Wry On The Rocks

Author Sebastian Junger must have received quite a jolt this morning when he read the Boston Globe’s review of “Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman.  According to the reviewer, John Dufresne, the author of “Where Men…” ,Jon Krakauer, also wrote “The Perfect Storm” which of course was actually written by Mr. Junger.   Too bad, because Mr. Krakauer has also written several excellent page turners of his own including “Into Thin Air” and “Into The Wild” for which he was uncredited.  Reviewer Mr. Dufresne, also an author, was either too busy writing his new book (for which I will withhold any publicity in deference to Mr. Junger) or he’s breathing too much thin air himself.  Then again, one has to wonder if the Globe’s recent layoffs included the entire Sunday editor’s staff.

       The US Department of Energy just OK’d a $529 million loan to Fisker Automotive, a start-up company that promises to build an energy efficient electric car that will appeal to the luxury market, i.e. cars priced at $80 to $90,000.  Now why are we loaning millions of dollars to an unknown car company that has yet to build a single car that it plans to market to Sean Penn?  Well, for one thing, Fisher Automotive’s top investor is the venture capital firm, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers which just coincidently has donated over $2 million to Democratic campaigns. 

 Want another coincidence?  Al Gore is a partner in Kleiner, Perkins, et. al.  When Matt Rogers, the Democrat functionary who oversees the federal loan program was asked if Mr. Gore had any influence in the loan decision he tersely responded, “none at all.”  It’s not reported if he crossed his heart and hoped to die.