There are few certainties in politics, but Democratic congressman Alan Grayson will not be returning to Congress after the next election. Grayson is one of the Democrats that swept into office on the back of Obama and the anti-Republican sentiment in 2008. Grayson seems to have accepted his fate, becoming one of the most despicable demagogues on the Hill.
The combative Bronx-born congressman and Harvard-educated lawyer took to the floor of the House of Representatives last week, shocking the few Republicans within earshot when he dramatically declared the GOP health care plan is: “Don’t get sick, and if you do get sick, die quickly.”
For some reason many members of The Daily Kos left believe that liberals aren’t “tough enough.” I’m not sure why they believe this since members of the New Left thought bombing was a good idea. I guess William Ayers has softened over the years. If only he would embrace his terrorist past so liberals would feel like they’re tough. his whole idea screams of the ends justifying the means. It’s also based on the idea that the opposition (anyone to the right of Joseph Lieberman) are evil zombies bent on turning the U.S. into a puritan religious state free of homosexuals, minorities, divorcees and atheists.
Does anyone really believe liberals are too nice?
The outrage from the left about health care is based on emotion. “Everyone should have access to affordable health care!” is their battle cry. How do you argue against that? In a perfect world I would agree with the sentiment. This isn’t a perfect world. Lifesaving treatment takes research, research takes money, money comes from investors, and investors want profit. Once profit is removed, the money dries up and innovation stops. Almost every technological innovation over the past 200 years has come from the private sector. The government is too big, too inefficient, and too shortsighted to run or produce anything effectively. It’s simple economics that has been empirically proven time and again throughout history.
After Joe Wilson’s unfortunate “You Lie” moment he was forced to apologize. Conversely, there seems to be no movement in the House to force Grayson to tone down his rhetoric. Grayson is enjoying his newfound celebrity as a liberal hero, but it’s not likely he’ll win re-election in a Republican-leaning district that was once home to Bill McCollum. Grayson will live on with guest spots on MSNBC and Bill Maher, but he’ll never win anyone over. He’ll be tough, though, I guess that counts for something.
On Wednesday, September 30, 2009, something remarkable happened. Every once in awhile someone inadvertently creates a genius work of art; like the Leaning Tower of Pisa, it’s a train wreck remembered for future generations. Journalist Tim Teeman submitted an article for the Times Online that will live in infamy. Teeman’s article about Gore Vidal is a sprawling masterpiece of disconnected adjectives and incomplete thoughts. I find this article so fascinating that I’ve contemplated dedicating a post to every paragraph. I’m serious, this article is that good. Here’s a taste of the madness:
Has he met Obama? “No,” he says quietly, “I’ve had my time with presidents.” Vidal raises his fingers to signify a gun and mutters: “Bang bang.” He is referring to the possibility of Obama being assassinated. “Just a mysterious lone gunman lurking in the shadows of the capital,” he says in a wry, dreamy way.
Where do I begin? The most obvious insane thing is the assassination nonsense, but Teeman’s description of Gore’s statement is even better. Vidal talks casually about Obama getting shot “in a wry, dreamy way?” What?! I wish I could hear the recording of this interview. Is Vidal fantasizing about the murder of our president or is Teeman fantasizing about Vidal? I am sure this conundrum will be discussed in the future by the great philosophers.
What separates this article from a typical celebrity interview is the sheer amount of ground covered. Teeman has successfully created the Gore Vidal greatest hits. The famed author drops bombs on Timothy McVeigh (no pun intended), Joe Kennedy, JFK, Abraham Lincoln, Amelia Earhart, and of course, George Bush.
Vidal originally became pro-Obama because he grew up in “a black city” (meaning Washington), as well as being impressed by Obama’s intelligence. “But he believes the generals. Even Bush knew the way to win a general was to give him another star. Obama believes the Republican Party is a party when in fact it’s a mindset, like Hitler Youth, based on hatred — religious hatred, racial hatred. When you foreigners hear the word ‘conservative’ you think of kindly old men hunting foxes. They’re not, they’re fascists.”
After reading that idiotic diatribe I am full of a sense of irony that Vidal was “impressed by Obama’s intelligence.” Vidal is supposedly an enlightened intellectual, but he casts Republicans as fascist, racists and bigots. The members of the liberal elite intellectual class need to learn more about fascism. While they’re at it they could learn a lot more about the military. According to Vidal people in the military are all stupid. All you have to do is give them a star and they’ll do what you say. Who knew? The next stop on the Vidal crazy train express is JFK.
He observes presidential office-holders balefully. “The only one I knew well was Kennedy, but he didn’t impress me as a good president. It’s like asking, ‘What do I think of my brother?’ It’s complicated. I’d known him all my life and I liked him to the end, but he wrecked his chances with the Bay of Pigs and Suez crises, and because everyone was so keen to elect Bobby once Jack had gone, lies started to be told about him — that he was the greatest and the King of Camelot.
For those scoring at home Vidal was impressed by Obama’s intelligence but not by Kennedy’s presidency. Liberals are going to hate that paragraph. This is probably the closest thing to a sane statement in this article. Kennedy is remembered for being a much better president than the reality. Forgive Americans for grieving over a tragic assassination, but is JFK a top 10 president? Not even close.
Unlike Vidal, William F. Buckley never became a grizzled old man.
The entire article has to be read to be believed. I could go on and on and maybe I’ll come back and revisit this later. It’s a magnificent piece of writing and I’ve only scratched the surface. Vidal predicts the United States will end up in a military dictatorship. I guess those medals will quit working as a motivational tool. I know one thing is for certain; this article will continue to be a source of entertainment for a long time to come.
College football season is here and it’s a wonderful time of year. However, I’ve come to criticize our great national pastime. Football more than any sport I can think of has been taken over by idiotic regulation. There are simply too many stupid rules. No where is this more evident that celebrating a big play. If a player simply celebrates briefly they an be flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct.
I understand why the rule is in place. Taunting in all forms shouldn’t be allowed, but the rule is so broad that there’s a penalty called on touchdowns in every game. During yesterday’s LSU vs. Georgia game the Dawgs scored on a TD pass with one minute remaining. The receiver caught the ball and a handful of his teammates celebrated in the end-zone briefly. There was nothing over the top about the celebration; however, the refs threw flags anyway. The penalty forced the Dawgs to kick from their own 15 yard line giving LSU the ball in scoring position. LSU took advantage of the field position and won the game. When the LSU player scored he pointed into the crows and was flagged for celebrating as well.
Now obviously I’m a Georgia fan so the sting of this poor call hurts worse. I can live with judgment calls, but this is a rule that has nothing to do with the game itself. Georgia was penalized for simply celebrating what should have been the game winning touchdown. Football has become a 3 or 4 hour game full of replays, penalties, and wasted time. I guess the short attention span start/stop nature of the game is why it’s perfect for TV. As the years go on it seems like the game is being taken over by a figure skating mentality. The judges decide what’s pass interferences, a late hit, and when to call holding. A violent college football game that’s played for four hours shouldn’t come down to a dubious celebration penalty unless there was taunting of some sort.
I’m not sure what advice a coach is supposed to offer a player in this situation other than next time don’t catch the pass.
A few months ago with the White House and Congress were ramming the pork ridden stimulus bill through Washington the President’s economic team produced the graph below to justify the legislation. The stimulus isn’t helping, it never will help, and it was a colossal waste of money. The economy will eventually bounce back and if it happens during this administration the White House will cite the stimulus as the reason. The economy is the number one issue right now and the President seems more worried about health care, climate change, and the Olympics.
ht: Greg Mankiw
Maybe someday I’ll look back at what I’m about to write and say, “Wow! I was completely wrong about that one!” Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty will never be elected President of the United States. The Governor is currently and foolishly putting a team together to run in 2012, but he shouldn’t bother. Whoever put the story together over at POLITICO couldn’t even bother to find a decent picture of the Governor.
There’s a very superficial angle to presidential politics. Pawlenty looks like a Republican John Kerry to me. He’s the type of guy you nominate when you know there’s not an Atlanta Braves making the playoffs chance of winning. Pawlenty’s problems aren’t his politics. He just lacks charisma. He’s not the type of candidate you get excited about when he speaks, or writes, or generally shows up for anything. His speech at the RNC, for instance, was the miracle cure for insomnia modern medicine has been looking for all these years.
Is this a fair way of determining who should be President? No, but I’m not going to ignore reality. Abraham Lincoln may have been a dull person, but we’ll never really know since there’s no film from those days. The content of his rhetoric, however, was amazing. In those days that was enough. With the advent TV and the 24/7 news cycle charisma counts. President Obama was elected primarily based on his charisma and his race; Pawlenty has neither of these traits going for him.
The 2012 election is still a long way off, but the jockeying is already starting. Republicans do not have a lot of talent on the bench so it’s going to be difficult for a newcomer to come out of nowhere like Obama. Obama benefited from press adoration years before making a run. Abraham Lincoln could be resurrected from the dead and run for President again, and still the press would label him a racist member of the extreme right. It’s not going to be easy road running against Obama, especially if you’re Tim Pawlenty.
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