I now understand why Instapundit doesn’t allow comments. A loss for many, though at least Mr. Reynolds and his fans do not have to slog thru the comment dung.

Wow.

Wow.

THAT’s the word i was looking for before…

Dang it Lex, you really blew that one right by me. Coming in it sure looked like a standard ad hominem attack until I saw that question mark at the end of the sentence. That not only froze the bat on my shoulder, but really fried my brain. I had to abandon what this thread was about, and construct a reasonable answer to your query.

The first problem was what exactly you meant by obsessive. I mean, if you are using the term in a clinical psychological sense as it refers to a compulsive behavior (continual or intrusive), for example, hand washing. I would have to answer along those lines: Yes, back in the days when I was a practicing doc I was obsessively compulsive about washing my hands in the clinical setting. The House Engineer now comments about my not washing my hands, but I think she is obsessive, not me…

I was also obsessive about the iron main on Perseverance, never starting that diesel without checking the oil level and keeping a weather eye on the temperature gauge. But then, most folks would consider that prudence.

If you are approaching the term with a writer’s license, i.e. “preoccupy or fill the mind to a troubling extent”, well then I have been riddled with this problem. In my youth I obsessed about religion. In my salad and halcyon days (as I said before, they are different) certain women induced obsessive thoughts, and to this day I cannot look at the bottom of a sailboat without laying a critical eye on the fairing of the keel and rudder.

Judging from the above, I think (cough, cough), that you chose the wrong word. Gasp, I apologize for even making a suggestion to an Editor of a blog. The word you where seeking is perseverate, which has been defined as

repeat or prolong an action, thought, or utterance after the stimulus that prompted it has ceased

It is an early sign of dementia, what ever its etiology, and is only noticed by a very astute non-clinician. Having confessed to a rum sodden brain in the past on your blog Lex, and having cruised by the big 75, and having misplaced the car keys, you may be on to something.

That said, my obsessive perseveration in this blog centered in two areas: (1) Was the initial premises that Obama had formed a brigade of law enforcement individuals to enforce prior restraint on free speech correct, or a load male bovine excrement? (2) Did Dave Curp state that this controversy was not a load of male bovine excrement, but an actual manifestation of the left wing Obamaphiles shedding their pink garments and donning brown shirts and arm bands?

The answer to the first question is get your pitchfork. The answer to the second question is that if you can parse one of Dave Curp’s sentences, and deconstruct one of his comments, you are a better man than I am… Forget the water, for #@%$&**%# sake, and pass the rum…

ps: Dave, I cannot believe that you did not comment on the three videos I posted on my comment #65. Okay, the first one was a bit too cute, the second (food fights) was clearly meant to offend those who think that wars are a glorious thing where honor can be gained, but the third one was a celebration of tenure, in dance, and surely must have tickled your fun bone…