September 27, 2003

Burlesquoni

Posted by Henry

I’d planned to do a number on Paul Johnson’s extraordinary rant against Europe, but Mark Kleiman has beaten me to it. I don’t have much to add, except to say that Johnson is a dreadful old fraud, even as superannuated Tory farts go. And his prose style is wretched; the sort of sub-Burkean lugubrious sententiousness that conservatives are liable to mistake for profundity when they’ve overdone the port a bit.

Still, there’s good news for those of you who think that Johnson’s right about Europe’s economic backwardness. Silvio Berlusconi has just launched a new marketing effort, encouraging foreigners to invest in Italy. As Berlusconi describes it:

“Italy is now a great country to invest in… today we have fewer communists and those who are still there deny having been one … Another reason to invest in Italy is that we have beautiful secretaries… superb girls.

It’s a cliche to say that you can’t make this stuff up. But you can’t. You really can’t.

Posted on September 27, 2003 07:19 AM UTC
Comments

Ugh. Johnson really doesn’t improve with age, does he?

For a little light relief, here is a brilliantly rude smackdown by Christopher Hitchens. It’s from the period before he too began to lurch towards Johnsonhood.

Posted by Tom · September 27, 2003 11:52 AM

“And his prose style is wretched; the sort of sub-Burkean lugubrious sententiousness that conservatives are liable to mistake for profundity when they’ve overdone the port a bit.”

Brilliant! Even almost Burko-Johnsonian-Hitchensian, perhaps. With just a dash of Hazlitt.

Posted by Ophelia Benson · September 27, 2003 04:58 PM

I’d actually thought about linking to the Hitchens smackdown (pun intended?), but thought that I was already being mean enough.

Ophelia - thanks for the nice words.

Posted by Henry · September 27, 2003 05:30 PM

Pity the American conservative, though, often a teetotaler on top of everything else, averse even to overdoing the port…

Posted by Doug · September 27, 2003 07:43 PM

Weeeeellll, as Jeremy Paxman might wheeze, I read both pieces and if you think Kleiman did for Johnson then I can only suppose you also think the French won the battle of Waterloo. If there was any ranting in evidence it came entirely from Kleiman. Johnson’s prose by contrast was a model of clarity and brevity of sentences except for those requiring a list of examples to support his arguement. Johnson is an old man. My guess is that Kleiman is a young man. But I know which one is the windbag!
David Duff

Posted by David Duff · September 28, 2003 07:29 PM

Even when Johnson allegedly offers “facts,” he turns out to be all wrong.

Posted by Seb · September 28, 2003 08:14 PM

You missed the best bit of SB’s speech, the bit where he started boasting about low inheritance taxes with the slogan “come and die in Italy”

Posted by dsquared · September 28, 2003 11:50 PM

Didn’t actually know about that other little nugget. You got a link to it? See Naples and die how are ya.

Posted by Henry · September 29, 2003 01:22 AM

I shit you not

Posted by dsquared · September 29, 2003 02:59 PM
Paul Johnson, eminent British historian and author [arsehole - dd], Lee Kuan Yew, senior minister of Singapore [beneficent and wise father of his country, if perhaps a little inclined to litigation - dd], and Ernesto Zedillo, former president of Mexico [arsehole - dd], in addition to Forbes Chairman Caspar W. Weinberger [arsehole - dd], are now periodically writing this column.

Wow.

Posted by dsquared · September 29, 2003 05:12 PM

“superannuated tory fart” - Brilliant

Posted by Mark · September 29, 2003 09:43 PM
Followups

→ Thank God for government by our betters.
Excerpt: Ah yes, thank God we're ruled by MBA's - those godsends of compassion and competence that brought us economic success stories like Enron and Worldcom and leaders like George W. Bush - an MBA from Yale - who would never mismanage a nation's finances.Read more at A Fistful of Euros
→ Thank God for government by our betters.
Excerpt: Ah yes, thank God we're ruled by MBA's - those godsends of compassion and competence that brought us economic success stories like Enron and Worldcom and leaders like George W. Bush - an MBA from Yale - who would never mismanage a nation's finances.Read more at A Fistful of Euros

This discussion has been closed. Thanks to everyone who contributed.