Wilson Fisk

Okay, I'm stumped. Is it politically correct to admire Woodrow Wilson, or not? For the "Yes" case, Mungo MacCallum:

...John Howard has received the Woodrow Wilson Award for public service. The former president Wilson was everything John Howard isn’t: an internationalist who was the driving force behind the League of Nations, a visionary, an idealist and above all, a man of peace. He will now be spinning in his grave...

-- Mungo MacCallum, "Telstra sale’s shiny baubles not worth a tinker’s cuss," 11(34) Northern Rivers Echo (25 August 2005), p 14.

But for the "No" side, John Pilger:

... the [US] Democrats' "tough-minded internationalism" began with Woodrow Wilson, a Christian megalomaniac who believed that America had been chosen by God "to show the way to the nations of this world, how they shall walk in the paths of liberty"...

-- John Pilger, "Bush or Kerry? No Difference," New Statesman (5 March 2004).

Two of the keenest left-wing intellects Australia has ever birthed, now at loggerheads over the Wilsonian legacy. A "Christian megalomaniac" (one assumes that, for Pilger, the adjective here describes rather than qualifies)? Or a "visionary", an "idealist", and a "man of peace"? Choices, choices... Being on the Left is not always easy, although at least it saves you from viewing the world in simplistic black-and-white terms, like those Manichaean neocons do.

Monastic

Scene from last Saturday evening: Spouse and I watching the Monk double-episode treat. In the first one, Lolita Davidovich plays a Natasha-Fatale-style circus gypsy. In the second, Glenne Hedly plays Stottlemeyer's wife in her usual loopy way.

Me during an ad-break in the second episode: "You know, there's something about those two guest stars..."

Spouse: "Well, I better not catch you looking at them too closely."

Me (musing): "Lolita Davidovich... Hmmmm... She's not the gal from The Fifth Element, is she?"

Spouse: "Someone has way too much spare time. Have you done your tax return yet?"

Me during next ad break: "Got it! The first time I saw Lolita Davidovich in a movie was Leap of Faith, while the first time I saw Glenne Hedly in a movie was Dirty Rotten Scoundrels! In other words, they've both played romantic leads to Steve Martin!"

Spouse: "All right, that's it -- you've been watching way too much Monk."

Next: BB King and Peter Gunn Wound Parazzi Using Spears

No, this is not from The Onion.