My bitterness over The War of 1812 lessened with this e-mail from London:
Hi K-Lo,
Just thought I’d let you know that my NRO ‘Resistance is Futile’ T-shirt just arrived and I gotta say…..I’m pumped!! The possibilities are running through my mind as fast as I will be after I don my new shirt and wander through the local university’s Women’s Studies department.
As I said to my (slightly liberal but sensible) girlfriend, “Looks like I’m dressing up as a neo-conservative warmonger for Halloween!” Without missing a beat her response was, “Oh, but honey….that’s what you dressed up as LAST year.” Ha! That girl’s a keeper. Especially considering that the wit and wisdom of NR has been slowly but surely chipping away at her mild leftiness. You guys do the jobs that Canadians just won’t do.
Anyway, I just thought you’d be glad to know that the NR packaging managed to survive the occasionally inhospitable reception of Canada Post workers intact. Sadly, the same cannot be said for a few copies of dead tree I used to receive (ie. rips and tears, cover only, etc. etc.). Shockingly, French-Canadian civil servants just aren’t big fans of National Review. Perhaps you should start mailing your magazines and paraphernalia in nondescript plain brown packaging to completely disguise the contents and origin. Like porn.
At any rate, I’ve got some people to appal, shock and awe. Keep up the good work!