January 17, 2007
My father-in-law hates me
Posted by pete at January 17, 2007 7:09 PMBecause he brought this into my home:
Admittedly, he and I aren't exactly on the same side of the political spectrum...and he's ex-military...and he's a rabid Astros fan, but there are some lines you just don't cross.
This...this is my payment for letting him borrow The Sculptress by Minette Walters, The Alienist by Caleb Carr, and Lonesome freaking Dove, among others.
I tried. I read...well, a few pages, anyway. Assassins is full of characters with names like "Dan Powers," "John Houston," and - no shit - National Security Advisor "Jeb Stuart." The plot involves the US government passing an "assassination bill" in response to Islamic terrorists crippling Saudi oil production and murdering the royal family. A special "threat mitigation" unit is formed and sent abroad to whack evildoers, unhindered by a pesky judicial system. More importantly, we get a glimpse at the world Ollie would've like to forge had that lousy Iran-Contra thing not shackled his heroic destiny.
The gloves are off now. I'm lending him Sam Harris' The End of Faith next. And maybe some Naomi Wolf.
Fiction by Ollie North is pretty much all we’ve heard from him, isn’t it?
North is currently an anti-surge Repub, because he wants the terrorists to win.
Send him a few of Al Franken’s books.
I was with you up through Lonesome Dove. I think if one is going to take 950 pages to tell one’s store, one had better damn well provide closure on one’s characters and not … well, I won’t spoil Streets of Laredo, because the first 12 pages of it spoils itself.
I agree, though, that fiction by Oliver North is tantamount to taking a dump on the dining room table.