Milosevic

Milosevic

Do you think Tom Brokaw wishes he was still doing the Nightly News, just so he could have one more time to say the name "Slobodan Milosevic" one more time? He always seemed to relish the way that one rolled off his tongue. I think there was part of him who prayed from something more horrible news to come out of the former Yugoslavia, just so he could report on the latest dealings of Slobodan Melosevic, saying both names as many times as he could pack into a 45 second report. Well, he won't get the chance, as he's off the news and Melosevic died in his cell last night.

But to tell the truth, of all the genocidal maniacs history has brought us, I've enjoyed the name Slobodan Melosevic, as well. I've thought it a shame that the name will be forever associated with a murderous Eastern European thug, and not with something more positive.

For some reason, I wish that name belonged to a racecar driver. Or perhaps a motorcycle stunt performer. Maybe a beloved clown.

It sounds kind of like a name David Letterman would hook on to, like Dick Assman or Mujibur and Sirajul.

I've always associated it with Robocop. Slobo-Dan. Robo-Cop. Maybe it's just me.

Instead, it's a genocidal maniac.

And tonight, Tom Brokaw doesn't get to report on it. Not to us, anyway. I'm sure, though, at the Brokaw household, he'll be standing in front a mirror all day, reporting on the death of Slobodan Melosevic.