Big Crazy

Today's manners lesson comes to us from very far to the east, or maybe it's the west. Mr. Irresponsible was never big on geography. The point is, it's very far. And a good thing too, because these guys make our homegrown nutbars look like Sunday at the Jaycees. Yes, it's the democratically-elected government of the Islamic Republic of Iran! Specifically, the sixth president of same, former Tehran mayor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who told an audience in the Iranian city of Zahedan on December 14 that the Holocaust is a myth perpetrated by European Jews to justify the creation of Israel. The lesson: When you're gonna go crazy, go BIG crazy. There's no point in delicate, performance-art-like little cameos of eccentricity, not if you're going to draw the really big press. No, for that you need to hang it all out there, as I think we can agree Mr. Ahmadinejad has done. Want proof?  Even the Germans are outraged. This seems a conclusive indication that history may not have a sense of humor, but it sure does get a kick out of irony.  So the next time you're considering an act of public looniness, remember that its impact is sure to be lessened if you take anything off the pitch. Lean back and smoke that baby.