The Corner is a barnyard

One of my previous employers consolidated its operations into a sparkling new campus. Outside it was a beautiful setting-well off the highway with a large pond. They added some nice amenities: there was a paved walking path around the pond and a large terrace off the cafeteria for al fresco dining. After a hard Chicago winter (there is no other kind) the chance to eat outdoors when spring arrives is a big deal.

In my three years there, that never happened. We ran into a goose problem. Not only did they foul everything with their droppings, they nested on the grounds around the pond and terrace. Nesting geese are aggressive and territorial. They try to drive away every intruder. One poor woman was walking up the steps when a big goose came at here, squawking and flapping its wings. She was startled and, in backing away, she fell down the steps. She ended up with a sprained ankle and broken wrist.

The company could do nothing about the geese because of federal law and regulations. Geese are protected migratory birds. Therefore, for weeks every spring the patio and walking path were off limits to employees.

John Podhoretz reminds me of those geese. He is always running around the Corner making noise and flapping his arms, trying to drive people away from topics and positions he disapproves of.

The great puzzle is why the Corner let him take up residence in their shop. There are no federal regulations that protect the undistinguished sons of former magazine editors.

OTOH, many Corner denizens remind me of a bunch of chickens-loud, hyperactive, and quick to take flight at the least hint of a problem. This was made clear during election day 2004 when they caught wind of the exit polls. As I wrote then, "The namby-pambies at NRO girded up their loins and started to draft their "Why Bush Lost" articles."

Andy McCarthy seems solid though. And Derbyshire is not fowl- Eeyore was a mammal.