"Nevertheless prepared to make the case for the US"

It only smells when you kiss his gorgeous mug.  Babe (right) had an encounter with a skunk in the wee hours at Goomp's yesterday, and the memory lingers on. Two of the beautiful people -- nephew Chris and his enchanting lady friend Nicole -- dropped by for champagne and doibs Sunday morning. Chris applies the sniff test, above.  As Susie noted when she heard the news, it must be embarrassing for someone of Baby Cakes's gravitas to be so malodorously disposed, but he's managing heroically.  Anybody out there know of a miracle cure?  Googling suggests tomato juice is out, while hydrogen peroxide mixed with baking soda is in.

"Some Americans argue there's no point trying to win over the rest of the world because the leading nation in any era is always doomed to be unpopular? Do you agree?" Clive Davis asks former Reagan speechwriter and current Hoover Institution Research Fellow Peter Robinson in a lively and quotable e-mail interview:

Oh, sure.  Without a doubt.  What citizen of another country wouldn’t feel some resentment at Number One?  But it’s possible to hold Europe and the United States together, even so.  I consider Thatcher instructive here.

"If you had Karen Hughes' job, what would be your first three priorities?" asks Davis:

Honestly, at this point I’d have exactly one priority: to find, and to hire, Arab-speaking Americans — native speakers, with a feel for the Arab world, who are nevertheless prepared to make the case for the United States. Lots of such people exist. It drives me to distraction that so few occupy prominent positions in the State Department. Note, though, that the armed forces have done pretty well on this score: General Abizaid is a fluent Arab speaker.

We adore General Abizaid . . . 'Have caught him from time to time on C-Span reruns.  He is the very model of a native speaker with a feel for the Arab world who is "nevertheless prepared to make the case for the United States."  You absolutely must read the whole interview, wherein Robinson notes that "Despite the constant carping, no responsible Democrat wants to pull out of Iraq, while no responsible Republican wants to increase our troop levels at all dramatically." Our blog buddy Frank of The Cool Blue Blog made the point big time here the other day. Here's our fave bit of business of all, Robinson's answer to "What's the best book on America that most Europeans have probably never heard of?":

But aside from [my own book], I’d read Mark Twain, both Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Yes, I know Europeans have already heard of Twain. Really, though, you can’t find a more gorgeous or more accurate portrait of this big, free-wheeling, rambunctious country.

We fell in love with Huck and Big Jim in high school as the two oners made their wise and witty way together down the Mississippi on a raft. As we told Scott Johnson of PowerLine awhile back, we think Mark Twain would have been a blogger. We learned to our horror in recent years that politically correct "educators" had determined Mark Twain's masterpiece was racist. That was number two beside our sorrow at the loss of scientific intelligence betrayed by the inroads made by Intelligent Design "theorists" in our day. Some hope has come in recent curricular developments that would bring biblical studies into public schools as a historical subject rather than religious indoctrination.

Update:  Lots of intelligent designs at the 82nd Carnival of the Cats at Where the Dolphins Play.

Comments

[Teresa]

Poor Baby! Look up Outright Pet Odor Eliminator by Bramton (just type it into google and look about). I never tried it on skunk - but it used to get the "cat spray" smell off my dog beautifully. You mix a teaspoon in a small bowl of warm water and it's ready to go. (the water activates the enzymes)

I used to use it directly on my dog - no ill effects. I would even use it on my own hands after getting her cleaned up... Works on carpets (although as usual you'd want to test it in an inconspicuous place just in case!), walls, etc.

I even used it on the carpets when my kids were small and would get sick before being able to get to the bathroom... it's amazing stuff. I'd be very surprised if it didn't work on skunk odor too. Lasts forever since you only have to use a little at a time.

Also found some other stuff online - don't know how well it works Skunk-off by Thornell. They claim it stops odor instantly. Good luck and give Baby some loving when the odor is all gone *grin*

[Zendo Deb]

Call your vet... they have something that will fix the poor cat right up.....

And then get the polecats out of your yard. Nasty critters!

You can't really humanely trap skunks... if you use a live trap, you will be sprayed. They vehicle you try to move them in will be sprayed... a real mess. If you do use a live trap, rig a line and barrell so you can drown the skunk - not nice.

Best to use a high-powered pellet gun... high-powered like Beeman - something serious, not the cheap toys. (one of these will be several hundreds of dollars) get a .20 or .22 caliber pellet gun with 8 or 900 or better fps muzzle velocity. .17 is too small even at very close range. Some cities consider using an air-rifle discharging a firearm - even though they are not firearms - in the city.

I would use a .22 cal firearm if you can, but you had best be way out in the country.

[Kat]

One thing the American government could do is recruit the deli owners. In my little (NYC) neighborhood, and even in many Boston ones near BU (where my sister is), the deli owners are generally Arab, and very nice, working to integrate themselves into American culture. They are unobtrusive, capitalist, and willing to fight to protect what is theirs.

On a slightly different note, I had a cat sprayed by a skunk when I was a kid in NH. I don't remember what we did for him though. He hated baths, so maybe we just locked him out on the breezeway until the stink went away.