The Rally To Do Something

Ann Althouse points out the flaw in the mainstream press reporting about the rallies being held by Stewart and Colbert this weekend -- the numbers may not add up on how many people they claim will show up.

My number one hope is that they have enough Port-A-Potties, particularly since a lot of them will probably be reserved for use by the Marine Corps Marathon earlier in the day.  Other than that, I'm going to do what most Americans over 26 will be doing -- ignoring the mass of humanity, living my life, and waiting till Election Day to register my distaste for the policies of the Adminstration.

Jon Stewart Kinda Sorta Grills Obama

Everyone's discussing the President's appearance on the Daily Show last night.  Dana Milbank is pretty annoyed about Jon Stewart referring to the President as "dude", but whatever -- this was the most substantive interview Obama's had since Bret Baier grilled him during the Obamacare debate.  As for the "dude" reference, it's bad form, but Obama set up that prospect -- every time the President pops up on a comedy show, the stature of the office drops a bit.  Over at the Baltimore Sun, David Zuwarik's review is just as tough...

During the last half of the show, though, Stewart asked informed and substantive questions that put the president on the defensive. In fact, the questions took the interview to a depth rarely explored on television. What was so revealing, however, about this portion of the show for me was not Obama's predictable "we-inherited-all-the-trouble" rhetoric as he tried to defend his failures, but what a dogmatic leftist critique of Obama's presidency Stewart clearly embraces.


Maybe I was deluding myself because I like the intelligence of Stewart's humor, but I really believed he had a more balanced and centrist take on American life. If the White House was looking for the court jester and mouthpiece of the folks senior White House officials described as the "professional left," they found him. He was sitting across from the president Wednesday night prodding him with all the White House had not done.


And that's the difference, isn't it? The right feels Obama has done way too much without thinking it through -- call it the the cash-for-clunkers style of governing with massive and misguided social programs. The left, meanwhile, thinks he hasn't done enough. He didn't bring the British or Canadian model of health care to America overnight, for example. I think Stewart actually mentioned Canadian healthcare somewhere in his questioning Wednesday.


But he never once seemed to be able to even conceive of a question that would come at the president from right of center -- or even center-center. Think how enriched this interview would have been by even one question from right of center asking about unintended consequences or huge federal spending programs that came nowhere near doing what Obama had promised they would.


The first half of the show wasn't pretty -- in fact, at its worst moments, it almost reminded me a little of Sean Hannity interviewing Sarah Palin during the 2008 election on Fox News.

I think Stewart's a pretty good interviewer, but he has an advantage in that he can ask questions in a manner that real journalists are not allowed to use -- he can actively mock the subject if he so chooses, but also engage the subject from a partisan point of view. He doesn't always do so -- his tonguebathing of John Kerry in 2004 stands out in my meory of a case where he was dealing with a humor-challenged douchebag and backed off on any attempt to conduct an in-depth interview.

But my favorite take on the interview comes from Jonah Goldberg...

What’s interesting — and obvious by my lights — is that Obama barely even noticed the “dude.” He was stung by the fact that Stewart — and the audience — clearly busted the president saying something politically very stupid. Saying that Summers did a “heckuva job” — on the Daily Show! — was a real blunder. Obama is clearly embarrassed that he got busted saying it. And rather than laugh with the audience and at himself he says, entirely unconvincingly, “pun intended.”


No it wasn’t. For the record, it wasn’t even a pun


But Obama’s ego couldn’t let him take it on the chin. So he in effect said “I meant to do that” with that “pun intended” line. It was defensive and lame.

This goes to something I've always believed about our 44th President -- his ego prevents him from laughing at himself.  A self-deprecating sense of humor is something that eludes certain politicians, and Obama misses the chance to poke fun at himself too often for it to be a coincidence, particularly when things aren't going well.  And they aren't going well right now.

And by the way, if Bush had said "Pun intended" when referring to a non-pun, both Stewart and the liberal blogosphere would have jumped on the chance to mock him.

Start Your Shopping!

Friend of the blog CB sends us the latest in great offerings at Amazon.  I know what I want for Christmas -- illustrated stories from the Bible!

What Annoying Song Is Stuck In My Head Today?

If I need to suffer with a song stuck in my head, why shouldn't you have to do the same? Sometimes they're good, most times they're bad... but no matter what, they make you suffer. So I like to share the suffering whenever it happens.

 Loyal reader ST mentioned that Glee did an episode around The Rocky Horror Picture Show the other day. 'Nuff said. One of the weirdest movies ever, although Tim Curry and Barry Bostwick were terrific in the weirdest roles of their respective careers. I would say the same for Susan Sarandon, but she later picked the role of Tim Robbins' significant other, which is probably weirder.



You're welcome.

October Non-Surprise

I'm shocked, shocked that Charlie Crist, Bill Clinton, and the White House were apparently working on a backroom deal to get Kendrick Meek to drop out of the Florida Senate race and endorse Crist so as to beat Marco Rubio...

Bill Clinton sought to persuade Rep. Kendrick Meek to drop out of the race for Senate during a trip to Florida last week — and nearly succeeded.


Meek agreed — twice — to drop out and endorse Gov. Charlie Crist’s independent bid in a last-ditch effort to stop Marco Rubio, the Republican nominee who stands on the cusp of national stardom.


...Crist also confirmed the planned scenario Thursday night, telling MSNBC's Keith Olbermann: "I had numerous phone calls with people very close to President Clinton."


...Clinton campaigned with Meek in Florida on Oct. 19 and 20, and thought he had won Meek over. But as the week wore on, Meek lost his enthusiasm for the arrangement, spurred in part, a third Democratic source said, by his wife’s belief that he could still win the race. Clinton spoke with Meek again at week’s end, three Democrats said, and again Meek said he would drop out.


The Crist, Meek and Clinton camps even set a date for an endorsement rally: the following Tuesday, Oct. 26. Meek was to give Crist his blessing and explain to his disappointed supporters — many of whom deeply distrust the governor, who was elected as a Republican — that their votes could save the Senate for the Democrats and save America from the rise of Rubio, who is viewed both as a hard-line conservative and a potential national figure.

Meek is denying this strenuously, while Crist is saying he talked to the White House about it (although in classic weasely fashion, the Orange Goblin won't tell anyone who he spoke with at the White House).  A fee thoughts...

1.  Love Instapundit's headline that he took from Drudge.

2.  In a similar vein, Michael Steele gets to kinda sorta toss out the race card, in a way where he can plausibly deny it.  Beautifully done, by a guy who hasn't been all that adept in other circumstances.

3.  I would like to be angry about it... but let's face it, this should have been expected.  It's the smart political ploy for the Dems, since there's no way they can beat Rubio in a three-way race.  Slick Willie has a personal connection with Meek, and has already carried the water for a similar attempt with Joe Sestak in the spring.  The White House is desperate to stem the loss of at least 6 seats in the Senate (likely estimate is between 7 and 9) by grabbing the GOP seat of Mel Martinez.  Charlie Crist would probably give Iran nuclear material if it would help him to win this election, so cutting Kendrick Meek off at the knees isn't unexpected.

4.  Meek's wife is now my candidate for most unlikely conservative hero of the midterms.  This despite the fact that she's completely nuts if she thinks her husband has a chance to win. 

5.  Bubba has now confirmed the story to CNN, which is pretty much the signal that the Dems are tossing Meek to the wolves.  Meek's getting killed by friendly fire since he chose not to give up.  Nice.

6.  The play is probably too late.  Rubio's office correctly points to the fact that tons of voters have already cast ballots; even if the polls are correct that Rubio's lead has narrowed to 7% in the last week, Crist would need to pull at least 48% of the remaining votes, and probably more, to get a win.  If Meek is still in the race, it's hard for me to believe his numbers will plummet below 10%, giving Crist little room for error. 

7.  Imagine if Meek decides to respond, per Allahpundit's suggestion, by dropping the race card himself.  Even better -- imagine if Meek follows the Sestak model and claims Clinton offered him a job to drop out and said the offer came from the White House. The House investigation of the Sestak situation next year will need to prepare some new subpoenas.  Imagine the number of lawyers that would be employed.  Do it, Congressman Meek -- you'll be creating more jobs than Obama's policies.

8.  Anyone else surprised at the intensity of the White House's fear of Marco Rubio?  Maybe we should start printing Rubio for President signs.

9.  Before someone asks, as slimy as all this is, I'm not sure the slime factor will adversely impact Crist enough to beat him all by itself.  People tend not to worry about such issues too much, although it's possible it wuld make a difference in a local race.

10.  Politico noted that Dems may need to worry about lowering African-American participation by sending Meek to the bunch.  Not a good thing when they're trying to grab the Governor's chair to be vacated by Crist and defending several House seats.

Yeah, Sure, Blame The Costume

Friend of the blog MS sends along this link to Halloween Costumes that won't get you laid.  The One Night Stand wins my vote for worst costume pun ever.

I'm Not An Elitist, Although I Play One On TV

The blogosphere is having a big debate about elites and their role in society.  It started with Ron Brownsetin at National Journal and Jon Chait at The New Republic lamenting what the left sees as improper climate change skepticism by conservatives here in the U.S., whereas conservatives in other Western nations, particularly in Europe, are far more willing to accept the case for climate change.  Ross Douthat demolishes Chait's belief that the predominance of libertarian economic dogma in U.S. politics is the driving force.  As Douthat accurately notes, the real reason for more skepticism among American politicians is because American democracy is far more responsive to the people -- and in both Europe and the United States, the populace at large are equally skeptical about the case for climate change.

This led to a bit of honesty from Ezra Klein, followed by the usual tripe...

This isn't a very popular statement, but there is a role for elites in public life. Just like I want knowledgeable CEOs running companies and knowledgeable doctors performing surgeries, I want knowledgeable legislators crafting public policy. That's why we have a representative democracy, rather than some form of government-by-referendum. But of late, the elites in the Republican Party are abdicating their roles, preferring to pander to the desire for free tax cuts and the hostility to Al Gore than make tough and potentially unpopular decisions to safeguard our future.

Forget the last sentence, which is the usual hyperbole of liberal certainty that they're right and conservatives are just denying reality by refusing to agree.  The first three sentences are a fascinating way of summarizing modern-day liberal governance.  Jim Manzi's response is fantastic and worth reading in full, but here's a great excerpt...

Bill Buckley famously said that he “would rather by governed by the first 2,000 names in the Boston telephone directory than by the Harvard faculty.” So would I. But I would rather fly in an airplane with wings designed by one competent aeronautical engineer than one with wings designed by a committee of the first 20,000 names of non-engineers in the Boston phonebook. The value of actual expertise in a technical field like wing design outweighs the advantages offered by incorporating multiple points of view.


The essential Progressive belief that Klein expresses in undiluted form is that crafting public policy through legislation is a topic for which, in simplified terms, the benefits of expertise outweigh the benefits of popular contention. Stated more cautiously, this would be the belief that the institutional rules of the game should be more heavily tilted toward expert opinion on many important topics than they are in the U.S. today.


This would be a lot more compelling if the elites didn’t have such a terrible track record of producing social interventions that work.

Bingo.

Let's start with an admission.  Look, I love the Tea Party's energy, I love its ideas, I love its objectives, I love its candidates (by and large), and I love the fact Tea Party adherents are by and large bracingly honest.  This is a citizen movement where citizens are actually demanding better, and participating more.  That's a good thing in just about every way.  At the same time, I'm someone who is wary of populism, and the Tea Party is a populist movement, even if it's the rare movement that is both populist and largely libertarian.

But I'd rather live in a country governed by Tea Party populists than Ivy League elitists.

This is not a rebellion against expert opinion so much as a belief that experts are far more likely to be inflexible and more convinced of their own brilliance, without a real world appreciation of why their approach may create more problems.  In addition, since the experts are so brilliant, I'd rather have them convincing the non-expert leaders than the non-experts trying to convince the experts why they are wrong.   Megan McArdle says this to some degree as well, but I think it really is the key for my own preference.

As for the public's preference... look, democracy can be a bitch, because you're stuck with the decisions of an electorate that by and large may not pay attention to what's going on enough to be able to agree with your brilliant idea.  But if you're so smart that you can solve all of the problems, you should be smart enough to convince your fellow citizens of your brilliance. 

One More Less Than Stellar Career Choice

The folks at Xtra Normal are becoming must-see. 



(hat tip: Instapundit) Nice idea for the Tea Party, too -- I'm thinking it probably is a good idea to start defunding college humanities departments.

Please Let It Be True

I think everyone on the right wants Barney Frank to lose, but none of us believe it will happen, which is a shame, because his challenger is a 35 year-old Marine Corps officer who used to run a $100 million robotics program.   The race is close enough that Frank's boyfriend is out heckling the challenger.  However, none of us think it will actually happen, even if the challenger, Sean Bielat, released internal polls showing he is within the margin of error.

Internal polls are inherently flawed, so it's worth taking it with a grain of salt.  But Allapundit comes up with a good analogy on why conservatives really want to believe the King of Fannie and Freddie is vulnerable...

An internal poll showing one of the architects of the subprime meltdown in mortal peril of losing is like hearing from a friend of a friend of a friend that the cutest girl in school digs you. Deep down you don’t really believe it, but you want to believe it so badly that you’re ready to tell everyone.

Hey, once in awhile, the friends were telling the truth, weren't they? Well, not my friends, but maybe one of you had a friend who was. In any case, let's hope the wave is big enough next week that it washes Barney Frank into retirement.

Somebody Has Way Too Much Time On His Hands

If someone was capable of time travel, why would they travel back in time to 1928 using a cellphone that wasn't even hands-free?

Then again, if time travel is possible, maybe Eric Stoltz can go back in time and fix his comic timing so he doesn't get dumped out of the lead in Back to the Future.

History's Greatest Monster Is Back

I would say Jimmy Carter has descended into lunacy, but this would assume he wasn't a nut before this.  He would have beaten Reagan if not for John Anderson?  That's like Mondale saying he would have beaten Reagan if Minnesota was the only state in the Union.  The revisionist history is so moronic that I find it hard to believe that even someone as filled with self-love as Mr. Malaise would believe it. 

I know I've said it before, but I loathe Carter almost as much as I loathe the Dallas Cowboys.  Yeah, I know the popular take -- he's America's greatest ex-President.  For a different take, see this.  Or the following clip...

What Annoying Song Is Stuck In My Head Today?

If I need to suffer with a song stuck in my head, why shouldn't you have to do the same? Sometimes they're good, most times they're bad... but no matter what, they make you suffer. So I like to share the suffering whenever it happens.
It's an annoying song, but it's also a pretty good tune -- Buble's got a pretty good voice, and the upbeat tune is only annoying because it's guaranteed to get stuck in my head.  But I have to give them credit for filming a video that's almost perfectly out of the 1980's.


You're welcome.

You Mean Charlie Sheen Didn't Make The List

Jon Stewart is apparently the Most Influential Man in America.  Good news, Jon -- this means you should be responsible for fixing the country and making it better.  Hey, I don't care if you're just running a comedy show -- if you don't use your influence to fix the economy, you're hurting America.

When You Lose David Brooks...

David Brooks, the New York Times in-house "conservative" whose relationship with President Obama was once described as a courtship, looks like he's breaking things off with the President.  I'm not sure if this qualifies as the "it's not you, it's me" speech or not...

When times get tough, it’s really important to believe in yourself. This is something the Democrats have done splendidly this year. The polls have been terrible, and the party may be heading for a historic defeat, but Democrats have done a magnificent job of maintaining their own self-esteem. This is vital, because even if the public doesn’t approve of you, it is important to approve of yourself.


...Democrats are lagging this year because the country appears incapable of appreciating the grandeur of their accomplishments. That’s because, as several commentators have argued over the past few weeks, many Americans are nearsighted and ill-informed. Or, as President Obama himself noted last week, they get scared, and when Americans get scared they stop listening to facts and reason. They get all these crazy ideas in their heads, like not wanting to re-elect Blanche Lincoln.


The Democrats’ problem, as some senior officials have mentioned, is that they are so darn captivated by substance, it never occurs to them to look out for their own political self-interest. By they way, here’s a fun party game: Get a bottle of vodka and read Peter Baker’s article “The Education of President Obama” from The New York Times Magazine a few weeks ago. Take a shot every time a White House official is quoted blaming Republicans for the Democrats’ political plight. You’ll be unconscious by page three.

Well, Brooks has finally joined the rest of us in needing a drink after watching this Administration's economic policies.  Meanwhile, if the President needs to fell better about getting dumped...

The Left Starts To Descend Into Incoherence

You stay classy, Joy Behar.



Oh, wait, you never were classy. Or intelligent. Allahpundit's got a good point...

What makes it noteworthy is less the clip itself than what it portends for the next 168 hours: We are, after all, now seven short days away from Election Day, which means Refudiation Week has officially begun. And needless to say, as the reality of the wave crashes in, I suspect we’re going to see some mighty interesting coping mechanisms playing out among among liberals. Pelosi’s already entered some sort of Queeg-ian fugue state of denial, and last night on Twitter Olbermann was promising a 20-minute mega-special comment rant tomorrow about the tea party. By the end of the week I expect Bob Beckel to be weeping openly on-air and near-hourly references to 1933 Germany on MSNBC. And that’s just the next week; imagine what the reaction will be like next Wednesday after the results are in.

I'll worry about that when we get to next Wednesday. But here's hoping that we get there with the promise of sheer insanity from the Left intact.

We Have A New Contender For Dumbest Idea Of The Year

In a year full of rally dumb Democratic ideas, you have to give credit when you find the stupidest one.  I'd almost welcome an impeachment hearing where Roberts could testify, so I could watch Roberts verbally annihilate this idiot.

What Annoying Song Is Stuck In My Head Today?

If I need to suffer with a song stuck in my head, why shouldn't you have to do the same? Sometimes they're good, most times they're bad... but no matter what, they make you suffer. So I like to share the suffering whenever it happens.

The song needs no real introduction -- it just kicks ass. I will say that the hairdos are proof positive that everyone in the 1970's was using way too many drugs.



You're welcome.

The Dead Have Risen From The Grave... And They Have No Taste In Retail

I'm not even trying to figure this one out, although I'm pretty sure I have seen a couple braindead sales people at Sears (hat tip: Jonah Goldberg).

Writers I Enjoy

God bless P.J. O'Rourke, whose has the ability to fire off political humor that is funny because it's (at least partially) true...

Perhaps you’re having a tiny last minute qualm about voting Republican. Take heart. And take the House and the Senate. Yes, there are a few flakes of dander in the fair tresses of the GOP’s crowning glory—an isolated isolationist or two, a hint of gold buggery, and Christine O’Donnell announcing that she’s not a witch. (I ask you, has Hillary Clinton ever cleared this up?) Fret not over Republican peccadilloes such as the Tea Party finding the single, solitary person in Nevada who couldn’t poll ten to one against Harry Reid. Better to have a few cockeyed mutts running the dog pound than Michael Vick.


I take it back. Using the metaphor of Michael Vick for the Democratic party leadership implies they are people with a capacity for moral redemption who want to call good plays on the legislative gridiron. They aren’t. They don’t.

As an Eagles fan, I'm perfectly willing to consider Michael Vick a more admirable figure than Harry Reid.

We Are Disfunctional

Robert Samuelson's column on dysfunction in American politics is well worth a read.  Although part of me still wonders why it's "dysfunction" and not "disfunction."