So We’ll Go No More A-Rovin’: A Contest

I like to partake of a little mental scrimmage called "What Will Hendrick Hertzberg Write?" The game occurs when a major development in American politics precedes all sorts of predictable copy from the commentariat that, in a predictable turn of phrase, "practically writes itself."  The game derives its name from the New Yorker's chief political correspondent because I knew that after George Bush was re-elected in 2004, the so-called red states were going to get blamed something awful in the flagship journal of blue state America, and I was not disappointed. If you've had an opinion about Katrina, Iraq, Plamegate or warrantless wiretaps, there's a good chance Rick Hertzberg (or Maureen Dowd, or Frank Rich, or whomever) has had it first. Couldn't have said it better myself need never be said.

Given the success we've had with creative contests in the Shvitz, I'd like to fuel-inject another one. I will award an all-cotton "Make Bagels, Not War" t-shirt to the best opening paragraph of Hertzberg's forthcoming obit on Karl Rove's long, nasty political career. Points will be automatically subtracted for using any of the following terms: "Dark Lord," "Bush's brain," "doughy," "Machiavellian," "evil," "motherfucker," "huggable."  However, the winner will be selected on the basis of how his or her graph compares to the actual one in next week's New Yorker. Post your entries below. One per registered user and, yes, you must be registered to qualify.