The Best Weblog Post Ever!

The New Yorker has a very, very sad article about Bush speechwriter Mark Gerson.

This reminds me that it is time to once again reprint the best weblog post ever, by Belle Waring:

John & Belle Have A Blog: If Wishes Were Horses, Beggars Would Ride -- A Pony!:

I think Matthew Yglesias' response to Josh Chafetz' exercise in wishful thinking was about right, even if Brad DeLong's is more nuanced. I'd like to note, though, that Chafetz is selling himself short. You see, wishes are totally free. It's like when you can't decide whether to daydream about being a famous Hollywood star or having amazing magical powers. Why not -- be a famous Hollywood star with amazing magical powers! Along these lines, John has developed an infallible way to improve any public policy wishes. You just wish for the thing, plus, wish that everyone would have their own pony! So, in Chafetz' case, he should not only wish that Bush would say a lot of good things about democracy-building and fighting terrorism in a speech written for him by a smart person [like Mike Gerson], he should also wish that Bush should actually mean the things he says and enact policies which reflect this, and he should wish that everyone gets a pony. See?