Roughing It On The Bush

Every now and then, someone writes a good, genuine rhetorical slamming-- a piece that takes its subject by the hair and pounds it repeatedly, viciously, and let's not forget righteously, against a metaphorical wall made of real concrete. (Martin Luther would be the patron saint of this if he hadn't rejected the position on principle. ) Here, however, is the best example of the form I've seen recently, offered for your cranium-crushing delectation. Sure, it veers into aborted epilogues four or five times, the conclusion's entirely too trite, and it loses points for electing a subject so low on the level-of-difficulty scale (as opposed to Christopher Hitchens, who invariably assails the unassailable and consequently comes off more battered than his subject). But it does manage some impressive polemical drop-kicks and piledrivings, most of which provide at least some perverse pleasure along the way. Read it in that light, and you'll have fun. Unless, of course, you're a die-hard Shrubbie, in which case fun's probably beyond your capacity.