"the whole schlemiel"

[Jim Parish]

Seen in an online discussion of health-care reform:

"I don't get it. Even if some Democrats want the whole schlemiel...
[laundry list of possible features], it still doesn't change the fact that
none of these things are in this particular bill."

Google gives about 1470 hits for "whole schlemiel"; some are spurious
("the whole 'schlemiel, schlemazel' thing"), but most seem to use it in
place of "the whole schmear" or something similar.

Jim Parish

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