Democrats and Republicans each have their problems. On the Democratic side, the head of the party cannot fathom that there is a link between his statist agenda (and the red ink and anemic growth that accompanies it) and the voters’ insistence on dumping those responsible for the agenda’s passage. As the Washington Post‘s editors delicately put it:
[W]e would have preferred to see more in the way of a presidential acknowledgement that voters’ reaction might be more than simple misperception on their part or failure to communicate adequately on his. Certainly, Mr. Obama’s description of his new administration coping with a flurry of emergencies does not extend to his decision to launch an ambitious health-reform agenda in the midst of the maelstrom. Mr. Obama said voters were understandably disappointed that the change in atmosphere he had promised had failed to materialize. But the examples he cited — the “ugly mess” of getting health reform passed, or the fact that he, “in the rush to get things done, had to sign a bunch of bills that had earmarks in them” — involved hard-headed decisions on the part of administration strategists to do what it took to achieve their ends.
Or, if you prefer the bluntness of Charles Krauthammer:
The Republicans won by default. And their prize is nothing more than a two-year lease on the House. The building was available because the previous occupant had been evicted for arrogant misbehavior and, by rule, alas, the House cannot be left vacant.
The president, however, remains clueless. In his next-day news conference, he had the right demeanor — subdued, his closest approximation of humility — but was uncomprehending about what just happened. The “folks” are apparently just “frustrated” that “progress” is just too slow. Asked three times whether popular rejection of his policy agenda might have had something to do with the shellacking he took, he looked as if he’d been asked whether the sun had risen in the West. Why, no, he said.
In short, the Democrats are in denial, the worst culprits responsible for the leftist jag remain in the House (the lucky possessors of the Bluest districts one could gerrymander), and the country is in no mood to see them defend the Obama agenda that voters just rejected en masse.
As for the Republicans, their problem is in recognizing that two component parts of the GOP — the Tea Partiers and the establishment (i.e., professional pols) — are dependent on one another. It might satisfy some would-be leaders of the Tea Party contingent to attack Karl Rove or Ed Gillespie, but is that what building a governing majority is all about? The Tea Party brought energy, ideological firmness, and grassroots organization to a moribund Republican Party. But the Republican Party provided many of the most electable, sober conservatives (e.g., Rob Portman, Dan Coats, John Boozman) who can translate the Tea Party agenda into legislation. If the party had run only Sharron Angles and Christine O’Donnells, there would have been no “shellacking”; without the Tea Party, there would have been no unifying theme and no electoral wave to put those seasoned conservatives into office.
The GOP, therefore, could use some unifiers — namely those who understand that the name of the game is not to spend time poking their fingers in the eye of half of the conservative coalition. The challenge now is to devise a strategy that first stops the Obama onslaught and then offers a thoughtful conservative alternative. The GOP is badly in need of such unifying figures — both to navigate the next two years and to lead the party in 2012. Those who find it personally satisfying to bicker with their allies do damage to their cause — and ultimately their own career objectives.
You can add Charles Fried to the lengthening list of Palin-baiting resume-padders. What subtlety to wait until the polls show her down before kicking her. Fried was Reagan’s Solicitor General. Aptly titled, in hindsight.
Glad to see McCain’s people taking shots at the NYT. Keep it up — no matter what happens on November 4th.
Criticizing the NYT will have absolutely no effect. Those who supported the NYT before will continue to support it, and vice versa. If anyone wants to have an impact, you need to go after individual reporters and show how they aren’t good reporters by exposing their lies, their incomplete coverage, and their failure to ask some set of people real questions. That strikes directly at their conceit of being reporters. See my name’s link for the details, and see some of the posts on my front page for how I help in that effort.
#3 — Don’t really disagree with anything in that post, but attacking the NYT is its own reward, quite aside from whatever “effect” it may have on anything else.
Palin Costs McCain Another Conservative Vote (A current McCain advisor to boot)
TNR, The Plank:
Charles Fried, a professor at Harvard Law School, has long been one of the most important conservative thinkers in the United States. Under President Reagan, he served, with great distinction, as Solicitor General of the United States. Since then, he has been prominently associated with several Republican leaders and candidates, most recently John McCain, for whom he expressed his enthusiastic support in January.
This week, Fried announced that he has voted for Obama-Biden by absentee ballot. In his letter to Trevor Potter, the General Counsel to the McCain-Palin campaign, he asked that his name be removed from the several campaign-related committees on which he serves. In that letter, he said that chief among the reasons for his decision “is the choice of Sarah Palin at a time of deep national crisis.”
Seems like every conservative with a brain is jumping on the Obama bandwagon.
Wow… So you guys are now doubling down and arguing that she was right?? That the VP is in “charge of the US Senate”?? Do you really think that’s a good idea? Seriously? Just to make yourselves feel good, you’re going to argue for something you know is wrong? Have you heard of the separation of powers? Do you not see a distinction between “preside” and to be “in charge of”? Are you not at all bothered by the fact Palin got this wrong in the debate and STILL hasn’t learned how to answer the question correctly?
Somewhere, Elliott Cohen is wondering how these people got in charge of his magazine.
Yeah, that attacking the media strategy has been a real winner. What a bunch of idiots.
I dunno about that. Given the steep decline in MSM media readership and viewership and its consequent decline in influence, one has to say this isn’t coming from the clear blue sky.
Trent, stupider than they look even. In 92 papa Bush tried the same tactic, blame the media, and he lost. Attacking the messenger is as old as Greek tragedy, but it still doesn’t work. People see it as desperation, “carpenter blaming his tools” sort of thing.
But they have nothing positive to say so they just blame blame blame.
The MSM is a lost cause. Those who truly realize the intense bias and false reporting have already stopped watching, and that is just about all you can do. The illuminati MSM have a vice grip on America, and the only to combat it is to show America that they are bias, because the biggest impact they have is on voters who don;t even realize the bias or manipulation.
Illuminati? are you guys for real??
Because of the outrageous bias they should have a TEAM of people doing this and fighting back loudly and hitting hard.
Christy is a big mouth from Philadelphia with empty brain cells. Christy may run for the Senate against Sen. Specter, 2010. I am very disappointed in Sen. Specter ( a little too liberal for me). However, Sen Specter has ethical traits as far back as a young prosecutor in Philly – an honest man. Christy,on the other hand, lacks any distinctive qualities. Al Franken anyone? Sen. Specter gets my vote for his intellect and honesty against a big mouth dumb guy, really dumb for being around so long. A message to the WSJ – too many liberal articles on the opinion pages written by the likes of SCHUMER, DODD, REID, PELOSI and this lefty Franks guy etc. That’s just to name a few including Sister Peggy’s Bush bashing and now McCain/Palin. I feel cheated paying so much for articles I don’t read. Trying to pick-up ny times customers is a losing deal for me. If I want to read liberal opinions, I will buy a liberal newspaper. Fair & balanced is B/S. I am very selective when I watch Fox’s fair & balanced B/S as well. I listen to Rush not for fair and balanced but for his up-front decapitation of liberal lies and their biased reporting which includes most of media, MSNBC (Christy and gang). Poor Andrea Mitchell in tears as the Dems threw Greenspan under the Obama bus.
Look guys, the NYT has been caught in several plagiarism scandals in the past few years. The level of writing in the paper has gone down as well (mainly among the younger reporters).
If there is any soul searching going on at that paper, they will realize they are in decline and take measures to stop it. In the meantime, I get my international news coverage from media outlets in other countries and domestic news mostly from blogs.
Having lived in other countries for a fair amount of time, I honestly think the MSM in the US is a joke. It’s not just the issue of bias. The news has always had bias to some degree, but the blatant lacking of professionalism is appalling. (In fact, I think the huge outrage this year over media bias is really more of a reflection of our contemporary journalists inability to hide their bias with subtlety and professionalism. They think they have the right to inform us of their personal opinions throughout their day jobs as if they are on some reality tv show.)
Journalism is difficult because it is time intensive and demands a lot of work on the road. But being a decent writer/ or tv commentator should not be that hard. Yet, the current crop are miserable failures. I have met people at bars who are more interesting and provide more insightful analysis of current events than almost anyone I see on TV news programs.
I think they should fire every American journalist in mainstream news and just replace them with the first 5000 people in the Cambridge phone book. I’m sure they would do a better job and might even be less biased.
Kara Touby:>Wow… So you guys are now doubling down and arguing that she was right??
Sure, I will. I’ll quadruple down on it.
Kara Touby:>That the VP is in “charge of the US Senate”?? Do you really think that’s a good idea? Seriously?
Seriously! (Dude!) The framers thought it was “a good idea”, too.
Kara Touby:>Just to make yourselves feel good, you’re going to argue for something you know is wrong?
No. But I reject the premise. To make that concept clearer for you, let me ask: Are you putting Sarah Palin down just because you’re an ignorant fascist pig-licker?
Kara Touby:>Have you heard of the separation of powers?
Yes.
Kara Touby:>Do you not see a distinction between “preside” and to be “in charge of”?
In a nuanced way, perhaps. “In charge of” is layman’s English, suitable and expected in an interview on television, which is nonetheless approximately equivalent to “preside over”, related to the word “President”, which is the actual language in the Constitution, Article I, Section 3:
The Vice President Of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided.
Like it or not, VP Cheney or any other VP can PRESIDE over the Senate every single stinkin day of session. And although his Vote will not matter except in case of a tie, you might reflect on the fact that that would be the only time his Vote actually matters.
Kara Touby:>Are you not at all bothered by the fact Palin got this wrong in the debate and STILL hasn’t learned how to answer the question correctly?
She got it right; Biden got it wrong. And in fact Biden couldn’t even identify the correct Article, erroneously referring to Article II when it’s Article I that defines the role of the VP in the Senate. And don’t get me started about when “we kicked Hezballah out of Lebanon”.
Kara Touby:>Somewhere, Elliott Cohen is wondering how these people got in charge of his magazine.
Somewhere, Kara Touby is trying to rationalize away the fact that she/he/it doesn’t have the slightest idea what she/he/it is talking about.
Kara touby,
your obnoxious argument would be more persuasive if “Preside” weren’t synonymous wih “in charge.” Unfotunately for you and your pretensions to superior intellect, it incontrovertably is synonomous.
How stupid does a person have to be to vote for a fraud like Obama? You Obamatons let the rest of us know every time you make a comment.
desperate,
You wrote taht “But they have nothing positive to say so they just blame blame blame.”
Spare us your typical moonbat projection. You just described the left’s attacks on McCain and Palin to a T. Rubin’s rebuttal of Matthew’s ignorant smear against Palin doesn’t conform to your unhinged rant.
I guess you, Kara and trent more of those “informed voters” the Establishment Media keep telling us about.
Troll on, tard-boy.
Kara, dear,
I’m sure “illuminati” was a typo on RJ’s part. He meant to write “ignorati.” I’m sure you can relate. You and every other Obamaton.
Kara Touby, Of course Palin was right! Who but an intellectual snob (like you?) would use the word “preside” to a third grader.
I’ve decided that Americans can’t do the jobs that they are supposed to do anymore, and this keeps getting us into trouble. This is the root cause of the Internet bubble, the housing bubble, and the Obama bubble. We are going to keep facing the same problems again and again until we all learn our proper roles, and why perming them is important.
Independence is the root of systems based on checks and balances, like our government and our financial system. During the Internet craze, the guys analyzing the quality of a company were supposed to be indendepent of the guys selling stock. But they weren’t-the analysts were inflating companies’ prospects so the analysts’ company could dump a stock before it tanked, or get a nice IPO, or otherwise profit. This corrupted the analyses of the dot coms and helped lead to a series of financial reforms.
The companies selling mortgages, buying mortgages, packaging mortgages, deriving products based on mortgages, and rating the quality of these assets were acting not as individual companies but rather as a single herd of dumb lemmings going over a cliff. It’s unknown how much of the impact of this is still to be felt.
The likely next President has a lifetime of radical associations; has failed at his one big management stint (CAC); has flipped flopped on virtually every major issue; has repeatedly broken promises; makes it easy to make an illegal donation; threatens to sue opponents; has a thin resume to begin with and hides his professional and personal documentation; etc. Because the press is not independent, it has lost the ability to perform due diligence on candidates.
“Change you can believe in” is as troubling as “Revenue doesn’t matter; eyeballs do” during the dot com boom, or “Homes are a riskless investment” during the housing bubble.
Again, the root cause of many of these probems is that people aren’t doing the jobs they are supposed to do. Interestingly, Palin has created controversy by reading her “job description” in the Constitution and being willing to properly perform her assigned role. That’s one of the things I like about her-she does the job she is hired to do.
If elected, Obama, like all other Presidents, will be tested. If he succeeds, then I’ll raise my opinion of him (and maybe rethink my worldview, depending on how he succeeds.) If he kicks the can down the road like Clinton, he will remain the “unknown President.” If he fails dramatically, America will again ask why we didn’t see this failure coming, and maybe the press will finally perform its due diligence on him-and any future candidate for President.
Only a jerk would make an issue of how Palin explained something to third graders. Everybody simplifies things for youngsters.
Well said MartyH#20! Youv’e hit the old nail on its head.
Blackfive’s Wolf discusses Vera Baker, the mistress Michelle Obama exiled to Martinique
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiUZwnBhRds
#22: Hear hear hear hear HEAR HEAR HEAR!!!
Don’t feed the trolls. It just makes them ravenous.
This is a rare exception to a pattern that shows The One is correct – McCain actually IS Bush. For 8 years now we have seen this pattern. The Dems cook up some idiotic lie. The Dems all come out and read the talking points memo with the lie. The MSM reports the lie as fact. The Administration doesn’t respond. The lie becomes conventional wisdom. Anyone who points out that the lie is false gets attacked for being an idiot. Over and over. And over. And now McCain seems to have picked up the approach.