Dan Rydell: The story is, we had a conversation, seriously. Someone had clearly briefed her on my stuff with the public schools, and I told her about my opposition to secular programs that are publicly financed, I really spoke up and she seemed to listen.
Casey McCall: You mean nonsecular.
[beat] What do you mean?
You don’t oppose secular programs that are publicly financed, you oppose nonsecular programs that are publicly financed.
[beat] Yes.
Go on.
Wait.
I’m right.
You’re sure?
Nonsecular means, “bound to religious guidelines.” Secular means, “free of religion.”
[Thinking] Okay. I’m sure I got it right at breakfast.
Uh huh, 50/50 chance. [Sits down, sighs] So go on.
[Abstracted] I’m gonna go... I’m going to change my clothes. [drops clothes] I didn’t get it right.
I know.
I blew it.
Yes.
I mixed up. I inverted the definitions of secular and nonsecular.
Looks like that might be the case.
Hillary Clinton thinks I’m an idiot.
Either that or a religious bigot.
I went to an Ivy League school, Casey.
Proud day for Dartmouth, Dan.
I made an idiot of myself in front of Hillary Clinton.
Yeah, but at least you had to spend a thousand bucks to do it.
[Sighs] Well, clearly I have to get in touch with her.
Clearly.
I need her to know that I know the difference between secular and nonsecular.
You don’t know the difference between secular and nonsecular.
Yeah, but I do now and I should’ve then. I have to call her.
At this point I’d say it’s a moral imperative.
I’ll call her hotel.
They’ll put you right through.
I’m not saying it’s not going to take perseverance, but I’m going to make contact with this woman.
Good luck.
Thank you.
—Dan Rydell, Casey McCall
“When something wicked this way comes,” Sports Night
*Technically secular means “worldly.” You can have a secular priest*: one who goes out and preaches among the people, instead of living the monastic life. This has been extended to any priest not a member of a religious order. One of the sources of discontent with the Spanish regime in the Philippines was the limited opportunities for the native* priests, who were typically trained in the secular tradition, while the priests that administered Masses and received parishes were typically Spanish priests from the religious orders.
*At the time, the term “Filipinos” referred to the descendants of the Spanish colonizers; the indigenous Malay peoples were referred to as indios and their regional affiliation*, such as: indios tagalog, indios visayan, etc. Another source of discontent.
*I actually got into an argument on Moxie’s site because of this. I pointed out that Bible classes are by definition nonsecular. Someone jumped all over me writing that secular also applies to priests, pointing out a dictionary definition. I kindly refained from unleashing my thoughts on his or her ignorance, then pointed out to Moxie that she probably meant non-sectarian Bible study class. People who make silly judgments in writing about other people on the basis of dictionary definitions without the benefits of real knowledge of how the word actually is used deserve all that you can give them, but I just don’t have the energy sometimes.
*I myself am the son of a Cebuano and a Tarlaqueño Kapampangan, born in Roosevelt Hospital, so I suppose I do fit in Ravenwolf’s New York Bloggers blogroll*.
*Though I live in New Jersey.
[update: whoops, messed up Doc Weevil’s link. There it is. Also some spelling corrections.]
11:55:39 PM 
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