The Second Violinist
The Second Violinist is in a practice room at Symphony Hall. The police knock on the door: “We’ve got some bad news for you, sir. Your house burned down and your children were injured. They’ve been taken to the hospital.”
“That’s terrible!” exclaimed the Second Violinist. “How did it happen?”
“I’m sorry to have to tell you this, sir,” continued the policeman, “but it seems that the Conductor has been having an affair with your wife. They were in your bedroom, smoking cigarettes after having sex, and got careless. The cigarettes lit the bedclothes on fire and then it spread to the rest of the house.”
The Second Violinist seemed stunned for a moment as a look of wonder spread over his face. “The Conductor? … Came to MY house?”
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This story may explain how things spiraled into violence in Iraq. George W. kept mentioning Saddam and Iraq in his speeches. If Saddam had been watching CNN he’d have seen the most powerful man in the world focussed on him and the country that he owned. It would have been a lot scarier for Saddam if W. had said, in response to a question about Iraq, “I delegated the issue to a one-star general, who has full authority to bomb Saddam if necessary, and he will be giving me a report six months from now.”
I recall seeing a headline “President delivers ultimatum to Saddam Hussein”. How much more scared would Saddam have been if the headline had read “Administrative assistant to 3rd Undersecretary of State delivers ultimatum to Saddam”?
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