A fine volley of words, gentlemen, and quickly shot off.

Via Ace of Spades (who got it from Michele), the Peter Schmies' word classification test. My score: a vocab-nerdly 172.

O'Reilly.

I watched the coverage on Fox, and didn't change the channel. Leading rant: Chirac is insulting the US by refusing to attend Reagan's funeral.

Frankly, I don't mind if he doesn't. His presence would add nothing.

Funeral notes.

Cheney's eulogy:
He got me. Good, graceful speech.

"America the Beautiful":
Well-sung, but I have an unreasoning dislike of that song.

Benediction:
"Totalitarian towers tumbled"--that's a bit precious, isn't it? I like alliteration in its place, but that just sounded like showing off. Also, third "shining city on a hill" reference by my count. It's a great quote, but not if everybody uses it. Still better than the opener.

Nancy:
Looks unnaturally good, frankly. I almost wish she'd worn red.

Also.

Interjecting "ah" for emphasis midstream in your feelgood "Good News for Modern Man" prayer sounds bizarrely archaic, pretentious, and completely false. He should have dealt with the fact that he's neither Tennyson nor Wordsworth and crossed it out of the text. All things considered, I'd rather have heard Jesse Jackson; at least he knows how to make a prayer sound like more like a prayer than a seminar on getting in touch with your feelings.

Call me an unremitting bitch...

...but "empower us" is not a phrase I care to hear in the opening prayer for Reagan's funeral. Fuck that newspeak gibberish.