very funny.
Professor McElvaine's little survey goes on to say that 61% of "Historian" respondents thought our current President the "worst ever". Damn that James Buchanan.
As a Babble commenter pointed out a few days back in response to one of my recent maudlin, overwrought gripe-fest: "it would be funny if it wasn't so sad, sad it if wasn't so funny". I get the feeling we'll be saying that about George W. Bush for a long, long time. Even in History Books.
P.S.: I'll admit it crossed my mind that "History News Network" might be some satire-meets-research magazine, like the Annals of Improbable Research (AIR) for Historians, or The Onion for stuffy academics. It's still crossing my mind, but it looks like a legit site, legit enough for the NYT (insert media jokes here). By the way, as a long-time lover of AIR, it's great to see the site is completely free now. Check that out, too.
P.P.S.: Okay, I really want you to check out AIR. Here is still my favorite "study" of all time (and not only maudlin, overwrought blogposters think so). And here's a page of AIR classics. Now that's funny stuff, in your humble, formerly overwrought, now laughing half-controllably blogger's opinion. I suggest both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama stop with the Karl Rove crap, and just read this History News Network survey and old AIR articles out loud at all public appearances from now until the Democratic Convention. I strongly suggest this.
1 comment:
In your defense, it's not really "Slit Your Wrist, Here's How" and more "Here's Why You Should Slit Your Wrists."
Which is, erm, life-affirming?
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