October 30, 2009

Obamlet

To surge, or not to surge: that is the question:
Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous battles,
Or put down arms against a sea of troubles,
And by withdrawing end them? To retreat: to fight
No more; and by retreat to say we end
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to, ’tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish’d. To retreat, to leave;
To leave: perchance to lose: ay, there’s the rub;
For in that leaving, what defeat may come
When we have shuffled off this Afghan soil,
Must give us pause: there’s the respect
That makes calamity of a long war;
For who would bear the whips and scorns of polls,
The oppressor’s wrong, the talking head’s contumely,
The pangs of pacifists, the law’s delay,
The insolence of office and the spurns
That patient merit of the unworthy takes,
When he himself might his swift exit make
With a curt order? who would fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary war,
But that the dread that some would cry “defeat,”
That vicious accusation from whose bourn
No politician returns, puzzles the will
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all;
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o’er with the pale cast of thought,
And enterprises of great pith and moment
With this regard their currents turn awry,
And lose the name of action. - Soft you now!
The fair Nobel Committee! Wimps, in thy orisons
Be all my sins forgotten.]

-- By sooth it is by ye bardlette: neo-neocon »

Posted by Vanderleun at October 30, 2009 3:10 PM
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"It is impossible to speak in such a way that you cannot be misunderstood." -- Karl Popper N.B.: Comments are moderated and may not appear immediately. Comments that exceed the obscenity or stupidity limits will be either edited or expunged.

Neither a borrower nor a lender be;
For loan oft loses both itself and friend,
unless it's GM, Citibank, or AIG.


Posted by: dorkafork at October 30, 2009 8:49 PM

2B or not 2B? Or 3A or not 3A? Whether it is nobler to appease my base, or protect America.

Posted by: Buford at October 30, 2009 9:25 PM

I always thought of him as a poor player who is strutting and fretting his hour upon the stage.

Posted by: Liberty Jane at October 30, 2009 9:37 PM

Now is the Winter of our Discontent
Made glorious Summer by this black man's Son.
And all the clouds that lour'd upon our brows
In the deep bosom of an election buried..

Why, I, in this weak waiting time of War
Have no delight to pass away the time
Unless to see my shadow in the Sun
And descant on my own Enormity.
And therefore, as I cannot prove a Statesman
To lead the Nation in these dangerous days
I am determined to prove a Villain
And contradict my words of yesterday...

Well cast as Richard III.

Posted by: Barrie at October 30, 2009 11:16 PM

Hurrah! This is one of those moments when you absolutely know that whatever happens to the NYT -- or any other newspaper -- literacy and good taste will never lose its place in the heart of man.

Posted by: wretchard at October 31, 2009 12:55 AM

Great. Unfortunately, Hamlet was unintentionally dithering, and there was no reason to believe he was actually rooting for Fortinbras to capture Denmark.

Posted by: Amos at October 31, 2009 4:09 AM

I am dyeing, Egypt, dyeing!"

Posted by: Dan Collins at October 31, 2009 4:37 AM

A masterful rendition.

“I can call jobs from the vasty deep.” “Why, so can I, or so can any man;. But will they come when you do call for them?”

Posted by: HL at October 31, 2009 5:10 AM

@ Amos: Hamlet was unintentionally dithering

Beg to differ; The message of the play,
to the nobles watching, was: Hamlet knew
he should act, and chickened out; MegaFail.

Agree he was not trying to weaken Denmark,
as Obama is trying to weaken the US.

Posted by: M. Report at October 31, 2009 8:15 PM