RIP Alan Simpson: Shooting from the Lip
The latest from Hollywood on the Potomac.
by Janet Donovan | on February 17th, 2012 | A LOOK BACK
In the world of “isms”, there’s Yogi Berra and former Wyoming Senator Alan Simpson….and Simpson may have the edge.
Known for his quick wit and oft color witticisms, Simpson was the guest of honor at a book party for his longtime aide’s authorized biography: “Shooting from the Lip” by Donald Hardy.
Speaking of shooting, the Senator was joined by former Vice-President Dick Cheney (longtime friend and sometime hunting partner) of whom he once said – “Dick Cheney is one of the most skilled shots I know, and they’ll make fun of it forever.”
The Senator’s illustrious career and acerbic fodder has kept him in both headlights and deer-lights for decades – we applaud the book title.
A typical example: At a press conference on the debt ceiling talks at the Aspen Institute and the Atlantic’s annual Ideas Festival in Colorado he challenged President Obama to further cut entitlement spending. “My question to Obama: show me your sacred cow,” he told CBS. “Every one of us stuck our finger down our throat and voted for something that hurt ourselves,” naming oil and gas as his state of Wyoming’s “sacred cow.” “If there’s anybody in America who wants to solve this son of a b***h, show me your favorite sacred cow and shoot it.”
Hardy, with Simpson’s blessing, drew from the Senator’s personal papers and voluminous diary to offer up a personal account of the rambunctious man from Wyoming. “Don, just tell the truth, the whole truth, as you always have. Leave teeth, hair, and eyeballs on the floor, if that results from telling the truth.”
Read more here.
