I think he’s talking about the Neil Kinnock plagiarism thing.
jeffd
1583
Taibbi certainly knows how to work his schtick.
I was being snide before, but I generally like Taibbi in small doses. I guess my problem with him (and Greenwald to a much greater extent) is that neither seems to have a realistic view of how politics really work inside the Beltway.
Actually, that’s not right. Both guys understand it, they just feign this exaggerated moral indignation and angry shock when things in Washington work the way they’ve worked for 200 years or so, and I find it rather disingenuous and silly.
Both guys understand it, they just feign this exaggerated moral indignation and angry shock when things in Washington work the way they’ve worked for 200 years or so, and I find it rather disingenuous and silly.
I think in the history of politics there is room for people who are (or strike the pose of being) morally indignant and less willing to make standard political compromises. William Lloyd Garrison, for example, who rather than be ‘reasonable’ by the standards of the 1830s said “fuck you, slavery is wrong.” Such voices rightly belong in the field of journalism or polemics, where they can avail themselves of free speech to influence the conversation in a way that insiders and ‘electables’ may be unable to.
I don’t consider Greenwald naive; I consider him a useful counterweight to other media voices.
If Glenn Greenwald is William Lloyd Garrison, then I’m Mark goddamn Twain. He’s a prevaricating douchebag.
EDIT: I have no problem with hearing dissenting voices from all over the spectrum, and especially when those voices are those of a gadfly. I simply find Greenwald to be intellectually dishonest.
Some morning poll porn with your coffee and bagel:
Quinnipiac/NYT/CBS News poll:
Obama +10 in Ohio (53-43)
Obama +9 in Florida (53-44)
Obama +12 in PA (54-42)
Comparisons to previous Quinnipiac/NYT/CBS polls of the same states:
Ohio, 8/23: 50-44 Obama
Florida 8/23: 49-46 Obama
I would say that in general Quinnipiac (which was Nate Silver’s “Most Accurate” winner in 2010) is currently polling about 2 points skewed towards the Democrats. Still, if you factor it in to these results, it’s still bad, bad news for Team Romney.
Hugin
1589
My main problem with Greenwald is that he’s really bad at modulating his tone. So every failure of the administration is a moral catastrophe, and eventually just the thought of reading him makes me tired, even if in theory I’m inclined to agree with the core of most of his arguments.
I think that the “serious” Republicans (few and far between as they are) decided to sit this one out back in 2008 and absolutely crossed it off their calendars in 2010. They knew that public anger at the Bush policies and especially the financial collapse would guarantee a Democratic victory in 2008, and the smart ones also knew that they had to let the Tea Party thing burn itself out before jumping in the ring.
The list above is a little sketchy though.
Rubio has a decent future, maybe. God knows the GOP needs some way to brings some Latinos (who are not as homogeneous a political group as the media would have you believe) back into the tent. His decision to keep himself out of the veepstakes was wise.
Christie is a joke. He’s too abrasive, too bullying and too fat to be president. He’d make someone an amusing VP, maybe.
Jindal has a shot, perhaps. He seems to be a capable administrator, but if his post-SotU address was any indication, he’s not exactly an electric public speaker.
Jeb Bush is probably the GOP’s most likely contender for the Top Office… or he would be if not for some unfortunate relatives.
Paul Ryan is too far to the right. Maybe if Romney wins he can spend four or eight years being unassuming, but chances are he won’t get that chance.
I doubt I’ll vote Republican unless they radically change their plank to be more socially moderate, but I would LOVE to see a serious GOP contender next cycle.
I guess that articulates it better than I was able to, and hits the nail on the head. Greenwald does nuance slightly better than Donald Trump.
And why this kind of thing?
Obama eyes return to teaching after White House:
It’s election time and the last thing the world needs (seriously) is a Republican (since they are completely hijcked by corrupt money influence with bad plans for 99% of people) as President of America. So why this kind of talk now? Is there some panic behind the scenes to try to ensure a Romney win?
Not sure I get your difficulties with this. Mr. Obama will be 55 in 2016. If he wins a second term he’ll be fairly young. So he’d like to teach at that point. Good on him.
Houngan
1594
Yeah, how is this worse than sucking dry the money teat by going on speaking tours?
Timex
1595
Good point, would you care to back it up?
Biden has a number of cases where he not only lied, but blatently lied, about ridiculous things.
There’s of course the time when he just took some other guy’s political stump speech, and then retold the story as though it happened to him.
The most awesome case though was when he freaked out at some reporters while running for president back in 1988.
As revealed by a video shown on C-SPAN,[30][31] when questioned by a New Hampshire resident about his grades in law school, Biden had replied “I think I probably have a much higher IQ than you do, I suspect,”[32] and then inaccurately recollected graduating in the “top half” of his class when he actually graduated 76th from 85, that he had attended law school on a full scholarship, and had received three degrees in college.[33] In fact, he had earned a single B.A. with a double major in history and political science, and had received a half scholarship to law school based on financial need with some additional assistance based in part upon academics.[33] During this time, Biden also released his undergraduate grades, which were unexceptional.[27]
What’s awesome is that he spouts out a bunch of crazy lies in that tirade, and they’re totally over the top in their complexity… Like, to the extent that they couldn’t possibly just have been “mistakes”. You don’t just “mis-speak” and forget how many degrees you got in college.
Houngan
1596
Fair enough, it was pre-internet for the most part, a time when a politician could make stuff up and have a good chance of it slipping past.
Timex
1597
Heh, it totally didn’t slip past though. The NY Times basically crucified him the next day, and then he ended his campaign.
Also, what always baffled me about that particular session from Biden in 1988, was that he was lying about stuff which was so easily checked. It’s not the only time he’s done that, either. It’s like, he either thinks that everyone else is functionally retarded and that he can just pull the wool over everyone’s eyes, or he literally can’t even help himself. It’s like he cannot stop himself from saying crazy stuff. Like maybe he believes it himself.
Based on what you’ve posted, I’d tell folks that I got three degrees as well. (I see no reason to discount a double major as two degrees, and the law degree would be the third.)
Houngan
1599
Sometimes when you’re waxing your Trans Am with your shirt tied around your waist, getting ready to cruise the strip downtown and find some hot ladies, you embellish a bit. At least that’s how I picture it, thanks to The Onion.
Timex
1600
Well nothing can touch the summer of `87.
