Tuesday, January 3, 2012

We interrupt this blog’s regularly-scheduled programming…

…to welcome new readers who enjoyed the George Washington letter, and who may, on the basis of that post, decide to return from time to time. One of my late, sainted grandmother’s favorite quotes from her beloved Farmer’s Almanac was, “He who tooteth not his own horn, the same shall go untooteth.” In that spirit, permit me to direct your attention to some of the historical highlights of this blog (not to worry; there aren’t that many, so this won’t take long).

Like H.L. Mencken, I tend to view democracy as a circus run from the monkey cage, so there is much in the way of satire here at Paco Enterprises. And yet, I am under no illusions concerning the provenance of the main threat: a secular leftism that seeks to reorder the relationship between the citizen and the state, diminishing the dignity and liberty of the former by vastly expanding the power and reach of the latter. Nonetheless, you will find only a few undiluted rants here; my chief weapon is the horselaugh. Toward that end, I deal largely in satire, having created a number of fictional characters (and fictional versions of real persons) to shoulder the burden of my political and social observations. Herewith, a sampler.

Many years ago, in the comments section of a blog far away (belonging, in point of fact, to the excellent Australian blogger, Tim Blair), I created a fictional private detective, a throwback to the 1940s gumshoe, named simply (and perhaps immodestly) “Detective Paco”. When I created my own blog, I brought him with me. Here’s Detective Paco’s most recent adventure, involving the “Fast and Furious” scandal.

Che Guevara kept a diary of his doomed revolutionary escapades in Bolivia; but there were numerous entries which never made it into the various published editions. You might enjoy this one (By the way: the complete Che stories, many of which have never been posted on this blog, are going to be released as a book this year – may it please God and my publisher).

Another fellow who appears at Paco Enterprises, from time to time, is a fabulously wealthy capitalist named J. Packington Paco III (who bears an intriguing resemblance to Sydney Greenstreet); and I mustn’t neglect to mention his gentleman’s personal gentleman, the redoubtable Spurgeon. In this yarn, J.P. tackles representatives of the “Occupy” movement, and in this story, he carries out a complex financial negotiation with Santa Claus.

Brad Smilo is a fictional newsman employed by the equally fictional Paco World News Daily (PWN’D). In this interview, he has a frank discussion with Joe Biden about the latter’s plagiarism problems.

Finally, there is one series that I enjoy writing, but will be glad to bring to an end, for obvious reasons: the various Obama White House skits. Here, Obama encounters the ghost of the last good Democratic president.

11 comments:

RebeccaH said...

...but will be glad to bring to an end, for obvious reasons: the various Obama White House skits.

Alack and alas, Paco, I fear Mr. Obama will be providing you with material for many, many years, in Jimmy Carter fashion.

JeffS said...

True dat, Rebecca. And until Jimmy kicks the bucket, he and Obama will be a comedy team.

Or at least a source of comedy material.

missred said...

from your fingers to God's ears, R and J

Yojimbo said...

You can always replace the White House skits with one of these after he is gone.

Little Drummer Boy. Named after the guy with the Cleveland Indians who sits way up in center beating that drum.

or

Great seats, huh, buddy. Named after that famous commercial Or, alternatively, He missed the tag!

Nothing says out of power or out of the loop more than those two, or three, metaphors.

Bob Belvedere said...

You forgot one of your best offerings: From The Shelves Of The Paco Library!

New folks: it's where Paco offers erudite, entertaining, and informative reviews of books unknown and known. A must read for any book lover.

Paco said...

Thankee, Bob. I did forget that (although I haven't had time to do those lately).

Anonymous said...

I've been missing the book reviews, Paco.

BTW, the second J. D. Davies book, Mountain Of Gold, comes out here on January 31st.

Gentleman Captain is on my shelf because of one of your book reviews, tyvm.

Retread

Paco said...

Retread: thanks for the tip!

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