Pajama Pundits

That's the thirty-first edition for those of us whose eyes glaze over at the sight of Roman numerals. Check it out at Back of the Envelope.

And let this be his campaign slogan:

(via Ace of Spades)

UPDATE: Video here.

UPDATE II: Of course I was laughing when I typed the title to this post, but it's not that bad an idea. Gen. Honore is capable, competent, organized, honest, respected by those who work with him... all perfect opposites of the Louisiana politician. (There may be exceptions. Please put examples in the comments!)

There is a Recall Kathleen Blanco site up. I've requested a petition to sign. Even if ultimately unsuccessful, I think this is a worthwhile effort for at least two reasons:

1. Louisianans have accepted that political corruption is a way of life here. Maybe we have some variation of Stockholm Syndrome.

2. Such a petition could serve as a sort of wake-up call for other public servants in the state, all the way down to dogcatcher. They'd likely hit the snooze button, but with the voters having set the alarm, it's unlikely all of them would toss the clock out the window.

In California, prior to the successful recall of Gov. Gray Davis, only four of more than 107 recall efforts since 1911 qualified for the ballot. We've got to start somewhere.

Another thing we can do is tell our lawmakers we'd like to be able to recall them a little more easily. Of course, they're not going to like that idea, but they might throw a bone or two our way. Mostly Cajun sums up what it currently takes to recall an elected official here:

...the state legislature provided that a recall election requires a petition with hand-written signatures of a THIRD of registered voters, with a separate petition filed in each of Louisiana’s 64 parishes (counties) within 180 days of the filing of the original petition of recall.

I don't know if the statute has been refined by court decisions, but it could use some clarification. At first, it doesn't appear that a petition must be filed in each parish, as the "voting area" for governor is the entire state. Then again, it later says that "The signed and dated petition shall be submitted to the registrar of voters for each parish within the voting area..." Does this mean a third of voters in each parish must sign or that if a third statewide sign, that at least one signature in each parish is required?

The least the legislators could do is clear up what they mean.

The applicable code is here: Louisiana Revised Statutes Title 18. Louisiana Election Code, Chapter 6-C. Recall Elections, § 1300.2. Petition for recall election; campaign finance disclosure.

UPDATE III: There's now another website devoted to the recall of Gov. Blanco - R.E.C.A.L.L.

Is there some kind of psychic connection between the Ann's writing at Althouse and AmbivaBlog more powerful than sharing a first name?

Latest example: Ephemera and Putting the ointment in appointment

You'll just have to go read both those posts to understand why I've chosen to file this post in the "Words" category.

This is a book I carry around with me, for times I must wait - in doctor's offices, for example:

Here's the entry on BARBARIAN:

Cawfee, say Brooklynites when they mean coffee. If we were ancient Greeks we might think them barbarians for saying it thus; a barbarian to the Greek was someone whose speech, unlike Greek, sounded like an uncouth babble, or "barbar," source of the xenophobic Greek word "barbaros," which covered all elocutional crudity. Not only that: In its journey to us, giving us barbarous from Latin barbarus, the word brought with it Latin balbus, "stammering," in Spanish bobo (fool) and English booby. Something heroic seems to have hitched a ride along with this word, providing Italian with bravo (from brabus) and, by way of French, our brave. The foreign yob, bewildering with his barbaric yawp and pitiful stammer, extorted a little admiration now and then, even a Bronx cheer, for persisting in the effort to talk at all when clearly he was not wanted.

Though I first read that several years ago, it pops into my mind every time I hear the word "civilized," which I always thought was the opposite of "barbarian."

What have we lost when our words lose part of their heritage? If "civilized" is the opposite of "barbarian," then what, in nature of bravery, heroism, and tolerance, was the cost of civilization? Adam Smith defined the link between commercial society, refinement, and liberty -- the foundations of this country's civilization, but also noted it extinguishes man's "heroic spirit."

The more I think about this, it seems to me that "sophisticate" is a better antonym for "barbarian." But what, then is the relationship of both to civilization? A vibrant civilization must encompass both. One that loses the heroism and bravery that accompanied barbarism cannot achieve the greatness imagined and designed by its sophisticates.