On the occasion of Arafat’s death, I am going to share a very personal reminiscence. When my older daughter Zoë was about 14 months old, she could not talk reliably, but she could make her preferences known with gestures. Naturally enough, given the interests of very young children, she liked to pretend that various people (dolls, stuffed animals, photographs) were nursing. This was all well and good, until she presented me with a folded page from the Economist displaying side-by-side photographs of Sharon and Arafat, and then held them up to my breasts to suggest that I nurse them. It was a little difficult to explain why I was fine with the random dude in the Gulf Air ad, but resolutely opposed to nursing either gentleman in the Middle East Politics Article. Zoë’s political acumen has increased in the intervening years, however. (She is now 3). I tried to explain to her why I was so dismayed about the recent U.S. elections, telling her of the great powers of the presidency, the relative merits of the two contenders, and so on. She thought for a moment, and then said, “you think George Bush is too stupid to have so much wesponsibility?” Yes, child. Exactly that. Plus malice.
{ 20 comments }
George 11.11.04 at 4:19 pm
That’s pretty funny.
koreyel 11.11.04 at 4:25 pm
I read it first as “weapons_ability”
I think you have a budding poet.
Jeremy Osner 11.11.04 at 4:54 pm
Right now I’m picturing Sylvia saying “Zoë said stoo-pid! Thass a bad word!” And me or Ellen trying to explain that you’re allowed to use that word when talking about politicians or commercials but not when talking about your peers…
Jeremy Osner 11.11.04 at 4:55 pm
Right now I’m picturing Sylvia saying “Zoë said stoo-pid! Thass a bad word!” And me or Ellen trying to explain that you’re allowed to use that word when talking about politicians or commercials but not when talking about your peers..
BigMacAttack 11.11.04 at 5:35 pm
Wow. That is one smart 3 year old.
I can see the next 4 years are going to get even shriller and nastier.
rea 11.11.04 at 6:58 pm
Fall 2001–our Juan, then not quite 2, points to picture of Osama on magazine cover and says,”That man–we have to fight that man.” He’s never said such a thing about Saddam, however.
Too bad a Zoe/Juan ticket couldn’t have run in this election.
Paul 11.11.04 at 7:06 pm
My two year old niece can recognize George Bush. Whenever we see him on TV we have to yell “Swiper no swiping!”
jet 11.11.04 at 7:44 pm
There ya go, brainwash em young.
yabonn 11.11.04 at 7:51 pm
All that bush wesponsibility sneers reflects simply the condescending attitude of the cosmopolitan elite. I think it really is *A Real Problem For The Left*.
Jonathan Dresner 11.11.04 at 9:00 pm
We were trying to explain our grumpiness to our just-turned-three year old. We’d already had to explain the Kerry bumper sticker. Now that we explained that Kerry lost and Bush won, our little literalist wants to take off the Kerry sticker and put on a Bush one….
Pollie Anon 11.11.04 at 10:24 pm
You know it’s funny, but, precisely, because I have very strong political opinions, I try not to pass them on to my kid.
I want her to think for herself and come to her own conclusions.
Not sure that it works though…
HP 11.11.04 at 10:32 pm
Pollie: Oh, it works, at least in my case. My parents taught me to know right from wrong, to value intelligence and seek the truth, and to think for myself. Nonetheless, they remain stauch conservatives to this day.
Ayjay 11.12.04 at 12:13 am
Okay: Yasser Arafat, a reasonably significant figure on the world stage, has just died, so . . . let’s make fun of George W. Bush! Hey, yeah, we haven’t done that for, like, fifteen minutes! Or (to consider the neighboring post), Yasser Arafat has just died, so let’s talk about . . . Iyad Allawi, who, you know, was put in place by George W. Bush, whom we believe to be an incompetent thug — have we mentioned that?
Is there some sort of one-degree-of-separation game going on here that no one told me about? — i.e., let’s see if we can connect any and every current event to Chimpy Bushitler? Just for the record, I think the passing of Arafat is significant enough for readers of this site that somebody ought to post about it. . . .
Jonjon 11.12.04 at 12:31 am
Ahhh. Here’s a quite from dear old Yasser to lighten the tone even further.
“Have no mercy on the Jews, no matter where they are, in any country. Fight them, wherever you are. Wherever you meet them, kill them. Wherever you are, kill those Jews and those Americans who are like them – and those who stand by them – they are all in one trench, against the Arabs and the Muslims because they established Israel here, in the beating heart of the Arab world, in Palestine. They created it to be the outpost of their civilization and the vanguard of their army, and to be the sword of the West and the crusaders, hanging over the necks of the monotheists, the Muslims in these lands. They wanted the Jews to be their spearhead…”
Paul 11.12.04 at 1:32 am
Yasser Arafat, a reasonably significant figure on the world stage, has just died, so . . . let’s make fun of George W. Bush!
Look, Belle categorically refused to nurse Yasser Arafat! At the request of her very own child!! She’s done her part, buddy.
P.S. George Bush is like jello. There’s always room to make fun of him. Thx, bye.
Jordan 11.12.04 at 4:06 am
Children are very perceptive! :-)
–Jordan
fowles.blogspot.com
Matthew2 11.12.04 at 11:20 am
Belle: the thinking alternative to Lileks.
Kristen 11.12.04 at 8:17 pm
The quote in JonJon’s post should be attributed Dr. Ahmad Abu Halabiya, *not* Yasser Arafat. Inappropriate. Inflammatory. Sloppy.
Steve 11.12.04 at 10:04 pm
Yes, of course. Yasser was too busy bombing buses to spend time actually saying such a thing.
Mr. C 11.17.04 at 4:49 pm
So, Your parents taught you to know right from wrong? Value intelligence and seek the truth? And to think for yourself? It doesn’t appear they did a very good job. In an era where innocent people are having their heads sawed off. Children are being shot in the back, TRULY peaceful Muslims trying to rebuild their country are being butchered on a daily basis by ARAB MUSLIMS with goals consistant with Arafat. We have independant thinkers like yourself, attacking W and supporting Sadam Hussein of all people. Arafat’s death came several decades too late. The future of the free world hinges on the outcome on the war on terror. And to read these panty waste oppinions of the leader who will finally stand up to them with the message that it is not okay to kill innocent people because you are pissed off at them churns my stomach. WAKE UP!!! Good men and women are fighting and being injured and killed to protect YOU from these terrorists. terrorists who would enter your house and saw YOUR head off if not for the protection that you take so easily for granted.
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