Hornswaggler | The culture, the humor, a bit of the sports, not so much the politics, and the workplace distraction
Hornswaggle is an alternate spelling of
hornswoggle, an archaic word that means to bamboozle or hoodwink. I take my
pronunciation from the late Harvey Korman in "Blazing Saddles" --
"I want rustlers, cutthroats, murderers,
bounty hunters, desperados, mugs, pugs, thugs, nitwits, halfwits, dimwits,
vipers, snipers, conmen, Indian agents, Mexican bandits, muggers,
buggerers, bushwhackers, hornswagglers, horse thieves, bull dykes, train
robbers, bank robbers, ass kickers, shit kickers and Methodists!"
Well, it's all over but the crying, and the laughing, and the schadenfreude, when it comes to Gov. Mark Sanford, but the best part for me remains when he first admitted he'd gone to Buenos Aires to drive the coast, and it quickly became apparent he was full of shit, because Buenos Aires has no coast to drive, other than a gridlocked highway and a muddy river delta.
I was reminded of nothing so much as the scene in "There's Something about Mary" in which Matt Dillon, pretending to be an architect to impress Cameron Diaz, is confronted by his bullshitter nemesis in the museum:
Norm: Really? Where would I have seen your work? Healy: Well, have you been to, uh well, let me see ... Santiago, Chile? Norm: Twice last year. Which building's yours? Healy: Are you familiar with the soccer stadium? Norm: Did you build the Estadio Olimpico? Healy: No, just down the street -- the Celinto Catayente Towers. It's quite a fine example, in fact. I recommend that next time you're up that way that you drop in and take a gander at it yourself.
On a separate note, it's pretty embarrassing how some media outlets fell for the desperate spin coming out of Sanford's office. And once again Josh Marshall's news instincts are shown to be better than those of most mainstream news organizations.
UPDATE: This part, from the TPM recap, is priceless. Sanford was "writing something and wanted some space to get away from the kids." Wanted to get away from the kids on Father's Day weekend. Should have registered on more bullshit meters than it evidently did.
