It’s a particularly long list–much longer alas than my list of favorite Arabs–but these two are pretty near the top, especially since, to my knowledge, the “I Voted” sticker on the little one’s head wasn’t revelation of his first absentee ballot for Benjamin Netanyahu, though rumor has it he might vote Likud given the chance. (Sam, as the tiny one is known, and who’s made an appearance in these pages once before, was born during Netanyahu’s cataclysmic first stint as prime minister, when he gave Clinton so much grief that Clinton sought refuge in Monica’s mouth; it’s a wonder “Bibi” hasn’t yet screwed up Obama’s mind or loins. Can’t fault him for not trying.) So these two, Markowitzes by name, each had a birthday in the last few days. Sam is 14, Dave is somewhere in his late 80s, which is rather young in his family. His parents are well into triple digits and still crusading for unions, the Yankees and the Dead Sea scrolls (authored in part by Dave’s dad). I’d have wished them a happy birthday in person, but a paywall now separates us fatally, and the News-Journal, where Dave is serving a sentence of undetermined length, has a visitor policy a little tougher than Evin prison’s in Teheran. So I got Duke Ellington to wish them both a happy birthday:
