I think it quite possible that I have already encountered the worst sentence of 2008. Only six words long, it's abuse of the language coupled with its lack of clarity and fundamental stupidity make it hard to beat. To be fair, I'll repeat it with all appropriate context. The prize winning sentence is hard to miss, but for those a bit infirm today, I"ll italicize:
In recent conversations with New Hampshire Republicans, I'm struck by how fierce hostility to the Mayor is. The media put this down to problems with "social conservatives", but that underestimates the scale of the problem. Granite State libertarians and small-government types find his gun record unacceptable. Base-wise, that doesn't leave a lot.
Beautiful.
Mark Steyn created it.
"Base-wise."
He is actually trying to express suprise that some members of the Republican Base hate Rudy's record of suing gun manufacturers.
If the writers at The Corner are able to grasp and absorb shocking news flashes like that one, there is hope for Democracy and Democrats in 2008.
A truly devastating summary of Rudy's candidacy by Elizabeth Kolbert in this week's New Yorker makes me sad that he's tanking before getting the GOP nomination. Even Hillary would have an easy time beating him. Her baggage is a tote bag compared to his Samsonite.
Posted by: farmer mark | January 02, 2008 at 03:48 PM