What Katie says Norman Mailer Says

So I’m visiting Katie Laris in Santa Barbara. It’s beautiful here. We had a lot of fun at the beach today. While our children were screaming for us to join them in the water, no doubt seriously in danger of drowning, Katie and I were riveted in conversation on the beach.

Katie scorned me for listening to Air America instead of Amy Goodman’s Democracy Now–like you could only listen to one or the other. She said that recently she heard Norman Mailer being interviewed on Democracy Now. She says Norman Mailer quoted either Lenin or Trotsky, whichever one of them was in Mexico, as saying “sometimes you just have to ask the question, to get the answer.” And in this case, you have to ask yourself, “why did the Republicans decide to hold their convention in New York City? Do you feel lucky, well do you?”

Actually, scratch that last part, I’m pretty punchy. Anyway, the point is we’re all giddy about the convention there and we’ve bought the 911 world trade center line, but Katie Laris says that Amy Goodman says that Norman Mailer says that “Republicans slash the media are just waiting for some wierd slash wacko slash violent slash (I can’t make these things up, Katie is looking over my shoulder and she just keeps saying “slash” and I keep typing) whatever behavior to transmit to the oh-so-normal midwest.” And, as Norman Mailer says (via…) “if some violence happens, you’d better check on who’s paying them to be there.”

So, in the paranoid fevered imagination of Katie slash Amy slash Norman some wacko Karl Rove slash Cheney funded sicko slash activist is going to slash the freedom barriers in central park and (Katie breaks in “this isn’t helping. This was supposed to be about peace and freedom and tranquility and now it’s just mocking Democracy Now or maybe, just democracy”) “STOP!!! Stop typing whatever I say. I HATE YOU!!! I’M GOING TO KILL SLASH…