All hat, no cattle
February 13th, 2008 by 
Ellen
Which, famously, describes our current President–and, I’m afraid, also describes Senator Obama. Too much hubris, not enough policy details. Or even any. Granted, the left-wing version of the current Administration would be an improvement over the last seven years, but unless McCain picks Huckabee as his running mate and frightens everyone, I think we may be looking at a Republican landslide.
I’m not a huge fan of its author, but this is a good piece.
I am, however, extremely fond of Mr. Krugman.
Everywhere I went on Super Tuesday, I ran into Obama supporters, who were literally running around in circles and screaming “Yes, we can!” with glazed looks in their eyes. At best, it was embarrassing, but it also felt–deranged. I would love to be inspired by a candidate, and feel wildly excited and so forth–but, not to the point of losing reason. Surely, there is something to be said for dignity? Call me crazy, but I want an adult to run the country. A sensible one. In any case, I feel as though lately, life has been one demoralizing defeat after another. (I will not discuss–now or ever–what happened to a team which will go unmentioned until next season. But, I took it hard. There might even have been a bit of weeping involved.)
Apropos of nothing in particular, she continues to be a mysterious, somewhat perplexing figure.
My friend Barbara sent me a very funny card from this site. If you have the right kind of slightly sick sense of humor, I highly recommend it.
For those of us who like photography, this is kind of neat. They’re starting their second series of 100 on Monday.
And, if you were very kindly making up a gift list for me–which is always a delightful idea–please put this at the top. I did not know, until I became a bit of a photography wonk, that one can lust for gear. I am currently saving up for a 300mm 2.8 lens–and expect to be able to afford one in no more than two or three years. Sigh.
If you are sensible enough to be a Battlestar Galactica fan, you will enjoy this. Dark is good. And, I don’t care what anyone says–Anders is wicked handsome.
This makes life worth living.
[Note from the Webmaster: I've closed comments on this one for ease of discussion. Please head on over to the Politics thread on the MB. Since I'm about to go out of town for the weekend, I've temporarily reconfigured the board so that administrator approval is not required. Everybody have a great weekend and play nice! ]
Posted in Actors, Battlestar Galactica, Boston Red Sox, Current Events, New England Patriots, Photography, Politics |
February 13th, 2008 at 2:35 pm
I’m not quite sure Dice K’s mullet makes life worth living… but I really love that photo of Jon Lester.
February 13th, 2008 at 6:03 pm
Ooh, it’s nice to see someone else thinking the same way about Obama. It really does feel deranged and weird to see people acting like this about a political candidate. It kind of creeps me out.
February 14th, 2008 at 11:15 am
Did you check out all of the following, at least, before making these statements?
http://thinkonthesethings.wordpress.com/barack-obama-101/
http://thinkonthesethings.wordpress.com/why-support-barack-obama-not-hillary-clinton-comparison-compare-records/
http://thinkonthesethings.wordpress.com/2008/02/14/mccain-i-havent-seen-all-of-obamas-speeches-but-they-lack-specifics/
http://thinkonthesethings.wordpress.com/2008/02/13/barack-obama-economic-policy-speech-february-13-2008/
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/daniel_koffler/2008/01/substance_not_style.html
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/02/the-natural.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/07/opinion/07kristof.html?_r=1&em&ex=1202619600&en=0ada286aade52b12&ei=5087%0A&oref=slogin
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120241915915951669.html?mod=fpa_editors_picks
http://egan.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/06/obama-the-shock-of-the-red/
I dunno, I’m seeing a heck of a lot of glazed looks and deranged statements made by the Clinton fans - and my experience of that is as valid as yours. Maybe it’s just a tense election. But whatever is going on, doing one’s homework is always a nice idea.
February 14th, 2008 at 12:00 pm
I’ve been following the election–and even reporting on it for the Huffington Post–avidly, for months. I bow to no one in the area of completing my homework. Passed my orals, wrote the dissertation, I’m good to go.
Just can’t get excited about a guy who regularly voted “Present.” (yeah, yeah, yeah, the Illinois legislature has arcane rules, it can be a strategy, _whatever_. It still isn’t leadership.)
Eight years from now? Probably. This November? I’d rather vote for an adult, than a pretty, callow fellow in what appears to be an empty suit, so far.
February 14th, 2008 at 12:03 pm
I must add, that it creeps me out, too. Somewhere, George Orwell is giggling.
February 14th, 2008 at 3:07 pm
Really? You, “literally” saw people running around in circles etc.?
I think you need a lesson in what the word literally means.
February 14th, 2008 at 4:05 pm
It’s Bark at the Author Day, hunh?
And, my use of the word was precisely accurate (see #s 1 and 3; 2 is not particularly germane; 4 does not apply in this case. #3 was my specific choice, when I selected the word):
1. in the literal or strict sense: What does the word mean literally?
2. in a literal manner; word for word: to translate literally.
3. actually; without exaggeration or inaccuracy: The city was literally destroyed.
4. in effect; in substance; very nearly; virtually.
Barack fans are mighty touchy. And their candidate has a serious problem if a person whose favorite senators are Russ Feingold and Ted Kennedy isn’t buying what their guy is selling. I’m afraid the vast majority of my wildly liberal friends and loved ones aren’t on board, either–which means the Senator from Illinois just might not be the Party’s best choice in November, when I expect we will be faced with President McCain.
Granted, the _best_ choice, Mr. Gore, is not currently running.
Luckily, the Internet is swarming with people who have gaily swallowed the Kool-Aid, so no one will feel lonely. (Yes, that’s snarky, but anyone who is not a random troll will not find this surprising.)
February 14th, 2008 at 5:02 pm
O-kay, just wait a damn minute. I may not always agree with Ellen, she’s even something a liberal wingnut from time to time, but seriously people, are we in middle school? To Ellen, I say…kudos on a well-reasoned argument.
To the other posters on here (most of them), let me get a little more specific. Something your candidate could stand to do himself.
Speaking as someone who is fully intent on voting for John McCain in the unlikely event that Barack Obama become the Democratic nominee, I have to say that a huge part of what concerns me here is the personality cult that’s developing around Senator Obama–a man who’s speeches seem to be becoming less and less substantive the more ground he gains (see Tuesday night, for example). The more he talks, the more I think of Dr. Gaius Baltar, a reference that may well fly right over the heads of many due to NBC/Universal’s complicated beauracracy, but I’m afraid somewhat apt nonetheless.
I’m not supporting Senator Clinton because I like her as an individual or as a public speaker–frankly, I’m not the biggest fan of her in either arena, but I do feel she’s the only politician in America right now who is qualified and capable of fixing the situation we’re in (barring Al Gore, of course), and also of reaching compromise with the GOP in the Senate in order to pass bills. McCain would certainly be able to achieve compromise because of his extensive career and his general amiability with most of his colleagues across the aisle. I don’t see Obama having much luck achieving the same, frankly.
What everyone seems to be ignoring is that in the best-case scenario, the next president will be be taking office with 57 Democratic senators. I don’t see the GOP allowing anything Obama truly wants to pass, and I don’t trust him to be capable of rounding up four (or more) Republicans to break a filibuster. Clinton’s experiences over the past seven years make that more possible for her. Change is great…if you can make it happen, instead of just using it as a mantra to energize a crowd of people who were on your side to begin with and who can’t help you overcome a filibuster.
Rather than take a risk on someone who’s demonstrated little more than utter naivete (his handling of the gay community’s somehow surprising fury over the hiring of an Ex-Gay minister in South Carolina), arrogance (the JFK comparisons simply must stop, JFK had six years in the House, seven years in the Senate, and five years in the military BEFORE running for president), and utterly reckless contempt for foreign policy (invading Pakistan, the only Islamic nation on Earth that already possesses nuclear weapons doesn’t even sound like a good idea to the CURRENT administration)…yes, I will vote for John McCain, a man I seldom agree with but whom I at least believe is competent, qualified, and on most days…a good person. I don’t expect much to surprise Senator McCain, not even an angry gay community or say a catastrophic terrorist attack.
One thing I guarantee that Howard Dean and the DNC are considering is that I’m not alone on this. Many Obama supporters will suck it up and vote for Clinton if she’s the nominee. Many will also be petty jackasses and stay home, then bitch like the Naderites for the next four years if the Republicans maintain the White House. But how many of Obama’s supporters will jump ship entirely and vote for McCain? I can name at least ten Clinton supporters who are prepared to do just that should Obama get the nod. Maybe we should actually be grateful for Superdelegates this time around, it could keep things from derailing entirely.
Lastly, and I’m sorry I’m being long-winded but frankly you all deserve it, it is just downright sophomoric to hide behind criticisms of writing style and intent in trying to make your point. Ellen is a fairly accomplished writer. She’s also a Virgo, though many of you may not know it. To accuse her of spouting off recklessly, without having “done her homework,” to suggest she doesn’t know how to properly use the word “literal” (and I can tell you, YES, I’ve seen them running around like lunatics too, now I’m sorry I didn’t videotape it but I was so damn mortified I just fled the scene after giving them a stern lecture)…all of that is pretty seriously beneath the level of this forum, or ANY forum where the merits of the next president of the United States of America are being debated.
Grow the fuck up, or get your own FOX TV show. Based on your arguments so far, I have no doubt they’d welcome you with open arms.
February 14th, 2008 at 5:40 pm
_Fairly_ accomplished? (Oh, I’m just playing with you. It’s the wacky wingnut in me.)
I must stress that they were spinning in actual circles. I stopped right in my tracks, scarcely able to believe it; others crossed the street, to avoid them. And I saw this more than _once_, on the same day. People who absolutely seemed to be out of their minds. Even my dog was alarmed.
It was weird.
Pam, if you are still here, that _was_ a swell photo of Jon Lester. I think he’ll win at least fifteen games this season, and twenty would not shock me.
Because, you know, in the end, Everything is about the Boston Red Sox.
February 15th, 2008 at 1:40 am
My heart breaks at how uncool it is for those in my circle of late-20s/early 30s friends to be a Hillary supporter. Because Obama fills his speeches with poetry instead of policy, he touches the soft spots in their hearts, which is all well and good, but NONE OF US HAVE HEALTH INSURANCE, guys. We’re still in a really CRAPPY WAR. Nevermind what I think is really the anti-woman sentiment behind all this.
My friend Jen Kirkman who is a brilliant stand-up comic said that Hillary vs. Obama is exactly like her career: she’s been pounding the pavement making jokes for a dozen years, just to watch SNL and the sitcom writing staffs snap up the first 22-year-old males who land in the comedy scene with a pretty face and a couple one-liners.
Still, I am working in Alaska for a couple months and the only talk you hear round these parts is Ron Paul. They like to vote crazy in the twenty below weather. I feel lucky to live in NYC where at least the talk is centered around people I can stomach.
February 15th, 2008 at 11:13 am
Unfortunately, I agree with you. The anti-woman bias is overwhelming, as much as I wish that such a thing no longer existed. The media seems to have decided that racism (praising LBJ for working _with_ Dr. King ain’t racism, by the way) is Bad, but virulent sexism is Fine. Where I come from, they’re _both_ bad things. Hillary is standing up and taking the hits–and female politicians down the road will have a much easier time because of it. My God, the sheer guts of the woman alone–_knowing_ the non-stop abuse and hostility she was going to face–is enough to win my vote. Who do you want in your corner, when the country is in this much trouble? The fearless, determined pit-bull, or the enchanting, delicate poet? I want the pit-bull in _my_ foxhole.
There are many things not to like about Hillary, no question–but, out of the current field, I genuinely believe that she would be the most competent President, by far. And that Barack has gotten a free ride from the media, and a country _desperate_ for change, and a reason to be cheerful again–even if they have to make it up. (I remain convinced that the post-9/11 malaise has never lifted, because of the disgraceful way the current Administration has handled the whole situation–it’s been _downhill_ since My Pet Goat.)
Clinton/Obama is a superb ticket. She spends 4-8 years cleaning up the mess (and, no doubt, getting criticized constantly for her hard work); he spends 4-8 years learning the ropes (and learning to admit that he _has_ a lot to learn), and then, he’s is a position to be a potentially quite glorious President. Right now, in my opinion, he’s all hubris–and all hat.
And that ticket would absolutely blow away Senator McCain.
Your friend Jen is pretty damn funny–and pretty damn accurate.