brainsnorkel.com

One of the entertaining blogs of the recent past is Shrillblog, which catalogs the conversion of public figures to the “Order of the Shrill” with particular homage to the canon of H.P. Lovecraft.

It seems to join the Order of the Shrill, one must go from…

[...]sneering at those of us unfortunates who spent our nights psychotically ululating shrill screeds of Bush hatred at the dead, uncaring stars, having been driven into shrill unholy madness[...]

…to participating in the nocturnal psychotic ululation…

Aaaiii! Ph’nglui Mglw’nafh W—– R’lyeh Wagn’nagl Fhtagn! Aaaiii!!!

Exhibit A:

And it was only a year ago last May 7 that Richard Cohen was boldly comparing George W. Bush to Andrew Jackson and saying “Everyone likes a winner, and Bush is a winner. I supported the war and I like the outcome. I think there’s a chance that Iraq will be democratized, that this will affect the entire Middle East (Syria is already behaving better) and that no matter what, it was good to get rid of the monstrous Saddam Hussein and free the Iraqi people.”

But now? Now, on October 28, Richard Cohen writes:

I do not write the headlines for my columns. Someone else does. But if I were to write the headline for this one, it would be “Impeach George Bush.”… Not since the Spanish-American War has the United States gone off to war so casually, so half-cocked and so ineptly. The sinking of the Maine, the casus belli for that dustup, has been replaced by missing weapons of mass destruction, and the Hearst and Pulitzer presses are now talk radio and Fox News Channel. Everything has changed. Nothing has changed. Still, though, we mourn the dead, look away from the wounded and maimed, and wonder what it was all about. We embarked, truly and regrettably, on a crusade.

Yet from Bush comes not a bleep of regret, not to mention apology. It is all “steady as she goes” — although we have lost our bearings and we no longer know our destination. (Don’t tell me it’s a democratic Middle East.) If the man were commanding a ship, he would be relieved of command. If he were the CEO of some big company, the board would offer him a golden parachute — and force him to jump. But in government, it’s the people who make those decisions. We get our chance on Tuesday.

Yes, it is true. RICHARD COHEN IS SHRILL NOW!!! It took him a long time to get here–a long time to join the reality-based community. But welcome.

Matthew Yglesias notes, wryly, that the Post refused to headline Cohen’s column as Cohen wished ‘Impeach Bush’.” Instead, the headline is “Hold Bush Accountable.”

The headline should, of course, be: “Aaaiii! Ph’nglui Mglw’nafh Richard Cohen R’lyeh Wagn’nagl Fhtagn! Aaaiii!!!”

Read the whole thing. Sure it’s a one joke satire, but it’s an impressive catalog.