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I am astonished to be hearing not a murmer, not a whisper, of the audacity--the good kind--of an entry in your list of the 100 UNsexiest Men On The Planet. It is remarkable and brilliant and very, very bold. i.e.:
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(Alongside the happy pic was the following, without the cute fonts)
[66] RUDI GIULANI
911 [MAYOR] IS A JOKE IN YOUR HOME TOWN
A law-and-order face that not even Republicans can love.
Wow!
If/when the reader leaves out the braces [around "Mayor"], it appears to maybe say, "911 is a joke in your home town." Perhaps to many who are truly intrigued and curious, or possibly even disinterested (in the Jane Austen--and OED proper--meaning of the word) in what went on that amazing morning.
BUT, to all those who genuinely grieve and wail, your take is probably a shocking and distressing sentiment-within-a-sentiment.
I feel out of it; has the whole 911 become a JOKE, at long last??
I've met just one beloved of a WTC victim in my very long life (mainly in and about New York City, and who knows firemen and stockbrokers, anyhow?); as I now, NOT THEN, know just a very few Viet Nam sufferers, which was my generation. But they are all shattered, it was terrible if it was done by Arabs, Dick Cheney, or both.
I am surpised you haven't heard from those really admirable and fabulous go-get-em (the "government," that is) gals and guys, and the not-so fabulous ones either. Both bunches, though, I do believe, have within them a FURY and confusion that go a little further--in the faux-Zen sense--than YOUR eagerness to show that you can swim with the Onion and the Harvard Lampoon, with your mind tied around your back. Wouldn't you adore thinking that? I'm just saying, you may expect to hear from some who mourn powerfully, it could be that they too wonder righteously, from time to time.
Big IF tho: whoever did that among you guys goes on my current major funny-guys list, which includes Christopher Buckley, David Sedaris, and somone at the New York Post whose name [I hope] I'll never know. Congratulations, from one who (unintentionally, but happily in retrospect) precipitated the END of the Beatles as a touring band forever, once upon a time, by moving words (not transposing, but moving).
Be careful and cool with what you do, and what you could reap in return, which alas cannot be antipated. Too fucking bad, I know. Mainly, congratulations. Of course I like your politics, but I like your style in crafting editorial space even more.
Most sincerely,
Danny Fields
korduroy@aol.com