Quote of the Day, Tgirsch Edition
[I] was absolutely thrilled by one fact in this post: the claim that Obama and his team do not plan to use the word ‘czar’.
Thank heavens. We’ve had drug czars, energy czars; we may yet get a car czar. I’m tired of czars. And why czars, anyways? They didn’t do all that well in Russia, as far as I can tell. If we have to go against our democratic traditions, why not an Imperator, or a
PharoahPharaoh (oops), or a Basileus, or a Mikado? For that matter, why not an Energy Yang di-Pertuan Agong, or an Oba of Energy, or an Energy Tlatoani?Personally, I think we should just embrace the silliness of all these titles and designate Carol Browner our new Grand Energy Poobah.
December 11th, 2008 at 11:41 am
But if we do have to have a car czar, I nominate Hamid Karzai, president of Afghanistan. Not that he’d be any better than anyone else, I just like the sound of Karzai the Car Czar.
December 11th, 2008 at 11:47 am
So, it’s not just me.
December 11th, 2008 at 11:50 am
I think Poobah would be a great title for anyone in the Obama administration. =)
December 11th, 2008 at 12:12 pm
Being a Ray Stevens fan I lean toward “Illustrous Potentate”
December 11th, 2008 at 12:29 pm
I beat that guy to the “grand poobah” gag. I posted using that on my “myspace” page yesterday, so ha.
December 11th, 2008 at 12:31 pm
Gotta go with the Oba of Energy. Then we can have Oba’s of this or that…
And the great mother of all Oba’s…. ObaMa!
Enter the mommy state…
December 11th, 2008 at 12:53 pm
How about Gruppenführer? Just sayin’…
December 11th, 2008 at 1:39 pm
chrisb:
I think you mean Obergruppenfuhrer.
December 11th, 2008 at 1:46 pm
There goes my dream of being Showroom Shogun.
December 11th, 2008 at 1:59 pm
I understand that PEBO ( President elect Barack Obama ) is now going to start using his middle name to improve our image in the Muslim world, This is no joke.
December 11th, 2008 at 2:14 pm
He’ll use his middle name for the swearing-in process, but not to deliver some sort of message:
As noted in the story, there have been a few who haven’t used middle names, but most do, including the last three presidents.
December 11th, 2008 at 2:31 pm
According to CNN he said that he wants to reboot the american image and reach out to the Muslim world.
December 11th, 2008 at 3:26 pm
I’ve always like plenipotentiary.
December 11th, 2008 at 5:24 pm
/me has always been a fan of “Grand Poo-Bah”.
December 11th, 2008 at 5:58 pm
Dad, I’m sure his appointment of an Orthodox Jew as his Chief of Staff will score huge points in the Muslim world. 😛
December 11th, 2008 at 6:02 pm
I’m going to go with The Economist‘s opinion and advocate the term “supremo” for “person in charge of matters to do with X.”
December 11th, 2008 at 7:47 pm
Car Khan?
December 11th, 2008 at 7:56 pm
two words: Grand Moff.
December 11th, 2008 at 11:13 pm
I say stick with the name “czar.” No, czars didn’t do very well in Russia. No, modern czars don’t do well in the US. That’s the point. Does anyone think you can convert a bad idea into a good one just by giving it a better name?
December 12th, 2008 at 1:01 am
I think we should have a Despot of Defense. Maven of the Interior also sounds cool.
December 12th, 2008 at 8:38 am
Xrlq has a point; but perhaps providing a more accurate name would help, such as Prime Drug Busybody or Chief Energy Meddler.
On the traditional side, religious titles can be fun, like Drug Primate or High Priest of Energy.