From the folks over at TPM Cafe citing his son, Juan Cole and A. Sullivan. And some ambassadors write letters in his defense a bit late out of the gate. Apparently, all for naught as Ambassador Freeman is pulled down from below by the throngs.
The Imperial City And The World
From the folks over at TPM Cafe citing his son, Juan Cole and A. Sullivan. And some ambassadors write letters in his defense a bit late out of the gate. Apparently, all for naught as Ambassador Freeman is pulled down from below by the throngs.
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Dr Leo Strauss says
Perhaps Cheney will address this coincidence in his CNN interview — they were key assets in pinning down the WMD stockpiles moved to Lebanon and now in Venezuela. Btw, we are watching Will Ferrell on HBO at the moment and it is painful — we want it to be funny but it is, as the hipsters say, Epic Fail. For all of is clumsy allegedly risque elements – genitals, profanity – Ferrell like we’ve noted here before about all the post Eddie Murphy SNL lacks the rip the heart out savage gleefulness needed for biting humor. It’s so fitting Ferrell’s show is so celebrated in America 2009.
Anon says
Classic Friedman:
http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2009/03/fantasies_of_bipartisanship.php
Anon says
Arlen Spectre would have kicked Tweety’s Hardball up and down the keystone state, if Tweety ran for Senate. It would have been amusing with Tweety’s campaign staff leaking against him and even his closest friends hoping he lost and secretly celebrating when loss came.
But it was also revealing that Tweety was not able to tell anyone why/what he wanted to do as a Senator – His show is devoid of policy – and he is totally dependent on cliche and culture tropes.
God Bless Stewart for ripping him.
Anon says
Glassman looks nothing like Kudlow and is very different in style – It’s hilarious that Tweety confused the two. That’s a 5 million dollar nbc hire.
Tweety has 21 honorary degrees – What could more symbolize jesuit decline than Fordham awarding Tweety an honorary degree and making him a commencement speaker?
It’s unintentionally revealing when Scarborough attacks Jon Stewart for picking on the right and leaving Dems alone – when, in fact, Tweety and Cramer are Dems. Ofcourse – Tweety is really a right winger of a certain type – even more so than Pat (who has intellect and education) – the kind of moronical type that Irving Kristol thought to be useful, if grating.
Anon says
Were not conspiracy theorists by any means (though we do think Oliver Stone’s movies served the cause of declassification), but if we were we’d really be
intrigued by this ‘mother of all coincidences’
http://www.ericmargolis.com/notebook.aspx
Dr Leo Strauss says
Yesterday Tweety alluded to Kudlow as ‘that 36,000 guy’ and Pat waved it off with a brisk, ‘no that’s the other one, who was a State for bit’. Tweety apparently is a diabetic so no attempt to make light of a serious medical condition (God bless) – but in a beer hall basement in dim light, over some steins, one could see them flipping through Rosa Luxembourg, Rachel Maddow (no, that’s the other one) recalling the days of blood and iron. ‘Chris, the Kaiser shouldn’t have let the defeatists make him cut and run. We have illegal Slavs running across our borders thanks to the November Criminals. You would have made von Matthews if it weren’t for them!’
Anon says
James K Glassman is still defending his DOW 36000 book as “essentially right.” He is classic “fail up” type.
His book as summerized in the Atlantic was wrong in almost every respect – But he maintains critics are non-serious and missing his larger point that free markets are preferable to (communism?) to whatever.
Anon says
One bogus profile of Tweety sort of portrayed him as a worldly sort of regulah guy who can talk Phily and Viennese opera – Ofcourse, this was an allusion to Tweety;s endless use of Mozart comparisons that he picked up from the movie Amadeus.
Judging by what we heard Tweety say about Gatsby – he did sound like a saw the so-so movie and did not even read the book.
Tweety is paid 5 million a year and he did not even bother reading Obama’s 1st book even though it was essential for covering the campaign in a meaningful way.
Again Tweetyism is a symptom of a larger problem – He is not like Madoff, but there is a fraudulence to his entire franchise.
Dr Leo Strauss says
Tweety’s been invoking Gatsby a bit lately. Someone must have given him the DVD from the $9.99 bin.
Anon says
Just a thought on Geithner – we think he probably made some mistakes and he needs some improvement (he is getting more confident) on presentation, but just as he was over-rated by the moody crowd on the Street, we think he is being prematurely dissed now by just about everyone. We think he doing as good a job as expected, but only time will tell.
Anon says
The match between Stewart and cnbc is less important but more fun (in a non Dowdian sense) than the Freeman war – But that being said — even though we are pro Stewart, we think he could have done a better job last night.
Cramer is a valid target – but too obvious – Stewart should focus more on the minor cheerleaders to get that matchless “why is he picking on me ” whine that is all but inevitable. Like Dennis and Kernan etc
Anon says
We see a Gatsby quote “we beat on …” came up on your
quote machine – Tweety almost ruined that novel for us
when we heard him invoke it a few weeks ago and get everything wrong about it.
DrLeoStrauss says
Chas Freeman’s withdrawal will only embolden a relatively uncoordinated cadre. What he encountered was a pale shadow of its Noontide strut from a mere few years ago. Rush is indeed a brave man enduring a doubling of his radio audience thanks for a few compliments from Rahm and Gibbs. Doesn’t Nordlinger know that Rush is off the hook?
Anon says
Wait a sec – we thought Gibbs and Co were building up Rush, but Nordlinger says they are ripping down the “brave” man.
http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=OTBjMTkzMmMxZGZjNWU4MDkyZmZjYjlkZmE2ZGMyNmU=
We link to this stupid Corner piece because it illustrates a conservative so overcome with emotionalism and unreason, that he uses all the cliched tropes
that conservatives complaine about. They
whole thing drips with insincerity and falseness.
Anon says
Adm. Blair must now be on thhe lobby’s s*** list for even picking him. Also, Blair is intelligent – a big no no.
Anon says
Scarborouggh steps in it – Stewart has a special loathing for that network – esp the pass it gets from Dems:
http://www.politico.com/politico44/perm/0309/cramer_sideshow_continues_677b69ec-0625-4e85-831f-2ab2ca3b94ee.html
Did you read Freeman’s statement? It was quite a missive.
Dr Leo Strauss says
Yes I read the email. But he knew all of that going in and had seen it up close and work against colleagues and friends for years. He had to know what lay ahead. Now it’s true unless one is in a maelstrom it’s hard to explain to others, but he gave the Lobby a quick victory.
Dr Leo Strauss says
Am somewhat surprised Freeman pulled out at this point. The campaign against him seemed pro forma in many respects and Freeman a known quantity. NIC is in the end of the day not an operational policy making post. An unfortunate precedent for the Administration.
Anon says
Sid’s son has an interesting piece re Freeman. It’s amazing that Rosen pulled this off.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-03-10/obamarsquos-mideast-policy-smackdown
Anon says
This was both a real victory and a pyhrric victory for the ideologues.
Too often – people who were right about Iraq are marginalized and people who were wrong (Chait etc
are rewarded.
Early on – before he became too popular – Obama was similarly attackked for being right about Iraq.
Anyway – people are sick of this.
Anon says
Just heard on FNC that Freeman is dropping out – Dennis Blair seemed pretty confdent in his defense earlier today and Lieberman seemed pretty dispirited when questioning him about it – For the record, Lieberman let it be known he was very concerned about his China views, in particular.
Anon says
CNBC is already on welfare indirectly thru the fungibility of GE subsidiaries tarp money.
People like Santelli and Dennis kneal should shut their f***ing traps about poorer people who may or may not have made mistakes.
DrLeoStrauss says
Krugman omits to which arc of Smiley’s life he alludes. Karla here must be. . . Rubin? Weil?
Kramer’s lack of depth is revealed in his latest blogging complaining that those pundits and comics he likes because ‘no enemies on the Left’ are attacking him while oddly to him he is being warmly received by Rush et al. Wasn’t it Tina Brown who revealed that when her show was near extinction she and Kramer had a heart to heart about going out in a blaze of glory and thus was born the chair throwing, mug smashing lunacy?
Unfortunately for CNBC and its viewers a Williams degree by itself isn’t much. Erin also will not wear as well as TMH for phenotypic reasons. She has through osmosis picked up most of Haines’ cant and whether intentionally or not no longer remembers who she is and about whom she reports. The word ‘we’ is interesting in her world.
Anon says
Jon Stewarts sticks the knife into Jim Cramer (and CNBC again) and gives it another twist:
http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=220288&title=in-cramer-we-trust
Anon says
George Smiley:
http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/06/the-truman-doctrine/
Anon says
We think Frum’s attack on Rush in Newsweek will propitiate and nice pseudo-class war among conservatives = with faux rustics, self-styled ‘folks’, and pseudo-populist millionaires fighting against neo-pseudo-paleo neocons, bookishly styled non-readers, ‘even TNR supports war x’ types, and socially acceptable Brooksians.
But we note CNBC has now pulled out the Lass Strategy now that Randian Santelli fell on his face following his staged rant:
http://gawker.com/5166073/erin-burnett-makes-cnbc-even-more-loathsome
Anon says
Glassman willl be remembered primarily for his accidentally giving Nasrallah 3 or 4 hours of free air time to denounce Israel and the US – Then, following hearings, he followed that by promising to not even cover Hezb at all – as if it did not exist.
Erratic – like McCain. But also an ideologue unable to naviagte the real world
He was a complete flop – at least Karen Hughes was an earnest ignorama. Foreigners could forgive her –
Anon says
The banality of that magazine – endless verbiage – is breathtaking
DrLeoStrauss says
Reading between the lines it seems JG counts finally understanding the Department’s org chart an achievement. Honestly didn’t know there was a magazine devoted to public diplomacy until now. The Hughes era issues must have been a hoot.
Yup, the Freeman appointment’s a boon for pundits on all sides. We frankly expected more fireworks.
Anon says
Dow 36000 author takes a public diplomacy victory lap
http://publicdiplomacymagazine.com/perspectives/a-conversation-with-under-secretary-of-state-for-public-diplomacy-public-affairs-james-k-glassman/
Anon says
We said the Freeman choice would bring about merry mayhem in the pundit land – We think we captured it just about right.
If the pundits opposed to Freeman were wiser and less emotional they would be able to see various benefits to his appointment – It will not actually change policy, but it will provide excuses and talking points for them down the road. But the campaign against him will backfire for them in indirect ways – annoying people and setting off counter etc