Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Everybody saw this coming.

Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

The GOP couldn’t organize an orgy in a whorehouse with a fist full of 50s.

He really is that stupid.

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

Their freedom requires your slavery.

T R E 4 5 O N

It’s time for the GOP to dust off that post-2012 autopsy, completely ignore it, and light the party on fire again.

Take your GOP plan out of the witness protection program.

Let’s finish the job.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

People are complicated. Love is not.

And we’re all out of bubblegum.

I did not have this on my fuck 2022 bingo card.

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.

Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

I’m pretty sure there’s only one Jack Smith.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

You are here: Home / They wrote a book about it, they said it was like ancient Rome

They wrote a book about it, they said it was like ancient Rome

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Is everyone else as sick of hearing about the new Halperin book (annoying titled “Game Change”) as I am? I don’t care what Harry Reid said about “Negro dialects”, what John Edwards’ mistress is like, whether Cindy McCain had an affair or not, and what the latest from the Schmidt-O’Palin smackdown is.

I should probably just be grateful that Tiger Woods doesn’t make an appearance in the book (he doesn’t, right?), but the whole thing depresses me, it all feels like some recounting of sordid deeds among the ruling class in some long-dead civilization.

Reader Interactions

154Comments

  1. 1.

    Julius Ray Hoffman

    Perhaps if Obama displayed more leadership and more honesty, Americans would feel engaged in productive political efforts and sordid details like this wouldn’t be so distracting.

  2. 2.

    Nellcote

    Halperin’s just doing his job. A series of anonymous quotes to embarrass dems? check Book comes out in time for the midterms? check He should have called it “Revenge of The Villagers”. But, hey, he gets a month of DrudgeLinks so it’s all worth while.

  3. 3.

    DougJ

    Perhaps if Obama displayed more leadership and more honesty, Americans would feel engaged in productive political efforts and sordid details like this wouldn’t be so distracting.

    Way too obvious spoofery.

  5. 5.

    Shawn in ShowMe

    I don’t care what Harry Reid said about “Negro dialects”, what John Edwards’ mistress is like, whether Cindy McCain had an affair or not, and what the latest from the Schmidt-O’Palin smackdown is.

    And you call yourself an American?

  6. 6.

    Julius Ray Hoffman

    @DougJ-

    What do you mean by spoofery? I don’t understand.

    UPDATE: Nevermind. I looked it up in your lexicon and it apparently means a left-leaning commentor who tries to entice right-wing flaming. But I was serious about what I wrote. Obama is not leading and he’s not being honest and it seems to me that a feeling of public apathy is setting in fast, and so we turn to the sordid details for kicks.

  7. 7.

    bayville

    I’ll read the book right after I finish “Going Rogue” and Mark Levin’s latest manifesto.
    But I do hope the book has stuff about Kucinich’s wife or Riehl Hunter’s super secret steamy e-mails to Edwards?

  8. 8.

    Max

    The PUMA’s are going to go full metal ODS over the book.

    WJC is a bad character and their total fetishsizing of him will be interesting.

    HRC ran a horrible campaign, but of course, she would be a much better president than Obamarahm.

  9. 9.

    DFS.

    @Susan of Texas: Except Suetonius actually had some interesting material to work with. His subjects at least slit throats at random and/or had sex with close relatives and children and whatnot. The best that Halperin has to dish, so far as I can tell, is just a a bunch of anecdotes wherein grown adults behave like tenth-graders. Not really the kind of thing you can sink your teeth into, by comparison.

  11. 11.

    Chat Noir

    Agreed. From what the news is reporting, the book sounds like gossipy tidbits from unnamed sources. I know I’m biased because I’m an O-bot but I thought David Plouffe’s and Richard Wolffe’s respective books were excellent. They each had interesting tidbits and factoids that weren’t salacious or gossip.

  12. 12.

    General Winfield Stuck

    as I am? I don’t care what Harry Reid said about “Negro dialects”, what John Edwards’ mistress is like, whether Cindy McCain had an affair or not, and what the latest from the Schmidt-O’Palin smackdown is.

    We are mind meld on this. And I would add, I don’t care what Ronald Reagan said to Bonzo, nor what Clinton said to Monica at that special moment.

    But hear about it we will, for weeks to come. Halperin can catch an asteroid for his sins of writing or saying anything whatsoever.

  13. 13.

    GregB

    Halperin: And then Obama said WTF and Hillary said LOL and Bill said STFU.

    Village: Tell us more….

    This town needs and enema.

    -G

  14. 14.

    Joshua Norton

    Halperinite can neither be created nor destroyed, only transformed. At room temperature, Halperinite is in the form of a gas.

    Much like Wingnut.

  18. 18.

    geg6

    The Village cares, Doug. And what the Village wants, the Village gets. Especially from Halperin and Heilemann, two of the most serious of Village hacks.

  20. 20.

    Brachiator

    @Julius Ray Hoffman:

    Perhaps if Obama displayed more leadership and more honesty, Americans would feel engaged in productive political efforts and sordid details like this wouldn’t be so distracting.

    Let me ponder your remarks and respond with the most appropriate response having considered their merit.

    Bite me.

  21. 21.

    JGabriel

    DougJ:

    … it all feels like some recounting of sordid deeds among the ruling class in some long-dead civilization.

    It makes you realize how little we know of ancient Rome and Greece. When people look back on our day and age, there will be video to document much of it and far more written gossip.

    They will know in great detail exactly how much of asshole Mark Halperin or Bill Kristol are, in way we can never know about the critics or conservatives in previous eras, like Juvenal or Seneca.

    (ETA: Susan of Texas got there first. Must remember to read comments before posting.)

    .

  22. 22.

    robertdsc

    If it ever appeared in the 1-dollar bookstores I frequent, I’d pick it up. Otherwise, I’d skip it. I’m not really interested in reliving the campaign, though I won’t forget those times.

  24. 24.

    namekarB

    @General Winfield Stuck:

    But hear about it we will, for weeks to come.

    Or until the next village drama du jour happens. I swear, these gasbags only write about each other and for each other to read. None of it has any relevance to the average Joe who is upside down in his mortgage and is wondering if the next round of lay-offs will affect his paycheck to paycheck life. Beyond the District of Criminals, not many commoners even know who he is. Upon second thought, that also applies within DC.

    PS. I loves me the edit feature. Makes me write smarter than I am.

  25. 25.

    General Winfield Stuck

    @Julius Ray Hoffman:

    We have recorded your “nada” vote on Obama, and you will receive via mail your very own Plastic Unicorn signed by Bill Ayers. Gracias for yer participation.

  27. 27.

    PeakVT

    Is everyone else as sick of hearing about the new Halperin book as I am?

    This is the first time I’ve heard of it. Thanks for ruining my day.

  28. 28.

    Brachiator

    @JGabriel:

    It makes you realize how little we know of ancient Rome and Greece. When people look back on our day and age, there will be video to document much of it and far more written gossip.

    Given the ratio of gossip to political news, some future historian may end up concluding that Paris Hilton was Queen of America in the early years of the 21st century, and that Lindsay Lohan was the most honored actress of her day.

  29. 29.

    Max

    @namekarB: I agree. I talk to my friends who don’t read blogs, or watch MSNBC non-stop and when I bring up this kind of stuff, they are like “what?”

    They’ve never heard of Halperin, or Firedoglake, or MoDo, and they think Obama was handed a flaming bag of shit and he’s trying to stomp the fire out without getting shit all over the country.

    But, I’m an O-bot, so I don’t have winger or manic-progressive friends.

  30. 30.

    scudbucket

    @General Winfield Stuck: I don’t care what Ronald Reagan said to Bonzo, nor what Clinton said to Monica at that special moment.

    Now, that’s just going one step too far. Ronnie’s private whisperings to the golden chimp? You’re not curious??

  31. 31.

    General Winfield Stuck

    @Paul L.:

    Remember progressives during the 2008 campaign jumping on the “story” that John McCain called his c*nt?

    I wouldn’t call it “jumping on” more like bouncing a brand new ball fer fun. Plus, stories of mean and crazy John were also coming plenty from his wingnut buds in the senate.

  32. 32.

    Shawn in ShowMe

    Is it possible that Halprin thinks he’s Bob Woodward? I mean really?

    After watching the legendary catfight on Dynasty that landed Crystal and Alexis in the swimming pool, a young Mark Halperin dedicated his life to searching for the intersection between life and primetime melodrama art.

  33. 33.

    Nellcote

    @Paul L.:

    Remember progressives during the 2008 campaign jumping on the “story” that John McCain called his c*nt?

    What did McCain call his c*nt?

  38. 38.

    Anne Laurie

    @DFS.:

    Except Suetonius actually had some interesting material to work with. His subjects at least slit throats at random and/or had sex with close relatives and children and whatnot. The best that Halperin has to dish, so far as I can tell, is just a a bunch of anecdotes wherein grown adults behave like tenth-graders.

    Nah, Suetonius just didn’t have to worry about libel laws. Getting beaten up by one of his target’s more dedicated supporters, but that’s why the little weasel didn’t circulate his more scurrilous reports in writing until they were safely dead and/or out of power. There’s always been a Suetonius/Winchell/Drudge hanging around, retailing stories about This Week’s Political Monster’s “past” as a sex-worker drug-addicted mass-murderer. The only real difference is that today’s avid seekers of nourishment from horse droppings is the technology… and the fact that “nice” Media Village Idiots believe using taboo words and non-marital sexuality should be as shocking to us plebes as shooting Vincent Foster.

  39. 39.

    toujoursdan

    Global Warming – check
    Unsustainable population growth – check
    Declining environment (as evidenced by shrinking rainforests, coral bleaching, falling groundwater tables, etc.) – check
    10,000 plant and animal species extinctions every year – check
    Peak oil – check
    Crumbling infrastructure – check
    Decreasing crop yields – check
    Eroding living standards – check
    Eroding educational levels – check

    Books, TV and mainstream media focusing on everything except the list above = we are so fucked.

  41. 41.

    Mark S.

    @robertdsc:

    If it ever appeared in the 1-dollar bookstores I frequent, I’d pick it up.

    That’s probably what I’d do. The thing about these kinds of books is you can usually learn all the juicy bits without ever reading it. I seriously doubt Halperin really has any deep insights that would make the book worth reading for any other reason.

    I wonder how many instances of “This was great news for McCain” appear in the book.

  43. 43.

    maye

    and speaking of Romans, do you think Ambrosius Aurelianus was Arthur? And why should we take what Geoffrey of Monmouth says as gospel truth?

  45. 45.

    gbear

    it all feels like some recounting of sordid deeds among the ruling class in some long-dead civilization.

    But isn’t that exactly what this is? If there’s one thing you can say about the civilization that Halperin lives in, it’s most certainly long-dead.

  46. 46.

    Kobie

    @Max:

    I agree. I talk to my friends who don’t read blogs, or watch MSNBC non-stop and when I bring up this kind of stuff, they are like “what?”

    I tend to find myself in the same boat. I am BY FAR the most politically oriented of any of my friends, and the relatives I have that give a rip about politics either aren’t as internetty (?) or don’t have the time to read blogs and blog posts about other bloggers. So I’ll mention something that even a MoDo says, and get a blank stare.

  47. 47.

    Elie

    @Julius Ray Hoffman:

    I rarely say this, but in your case, I will make an exception..

    Shut Up!

    May your hemorroids become infected and bleed requiring major butt surgery and inability to put your pants on for weeks without gooey ointments, jels and REALLY watching what you eat…

    but have a nice day!

  49. 49.

    JK

    Chris Matthews will have a week long orgasm discussing this book and Charlie Rose will do the mother of groveling and bootlicking interviews with Halperin and Heilmann.

  50. 50.

    geg6

    Mark Halperin is so full of insight. I remember when he called the week of the bank meltdown and subsequent “suspension” of the McCain campaign a WIN for John McCain. What I wouldn’t give to have his analytical abilities! Oh, and Paul L might want to look up the difference between unsourced gossip and a remark for which there are witnesses. That and the fact that that particular story wasn’t something new that came out during the campaign. It was old news, just rehashed for the campaign season.

  51. 51.

    Bruce (formerly Steve S.)

    I usually don’t read material like this but for some reason I read the ten page excerpt in the New Yorker and felt dirty afterward. I learned that John Edwards was the hapless victim of a nasty and fat harpy of a wife on one side and a relentless seductress on the other. In other words, the established narrative, the vast majority of which was sourced with male campaign aides, was that chicks are evil and destroyed John Edwards. If you are not a fan of misogyny I don’t recommend the article. If this is how the authors treat Elizabeth Edwards then God only knows how they treat Hillary Clinton.

  52. 52.

    Elie

    @geg6:

    That and the fact that that particular story wasn’t something new that came out during the campaign. It was old news, just rehashed for the campaign season.

    Yep

  53. 53.

    Morbo

    I hadn’t looked into the whole Harry Reid thing, so I assumed it was something he said recently. Then I heard from my dad today that it was something from 2008. Bleh.

  54. 54.

    Elie

    @Bruce (formerly Steve S.):

    The alternative of course, is that Elizabeth is/was no saint. That just may be reality…

    I always figured that there had to be more to this given that between both of these people, neither could come to the conclusion that the impact of this was completely destructive to his candidacy and that he would have to withdraw. I saw neither as having the integrity to figure that out and so the characterization of her as a superficial and ambitious harpy without a deeper view of the play three moves down – fit.

    I think that they are BOTH sick and we dodged a bullet. No way is she a clean victim… just from my take of the facts on hand…

  57. 57.

    Cat Lady

    @Mark S.:

    I wonder how many instances of “This was great news for McCain” appear in the book.

    I don’t know. Halperin sticks the shiv in with the niblet of Gramps probably being cuckolded. Schmidt’s hit job on Palin is coming out next. The only good thing about this whole sordid tale is that McCain may finally have to slink away in shame. The index to the book has been released and the entire press corps is now in full feeding frenzy on each other. The court and press courtiers are all going down together, and they’ll probably take us all with them. It’s been an interesting experiment, this constitutional representational democracy thing.

  59. 59.

    JK

    @geg6:

    Mark Halperin is definitely full of something, but it isn’t insight. This is the same douchebag who had to apologize for telling Barbara Walters that John Edwards thought Barack Obama was a pussy and whined that the press was totally in the tank for Obama. Fuck Halperin and his book.

  60. 60.

    Bad Horse's Filly

    I read the excerpt about the Edwards’ today and have felt dirty ever since. Halperin is a hack and he should be working for the Enquirer. The whole thing, even if it is true, feels beyond sleazy – there is so much relish in the authors’ telling of all of this.

  61. 61.

    Mike Kay

    I kinda think it’s cool that Cindy McCain was getting it on, on the side.

    Maybe she was doing Richard Cohen.

  62. 62.

    Mike Kay

    I wonder if they touch upon the elephant in the room during the campaign — McCain’s dementia.

  64. 64.

    xian

    @Chat Noir:

    Plouffe’s book was an enjoyable nostalgia-walk for this o-bot, but it was also clearly a hagiography. I mean Plouffe’s a pro – you think he’s going to dish any dirt on Obama in his first year in office?

  65. 65.

    jl

    An anonymous source told me that Halperin is an idiot who cannot count to three.

    Can I have my book advance now?

  66. 66.

    Elie

    @Bad Horse’s Filly:

    There always is the cautionary tale for those contemplating such adventures in the public eye…

    Much is given to some, and much is demanded in turn…the payment is always due in blood and horrible emotional pain.. they know this…too many instances for them to ignore the object lessons

    I have no sympathy…

  67. 67.

    Mike Kay

    @Elie:

    neither could come to the conclusion that the impact of this was completely destructive to his candidacy and that he would have to withdraw.

    They probably thought, hey McCain is getting it on with a lobbyist, and no one says shit; Clinton is getting on with Gina Gershon and nobody says shit, if they can get away with it, so can we.

  70. 70.

    Bad Horse's Filly

    @Elie: I have no sympanthy for the Edwards’ – there was too much at stake in this election for their shit. But it’s the way they write about it…it’s salacious, sleazy and tawdry, without really telling us anything important about the events. And it is all so much hearsay. It belongs in the gossip section, not the political section of the bookstore.

  71. 71.

    Mike Kay

    @xian:

    Maybe there’s no dirt on obama. After all, Hillary opposition-research/investigators found nothing. Perhaps the biggest negative was his admission of cocaine use as a teen, but he released that himself 15 years ago, in his book.

  72. 72.

    Bruce (formerly Steve S.)

    The alternative of course, is that Elizabeth is/was no saint.

    No, that’s not the alternative at all. I never presume that any given image hung on a public figure is the “correct” one. I don’t see Elizabeth Edwards as the brave wife battling cancer any more than I see her as the manipulative shrew, I presume that like everybody else in the world she’s complicated. I just found it interesting that in a book written by two men, on a subject that appeared to be sourced entirely from interviews with other men, on a political theme where we’ve been subjected to the Macbeth narrative many times before, the two female principles came off as utterly without any redeeming qualities. The episodes related in the book excerpt could all be factually true yet biased and unfair at the same time.

  73. 73.

    Elie

    @Bad Horse’s Filly:

    gotcha

    But it got broad circulation. Part of the “wages of sin” for this and a huge cautionary tale. Will many heed? Probably not but we have gone too far in this genre of comple discrediting and horrible filth to retreat now. This is just finishing the job on these two hapless characters in this Greek tragedy of the flawed… Clean kill….

  75. 75.

    General Winfield Stuck

    I don’t care what Harry Reid said about “Negro dialects”, what John Edwards’ mistress is like, whether Cindy McCain had an affair or not,

    Well, it’s either this, or George Bush, his dry drunk, a bankrupt country, and 200 thousand dead brown people.

  76. 76.

    Max

    @Mike Kay: I don’t think there is. With the vitreol thrown his way, it would have come out by now.

    And that in itself with frustrate the haters.

  77. 77.

    Cat Lady

    @Mike Kay:

    That’s what’s making them all crazy I think. Obama did the total pre-emptive strike by writing not one, but two autobiographical books BEFORE HE RAN FOR PRESIDENT. Jeremiah Wright was the only real surprise by all accounts. He’s been a faithful husband and loving father and responsible grown-up. He represents America and now he’s become the object of everyone’s weird projection.

  78. 78.

    Chad N Freude

    @Julius Ray Hoffman: Taking your profession of naiveté seriously (which takes some effort), we ( a group from which I exclude myself in this context) do not turn to sordid details for kicks because Obama is not leading and not being honest. We turn to sordid details because gossip about the amoral and immoral behaviors, sexual peccadilloes, and other foibles of the celebrity class titillate us and produce feelings of envy and self-righteousness. The supermarket tabloids, People, Us, and TMZ did not come into existence because of Obama’s failings as a leader.

    Edit: I forgot to mention that it takes our minds off the real problems we face. Also. Too.

  80. 80.

    Cat Lady

    @Rosali:

    Golden McPenis FTW.

    Here’s a comment in that thread from DougJ:

    Do you guys ever read back issues of The Note (when Halperin was writing it)? Some of the stuff is just amazing:
    ..
    Here’s a personal favorite (describing an answer Bush gave to a question at a presser in January 2006:
    ..
    In short: faith, family friends; daughters and dogs; Lincoln had it rough and/but I’m no Lincoln; change the tone; no pain, no gain; my knees are like tires; mountain biking—good; priorities and perspective.
    ..
    That is the kind of answer and vision that will get a man’s approval rating back over 53% any day now.
    ..
    What’s remarkable is that someone this dumb is so familiar with obscure Bruce Springsteen and Elvis Costello lyrics.

    Read that and weep. But, I am an O-bot.

  81. 81.

    Mike Kay

    @Cat Lady:

    you nailed it cat lady. It’s everyone’s peculiar projections.

    All the screaming, paranoid Firebagers and teabaggers have projected their own unique cynicisms and paranoia, instead of just viewing circumstances in plain terms.

  82. 82.

    Will

    Is everyone else as sick of hearing about the new Halperin book (annoying titled “Game Change”) as I am?

    I’ll be honest: it’s a riveting piece of entertainment. It’s not going to change how I vote or my low opinion of Mark Halperin, but it’s still a good yarn.

  84. 84.

    rob!

    Well, it’s either this, or George Bush, his dry drunk, a bankrupt country, and 200 thousand dead brown people.

    Anybody watch the Simpsons documentary that was on tonight? Two direct shots at Bush that made me laugh out loud.

  85. 85.

    Cat Lady

    @Mike Kay:

    The picture was at a Moody Blues concert. Cindy met her date at the concert after Gramps told her to get off his her lawn!

    This will keep the Village occupied for weeks.

  87. 87.

    Violet

    Gosh, I’ve been out enjoying the weekend. A party on Friday night. A fantastic play last night. Cooked a big dinner. Enjoyed the cold but lovely weather by going for a run. And look what I’ve missed… Elizabeth Edwards is a shrew. Cindy McCain had an affair. Gossip galore.

    I feel weirdly out of step and yet very refreshed by having missed the whole thing. There is a life outside politics, apparently.

  88. 88.

    Lisa

    The title of the book is a dealbreaker right off the top.

    I am so sick of the phrases “game change” and “game changers” I could vomit.

  90. 90.

    kay

    Marc Halperin took something big and complex with a really interesting cast of characters and made it small, petty and mean-spirited?
    I’m shocked.
    I have to say, I’m pleased that a new generation of “journalists” will be making a buck off the Clinton marriage. The Clinton’s have provided the talentless punditry a free meal ticket for decades now. You’d think they’d stop beating that horse, but it’s a reliable income-generator, and it beats working, I guess.

  91. 91.

    Mark S.

    @Lisa:

    What’s stupid about calling the book game changer is that there weren’t really any game changers in the election. Barring a monumental fuckup, the Dems were going to win because the GOP was so unpopular. There wasn’t any game changer in the Democratic nomination either.

  93. 93.

    Violet

    @Mike Kay:

    Are you saying you didn’t see ANY of the football games??!?

    I did see about three seconds of one game, but don’t even know which one it was. Just saw that football was on right before they went to commercial. Other than that brief brush with the TV, I’ve been outside or away from everything all day.

    A very pleasant change, indeed!

  96. 96.

    PaulW

    Perhaps if Obama simply dresses up in an Air Force flight suit every day, Americans would feel that the value of their action figure collections – especially the ones still in their containers – will… sigh… you know, I can’t even finish this snarkery, it’s too easy a shot…

  97. 97.

    kay

    @Cat Lady:

    That is true, but I’m already married. You can call me Kay Kay anyway, if you’d like. Like a (longer) nickname.

    Have you ever seen the completely bizarre Mr. Rogers episode where the then-child Mr. Rogers asks his mother why he can’t marry her? She answers, “because I’m already married”. To your father, nitwit. He sings a song about it, later.

    I thought that was such a clever dodge of that whole issue by his mother. Quick thinking, Mrs. Rogers!

  98. 98.

    Mike Kay

    @kay:

    The old thing about Halperin is his father (Mort) is BIG friend of Bill Clinton. Mort served in Bubba’s administration in various capacities, and once had a nomination to be assistant secretary of defense blocked by Strom Thurmond, who called Halperin a “traitor”.

    You would think little Halperin would have some affinity to the clintons, and certainly some animosity to the party that called branded his father a “traitor” and a “killer”. But no, it’s the exact opposite — he licks GOP boots every day.

    http://www.nytimes.com/1993/11/06/us/washington-work-it-takes-peacekeeping-nominee-show-cold-war-s-still-burning.html?pagewanted=all

  99. 99.

    MikeJ

    @Mike Kay: We had a whole thread earlier today focusing on daddy issues, but we were discussing modo[1]. Just throw another villager on the pile.

    [1] Does not mean the neighborhood morth of the dome.

  100. 100.

    Joey Maloney

    @Paul L.:

    Remember progressives during the 2008 campaign jumping on the “story” that John McCain called his c*nt?

    Maybe that’s what he was doing when he was wandering around the debate stage looking like he was filling his Depends.

    “Here, cunny cunny cunny. Heeeeere, cunny cunny cunny. Hey! You damn kids, get off my lawn! Here, cunny cunny cunny!”

  106. 106.

    Brick Oven Bill

    Should you find yourself at something like, say, a bar, and observe a man enjoying an ice-cream-cone, avoid him.

    This is a man of sensation, and not a man of reflection. Your best bet is to surround yourselves with men of reflection. These are the grumpy ones.

  111. 111.

    Brick Oven Bill

    Reflection cannot be found in a mirror, unless you can find the same image in Gentlemen’s Quarterly.

  116. 116.

    mslarry

    Carwin

    Way off topic:

    The comment section of this Mac Ambinder posts is some of the most insane shit I’ve ever seen. Some commenters are wondering if Obama is addicted to heroin or crack because his lips always look blue (or purple as some other commenters maintain).

    Seriously check it out.

    Damn, just checked this out… just WOW!

  117. 117.

    xian

    @Mike Kay:

    oh I didn’t mean dirt like corruption. I simply meant opportunism, machiavellianism, etc. Obama is portrayed in Plouffe’s book as an almost perfectly above-it-all idealist (pragmatic, yes, but with impeccable morals). His only weaknesses are at times a bit of overconfidence and lack of focus, but he perpetually owns up to his own failings and overcomes them. I’m an o-bot. I like that story and it’s a great political posture, but come on. Nobody’s that perfect.

    My real point is that Plouffe wrote a book that completely protects and reinforces Obama (as he should do), so there are times when it feels like the Disney version of reality. I did enjoy reading it, but it was lite.

  119. 119.

    Ed in NJ

    @rob!:

    Anybody watch the Simpsons documentary that was on tonight?

    At the beginning they showed a series of musicians playing the theme song. A few months back, I was at the O.A.R. concert they included in the montage.

  120. 120.

    Cat Lady

    @mslarry:

    I read all the comments there earlier today, and was so gobsmacked by teh crazee I won’t even try to process it. It’s official: everyone but us BJ’ers and a handful of progressives, intellectuals and artists are going through some strange psychotic break. Obama’s election opened some weird psychological portal into opposite world. The center may not hold.

  121. 121.

    GregB

    Cat Lady,

    I think you are on to something.

    We can’t blame lead in the aquaducts on our widespread mania. But something is the fuck up.

    -G

  122. 122.

    maus

    @Max:

    The PUMA’s are going to go full metal ODS over the book.

    WJC is a bad character and their total fetishsizing of him will be interesting.

    If they had ever been about reality Hillary might have been elected. Instead, they were either GOP-ers attacking Obama, creepy drooling racists, or kneejerk-ignorant.

    I say this independently of whether she would have been a better president or not, which I take a more nuanced view over.

  124. 124.

    asiangrrlMN

    I read a snippet of the excerpt and immediately stopped. I hate that shit, and I agree with Bruce (Formerly Steve S) that Elizabeth Edwards really got a shiv in her back. And, I don’t see her as a saint, either, but I have a hard time buying the caricature of the Wicked Witch of the West.

    The reason this shit will sell outside the Beltway (if it does) is the same reason we have so many fucking reality television shows of ex-celebs–the people want it. I don’t give a shit about any of it, really. Not in the least.

    I actually do have some sympathy for public figures because there is so much pressure on them to be everything to all people. In the end, they are just as fucked-up as the rest of us, but they don’t have the luxury of fucking up in private. It’s easy to say, “Well, they know they are in the public eye, so they shouldn’t ________.” However, destructive behaviors aren’t that easy to stop, (nor or they rational) or nobody would indulge in them.

    @Yutsano: Ooooh, you, too? No wonder I’m so attracted to you!

  127. 127.

    Yutsano

    @asiangrrlMN: It seems to be the only explanation that makes sense to me. Then again he could be an odd duck and just like us for our minds.

    EDIT: Making a quick jaunt to the store. Ran out of coffee making stuff, AKA major situation. BBIAF.

  130. 130.

    DougJ

    I like the Lou Reed reference in the title of the post

    Thanks, it’s a little obscure, I know.

  131. 131.

    John

    I learned that John Edwards was the hapless victim of a nasty and fat harpy of a wife on one side and a relentless seductress on the other. In other words, the established narrative, the vast majority of which was sourced with male campaign aides, was that chicks are evil and destroyed John Edwards.

    Oh, come on. Edwards comes off looking awful in that excerpt – an egomaniacal narcissist who bought his own press releases and was desperate to sell himself to the highest bidder once he realized he wasn’t going to win.

    Also as someone who recklessly engaged in an affair, and then abused staffers when they confronted him about it.

    The portrait of Elizabeth Edwards is nasty, but John Edwards does not in any way come off as an innocent victim. All three of the principles in the story – John, Elizabeth, and Rielle Hunter – come off as more or less equally unpleasant.

  132. 132.

    Jules

    I figured dudes had to be writing (and relaying) the crap about Elizabeth Edwards.

    If I was dying of cancer and found out that my husband was unable to wait until I was cold and in the ground before fucking another woman I’d be a crazy mean bitch too.
    and I would be spending the rest of my time on earth in prison because my husband would be very, very dead.

  133. 133.

    asiangrrlMN

    @John: Well, the excerpt I read made me feel sympathetic towards John for a minute (in his affair, at any rate) because his wife was so horrible to him (according to the sources), so I definitely see it slanted as sympathetic towards John (at least for the affair).

    It’s hard to say because this is all he said/he said. I wouldn’t have trouble believing that Elizabeth was ruthless and cold, any more than I would have trouble believing she was a grieving wife trying to do the best she could. That’s the thing–we don’t know which it was, if it wasn’t a mixture of both because things are rarely simple.

    At the end of the day, I simply don’t give a shit. I’m glad he’s not president, but that’s the extent of what I want to know about John Edwards and his sorry life.

  135. 135.

    Yutsano

    @asiangrrlMN: If all of this is as badly sourced as the Kennedy/Clinton quote, I’m gonna call massive bullshit on the whole book. And without even looking I bet the term “unnamed source” shows at least three times in that one excerpt. Amirite? Huh? Huh? Huh?

  136. 136.

    va

    I don’t mind this Halperin thing too much. That’s because I don’t believe in what a good portion of the liberal blogs seem to believe in, which is some ideal realm from which policy flows forth and is deliberated on the merits, etc. I do wish The Village was at all capable of maintaining a deliberative democracy and could behave like adults, but of course that’s not saying much, as I believe adults are generally over-hyped.

    There’s an extent to which we should be celebrating this book: notice it’s only dishing dirt on powerless people. I for one was over John Edwards a long time ago, and the fact that they dished on McCain’s wife gives me hope that one day McCain himself will finally be disappeared from the public discourse.

  138. 138.

    OriGuy

    How to brew a really good cup of coffee.

    One of my Christmas presents was An Encyclopedia of Assholes: Scumbags, Slimeballs, Sleazoids, Lowlifes, and Jerks Etc.. It’s a series of short biographies of people the authors think are assholes. Mostly Americans, but a scattering of others; both George Bush and Osama bin Laden are there. Several corporations, and the Catholic Church are also listed.
    It’s published in the UK, maybe because they couldn’t get an America publisher. I don’t know why else it wouldn’t be called An Encyclopædia of Arseholes.
    Amazon Link

  139. 139.

    Yutsano

    @asiangrrlMN: Gossip rags at least have the decency to admit what they are and don’t hide behind the veneer of respectability and Villager approval. To me what Halperin et al have done here is worse: it takes half-truths and downright lies and tries to make them reality just from the virtue of his name. If this doesn’t ruin his career then the whole damn media needs to die quickly.

    It was a quick trip didn’t need much. Plus I didn’t feel like being out for long.

  140. 140.

    mcc

    I read the nymag excerpt about John Edwards and thought it had a lot of great information that was legitimately useful in understanding what happened there and some of the confusing parts of the media narrative up to now.

    I don’t think I’m interested in anything else from the book. The Clinton campaign leaked so much that I feel like I’ve got a pretty good picture of how and why it fell apart already.

    I was kind of horrified by the nymag article’s desperate attempts to make Elizabeth Edwards come off like a bad person. That part wound up feeling to me like the kind of rumormonging that just makes its target look better, just from a sort of “what, that’s the best you can come up with?” sort of effect. Oh my goodness, anonymous aides on a political campaign said they had personal conflicts with the candidate’s wife? A woman at that moment battling cancer got touchy and yelly about her health insurance coverage? I’m so shocked and disillusioned!

  141. 141.

    Platonicspoof

    @Elie:
    and others:
    If this is the same Julius Ray Hoffman (too good a name not to be) that shows up at Sadly, No and at a couple other blogs, it’s not unusual to see him flying just above radar level.

    / Trust the DougJ

  142. 142.

    mslarry

    @Cat Lady

    I read all the comments there earlier today, and was so gobsmacked by teh crazee I won’t even try to process it. It’s official: everyone but us BJ’ers and a handful of progressives, intellectuals and artists are going through some strange psychotic break. Obama’s election opened some weird psychological portal into opposite world. The center may not hold.

    sorry for taking this long to respond to you, but after reading through Ambinder’s comment section, I had a glass of wine and went to bed . UGH!

    I used to pride myself on being an enlightened New Yorker who moved to Los Angeles — I was exposed to so many different views and lifestyles while growing up, all of which made me richer for having experienced them. But after reading his comments section, I just realized growing up in NYC actually SHELTERED me. Cuz honey, I swear on my dear Abuela’s grave, I have NEVER, EVER experienced the level of batshit crazy that I witnessed @ the Atlantic last night.

    The thing is… I’m black, so I get it. Lot’s of folks don’t have much experience dealing with “us”, but analyzing Obama’s lip color, combined with birthers and just for good measure adding in a pinch of folks on medicare who OPPOSE, so called-Obamacare, the mind reels.. Not to mention the folks who can’t be bothered to check wikipedia or websters for the defintions of: socialism, communism and fascism. Can a sista’ just say “OY”!

    I don’t post much here. But, if I believed in God, I’d thank him every day for the sane, interesting group of people who write and visit this blog. At times like this, you people are the only thing that get me through my day.

  143. 143.

    Barbara

    To be totally politically incorrect, and taking the excerpts with a huge grain of salt, it has always occurred to me that someone battling cancer (or going through some other life and death struggle with themselves or a significant loved one) really shouldn’t be running for president.

    And to further my politically incorrect rant: it is an unpleasant fact of life that many men do not deal at all well with the significant illness of their wives. They are not equipped to be a “mother” to their wives, and resent the loss of being “mothered” themselves. Seriously, it’s shocking how many women with cancer actually go home to live with their parents so they can be adequately cared for. That said, Edwards deserves no praise for being no worse than many other men.

    So I interpret Elizabeth Edwards’ failure to tell John to stop his presidential run after such a tawdry affair in a totally different light from moral obtuseness or ambition: his presidential run was the thing that kept hope alive for her, and offered a reason for being that distracted her from thinking her life was all about cancer, and the prospect of dying too soon. It also allowed her to show him that she was still part of the team, not stopped by anything so unimportant as a life threatening ilness.

    Cancer does that to people — people, for instance, who stay alive long enough to see their grandchild be born, etc.

    So I guess I give Elizabeth something of a pass on the Hunter/presidential run front.

  145. 145.

    Grumpy Code Monkey

    60 Minutes (with special guest star Anderson Cooper (lolomgwtfbbq?)) devoted a segment to some of the book last night (mostly the bits about Palin and Hills), interviewing Halperin and whatzisname, along with Steve Schmidt, and several things just struck me dumb over the course of it:

    1. That after nixing Holy Joe as a running mate, Schmidt’s staff were scouring Google and YouTube for potential running mates. Think about that for a minute, and what that says about the depth of the GOP field in 2008, the resources the campaign had available to them (seriously, nobody in the GOP establishment was able or willing to give them the name of some young up-n-comer with actual ability?) and how the campaign was approaching the election. Their sole criterion was how well the running mate would play on TV;

    2. Just how unqualified and unprepared Palin was to campaign for national office (history lessons on WWI, WWII, and Korea? WTBloodyF?);

    3. That without Palin, the margin of defeat for McCain would have been even greater, which I totally agree with. McCain/Lieberman would have been a disaster of epic proportions.

  146. 146.

    Zippity

    @mslarry: I completely second your comment-well, the part about BJ, since I’m a white midwestern woman in her mid 40’s. It just amazes me that so many people seem to have completely lost touch with reality. My mother is retired and listens to talk radio all day, and watches Fox News. She’s completely convinced that we are going to become a soc-ial-ist country. But when I ask her to tell me what the definition of soc-ial-ism is, she can’t. I told her to just watch local news, and read the local paper for a month, and she’d probably enjoy life more.

  147. 147.

    Bob L

    So Obama won’t give them drama, so they make it up themselves. Good to see Cindy McCain’s sexual partners are key issues for the Republic.

  149. 149.

    Bruce (formerly Steve S.)

    Oh, come on. Edwards comes off looking awful in that excerpt

    Edwards comes off as hapless and ineffectual, but I think the crucial difference that I was trying to get at is that he is at least somewhat complex in the excerpt, as opposed to Elizabeth and Rielle Hunter, who are just relentlessly awful caricatures. Add in the sources, who as far as I can tell are all good-hearted males, and what you have is not so much a piece of journalism as a poorly written tragedy.

  150. 150.

    Mark S.

    @Grumpy Code Monkey:

    That after nixing Holy Joe as a running mate, Schmidt’s staff were scouring Google and YouTube for potential running mates.

    What’s amazing is McCain had secured the nomination in March. What the hell was he doing that whole time?

  151. 151.

    Bruce (formerly Steve S.)

    Elizabeth Edwards really got a shiv in her back. And, I don’t see her as a saint, either, but I have a hard time buying the caricature of the Wicked Witch of the West.

    All I know about her is the content of the two caricatures of her. I always presume that individuals are more complicated than what journalists tell us about them.

    The only other things I’ve heard about from the book, and I guess a whole lot more will be pouring out today, are character flaws possessed by Cindy McCain and Hillary Clinton. Based on what I know so far (and I’m willing to be convinced otherwise) the book seems like a deeply misogynistic enterprise.

  152. 152.

    Grumpy Code Monkey

    @Mark S.:

    Napping.

    Yeah, that’s also something to ponder. They had a period of 6 months to vet potential running mates, and they didn’t even attempt to find a backup for Holy Joe, just in case. I mean, beyond the obvious party and policy issues1, there’s the fact that Joe isn’t exactly a spring chicken himself (and prone to screwing people close to him). Then again, this is the GOP, they don’t do contigency plans; that’s a sign of weakness, or something.

    1. Obvious to everyone except Grampa Simpson, of course.

  153. 153.

    Mothra

    I thought it was just me. The teevee was telling me that this was news, and at some level I bought it.

    Please tell me why they are telling these Elizabeth Edwards stories. She wasn’t a candidate.

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