A New York Times editorial has informed us, in passing, that Judge Brett Kavanaugh has a "Penchant for coaching girls' basketball." The editorial does not dwell upon this "Penchant." Its main business is to inform us that Kavanaugh "Can't be trusted" on judicial matters and to advise the Senate to reject his nomination for the Supreme Court.
It's worth pausing for a moment to admire the phrase, "His penchant for coaching girls' basketball," and to notice the teeming little world of artfully scurrilous subliminals that it sets in motion.
So skilled was Kavanaugh at dodging and weaving, the Times editorialist opines-meaning that Kavanaugh was lying-that after several days of Senate hearings, all that the American people could know for certain about the nominee was that he had this "Penchant." The writer could have shortened and simplified the basketball sentence-and, in doing so, made an honest sentence of it-by deleting "Penchant" and saying that just about all that we came to know from the hearings is that "Judge Kavanaugh coaches girls' basketball." If the Times had been feeling especially fair-minded, it might have gone on to mention that the reason that Kavanaugh coaches girls' teams is that his two young daughters play on the teams.
If you simply "Coach basketball," that's one thing; but if you have a penchant for coaching basketball-girls' basketball, yet-that's something different.
To review: Kavanaugh feels compelled to coach little girls in basketball-little girls running around in shorts, little girls changing in locker rooms, dressing and undressing themselves.
In a moment, the editorialist hints, we will get to the reasons why Kavanaugh is not to be trusted with the law of the land; but let's spare a second to entertain the reader's prurience with the disturbing possibility that Kavanaugh cannot be trusted where this other court-the one for girls' basketball-is concerned.
My favorite limerick-elegantly risqué-begins, "A vice both obscure and unsavory/ Keeps the bishop of London in slavery." The Times's line, "His penchant for coaching girls' basketball," would be wonderfully weird and promising as the setup for a limerick.
https://www.city-journal.org/new-york-times-kavanaugh-16164.html
It's worth pausing for a moment to admire the phrase, "His penchant for coaching girls' basketball," and to notice the teeming little world of artfully scurrilous subliminals that it sets in motion.
So skilled was Kavanaugh at dodging and weaving, the Times editorialist opines-meaning that Kavanaugh was lying-that after several days of Senate hearings, all that the American people could know for certain about the nominee was that he had this "Penchant." The writer could have shortened and simplified the basketball sentence-and, in doing so, made an honest sentence of it-by deleting "Penchant" and saying that just about all that we came to know from the hearings is that "Judge Kavanaugh coaches girls' basketball." If the Times had been feeling especially fair-minded, it might have gone on to mention that the reason that Kavanaugh coaches girls' teams is that his two young daughters play on the teams.
If you simply "Coach basketball," that's one thing; but if you have a penchant for coaching basketball-girls' basketball, yet-that's something different.
To review: Kavanaugh feels compelled to coach little girls in basketball-little girls running around in shorts, little girls changing in locker rooms, dressing and undressing themselves.
In a moment, the editorialist hints, we will get to the reasons why Kavanaugh is not to be trusted with the law of the land; but let's spare a second to entertain the reader's prurience with the disturbing possibility that Kavanaugh cannot be trusted where this other court-the one for girls' basketball-is concerned.
My favorite limerick-elegantly risqué-begins, "A vice both obscure and unsavory/ Keeps the bishop of London in slavery." The Times's line, "His penchant for coaching girls' basketball," would be wonderfully weird and promising as the setup for a limerick.
https://www.city-journal.org/new-york-times-kavanaugh-16164.html
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