Infinite MonkeysThere's a fun "Presidents' Day Open Thread" quiz over at Reason.com
My answers:
1. Who was the best, or at least the most tolerable, American president? I'm still a fan of ol' Tommy J.
2. Who was the worst American president? (House rule: You can't say Bush, and you can't say Clinton. Exercise those history muscles, people.) Worst is such a fuzzy word, and there are so many good choices, but I'm pretty sure ex-Monkey Ben would poop himself if I didn't say Abraham Lincoln, so there you go.
3. Who was our greatest ex-president? (The conventional reply is Jimmy Carter. While that answer has the advantage of annoying Alan Dershowitz, you should feel free to vote for someone more interesting -- Herbert Hoover, say.) Gerald Ford. Just shut his yap, minded his own business, and died quietly.
4. Who is your favorite vice-president? Alternately, what is your favorite vice? It's a hard call between TiVo, Irish Whiskey, and Thomas Jefferson again.
5. In 1968, according to An American Melodrama, George Wallace asked Colonel Sanders to be his running mate. If the colonel had said yes, and if you were able to cast a ballot that year, would you have been tempted, if only for a moment, to vote for Wallace, just to get Sanders within a heartbeat of the presidency? Be honest. Oh yeah. Kentucky Fried Veep.
6. Also in 1968, the Yippies nominated a hog named Pigasus to be president. Would you have liked to see Col. Sanders debate the pig? How about a pork-and-chicken taste test? Why isn't that in the Constitution? I'm sure somehow that's covered under the Interstate Commerce Clause.
Posted by RobbL at February 19, 2007 07:38 PMGood post. Here are my answers:
1. Jefferson was a great man, and a brilliant mind. But he was not an especially great president. Washington set the bar impossibly high, and I do not believe any of his successors have quite matched him as First in war, First in peace, First in the hearts of his countrymen.
2. Tough call. James Buchanan was pretty bad. Warren Harding was terrible. Woodrow Wilson? A joke. FDR, maybe. Or Lyndon Johnson. OK, I'll settle with Rutherford B. Hayes. Just because.
3. William Howard Taft, obviously.
4. Henry Cabot Lodge? No, that can't be right. I'm thinking of John Adams, of course.
5. No. The stink of demagoguery would have overcome the enticing allure of fried chicken and mashed potatoes.
6. Mmmmmm.... barbecue pig.
Posted by: H.L. Monkey at February 19, 2007 08:42 PMWithout reading H.L.'s answer:
1. Washington. For 20th century, I'd go with Eisenhower, for what didn't happen (nuclear war).
2. Harding. Carter in the 20th century, for sowing the seeds of so many of today's problems.
3. John Adams.
4. Aaron Burr, just for being the only non-boring VP. Oh, and Ron Zacapa rum. 23 year old.
5. No. That Jack in the Box guy though...
6. Deep-fried hog jowls--that's good eatin'. Speaking of which, is Chipolte the first fast food chain with a key focus on pork? Why is that?