The bull market in Obamadulation continues apace as Times political reporter Kate Zernike presents a Week In Review article that should have been titled "How To Be Cool Like Barack":
Never Let Them See You Sweat
By KATE ZERNIKE
The economy jolts and stumbles, wars slog on in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the horrors of a new terrorist attack blanket the news and draw frayed attention yet again to our precarious alliances in the world. The watchword for the holidays is subdued; certainly not much inspires celebration.
Perhaps it is no coincidence, then, that to lead us in crisis, Americans elected a man repeatedly recognized for his uncommon calmness. More than ever, we crave stability, a steady hand, the reassuring face on television.
We even elevate such equilibrium to the superhuman: calm, as applied to No Drama Obama, often comes linked to the modifier “preternatural.”
But the calm temperament is not so superhuman, nor is it entirely the gift of the chosen few. It can be cultivated, even as the world cleaves around us.
So how do we get there without a steady diet of beta blockers and Xanax? Calm, per se, doesn’t appear in the taxonomy of those who study personality and temperament. People we might colloquially describe as calm are classified as low on the scale of neuroticism — a scale everyone is measured on, to a greater or lesser degree.
"Cool" is back in style? When did it go away? James Dean was cool. The Rat Pack was cool. Cool Hand Luke was, well, cool. Even Governor Dukakis himself was cool when he ran for President in 1988. So cool, in fact, that when asked during a nationally televised debate how he would deal with a man who raped and killed his wife, the Duke promised to apprehend the malefactor and recite to him statistics on rehabilitation, recidivism, and the inefficacy of capital punishment until the desperate prisoner begged for extradition to a capital punishment state. Or at least, I remember it that way. No, the Duke did not lack for cool. He was not cool enough to defeat Bush 41 or protect me from the Russkies, but he was cool. "Technocratic" was the preferred adjective back then, as I recall. Some even went with "robotic". But he would have been "cool" if he had won.
Segue. Obama is cool and you can be to, and more importantly, ought to want to be. On another day I would moan "If the Times is going to continue this sort of fawning coverage just kill me now" but that would sort of run counter to their theme, so I'll be chill. Now, a question for the house - does anyone recall whether back in 2000 the Times ran laudatory articles about Bush's resolution, doggedness and perseverance? Those are useful virtues too, when the time is right - Bush has created a bit of a bear market in those attributes, but contrarians may see a buying opportunity.
This bit from the article fascinates me and confirms a bit of folk wisdom I acquired decades ago:
But many researchers argue for two ways to think about calmness: you are calm, or you learn how to be.
Imagine two people with equally high measures of neuroticism dealing with the same irascible boss. One gets yelled at and leaves the boss’s office perfectly composed; the other gets yelled at and flees to the bathroom in tears or storms out and kicks the wall.
The difference is that the first person has learned to regulate the neuroticism.
People tend to think that the confrontation produces the reaction; if you’re faced with an irrational rant, who can blame you for falling apart? But researchers in emotional regulation tease out a factor in between: how we think. Between the “a” of the antecedent and the “c” of the consequence, they argue, is the crucial “b,” for belief, which in the case of the person melting down might sound something like: my boss hates me, everyone hates me, I’m a total failure.
That is the opportunity for emotional regulation.
Someone who had taken inspiration from Woody Allen's quip that 90% of life is just showing up opined that life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you feel about what happens to you, although when pressed he admitted that the ratios may be subject to adjustment during, for example, a major earthquake. Or when reading Times coverage of Obama.
I guess they didn't see the audio of him running from reporters with his daughter in Hallowe'en costume. Or when he whined about already answering seven questions at a press conference. Or when he lamely slammed Nancy Reagan at his early press conference.
Ooh, and you should see him jump and reach reflexively for the comfort of his lawyesr when anyone whispers 'birth certificate' around him.
===================================
Posted by: kim | November 30, 2008 at 10:57 AM
Heh, video, not audio. Please don't tell anyone I'm seeing audio.
==============
Posted by: kim | November 30, 2008 at 11:02 AM
Cool? One word rebuttal: bowling.
This ponce is so far from cool it boggles.
Posted by: Soylent Red | November 30, 2008 at 11:02 AM
Hearing it is bad enough.
============
Posted by: kim | November 30, 2008 at 11:03 AM
It is image. Remember how he said how important it is not to ever show the face of an angry black man? This is artificial 'cool'. I trust him like I do a volcano.
=============================
Posted by: kim | November 30, 2008 at 11:05 AM
We've seen a few other things that have made Obama lose his cool.
When he's called just another politician.
When he's made fun of as a celebrity.
When a reporter presses him (it's happened exactly, let's see now, hmmm . . . . Yes, it's happened one time).
Posted by: PaulL | November 30, 2008 at 11:08 AM
There's another possibility for his cool that a lot people don't want to think about, Obama is really Chance the Gardner.
Posted by: Paul | November 30, 2008 at 11:11 AM
At least Bubba the Band Boy could toot a sax (plus he knew how to make a humidor when he got bored at the office). As SR notes - this sucker is so lame he can't even bowl.
He has the calm of a postal worker and the cool of the Secretary of the high school forensics club. The Times needs to find a better Turd Polish supplier. The stuff they're using just ain't gettin' it.
Posted by: Rick Ballard | November 30, 2008 at 11:28 AM
WEll maybe you can be cool like Barack - but no one, NO ONE can be as cool as the B-day girl.
Happy Birthday CLARICE!
Posted by: Jane | November 30, 2008 at 11:33 AM
Birthdays are like leftovers from the big one. May you savour each one for a long time, dear clarice.
=====================================
Posted by: kim | November 30, 2008 at 11:35 AM
"Perhaps it is no coincidence, then, that to lead us in crisis, Americans elected a man repeatedly recognized for his uncommon calmness. More than ever, we crave stability, a steady hand, the reassuring face on television."
Easy.If you can keep your head whilst all those around you are losing theirs,you either don't understand the problem or you are on something.
Posted by: PeterUK | November 30, 2008 at 11:41 AM
bgates, does Firefox have an addon for recording and remembering birthdays?
Have a wonderful birthday with your family, Clarice. What kind of cake?
Posted by: Caro | November 30, 2008 at 11:42 AM
Happy birthday Clarice!
Posted by: peter | November 30, 2008 at 11:45 AM
Happy Birthday Clarice. It's my husband's birthday too!
Barack Obama cool? I think it is all the pot smoking that gives him a laid back vibe.
Posted by: Lori | November 30, 2008 at 12:00 PM
It is instructive that what most would deem character flaws, the Times views as "cool". Negotiating with unhinged mass murderers-cool. Pledging to disarm in the face of unambiguous promises to continue mass murder-cool.
Confronting psychopaths-NOT cool. Asking tough questions of those who would seek the highest office-again, NOT cool. I think I've got it now.
Posted by: Chris | November 30, 2008 at 12:12 PM
The "fair and balanced" Jim Lehrer on PBS was doing an Obama adulation hour on Friday night.
No.
I didn't watch it.
Posted by: Pofarmer | November 30, 2008 at 12:12 PM
OT
But the Mumbai catastrophe was apparently carried out by 10 opperatives, with probably some local scouting and possibly some assisstance. Think about that, then think about Cheney's dead enders comments regarding the "insurgency" in Iraq. Just how many folks would it take to cause the kind of trouble we were seeing early post invasion? If Mumbai is any indication, not too many.
Posted by: Pofarmer | November 30, 2008 at 12:23 PM
Obama is one of the most uptight African American men I have ever seen. Then again, he has been working towards mandarin cool for a long time....he turns on his version of cool like a light switch as needed to enhance his credibility...
The secret is that he then goes home and listens to Abba and the Osmonds ....or maybe Don Ho....
Posted by: matt | November 30, 2008 at 12:25 PM
happy birthday Clarice. Many happy returns.
Posted by: matt | November 30, 2008 at 12:26 PM
Happy Birthday, Clarice! Who makes the birthday dinner?
Posted by: MayBee | November 30, 2008 at 12:39 PM
Clarice: Best wishes on your birthday and for the year to come.
Posted by: centralcal | November 30, 2008 at 12:57 PM
Happy birthday, Clarice!
Posted by: DrJ | November 30, 2008 at 12:58 PM
Hah, hah, hah. Chris Matthews is considering a run for the Senate in 2010 from Pennsylvania.
==========================
Posted by: kim | November 30, 2008 at 01:05 PM
"Who's the cat that won't cop out
When there's danger all about?
BARACK!
Right On!"
Happy Birthday to another cool cat: Clarice.
Posted by: Lesley | November 30, 2008 at 01:18 PM
SHAFT - the new musical theme for the Obama administration.
Posted by: Lesley | November 30, 2008 at 01:25 PM
Happy birthday Clarice!
Posted by: Soylent Red | November 30, 2008 at 01:27 PM
Let's not jump the pistola here.
Posted by: Elliott | November 30, 2008 at 01:40 PM
Who's the partially black pres-elect
That's a cash machine for all the dreck?
Ø!
Ya damn right!
Who is the man that would spread the wealth
For his brother man?
Ø!
Can you dig it?
Who's the cat that will cop out
Revealing his COLB’s whereabouts?
Ø!
Right On!
They say this cat Ø! is a bad bowler
SHUT YOUR MOUTH!
I'm talkin' 'bout Ø!
THEN WE CAN DIG IT!
He's a complicated man
But no one understands him but press corps
Barack Ø!
Posted by: Soylent Red | November 30, 2008 at 01:45 PM
Bravo, Soylent.
Posted by: Elliott | November 30, 2008 at 01:54 PM
Barrack Hussein
MbamaObama has been been very cool about the slaughter inMumbaiBombay.First test as president elect and nothing,just the breeze in the trees.
Posted by: PeterUK | November 30, 2008 at 01:56 PM
From the upcoming blockbuster musical, "West Wing Story"...
Barry, Barry, crazy Barry
Get cool, boy
Got a rocket in your pocket
Keep coolie cool boy
Don't get hot
'Cause man you got
Some high times ahead
... and so forth, and so on.
Posted by: Soylent Red | November 30, 2008 at 02:02 PM
You can tell Obama is coolll....He has the signs to prove it. The office of the President elect of Cooool....
Posted by: jorod | November 30, 2008 at 02:07 PM
Wishing you Great Happiness on your Birthday, Clarice!!
My brother is 61 today, a fighter(battling cancers), a poet, veteran and patriot. It must be one of those red-lettered days..
Enjoy today, it has been a pleasure getting to know you through this forum!
Posted by: glenda waggoner | November 30, 2008 at 02:20 PM
Good stuff, Soylent. I was thinking we could cash in on the Obamaphenalia craze with something seasonal:
O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant,
O come ye, O come ye, to Washington.
Come and behold Him, born in [unclear];
Refrain
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
Obama.
Cool God not true God, dim yet a lightworker,
Lo, He shuns not the Chicago machine;
Son of [unclear], by Axelrod created;
Refrain
Sing, choirs of newsmen, sing in exultation;
O sing, all ye citizens of Europe above!
Glory to Obama, all glory in the highest;
Refrain
etc. Obamacarols.com is available; if anyone can whip up a choir and a recording studio, I can hack out the lyrics in short order.
Posted by: bgates | November 30, 2008 at 02:38 PM
oops.
Posted by: bgates | November 30, 2008 at 02:42 PM
I see Kate Zernike has successfully transitioned from Kerry to Obama. Fawning on a winner must feel like a walk in the park after propping up a bona fide loser for so long, although bending reality is clearly a hard habit to break.
Wow, this election sure had me fooled! Where on earth did I get the impression that what this country craved was change and a fresh new face? Zernike's entire article and her finely woven logical fallacies, notwithstanding, of course.In between (a) reading a pop-psyche fluff piece by Zernike and (c) thinking that at least it's more stimulating than a pop-psyche fluff piece by Noonan, there's (b)eing the kind of person who takes a self-administered pop-psyche version of the IPIP-NEO to see where she, herself, Tips the Scales.
I'm happy to report that as I read my results, I was the very picture of outward tranquility, despite landing smack dab in the middle of the Neurotic Continuum. Whether that's my genetic predisposition to calmness or my preternatural emotional regulator at work is anybody's guess. I prefer to think of it as being perfectly centered, although I apparently get there by averaging extremes.
Posted by: JM Hanes | November 30, 2008 at 02:48 PM
bgates:
Maybe we could get some satisfaction on his birth records if we could convince his supporters that a Shrine of the Nativity should be erected.
And SCAM needs to stand up a Holy Relics division, a la the medieval Church.
Posted by: Soylent Red | November 30, 2008 at 02:51 PM
bgates,
Gloria in excelsis Barry?
Posted by: Elliott | November 30, 2008 at 02:58 PM
Soylent,
Want to buy a piece of a true Weatherman?
Posted by: PeterUK | November 30, 2008 at 03:12 PM
Excellent, JMH.
And the Sunday talkshows tell me Thomas Friedman is advocating we seriously look at moving the inauguration to a date closer.
So remind me to ignore anything people have carped about Bush wanting to throw out the constitution. It wasn't ever about the constitution, I think, it was just about Bush.
Remember when the fear was that Bush would create a crisis and never step down? Now it seems we've got a crisis so large the Constitution must be ignored in the other direction. I dare someone to write that Bush should not turn over the office now, so great is the peril of transition.
Posted by: MayBee | November 30, 2008 at 03:24 PM
Thank you all--but it's not until Dec 2 that I hit the big 67 and then we're going out to eat to celebrate.
Posted by: clarice | November 30, 2008 at 03:55 PM
Elliott, good thing you didn't slip. "Gloria in excelsis, Day-O" might have been suspect.
Posted by: sbw | November 30, 2008 at 04:05 PM
Clarice, beaucoup bouquets.
Posted by: sbw | November 30, 2008 at 04:07 PM
Never bad to get an early start Clarice.
Posted by: Jane | November 30, 2008 at 04:17 PM
Peter,
Most people would find the scent of patchouli a little much after a short time. How 'bout little chunks of charred glass from The One True Crack Pipe? Pieces of pages from His First Little Red Book might be a winner as well.
Posted by: Rick Ballard | November 30, 2008 at 04:27 PM
Definitely NOT COOL!
Thus, within days of hiring General McCaffrey, the Defense Solutions sales pitch was in the hands of the American commander with the greatest influence over Iraq"s expanding military.
"That"s what I pay him for," Timothy D. Ringgold, chief executive of Defense Solutions, said in an interview.
That about says it all about. These generals are a disgrace!
Posted by: truthynesslover | November 30, 2008 at 04:31 PM
PUK and Rick:
If a million monkeys with a million typewriters can come up with Hamlet, I'm sure 10 million Chinese sweatshop laborers with 10 million English/Chinese dictionaries can come up with a genuine certified college term paper or Law Review article.
I mean, since no one has actually seen one or anything...
Posted by: Soylent Red | November 30, 2008 at 04:33 PM
Thank you, sbw--Right you are,Jane..(Esp at my advanced age.)
Posted by: clarice | November 30, 2008 at 04:44 PM
Bush should not turn over the Presidency; the time is too perilous.
Posted by: PaulL | November 30, 2008 at 04:46 PM
On Dec 5 the Supreme Court will either allow or disallow the usurpation of both the Constitution and the Government of the United States — easily the most pivotal decision since our nation’s founding — and the silence of the news media is deafening (if not downright scary).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqH7rSHcvgU
Posted by: Ted | November 30, 2008 at 04:49 PM
Jeez,you people are not only NOT COOL but arent even as smart as a monkey!
So we turned for answers to the former professor who graded the now-elusive paper. His former professor, Michael Baron, recalled in an interview with NBC News that Obama easily aced the year-long class. Baron described the paper as a “thesis” or “senior thesis” in several interviews, and said that Obama spent a year working on it. Baron recalls that the topic was nuclear negotiations with the Soviet Union.
“My recollection is that the paper was an analysis of the evolution of the arms reduction negotiations between the Soviet Union and the United States,” Baron said in an e-mail. “At that time, a hot topic in foreign policy circles was finding a way in which each country could safely reduce the large arsenal of nuclear weapons pointed at the other … For U.S. policy makers in both political parties, the aim was not disarmament, but achieving deep reductions in the Soviet nuclear arsenal and keeping a substantial and permanent American advantage. As I remember it, the paper was about those negotiations, their tactics and chances for success. Barack got an A.”
Baron said that, even if he could find a copy of the paper, it would likely disappoint Obama’s critics. “The course was not a polemical course, it was a course in decision making and how decisions got made,” he said. “None of the papers in the class were controversial.”
its called google!
Posted by: truthynesslover | November 30, 2008 at 04:55 PM
Rick,
The SCAM expedition to locate The One's college results and his birth certificate is going to be the biggest thing since the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls.
The worlds libraries and museums of modern history are already in the bidding.
Posted by: PeterUK | November 30, 2008 at 05:00 PM
anouther NOT COOL person!
Alaska Notebook: Palin's Georgia pal
Posted by Matt Zencey, editorial page editor
Posted: November 28, 2008 - 4:38 pm
Comments (189) | Recommend (87)
This Alaska notebook will appear in Saturday's print edition, on the editorial page:
by Matt Zencey
Gov. Sarah Palin is putting her conservative Republican fame to work in Georgia, stumping for Republican U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss, who is in a tough runoff for re-election.
I wonder if she knows the true measure of the man she is eagerly helping.
Chambliss was elected to the Senate in 2002 by running one of the most reprehensible campaigns of modern times. He was up against incumbent Democrat Sen. Max Cleland, a Vietnam War veteran who lost both legs and his right arm to a grenade during that conflict.
Chambliss avoided serving in Vietnam. He got four student draft deferments, and when his number finally came up, he was medically disqualified with knee troubles.
sociopaths have no shame and are NOT COOL!
Posted by: truthynesslover | November 30, 2008 at 05:01 PM
I just read the big O is developing a nervous tic.
Definitely uncool!
Posted by: lonetown | November 30, 2008 at 05:03 PM
SR,
Maybe you and bgates could take turns generating chapters of The
Dunham/SoeteroObama Diaries - the Unauthorized Truth?Posted by: Rick Ballard | November 30, 2008 at 05:04 PM
"Michael Baron, recalled in an interview with NBC News that Obama easily aced the year-long class. Baron described the paper as a “thesis” or “senior thesis” in several interviews, and said that Obama spent a year working on it."
Yes the bidding is very high for that one,a must for the Smithsonian,I would have thought.
A tragedy that some of the most important works of the 20th century are missing,even Nazi looters can not be blamed.
Posted by: PeterUK | November 30, 2008 at 05:07 PM
TL:
Take your BS somewhere where ignorance reigns. Sen Chamblss merely pointed out that Cleland's positions favoring unions over effective security legislation in the wake of 9/11 were stupid.
His military service had 0 to do with it. I am a Vietnam vet from Georgia who liked and supported Cleland until he showed his true colors with a series of positions that outraged me. Chambliss has done a good job since taking office and Martin is a non-entity who should be soundly defeated.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY CLARICE!!! You'll always be younger than I am.
Posted by: jimrhoads aka vnjagvet | November 30, 2008 at 05:13 PM
I just read the big O is developing a nervous tic.
Wouldn't you if you found out you were going to have to work at the same job for four years in a row after having accomplished nothing in your life previously?
Posted by: Captain Hate | November 30, 2008 at 05:14 PM
Chambliss was elected to the Senate in 2002 by running one of the most reprehensible campaigns of modern times.
[Yawn] Here's another story that gets better with the retelling. Cleland supported ridiculous work rules for the nascent Homeland Security Department, and Chambliss called him on it. I remain unconvinced we're supposed to pretend ol' Max's national security credentials are impeccable, just because he managed to blow hisself up in Vietnam, and if military service is a requirement for office, methinks we just elected the wrong presidential candidate. YMMV.
Posted by: Cecil Turner | November 30, 2008 at 05:14 PM
jmh,
Quoting my report:Your score on Agreeableness is low, indicating less concern with others' needs Than with your own.
OK, now those feelings I am not supposed to have are hurt.
I do have an abundance of calm and cool, however.
This test was created by a liberal.
Posted by: Caro | November 30, 2008 at 05:16 PM
Between the “a” of the antecedent and the “c” of the consequence, they argue, is the crucial “b,” for belief
Someone should pass this profound insight to the Times' foreign policy gurus, who seem unaware that between the "k" of knowledge of the existence of the state of Israel and the "n" of the nihilistic decision to murder as many people as possible could come the "m" of moral reasoning.
What happens to the Times' world view if the root cause of every action turns out to be a decision by the actor to act?
Posted by: bgates | November 30, 2008 at 05:16 PM
Cecil, Obama was too young to have served in the military without taking the dreadfully gauche step of volunteering, and it's unclear whether someone of his nationality would have been admitted to military service. Besides, while he's not a veteran himself, he has done quite a bit to advance the work of one of the Vietnam war's most notable combatants.
Posted by: bgates | November 30, 2008 at 05:26 PM
Clarice,Today is your Official Birthday,the Sunday before your actual birthday.This allows the peasantry to celebrate on a day off.
Posted by: PeterUK | November 30, 2008 at 05:30 PM
Well, in that case, Clarice; Have a Fabulous Tuesday!
Posted by: glenda waggoner | November 30, 2008 at 05:35 PM
and if military service is a requirement for office, methinks we just elected the wrong presidential candidate. YMMV.
Ya mean considering he never signed up for selective service?
Posted by: Pofarmer | November 30, 2008 at 05:39 PM
Indonesians aren't required to register for Selective Service in the US. Kenyans either.
Posted by: Rick Ballard | November 30, 2008 at 05:48 PM
quite a bit to advance the work of one of the Vietnam war's most notable combatants.
Ho Chi Minh?
Posted by: Soylent Red | November 30, 2008 at 05:50 PM
I watched the interview and didn't see no tick, but his wife has teeth problem. The tick people are usually lost. They're not recoverable.
So, Obama is stressed over his change, which isn't, which is why he's afraid. If he didn't have to pay all those Congressmen for using him for foreign aid, then we'd see some change, but he is once again repressed by the man. A second term might clean everything up and he can do the change.
He might not be able to be president. A psychiatric assessment might say this. He could use the federal benefits like every other federal employee and retire. We could even have it classified so no one can know.
Posted by: ent | November 30, 2008 at 05:52 PM
Thanks all.. And enjoy your extra day of rest.
Posted by: clarice | November 30, 2008 at 05:52 PM
I'm still trying to figure out why I'm supposed to be outraged by the comments of a General who retired in 1996? Anybody?
Posted by: Pofarmer | November 30, 2008 at 05:52 PM
Indonesians aren't required to register for Selective Service in the US. Kenyans either.
Uhhmmmmm, good point.
So you're saying that Barry is an American when it's convenient?
Posted by: Pofarmer | November 30, 2008 at 05:54 PM
Ok, you disabled narcisolator, but troll blocker is still active how'd TL get through. He's a good example why Chambliss
has to get back in; they have enough bragging rights as it is. Maybe Saxby will remember where he came from. On the Obama
bloviation watch, that piece about his meeting with Mullen & co, has to be a classic; they didn't talk about anything important, like actual policies yet his mere presence conveys wisdom.
Of course, if "Big Brother" must be exalted,
than "Goldstein" nee Sarah, must be demonized, in true Stalinist fashion. First up, the New York Times magazine has a bit
(linked by the very witchy Anne Althouse)
of an interview with a 'social realist' film maker; something to the effect,that Sarah's appearance ends the allure of Alaska's frontier, and there's a throwaway line about the heroine of the film going to Ketchikan, before Palin (hence the dark times up ahead. Of course, the folks at GQ which make the Times look like the Weekly
Standard in insufferable progressive smugness, dismissed Sarah in their pre-election end of issue page. In their recent
homage to the One, with some space to Will Smith and Matt Damon; they have to go further and reference the 'rise of Palin porn' as a new trend, with obligatory comment from Larry Flynt. One has to object, strenously,realizing that Sarah can outshoot, outrun, probably outfight if need be, that whole crew; the rest of themmaking their whole sad metrosexual exploits that much more meaningless. Jim Treacher made that point about the seat of Sullivan's anxiety almost as plain as Dennis Miller did. A more aggravated version of the Noonan, Parker & Buckley phenomenon. So
that's that; there should be some footage
from the Chambliss fundraiser coming up soon.
Posted by: narciso | November 30, 2008 at 05:58 PM
Ho Chi Minh?
His Education Minister Abroad.
I'm still trying to figure out why I'm supposed to be outraged by the comments of a General who retired in 1996
Because you're still reading the drivel typed out by some fool I don't see anymore.
Posted by: bgates | November 30, 2008 at 06:05 PM
"I watched the interview and didn't see no tick, but his wife has teeth problem."
My God man, he was standing right next to Bucky Bulldoggy. How could you miss him? Those ears and the facial twitch are a dead give away.
Posted by: Rick Ballard | November 30, 2008 at 06:06 PM
Just pointing out policy differences?yeah right!
"I'd never seen anything like that ad. Putting pictures of Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden next to the picture of a man who left three limbs on the battlefield -- it's worse than disgraceful. It's reprehensible."
-- Sen. John McCain, quoted by CNN, on the campaign ads used by Saxby Chambliss (R) against Sen. Max Cleland (D-GA) in the 2002 U.S. Senate race.
I'd never seen anything like that Political Wire post. Putting the name of Max Cleland next to the name of a man who left all his integrity on the campaign trail -- it's worse than disgraceful. It's reprehensible.
Posted by: truthynesslover | November 30, 2008 at 06:17 PM
I'm never sure what toothyslobber is writing itself or cutting-and-pasting because it's uniformly stupid. Using John McCain as an authority on how to conduct a campaign: Is anybody supposed to be convinced by that? And for the record, Cleland got injured when he was screwing around with a grenade, not in combat. He never received a Purple Heart for it.
Posted by: Captain Hate | November 30, 2008 at 06:36 PM
Sir Nigel Sheinwald (British Ambassador to the US) called Obama "maybe aloof, insensitive" at times.
That can certainly have the appearance of cool.
Posted by: MayBee | November 30, 2008 at 06:39 PM
Yes, Maybee, Sir Nigel does have the appearance of cool for those observations.
Posted by: sbw | November 30, 2008 at 06:50 PM
Yeah, I thought McCain was wrong then too. Reminds me why I pledged never to vote for the guy.
Posted by: Pofarmer | November 30, 2008 at 06:55 PM
Captain,
You are wasting your time,the left live within its own narrative.Like Obama,it writes the script then lives it.
Posted by: PeterUK | November 30, 2008 at 07:03 PM
yeah right ,you people are morons!
November 28, 2008
Rove says Obama economic team 'reassuring'
Posted: 11:50 AM ET
From CNN Ticker Producer Alexander Mooney
more lefty propaganda!!
Rove praised Obama's economic team.
(CNN) — President-elect Barack Obama is drawing early praise from former top Bush-aide Karl Rove.
Rove, widely credited with orchestrating President Bush's two successful presidential campaigns, writes in a Wall Street Journal op-ed that Obama has assembled a "first rate" economic team that has "provided surprisingly positive clarity."
REVIEW & OUTLOOK NOVEMBER 28, 2008 Obama's War Cabinet
Gates and Jones are welcome signs of continuity.Article
more in Opinion »Email Printer Friendly Share:
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The names floated for Barack Obama's national security team "are drawn exclusively from conservative, centrist and pro-military circles without even a single -- yes, not one! -- chosen to represent the antiwar wing of the Democratic party." In his plaintive post this week on the Nation magazine's Web site, Robert Dreyfuss indulges in the political left's wonderful talent for overstatement. But who are we to interfere with his despair?
If reports are correct, on Monday the President-elect will ask Robert Gates to stay on as Secretary of Defense and name retired Marine General James Jones as National Security Adviser. These are the Administration posts most critical to the successful conduct of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and to possible entanglements with Iran, North Korea and who knows who else. With these personnel picks, Mr. Obama reveals a bias for competence, experience and continuity. Hence the caterwauls from his left flank.
too bad we couldnt have more of bushes cronies and hacks huh?heck of a job!
Posted by: truthynesslover | November 30, 2008 at 07:15 PM
truthynesslover:
You must just be so thrilled with Mr. Hope & Change! What's your favorite broken campaign pledge so far?
Posted by: JM Hanes | November 30, 2008 at 07:21 PM
PUK:
So true! The left believe all their own spin -- like the idea that that we treat every utterance of Carl Rove like the word of God, or that we blindly follow our anointed candidates -- when they're the ones who accorded Rove supernatural powers, and they're the ones now having to defend a candidate who hasn't even waited to take office before abandoning the central planks of his campaign.
Posted by: JM Hanes | November 30, 2008 at 07:29 PM
Cpt:
TL's schtick is Cut and Paste all the way.
That fool wouldn't know the problems Cleland had if they hit him in the face.
Posted by: jimrhoads aka vnjagvet | November 30, 2008 at 07:29 PM
"The names floated for Barack Obama's national security team "are drawn exclusively from conservative, centrist and pro-military circles without even a single -- yes, not one! -- chosen to represent the antiwar wing of the Democratic party."
That's what you get for voting for a snake oil salesman - snake oil.
Posted by: PeterUK | November 30, 2008 at 07:38 PM
JM Hanes
"they're the ones now having to defend a candidate who hasn't even waited to take office before abandoning the central planks of his campaign."
Truthy being one of the abandoned planks,plank being the operative word.
Posted by: PeterUK | November 30, 2008 at 07:42 PM
"and if military service is a requirement for office,"
The Democrats have to take what little credit they can get:
a. John Kerry - showed up but bugged out to go on to help the North Vietnamese claim a victory.
John Kerry's message regarding the US military has never changed. In his message in front of the Senate sub committee on Foreign Relations in 1971, he called American military members who served in Vietnam every dishonorable name in the book.
Then, during the Iraq War he called Americans stupid for serving there.
b. Sen Harkins, never served in Vietnam, but made up stories that he did.
c. Al Gore, he, in fact, actually was there.
d. Had some service in Vietnam, but dishonored himself with his attacks on Iraq Marines without any kind of proof.
There are probably a few I forgot, but the point is that to the Democrats, a person like Cleland, who they can point to and claim he actually did something and is living proof of it is a pretty big deal.
Of course, as Ann Coulter points out, he could have done the same thing at Fort Dix or where ever he got his military training .
But there is a twofer with the Coulter Article. Cleland was one of the loudest, demanding pay stubs for Bush's National Guard service. Does anyone think they will hear Cleland demanding Obama produce his birth certificate? Even through Obama refused to appear with Cleland on stage in July, Cleland won't be disloyal to a fellow Democrat.
Democrats and military service or national defense for America just do not go well together, IMO.
Posted by: pagar | November 30, 2008 at 07:45 PM
Should we start a pool to see how long it takes for the sinistrosphere to explode with rage at what they've wrought?
Posted by: clarice | November 30, 2008 at 07:53 PM
Unfortunately the sinistrosphere,being capable of holding two contradictory view points at the same time,will simply switch over to the one that makes their heads hurt less. Viz the adoration of the CIA,heart of darkness,during the Plame affair.
Posted by: PeterUK | November 30, 2008 at 08:03 PM
He has never done an honest days labor in his life. Cool? No, he is lazy.
Posted by: torabora | November 30, 2008 at 08:15 PM
the left live within its own narrative.Like Obama,it writes the script then lives it.
I don't agree with this. The left writes the script and then expects everyone else to live it, while it does what it pleases.
Posted by: PD | November 30, 2008 at 08:18 PM
Hmmm. Things are getting serious.
Posted by: Sara (Pal2Pal) | November 30, 2008 at 08:27 PM
Of course, when it came to someone that might be aware of the rendition and interrogation policies they put their foot down. They'll put some useful cypher at the Company, who like Admiral Turner, a score and a half ago, dismantled the covert operations division, and all the programs
that have kept us safe. Hillary may have a better shot of it at state, but not if Samantha Powers is anywhere in the planning
apparatus. General Jones, I remember from that Wall Street journal profile, how Rumsfeld had offered him the CENTCOM billet;
but he turned it down because it would involve too much traveling. Let us not be fooled, as Melanie Phillips put it by the
facade. Woolsey was a decent choice for CIA, a former clean Gene character turned neocon; he wasn't given the time of day under Clinton, took up the case of the Iraqi dissident quarantined on Guam; grew closer to the INC. Aspin, was the leading center left voice in Democratic politics; remember Somalia was not one of our finest moments. I read Ishmael Jones book,sometime ago, he reaffirmed what must have been true, but the likes of Bob Baer and Jenny Moran insisted were false. That the
Baghdad station, was one of the most effective in the world. That meme was probably set in motion by Mr. MacGuire, who's leaked unspecific Aardwolf cable, got him the same result as Esquire's fawning profile of Admiral Fallon. It seems to have surfaced in David Ignatius's Body of Lies.
That comment, about Valerie Plame being a mere analyst; must not have made many friends. Interestingly, Mr. Jones views, seem to echo that of John Weisman'series
of thinly veiled roman a clefs on the CIA.
I'll chalk up Lord Rove's comments to a slightly diminished level of expectations.
Posted by: narciso | November 30, 2008 at 08:41 PM
Rove knows that if he praises anything Obama does, it'll drive the left nuts. :-)
More likely, it's just Rove being objective in a way that the Rove-demonizing left is simply unable to comprehend. I think he's one of the best commentators that Fox has on because he's one of the few that can look at both sides of issues without being compelled to say nothing but bad about the side he disagrees with.
Posted by: PD | November 30, 2008 at 09:03 PM
Clarice,
Why would heads explode on the left? They know that Obama is a liar and a thief whose word is as valueless as his character. They see themselves in him and recognize that "by any means" allows the most debased behavior imaginable. He cannot be said to have violated any progressive principles for progressives possess no principles - unless you want to count "two legs bad".
He'll have to botch a power grab like Hillary did on health care before the progressive dregs will do more than shiver in excitement. I don't doubt that the rent boy will botch quite a bit but I would be amazed if his progressive butt kissing crew got upset before June.
Unless he starts a war, an event which has a very high probability, IMO. How else will he cover his ineptitude?
Posted by: Rick Ballard | November 30, 2008 at 09:04 PM
I guess turning once professional journalists into blind koolaid drinking groupies is sort of cool.
Posted by: Dennis D | November 30, 2008 at 09:17 PM
Well, if the guy putting up the full page ad is indication, it may be a civil war.
Posted by: Pofarmer | November 30, 2008 at 09:17 PM
Wow, Rick. Sure am glad my Democratic kids aren't reading over my shoulder, because nobody does ugly like you do.
Posted by: JM Hanes | November 30, 2008 at 09:24 PM
Chinese Smoke Clearing
Quick Wang, my abacus. Lessee, exports make up 38% of the entire Chinese economy (much more when chickens for pigs barter is excluded), so a 30% drop in orders equals about a 12% decline in the entire economy.
Well, it's only one month. I'm sure things will turn around as winter starts.
OTOH - China’s rural labour force is dependent on exports. Perhaps a cold winter will ameliorate the problem.
Posted by: Rick Ballard | November 30, 2008 at 09:36 PM
"Mr. Cool" doesn't need to get mad (even though he should). He just channels all his boiling emotions through his angry wife.
We can only wonder what is said behind closed bedroom doors....
"Listen up, Mistah Hope and Change, you gotta stay loose like a real brotha. The white side of yo' brain must be controllin' yo' ass because it's pinched up tighter 'n a snare drum."
Posted by: MarkJ | November 30, 2008 at 09:37 PM