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Palin's Speech, the Founding Dads, and Hertzberg's Hilarity

Filed under: The Catbird Seat: Friends & Guests Tagged: Alaska, Bob Dylan, copy editing, David Remnick, Hendrik Hertzberg, politics, Roane Carey, Sarah Palin, Talk of the Town, The Nation, Thomas Jefferson, Wayne Lawson

Emily Gordon writes:

So, my dad sent me this very funny—funny for nerds, which is us—link to the corrections to Sarah Palin’s speech by the Vanity Fair literary editor and the magazine’s copy and research departments. (Martin’s already noted it, because he’s quick on the draw that way.)

I sent it on to my dear friends and former employers at The Nation’s copy department, as I am wont to do, and my fleet former boss, Roane Carey, now the magazine’s managing editor, wrote back with this quotable observation, which, with his permission, I quoth:

I can’t wait to read this, but I also thought parts of Hertzberg’s leader in the latest New Yorker were hilarious—comparing, in sober, reflective language, Palin’s resignation speech with that of the Founders: “And, indeed, her speech had echoes of the document signed in Philadelphia two hundred and thirty-three years and one day earlier.” Hertzberg cites Jefferson on political change, then quotes Palin (unintelligible, of course) on same. More fun than a barrel of monkeys.

I agree. And while I’m sure Hertzberg is as big a Dylanophile as anyone, I wonder if the Talk’s inspired epigraph originated with his boss, since I’ve heard he’s a low-key, Sunday sort of fan o’ Bob.

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About us

Hello! We're a small band of culture writers, editors, and artists based in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles. Emdashes, which spent its formative years as a New Yorker blog, is our collection of conversations—mostly civilized—about magazines, movies, design, punctuation, and other things that stir us.

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Dashes, some say, “are particularly useful in a sentence that is long and complex.” Emdashes—like an em dash itself—provides a thoughtful pause amid the hubbub.

Emdashes, founded in 2004, is written and drawn by Emily Gordon, Martin Schneider, Pollux, Jonathan Taylor, and Benjamin Chambers, as well as occasional guest contributors. All posts before October 2008 are by Emily Gordon.

The site was designed by House of Pretty with illustrations by Jesse R. Ewing.

Additional drawings are by Carolita Johnson and Pollux (author of our web comic, "The Wavy Rule"). The Emdashes pencil logo is by Jennifer Hadley, based on a 1943 Dorothy Gray ad.

Other writing by Emily Gordon

Reviews: theater writing (for Time Out Chicago)
Profile: Valerie Casey, Designers Accord founder, is spearheading the design of sustainability (for SXSW World)
Feature: Rea Irvin: visionary art director, bon vivant, New Yorker founding father (for Print)
Slide show: the Coney Island Mermaid Parade (for NYCgo.com)
Feature: Muslim immigration iconography in the Netherlands, and an interview with Ayaan Hirsi Ali (for Print)
Review: King's Gambit: A Son, a Father, and the World's Most Dangerous Game by Paul Hoffman (for Newsday)
Homage: Celebrating lindy-hop legend Frankie Manning (for NYCgo.com)
Inquiry: Does a New Republic redesign mean a change of tune? (for Print)
Interview: James Surowiecki on what's next for the wisdom of crowds (for Assignment Zero)
Interviews: four up-and-coming designers under 30 (for Print)
Profile: novelist and dance critic Laura Jacobs (for Newsday)