...it's not dark yet, but it's gettin' there...
It's almost a week since the election and the punditry has coalesced into two distinct themes. I'll digest them for you right now, so you can enjoy the rest of the week without having to bother with the news at all.
The Right: Republicans lost because they didn't try to please the conservative base. It had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that most Americans are pissed about Iraq, don't believe the President's "stay the course" line anymore, and think it's time to either win or get out. No, the election was really about prescription drug entitlements.Take the rest of the week off, but don't forget to visit here as often as possible for more essential analysis.The Left: Not only is Nancy Pelosi really smart and a grandmother, she isn't liberal at all. She's actually a centrist. All Americans are ecstatic that she's in charge of the country. Except for those Republicans, who are very sad. On the other hand, George H. W. Bush is in charge of the country, which would normally be bad, except we like him now.
Great analysis Annika and I think the jury is still out on why the republicans lost and the democrats won. I love the concept that winners have (some number, 100 perhaps?) loads of fathers and losers are orphans. If you were to ask me, and so far exactly no one has... the lack of passion is why the republicans lost. Hurricane Katrina all by itself is enough for the republicans to have gotten their heads handed to then. Add Duke Cunningham (one of my heros from VN I was in country working on F4's when he became an ace) a old guy going off to jail for influence peddling, Tom Delay's problems and Mark Foley hitting on boys? Its a miracle that there are any republicans left on capital hill. The thing I'd be seriously worried about if I were George Bush nowadays is being impeached as he's got no friends on the Hill. This is the same senerio that caused the downfall of Richard Nixon and for a number of reasons didn't cause it for Bill Clinton. It should be an interesting 2 years...
Posted by: Drake Steel on Nov. 13, 2006Annika,
I don't think the issue of how smart she is or just how she is, is really so important. Smart people do stupid things all the time and the inverse is equally frequent.
Is Bill Frist a smart guy? Presumably he is, being a doctor and all that goes with that. But whaaat was he doing when he jumped on the Teri Schiavo band wagon and went so far as to proffer an emphatic diagnosis with out examining her or her records? It was stupid not to mention cruel and politically motivated. Smart as he may be he was at the mercy of his black hearted desire to position himself in this matter in a way he thought would be benificial to the Party and his personal political asperations. As the psychiatrist that saw Carmela SOprano that one time might ask Bill, "so how is that going?"
Smart ain't all its cracked up to be. It is all to often trumped by ambition, carelessness and avarice. These are componants of character, a far more important issue than smart.
Posted by: Strawman on Nov. 14, 2006liberal is the missing word in the first sentence
Posted by: Strawman on Nov. 14, 2006A circumstance beyond our control, oh oh oh oh
The phone, the tv and the news of the world
Got in the house like a pigeon from hell, oh oh oh oh
Threw sand in our eyes and descended like flies
"Smart ain't all its cracked up to be. It is all to [sic]often trumped by ambition, carelessness and avarice. These are componants of character, a far more important issue than smart."
I agree. Bill Clinton taught us that years ago.
Posted by: blu on Nov. 14, 2006Blu,
That is quite true. But if your thinking that W on the other hand is dull witted, uneducated, poorly spoken, but has a good character you are mistaken.
Posted by: Strawman on Nov. 14, 2006
Nope - not thinking that. After all, he's hardly dull-witted and is certainly very well-educated. Wouldn't make any sense now would it? Thanks for making things more cogent for other readers, however.
Posted by: blu on Nov. 14, 2006I live to educate.
Posted by: Strawman on Nov. 14, 2006