Why Orwell endures

Such is the title of a NY Times Book review by Geoffrey Wheatcroft on February 14th. It is really just a reminder of how valuable Orwell still is as the most famous public intellectual of the past 100 years. He is best known of course for the dire warnings in "1984" which of course still resonate. Remember the slogans: War is Peace...like our wars in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanastan following one upon the other...Freedom is slavery...like the Patriot Act...Ignorance is Strength...like the Tea Party movement and Sarah Palin. But Orwell wasn't just a prophet of gloom he was a wise and witty essayist as well. He wrote on how to make a perfect cup of tea and his idea of the perfect pub as well as Boys Weeklies and naughty postcards. He had a passion for liberty and intellectual honesty and that's why he will always endure.

Orson Welles was right

Late in life Orson Welles said, "There's something you can say every day now, nothing is as good as it was years ago." Certainly not airlines and airports. I can remember flying Concorde in perfect luxury and nobody made me take my shoes off or frisk me. Certainly not television which is dumb reality shows. As Johnny Carson once said to Ed McMahon, "Those hard working geniuses have come up with Bowling For Fish. Certainly not restaurants. I've having to send back more and more dishes that are downright lousy and tasteless. Certainly not our politics where a hick on a high wire like Sarah Palin can actually say she's a candidate for President. Welles also said, "I started at the top and worked my way down". I hope that doesn't include our country.