Gadfly – One that acts as a provocative stimulus; a goad.
Here you will find the undisciplined thought derived from the random notes (loosely labeled research) that are responsible for the Gadfly commentary that appears in this Blog. Your comments are welcome. The best of them will be posted from time to time, with proper attribution, of course. – Mort Malkin
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Gadfly Comments
Re: “Make America Great Again,” a number of readers have remarked, in private, that the last paragraph may not be taken as satire by some folks. After due analysis, Gadfly decided that Donald Trump, himself, may be one such. Let’s look at the facts and apply a little deductive logic.
The Donald is driven by two imperatives: First, he wants personal publicity and will say and do outrageous things to achieve it. Second, he wants to be known for his ability at the art of the deal. He thinks he can get along with Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong-un, and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. He is willing to use negotiation, conciliation, and flattery — the very cornerstones of peacemaking. Oh, all right, a little patience and creativity, too.
Just think, Donald Trump could bring perpetual peace to the world, and be a shoo-in for the Nobel Peace Prize.
If it all comes to pass, Gadfly wants to be the Secretary of State in President Trump’s Cabinet.
Peace and parody (or maybe not),
Mort
Thank you, Gadfly, for a financial comment one can understand. But why didn’t you use your undeniable smarts to warn us ahead of time about the signs that most of us recognise only now, with 20-20 hindsight? Watch out, you might have said, for a bank that used to tell us how to pronounce its name, beginning with ‘Walk-” and adding “over-ya.” And didn’t “Bear Stearns” patently reveal that its rear-end wasn’t covered? And yet another of those self-confessed marauders: In 455 the Vandals sacked Rome, in 2009 “Goldman Sachs” – – well, pretty much all of us. When it comes to help from the White House, what can you discern for us from Larry “Summers”: Summer fools and summer knaves, and we’ll never know summers Madoff with the money?
For your more linguistically sophisticated readers, Gadfly, who glean the truth from an anagram, you could hint that a rearrangement of the 5 letters in the name of the #1 guy in the White House reveals the very mother of a constrictor. As you so rightly say, he’d better treat those obese big cats of Wall Street to the squeeze they deserve.
Dear Word Person Extraordinaire,
Thank you for your linguistic corroboration of the paper shuffling in Wall Street by which wealth was taken from the poor and middle classes and given to the already rich. Yes, Bernie Madoff with other people’s money by saying, “Trust me.” But Hank Paulson, as Secretary of the Treasury, also said, “Trust me.” He asked for lots more money for equal thievery.
You ask why Gadfly didn’t warn readers. There are many matters that needed addressing — war & peace, climate chaos, the Holy Land, and health care for starters — but Gadfly was not totally negligent. Previous columns include a paragraph or two on financial matters. “The People Versus GDP” and “The Future — Place Your Bets” would be good starting points. Then, there are the Gadfly columns that used to appear on paper, such as “Cheney’s Crystal Ball” (Nov ‘07) and “Economy On FIRE” (Feb ’08) that provided some not so subtle warning.
Your anagramic insight re: the President cautions us to hold him to his promises. The next Gadfly column will review a compendium of actions Mr. Obama should have taken by now. Stay tuned.
Gadfly needs your insight and humor. May I ask you to join the Gadfly Revelry & Research team?
Peace and Parody,
Gadfly