Oh, those crazy journalists. You know the ones I’m talking about. The one who described John Kerry as “French-looking” and made up some silly locution to show how out of touch he was — “Who among us doesn’t like NASCAR?” — even though he never said it. Or the one who taunted Al Gore for claiming that he and his wife, Tipper, were the models for “Love Story” when Gore said no such thing. Or the one who described Bill Clinton as an “overweight band boy” and Hillary Rodham Clinton as “inauthentic.” Or the one who tabbed Barack Obama “Obambi” and said that when visiting him at his office, she felt like Ingrid Bergman in “The Bells of St. Mary’s,” having to teach a bullied schoolboy how to box. Or the one who kept pressing Obama at a debate to fess up to his relationship with a 1960s terrorist.
Of course, what do you expect from right-wing nuts who will do and say anything to demonize Democrats? Except for one thing. All these examples — and there are hundreds more — were uttered not by Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, Bill O’Reilly, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, David Brooks or any of the other Republican mouthpieces in our newspapers and on our airwaves. They were all said or written by liberal journalists, and even in a few cases by onetime Democratic operatives turned journalists, such as Chris Matthews and George Stephanopoulos. Indeed, the worst offender by far, the “Ingrid Bergman” in the example above, has been the New York Times’ liberal columnist Maureen Dowd, who has never met a Democrat she hasn’t disparaged. . . .
As Rick Perlstein describes it in his book “Nixonland,” Joseph Kraft, an old, unregenerate liberal close to the Kennedys, was among the first to wonder aloud if Nixon wasn’t right. Maybe the news media had wandered too far from heartland American traditions and values of which Nixon presented himself as exemplar. Maybe journalists had become too insular, snooty and condescending. These kinds of ruminations tended to push the left-wing media toward the center as their way of proving that they were honest, objective and not beholden to anyone.
Comment says
Above on this thread, we wrote:
“France is now popular w/ the right with their hot headed Sarkozi and …”
Update – Sarko’s performance with Obama (AManpour – comic relief) this week might lower his popularity among the Movement set.
Anon says
This kind of nit picking – while no big deal for most candidates – is big trouble for McCain. John just has built up bad habits waaay before 2000 where he could just say stuff and people in the press treated him like a member of their family who just misspoke, Combine this with anger, some puzzlement, and a few senior moments.
http://matthewyglesias.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/07/stop_quoting_me_accurately.php
We know plenty of people McCain’s age who say all sorts of things that are technically untrue and it would be wrong to take them literally. But …
Comment says
Barbara’s not making sense – she needs time. If she really thinks Steyn’s defenses are useful, then she is in trouble. In fact, Steyn’s ‘live blogging’ tipped off the prosecution many times to defense strategy and helped them adjust.
Recall the weak start for the US? It lookeds as the Gov was blowing the case. Steyn’s casual defense of obviously illegal behaivor was often gratuitous and helped to alert the Gov team.
It’s really all very sad. For Conrad’s sake, Steyn should have stay in his bubble – not many in the center are aware of his views and how they are considered mainstream with Movement types.
It’s was glaringly obvious that Steyn (and Black) thought it was ok for Conrad to money from Hollinger even if he did not technically own it – It was also clear that Steyn (amd Black) did not really take the whole concept of Corp gov seriously.
Dr Leo Strauss says
These issues are larger than Conrad’s penchant for showing off his knowledge about American politics or my buying yet another half-dozen Chanel jackets. Where is the outrage and fury, the understanding that as the rich man is denied justice so much worse will be the fate of the poorer?
Where is the Zola this needs? We have had some defenders, like the brilliant Mark Steyn.
Barbara Amiel Black (July 2008)
Dr Leo Strauss says
My life was wiped out in Chicago — at least all that mattered in it. No big deal for a city that has wiped out many lives, I suppose, but my demise didn’t come at the hand of some zoot-suited mobster. Mine was a judicial murder in the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. The blunt instrument striking me down on June 25 was in fact directed at my husband — I was only collateral damage.
Lady Barbara Ameil Black (July 2008)
Dr Leo Strauss says
Hitler Tamed By Prison
Released on Parole, He is Expected To Return To Austria
(Berlin) Dec. 20. — Adolph Hitler, once the demi-God of the reactionary extremists, was released on parole from imprisonment at Fortress Landsberg, Bavaria, today and immediately left in an auto for Munich. He looked a much sadder an wiser man today than last Spring when he nad, with Ludendorff and other radical extremists, appeared before a Munich court charged with conspiracy to overthrow the Government.
His behavior during imprisonment convinced the authorities that, like his political organization, known as the Volkischer, was no longer to be feared. It is believed that he will retire to private life and return to Austria, the country of his birth.
NYT Times (1924)
A Random Quote says
“The people dealing with this stuff [alternative medicine] are usually charlatans, but not him [Radovan Karadzic] . You could feel he had good bio-energy.”
~Maja Dejelic
Guardian 7-24-08
Comment says
Sort of funny is Tweety is still obsessed with Stewart mocking him – He is still trying to define Stewart as someone who just mocks everyone who is someone – youknow Tweety, Barack, etc
He is also still pushing back against HRC – constantly defining Hillary’s campaign as one against the media , in total.
All of this is part of his crack-up. Both he and Olberman seem like they are just about to go nuts – not like O’Reilly “lets do it LIVE!” (actually Olberman could easily go bats on air).
The absence of Russert and the failure of Gregory to gain traction – plus, the horrible nature of the network (prison shows etc) has propelled this anxiety.
WTF is Gregory doing w/ Stephen Hayes on so much? Hayes is either a liar or a conspricy theorist. Why is getting cred as “serious?”
Comment says
Tweety has been extra sweet on Barack since he made some three pointers in Afganistan. This is just a small example of his veneration of dumb dumb politics – as he also had over emphasized Obama poor showing in the bowling.
Interestingly – Tweety is now even lying – as if for balance – about Bush’s recent baseball pitch. Tweety is now telling people that Bush pitched a strike.
Actually – Bush pitched high and outside – he missed the strike zone by a foot and a half. No matter – we thought he did a good job. Comment used to pitch in our salad days, but we very much doubt that we could have pitched any better than Dubya did – esp w/ protective vest on.
But Tweety is not content to just relay the semi-impressive anecdote of a man Dubya’s age throwing a solid ball near home plate – He has lie -and call it a strike. That’s his idiotic sense of fairness.
re Barack – he’ll turn eventually – He is already spinning a false narrative about Barack about being aloof in diners and make up rooms. Nothing is further from the truth – But Tweety has to do that to balance – in his own mind – wholesale v. retail – Since he assigned retail to McCain, he has to make Obama the opposite. Then he can make Obama the wholesale specialist. Tweety does not count black people here – just “normal people.”
Dr Leo Strauss says
The only parts of the speech caught have been between Tweety’s on air babbles. Visually very impressive.
It’s amazing how fickle Tweety is. Just yesteryear his Man Crush on McCain radiated creepiness. Now he gushes over the Boy King.
One can only imagine his prep notebook at the studio. CM + BO and Lord knows what else. Maybe CSPAN will air the speech again uninterrupted.
Comment says
Correction – Kennedy’s “let them come to Berlin” refrain was excellent too. Maybe Barack should have done Yes We Can in German. That would have really made Buchanan jealouse and he would have to add another chapter about the decline of the west via language mongrelization due to Cesar Chavez
Comment says
Just a quick note on the Obama Berliner speech – We would have pared it down a bit and edited out a few lines. We would have focused the theme a bit more to tighten the wall–theme from past to the future. We would have clipped out some of the policy ideas and come up with snappier lines for the home audience – But the crowd loved it. The crowd definately was moved – in the moment. And it was good crowd of people – lots of Americans too.
The comparisons to JFK and Reagan are misplaced – JFK has the dramatic benefit of the unknown menace lying his midst. His jelly donut line was probably the best – But most of the rest of the speech was perfunctory. Reagan was obviously wise to retain that line about Gorby, but the rest of the speech was unremarkable.
Obama did well – considering he did not have the drama of divided Europe to act like an elixer. It’s hard to have speech that rallies that is not a us v. them type of speech. But he did well. But the true test will be McCain’s response over the next few days.
McCains should just change the topic – He would be wise to piggyback on Boone Pickens campaign – Make energy independece his theme. Forget about Pork – embrace pork – The meth belt, the rust belt etc will love all that energy pork.
Off shore drilling – McCain’s heart is not really in it.
Oh – McCain has to stop saying dumb falsehoods like “I hope Obama changes his position on off shore drillng.” It seems insincere and unclever.
Comment says
McCain speaking at the “Fudge Haus” on CNN before Obama’s speech. This sounds like McCain humor – a bit blockheaded, but funny in a way.
But McCain foolish repeated his dumb meme: I would rather lose and election , than lose a war. Let’s grant him the benefit of doubt and say that he is telling the truth –
If you follow the logic of his sincere seeming pledge – he clearly thinks the American people, on a certain level, approve of losing wars and he, McCain, resists the temptation to demagogue to this self-hating electorate.
It’s sort of appalling, if less surprising, when he says Obama would choose election over winning a war – Afterall, most of the GOP base thinks ‘democrat party’ types love losing wars and blaming America (as opposed to el Rushbo, who claims to love America even though he hates a large portion of his countrymen).
But McCain’s logic – will be turned against him when Obama gets back from his apoptheosis in Berlin – It will be McCain who has have to explain this weird line of his – Obviously Schmidt or the others haven’t clued him in, but the media is gonna start asking McCain why he wants to rule a country that makes “losing wars” popular.
McCain’s trap is that has adopted that enlarged definition of losing wars and surrender – His position – withdrawl is surrender and losing is actually a novel view.
But this is like Tweetys sadness – McCain implies he wants to win wars, rather than elections – Inverting the fact that winning wars is popular and adopting the sad view of faux fatalistic stoicism.
But if McCain wins , he is setting himself up for guaranteed failure or endless face-saving war. God help us all if he bombs Iran and gets bogged down elsewhere.
Obama’s speech – was OK – we aren’t really fans of his “big speeches” – In fact , we think he is best when speaking about particular issues to smaller groups. His best major speech was to NALEO recently.
Boy – Buchanan must be jealous of Barack getting these huge crowds (under a Prussian victory monument , no less)
Had Buchanan won and went to Berlin and drew 100000plus, it would have had a different vibe.
Comment says
We doubt any purges will take place no matter who wins or what happens. Power? We do think he understands power – he is a very clever politician. Ryan Lizza’s piece in the recent NYer goes into some examples – we could add others. But only time will tell. We are comparing him to recent Presidents and we think he stands up well. Did LBJ have better skills? Probably – But he had downsides than made up for that. Nixon was brilliant – and Obama appreciates Nixon and is, for a Democrat, somewhat up on Nixon. But Nixon was disturbed in many ways and that led to problems. Both Reagand and Clinton has wasted years – 41 was out of the loop and had no vision. Carter was canker sore (but visionary w/ many things) We could go thru the list, but we just differ on this stuff.
Incidentally, we were in Philly too – Obama will have less black people featured on stage than Bush did than night – We went as guests – It was hot and muggy. One day we considered check out Arianna’s alternative cult gathering, but passed — too hot,. Same with Rock the vote. We recall ran into former NYPD’s Timmoney as he set out to dohis roundups
Anon says
Leo, be interested in your take on this – IMO, any Church-type thing would be less than useful and only lead to a backlash. In any event, it would only happen if McCain won and did something that caused a partisan reaction that obviated the concerns about Democratic complicity with Bush.
That being said – this Main Core thing is likely a target of foreign governments – esp if it has been accessed recently for dubious reasons. Any investigation into abuses has to be curcumspect and clever. A large unweildy investigation w leaky committees and hypocritical members would probably be very unenlightening. YMMV
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/07/23/new_churchcomm/print.html
DrLeoStrauss says
If the distilled essence is that either candidate is better than the Warlord and the feral Movement-In-Power, no question.
Is the Boy King’s ignorance, facile pretense and profound lack of experience a liability to the Nation? Undoubtedly. In the same manner as the Warlord’s in 2000? Undoubtedly not.
We are all eager to cleanse the American soul, psyche and outright blood stained hands from the Warlord’s vandalisms. It is imperative that we also never forget that this Movement’s (and any Movement, actually) real expertise is never *governing*. (We are not talking about minor burps like temperance or other silly gestures). Movements excel at fomenting opposition, discord and pulling things down — often if not always via nihilism cloaked in euphoric, ‘progressive’, social (or real) millenerial terms, etc. The incompetence of this regime is in its very DNA.
McCain at least understands all that. And the dangers.
Has he nonetheless made/forced into a true Faustian bargain that must be kept out of necessity past November? Or can he use only a momentary thermal updraft, discard it, and still govern? No one knows, including him — and most especially not the nimbus of clinging people claiming this week to be his advisors.
The Boy King as we have said many times shows no sign of understanding Power. How to wield it, how to oversee the multi-year, intensive purge to the very deepest marrow of the Executive Branch (and when possible the judiciary), etc. let alone traditional domestic and foreign matters, etc.
We would not have any hesitation at all if he were not so callow and inexperienced. We were in Philadelphia in 2000, recall. Very few could have foreseen the cataclysmic savagery being born before our eyes. Is the Boy King the same? No. See above. But the pathway, good intentions and all that jazz. . . .
If the choice really is the Boy King or Warlord Mk II, that is an easy one.
Comment says
An example of McCain being a better leader than examples of his current supporters would seem to suggest is the ridiculous faux-provincial anti-cosmopolitanism of the attacks against Obama being popular in Germany and using the German language in promotional materials.
We have heard first hand from people who worked on previous McCain campaigns that he has true disdain for this kind of mookish politics that revels in squalid ignorance – Europhobia, Francophobia, etc.
But McCain has slipped his moorings – Obama’s naunced position on the Surge – properly contextualized and factually specific – drives him bats.
We think it will be a very close campaign – But if McCain has a chance to win he can only do so by remaining outwardly dignified and respectful (and stay off Kennebunkport golf carts). The politics of willfully ignorance – of intentionally misinterpreting things – are of limited value as the reactionary feeling of a few years ago fades.
A few years ago we recall Tom Toles wrote a cartoon mocking Rumsfeld – Rumsfeld’s people pretended it was actually a mocking of a soldier – They did not believe their own interpretation, but they pitched it with pretend outrage and Toles was baraged with bales of viscious hate mail from goons nationwide. All on the basis of a false fake feeling about a willfully wrong interpretation – of a cartoon that made fun of people in power – The Goldfarb and others on McCains team still mine this kind of politics. But it no longer has fertle soil.
Besides, Obama is too well liked – King Abdullah was wise to appear gracious when Obama gave him an audience following his presser at the Temple of Hercules.
Comment says
We were refering to different interview – when Couric asked a question of McCain – McCain answered in error – Couric edited his errors out and implied he gave a different answer. Then Olberman showed the transcript of the original. McCain’s campaign got petulant and refused to even address the issue and then stammered all day at Obama’s victorious trip.
We totally disagree with your take – In fact, we generally think things are getting better eventually no matter who wins. We think McCain is a far better leader than his current campaign suggests. He is frsutrated by Obama’s successs and his poor Bush hand. Are we heading into a slowdown? Is the dollar increasinly at risk? Are there inflation fears? Is another terror attack likely? Yeah – all these things are possible, but we tend to be optimistic about things down the road – after a few bumps.
DrLeoStrauss says
On this, we must disagree. Watching Couric of all people demolish the Boy King on his flip flopping on the surge, exposing his glaring ignorance of Iraqi developments and overall callow flippancy caught us off guard. She actually took the time to ask three follow-up questions — no one dares to do this kneeling before the Boy King — to bore in past his bland, circular and incoherent blahs to expose the man behind the curtain.
McCain may mistake a factoid here or there. The Boy King simply doesn’t have an overall clue. He is a marionnette reciting rote from others. Is this a danger? Possibly. Remember what everyone said about the Warlord in 2000? It was OK. Look, he is surrounding himself with adults like Cheney and General Jello.
No matter which parasites attach to the Boy King paternally (Scowcroft and his progeny or Zbig’s intellectual heirs (or God forbid, Tony Lake’s castrated idiots)) the Boy King still will be a danger to us all. The calculation remains how much so.
The real question increasingly to us to weight the two. How much would a McCain presidency, with all the banner and photo-ops as Warlord Mk II –and thus completely outside the pale — really be that? Versus a shallow, inexperienced Boy King who could one day possibly fulfill the messianic hopes of his multitudes, or leave the Nation in ruins simply by another route.
Earlier this year it was an easy answer. Annoyance at his premature anointment by psychopathic self-promoters ala Huffington and elements of the narcissistic Left — in the end, trivial. McCain? A non-factor. And long time readers know what that really means. A non-trivial decision.
Now, here in the bunker it well may be moving to a toss up. Not there yet, but the trend line is ticking up. Roger Mudd famously asked another vaunted, vacant Harvard grad (and similarly savior of the Liberal Cause) “Why do you want to be President?” The famous answer: “um, well . . . (other inarticulate noises)”. At least we got a good speech out of it all at the Convention: “The dream shall never die . . .” etc.
The Boy King is one of two choices. What Couric exposed by the rare follow-up does little to reassure us. It’s still his to lose. Let’s just see what he does in the second half.
(As for Olbermann, to us he has become unwatchable, his teleological purpose spent. If we need that *kind* of cant but at reduced multimedia db levels we will simply watch the network news).
Comment says
McCain probably did not realize he made a mistake. Couric and all them grant him indulgence on this type of stuff because they have assigned “foreign policy expertise” to his narrative and they assigned “change and hope” to Barack.
In any event – This kind of nit picking will drive McCain nuts. He thinks he is being henpecked by the media.
Comment says
Just a note – Olberman has many swings and misses – but he definately hit a real one last night reporting on Katie Couric covering up for McCain’s timeline gaffe re Anbar awakening.
This is a huge problem for McCain and it’s not clear how he’ll deal with being caught in his mistakes since he is used to getting away with factual errors for many years.
McCain had a great appearance on Conan last Friday (his best format) – but he has to drop his ridiculous habit of getting righteous when Obama is mocked mildly in a semi-inappropraite mannner (Cunningham NYer cover etc) and then leveling treason-esque charges in his town meetings.
McCain should also ditch that slob Goldfarb from his campaign – McCain is not personally confortable demagoging the Holocaust and Yad Vashem – so he now obviously wants to escape reporters questions about Goldfarb’s recent missive.
Yeah – that bad cop stuff has some limits – it would have been better if Goldfarb pitched that stuff from a third party, but he can’t help himself.
Anon says
On the decline of SNL:
http://bloggingheads.tv/diavlogs/12720?in=00:14:13&out=00:26:12
Leo – as you know, we have often noted the decline of SNL. We have various theories why it is now so bad (Tweeety thinks it’a brilliant), but none set in stone.
A Random Quote says
“Unfortunately for the New Yorker, the {Obamas] cartoon misfired. Blow-ups are likely to be as pandemic in right-wing dorms this fall as were posters of “Che” Guevara in left-wing dorms in the 1970s.”
~Pat Buchanan
(In a moment of brief optimism)
Anon says
Ohh – and she’s smart too …
Dr Leo Strauss says
Tweety’s fantasy made real:
Erin Burnett signs up for another contract:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/20/business/media/20erin.html?_r=2&ref=business&pagewanted=all&oref=slogin
Comment says
The guy Doocy is a piece of work. We did have to laugh one time when we saw Brian Kilmeade (Doocys co-host) grill Janeane Garafalo for her refusal to grant the Iraqis liberation.
DrLeoStrauss says
Gabler should know all about this given his time at Fox. The Times should not adopt Dukakis-esque refusal to respond, although it should choose how and also if possible, via other surrogates.
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003823885
Anon says
re Narrative control and Gabler – They edited out his use of the word “so-called” to describe certain supposedd liberals like Chris Matthews – They also edited out “alleged” – Even in an opion piece, they felt they had to force Gabler to describe people according to precise categories:
http://www.dailyhowler.com/dh070108.shtml
Comment says
Didn’t mean to comment on Dole’s actual service – since we respect that very much (just as we admire and respect our father’s role in the same war, along with many uncles in bothe threaters.) Was just talking about how the media creates catagories for their various narratives and how the honor a double standard for Republicans v Democrats on the issue – going back to Kennedy, thru McGovern and on and on and on. It’s odd because it’s often an example of the liberal media people acting against their own pov. Just as Gabler noted.
DrLeoStrauss says
One can not make light of Dole’s service. One, he nearly died in combat. Two, he nearly died in the hospital. Three, he was saved by Japanese Americans freed from the FDR/Earl Warren unconstitutional ‘detention/concentration camp’ dark stain (and became one of the best combat units in the European theater) and finally, his arm every day is a reminder of what he endured and every pot smoking Che loving Mao-t shirt wearing punk at Brown could never comprehend.
Similarly, McCain’s military background is not defined by his incarceration. To the extent the Crowned One plays the Warlord and pretends to be above the clumsy attack by his surrogates proves yet again there is less and less CHANGE his people demand and more and more ‘it’s our turn’ restoration behind all the noise.
It would be refreshing for the Crowned One to treat this moment ala Ferraro and simply banish the idiot. But he is too callow, selfish and immature to do so and his handlers wouldn’t allow it.
I guess when you are a ‘COMMUNITY ORGANIZER’ (whatever the hell that is) all sins are forgiven.
Comment says
We do think the media is very dependent on over-emphasizing the importance of McCain’s military record. It’s part of their narrative schema. They will punish anyone who tries to tear away at that. They like McCain to be, like Dole, in their own little box of older-guys-to-be-respected-because-they-play-a-Dad-like-role-of-sorts. Interesting too that both Dole and McCain have certain kind of funny but dated sarcasm that people in the press find ‘classic.’ Obama knows this – this is why he has publicly honored McCain thousands of times and will not ever publicly defend the technical aspects of what Clark said. Can you imagine if someone tried to swift boat Dole’s ww2 service? The press would have gone nuts – But lately Dole has been too righteous for his own good: He just attacked poor Scott McClellan for his small whistleblowing – yet Dole himself cashed in on his long ties to Big Pharma lobbies by becoming an impotence pill salesman. At least Scott wrote a book.
Comment says
recall GHWB 92 – “message: I care” or “read my hips” – McCain has already had similar moments that the press has not highlighted. But they will. It’s building. One of the reasons Tweety lies about Obama is that he is trying, in his own way, to be balanced – – BUt he really does not kow how – So he lies, incorporating the faux-sociology of his adopted personality. He knows nothing about the issues (It would be funny if someone like Leno or anyone gave Tweety a pop quiz on the basics of each candidates various plans and then watch him fall on his face on TV – )
DrLeoStrauss says
All too true about Wes. He should stick to the rubber chicken dinner speech circuit and fade away gracefully. Clinging is never pretty.
Andrea Mitchell also needs to retire. She is worn out in all senses of the word, including the increasingly strident efforts to maintain her relevance. Her inside Kalorama chit chat was relevant really only because Alan might have had stomach gas. Heaven forbid he left his brief case at home by accident, causing CNBC to flip out. Or as a sieve collecting information in the wake of the larger marine mammal. (In that role, not a bad investment by NBC. Yet a new day is upon us).
Agree too re McCain. That whole crowd has GHWB 92/Dole 96 written all over it. The stench at least.
Comment says
Basically the whole political day was spent on that stupid non controversy.
We predict this will be a net negative for McCain – Obama, very cleverly, says he will not question McCain’s patriotism – This is the kind of audacity the McCain people, quite frankly, regard as uppity (as well as presumptuous). Obviously McCain was planning a barely coded campaign of “normal people” (Tweety white) againt Obama as an “exotic” double secret communist secret Muslim flag lapel metal melter.
We doubt McCain has the finesse to pull it off.
1.) He is already on record denoouncing the Swift Boaters in 2004. We saw that callow Tucker Carlson – unsmiling and unhappy – almost choked on his non existant bow-tie tonigt over that. Tucker secretly fetishizes the Swiftys as some sort of platonic ideal of working class smear artists because they helped to undermine the idea that Kerry, someone in Tucker’s general social class, could do what Tucker would never do. It’s all personal with Tucker , deeply insecure fraud that he is.
Anyway – we predict in the coming weeks Obama’s people will semi-succesfully question the sincerity of McCain’s lame psuh back againt Clark for precisely the reason McCain is already on record for denouncing the swiftys that he now depends on to salve his wounded ego.
We also think their are embarassing audio tapes of McCain bragging about awful things on the straight talk express in 2000, and we wouldn’t be surprised if McCain has some more negative surprise.
Kerry will now be allowed a smug moment now that he has pretext to point out that he came to the defense of McCain over the Manchurian candidate smears.
All this hurts McCain because he can’t stand the impertinence (the uppityness) of Obama and his clique – even if McCain wins on points. That’s why is scowling all the time. Obama ran rings around him at the Latino elected official conference – He gave a broad well roundes speech and engaged the audience, McCain went into defaul GOP-speaking-to-minority-banality mode. He is off his game. He’s pissed.
Obama should take him up on his offer to go with him to Iraq, but on one condition: Obama gets to use Lindsey Graham as a valet too.
Comment says
Only Italians can pull of the art of calling people “brilliant” and “geniuses” just to be polite.
Comment says
Btw – we very much doubt Clark was gonna be chosen as VP anyway. But Jay Carney shaking his MSM head at how this will hurt his chances is just a joke – Btw, just a side note to Andrea Mitchell – stop calling Michelle Obama “brilliant” – MO is above the average person in intelligence and pretty well educated. Andrea is likely smarter than Michelle, so her compliments come off as prophalctic patronizing – Michelle is a compelling speaker in many ways and she knows how to deploy her impressive physique in her advocacy. But “brilliant” ? Like Wozniak? Or maybe Edward Teller?
Comment says
We just tuned into Jay Carney shaking his head in shock at Gen. Clark’s unartful attack. Etc – These people are all a joke.
Comment says
Oh – we forgot our original point – All day long, we’ve hear teaser-clips on cable news that Wesley Clark “attacked” McCain’s military service. A New Swift Boat attack!!! But no elaboration – we missed some of the Sunday shows, so we were puzzled and not near a computer. But the news kept up with this tease. We wondered what Clark said – Clark is sort of a political doofus and he does not hide his dangerous lean and hungry ambition too well – so we just assumed he dusted off the same old smears Paul Weyrich and others alligned with Mitt used in the past – ie McCain is a Manchurian candidate who was not in solitary confinement in Nam, but was spirited out in Commie Comfort to be traines as a long term agent of influece – This all happened (according to the smear) either just before ior just after McCain lost his honor. Etc.
Alas – Clark just stated the obvious – getting shot down and surviving prison does not necessarily make one good at political leadership and public policy _ – Clark did not even get creative and speculate how McCain may be fighting Nam in his own mind in Iraq – He did not even repeat the kind of smears Rush leveled at McCain all those times.
But the McCain people reacted – not with clever sarcastic riposte and some mocking of Clark and Obama – But they got very defensive, all huffy — over nothing!
But the media was misleading all day long – ginning up a bogus controversy – McCain has many attributes we admire — he is tenacious and has a good sense of humor – But he is not worldly – Rather, he is Blimpish and oafish w/ regard to foreign policy – and he has simplist bulldog ignorance about the Wogs east of Suez.
Comment says
Sometimes its just amazing to realize how misleading cable “news” is – All of them. FNC continues to purposely misquote Barack and Michelles already problematic gaffes – so does the presumably pro Obama Tweety. This indicates to us a lack of confidence and some insincerity inherent in the critiqe – But it’s more a reflection of laziness and a fear of complexity and a contempt for the audience. Since there are plenty of legitimate avenues for attack. Afterall, Obama’s experience is pretty limited (paper route, law review, Presidential candidate) and Michelle is a gaffe machine and some of the personal insecurities she accidentally reveals in her Princeton thesis offer up plenty of avenues of indirect attack for even the most unsubtle oppo minds. Alas, McCain seems hopeless — He constantly looks like he needs to change his Depends adult diapers when he speaks = He frowns all the time, he is getting indignant of the smallest slights – real and perceived. After all his campaigns, he still can’t deliver a stump speech as well as Dubya – our worst orator since LBJ. Lazy!
Comment says
We just tuned onto c-span Lamb interview of Bob Shrum about his book “no excuses.” Shrum spends an hour offering excuses for losing all his elections (while getting rich) and explaining why it’s not important that Kerry’s line X did not work or why Dukakis line Y did not work etc. Sad.
Comment says
Damm those typos above – Anyway – what we meant was that we have truly entered the Larry Johnson phase – That’s our Epoch.
Comment says
re Olberman has maxed out on the absence of opposition that occured on the way to War. That’s the sum of his offering. He is different, IMO, than others who oppose in the sense that he is not really interested in policy. He is upset and his watchers are upset. He wants Justice. That’s all.
Comment says
re Greenwald V Olberman – we think that Greenwald has his “salon” gameface on and he is so used to positive respones from his (actually well written, imo) jerimaids against the neocons, the Isreali lobby, the right wingers, and the MSM that he forgets that no one cares that much about right or wrong. His yelling no more, no less, than that obnoxious ad woman from Move On saying “Hi John McCain.this is Alex … if you want to stay in Iraq for 100 years … you can’t have him:
Comment says
re “looks-French” preconditions – Yes, we recall “cheese eating surrender monkeys” from Jonah Goldberg – quoting the Simpsons (who wrote that line we do not know). But it was a joke from the beginning made people who never served a day in the effing cub scouts to mock the French (120,000 dead in 6 weeks agains the whermacht). It was truly a notch on the declinist flagpole.
Comment says
Comment is second to none in his general chauvanistic love for America, but we have always been amused by the Francophobia on the right – Since we sensed the appeal of such phobia when we first came into contact with the undeniable facts of French civilization.
Their Francophobia is rooted so much in the sense (correct) that France is extremely civilized and carries on much of what their rightist mook-filled ranks claim to love.
Deep within, they are all Tweetys and they know it – They also loathed the veteran Chirac precisely because he was what they were not/
Btw – Comment met Crowley shortly after her middling “Nixon In Winter” book and we found her to be careerist thru and thru. She was very much like the Obama of her imagination. We know plenty of people like her – deeply insecure about their inconsequential academic degrees.
re Lew Lehrman – flashback – hitting baseballs in Yankee stadium. An ineffective, but memorable campaign commercial
Dr Leo Strauss says
Good points all. Crowley’s PhD so far is a token credential to grant her sufficient status veneer for promotion within the AgitProp Circle of Life. She has the advantage/disadvantage of being telegenic off camera as well as on. Yet according to the Stiftung’s on air friends at Fox, she is by all accounts pleasant and without much if any affectation.
My thought re Dowd and Klein — they are like the 70s arena rock bands left behind first by punk, then New Wave, then MTV/hair, then rap/hip hop, and then alternative (the netroots). The analogy is that the CDs produced by these ancient relics are released largely only in Starbucks. Otherwise, their past glories are already elevator music carefully selected to soothe a greying demographic but are not willing to concede it in public (and in private rage against the sunset).
The French thing took root long before Kerry. When we were on the Hill, around OSD, in the Executive, etc. anyone who opposed the Warlord during the Run Up (such as Chirac or de Villepin, etc.) were “Cheese eating surrender monkeys” — the actual words of contempt we heard dozens and dozens of times from the Jonah Goldbergs of the world. (At least Grover has held an AK-47 if briefly when he presented Savimbi a copy of the U.S. Constitution along with Lewis Lehrman of the suspender belts).
In Leninist terms, the preconditions were in place to activate the “French Looking” AgitProp by 2004.
All of this is why we have always supported and cheer the netroots. Classical liberalism can only be revived if the rot is sheered away. The netroots are unfortunately on the verge of becoming a caricature of themselves.
For example, the Olbermann Greenwald flap is utterly uninteresting. Why? Because it is an exchange of ignorance. Greenwald discovered FISA in 2004 or 2005 as we recall, and Olbermann whenever it entered the blogosphere.
The only thing we lack? For Larry Johnson to get involved. Then we all can be certain that universe indeed has a wicked sense of humor.
Comment says
We do recall the “French-looking” tag seemed to germinate w the neocon chickenhawks like Taranto and found fertle ground w the likes of Jonah etc. Ofcourse it took off with the pseudo-lib media like Tweety and Dowd. The moniker was well designed as a psychological palliative for a certain kind of boomer war avoider who likes, as a grown person, to rubble unserious countries.
The seed corn of that very damaging Francophobia notion came froma French publication that said Kerry looked French.
France is now popular w/ the right with their hot headed Sarkozi and nuclear power – But most people oon the right who support nuclear power (as does Comment) really only care about it because it annoys their friends from Brown and Cambridge etc. They don’t really know or care about it. It’s all BS like McCain’s supposed advocacy of off shore drilling
Comment says
Just an aside – Kraft was right to ponder that question – But just as Tom Wolfe practicing New Journalism is far different than the Tweety’s derivative inventing quotes to fit a cookie-cutter narrative – We think Kraft was qualified to probe in ways others are not and it’s also a bit out of date.
We think the MSM is more liberal than the gen public *claims* to be on social issues. But by the same token, they are further to right on free trade and they are more impressed with the idea of bombing people to send a message. It’s a mixed bag.
Russert was light years ahead of Tweety as a person, but his flaw was misplaced respect and deference to people in power. He nodded along as Serious Men like Cheney lied to his face and sent men off to kill and die. Maybe the proper analogue would be the many credulous well meaning reporters in Beantown who regarded Cardinal Law with a presumption of respect for all those years he was running his fiefdom wickedly.
Comment says
An example of Dowd “jumping the shark” with her stupid, over-used Dems/Mommy GOP/Daddy dichotomy was her recent reference to Grey Davis as androgynous. This was her lazy and contemptible attempt to paint the exotic Governator as more normal than the grey Grey – (who happened to be a Vietnam Vet, unlike Dowds brothers or her friends)
But what makes it contempatble is that Dowd is always trashing the side she likely votes for – She is part of the Tweety “Recipe for Sadness” set. Dowd has become co-dependent on heaping scorn on people she voted for and she mainstains a masochist relationship with some dubious Republican characters she darkly admires
Comment says
Yes – we agee with Gabler in parts – But he has to give it some more thought. Joe Klein’s pseud quality is very different than Tweety even though they are associated in ways. Tweety’s pedestrian mind is insecure in different ways than the more intelligent, more creative Klein.
Tweety tries to prove his wisdom, knowledge, and intelligence – Klein is always trying to show he is cool – an honorary Irishman, just like Fineman
In many respects – all the culprits Gabler lists are people who project their own insecurities on to the candidates. This is not limited to liberals – We just heard Monica Crowley on McLaughlin embellish Obama’s ‘bittergate’ quote by falsely saying he used the word “redneck.” Crowley is far more likely to use the term “redneck” than Obama and the chance Obama would use it semi-public is less than zero. Crowley is part of the PhD haute-bourgeois class that she pretends to disdain and on some level she is alienated from the working classes she fetishizes. Like her old boss she loves/loathes them.
It’s impolite to say, but Dowd columns are obviously a byproduct of her life – The good and the bad. Her gal friday shtick is past becoming old – she is no longer patronized by Poppy or ogled by the City Room guys or read by feminists. Her pop culture refs bore intellectuals and her Cliffs Notes Shakespeare probably causes Leon & Co to gaffaw behind her back. She is viewed as some sort of relic by the younger set – occasionally useful, but hardly admirable. The Obama people from Chicago regard with amused/annoyed contempt. She knows that – so she broods alone w/ her cats in her (literally) JFK townhouse waiting for the ghost of Scotty Reston or Krock to come by and tell her the old days are coming back.