This is way too good not to share. Scocca, at Slate, takes a righteous flamethrower , or pig bladder, to a couple of Politico‘s Very Conventional Wisdomeers:
Here’s the final thought from Politico’s analysis of what went wrong for Barack Obama in the midterm elections, as mid-president John Boehner begins moving his things into the mid-Oval Office:
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It may be, however, that Obama is feeling his rebuke more keenly than is apparent to outsiders.
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It may, indeed. Though that also implies it may not be, which is something to think about. Possibly the president had to put on a sadface to meet the press on Wednesday, while secretly bubbling with joy that he wouldn’t have to listen to the Blue Dogs anymore. Maybe he’s just so psyched about the Dallas Cowboys being in last place that this whole election thing rolled right off him.
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But John F. Harris and Glenn Thrush are certain that this is a moment of reckoning for Obama. The question, as they see it, is whether the president is too uppity—“thin-skinned and a bit highfalutin'” is how Douglas Brinkley puts it for them—to listen to all the people who are lining up to tell him why he is a failure who deserved his “comeuppance”…
[…] __
Politico isn’t after a plausible story, it’s after the Narrative—the things that lawmakers, lobbyists, and veterans of previous administrations say to reporters in background conversations to explain how history would be different, if only the people in charge were as smart as they are. Barack Obama is a prisoner of his monstrous ego and blind self-confidence, and that is why Blanche Lincoln lost in Arkansas…
Not gonna spoil the whole glorious effect with further cherry-picking, so y’all are gonna have to click over and read it all for yourselves.
Mnemosyne
I also posted this in a different thread, but Kevin Drum found some very weird results in this year’s exit polls. Like that one of the biggest increases was in people who had not voted in the last election.
So much for that “all we need to do is stay home” theory.
(Don’t tell asiangrrlmn I’m in here. I’m leaving right now to do my NaNoWriMo, honest.)
JWL
Obama catered to the blue dog contingent, and that is indisputable. (That said, dispute away).
Those who rallied to him in 2008 will soon glimpse his true colors. Blue dogs got creamed, and fuck ’em all. Good riddance.
But were they his allies, or his antagonists?
Every one will know the answer to that question very soon.
Yutsano
@Mnemosyne: I shan’t rat you out. But yeah, I’m gonna back up her position here. GO. WRITE.
And as many gratitudes for the open thread I present the Seinfeld of anime. The song is strangely addictive to me though.
Mnemosyne
@JWL:
Pretty much every Democrat who ran on a platform of opposing the president lost, and that includes Russ Feingold.
Contemplate that for a moment. I guarantee you that the remaining House and Senate Democrats have.
wasabi gasp
I can’t explain, but highfalutin’ makes me hungry for a tall stack of sweet ‘n buttery pancakes.
asiangrrlMN
@Mnemosyne: Go go go go! Step away from BJ and go write!
Eh. Whatever. I’m tired of discussing what Obama did or didn’t think or feel or emote or didn’t and how he singlehandedly caused the Dems to lose the midterms. I will just link to TNC who has a much more layered discussion about Obama’s demeanor.
@wasabi gasp: Now I want pancakes. Mmmmm, pancakes.
hilzoy
I love that question: Can Obama Change?
It’s almost as though he hadn’t written an entire, fascinating, thoughtful autobiography much of which is spent testing various ways of thinking, putting them aside when they don’t ring true, picking something else and testing it in turn. I mean: that literally is the story of his life. Whatever his faults might be, not being able to change is not among them.
Yutsano
@wasabi gasp: Waffles. And chicken. I may have to go back to Atlanta sooner rather than later.
@asiangrrlMN: Just for you hon. Although since you done commented there already…
She’s purring next to me as I type.
@hilzoy:
Fixteth. And much more accurate IMHO.
JWL
@hilzoy: So, Hilzoy, by your lights was was the blue dog contingent his allies, or antagonists?
Yutsano
Note to AL: I committed the sin of overlinking. I haz said five hundred Ave Pastinas. I can haz unmoderation now plz? Kthxbai!
Mark S.
Here’s more from the Politico article in question:
Ah, writing. Not as easy as it looks.
And here is Slate with a 5,000 word article imagining what Mick Jagger thinks about Keith Richard’s new autobiography. At least trees aren’t being killed to produce this shit.
Yutsano
@Mark S.:
Will no one think of the electrons? Not to mention the coal power generation to make that shit possible in the first place.
Anne Laurie
@Yutsano: That is a powerfully cute young Lexie-cat, sir! Of course, from her looks (ear tufts) she seems to have inherited the Wild Pirate Maine Coon genes, which explains how she can levitate so effortlessly…
Yutsano
@Anne Laurie: I know absolutely nothing about her genetic make-up, as she is the descendant of a long line of barn kittehs. However, just from her current size I think she won’t be nearly as big as a Maine Coon, if she indeed has those genes in her.
And I appreciate the liberation. I shall go forth and overlink no more.
Mike Kay (Team America)
@JWL:
got any examples?
Mike Kay (Team America)
I wouldn’t use Politico to line a bird cage out of fear of poisoning the bird.
Funny how Politico didn’t have any post mortems decrying Bush after 2008.
JWL
@Mike Kay (Team America): I thinks so.
Obama cut back-door deals with the insurance industry, after vowing those days were over; deals than effectually eviscerated any reasonable hope of a public option.
How’s that?
chaseyourtail
Politico couldn’t wait to rehash the uppity Obama meme. How dare that black man in the White House think he’s all that just because he’s President. God, I despise Politico and their smarmy, no talent, lazy, hack journalists.
asiangrrlMN
@Yutsano: NEW pics, hon. Come on. She’s adorable. You must have tons.
Yutsano
@asiangrrlMN: Heh. You try getting her to sit still for more than five seconds. I don’t have pics of her, I have blurs. The few good ones I DO have were extremely lucky shots.
MattR
@Yutsano: We do accept youtube videos in lieu of pictures.
Mike Kay (Team America)
@JWL: you said “blue dogs”
if you want to change your original charge, fine, but as I said, any examples of the president catering to “blue dog” congresscritters?
JWL
@Mike Kay (Team America):
OK. You’ve had enough time. Admit it. I am your intellectual superior.
Mike Kay (Team America)
some people on the left are no better than the clowns on the right.
wingers makes statements like Obama is too liberal, and when I ask for an example they change the terms or change the subject matter and they can never come up with an example.
The difference of course is the left is supposed to be better.
asiangrrlMN
@MattR: Ditto this comment, Yutsy. You really have no excuse.
Yutsano
@MattR: I fully realize this is not exactly what you are requesting, but in honor of Ellaesther and all the good Jews of BJ I present this story. It leaves more questions than answers, which I think makes it even better.
Mike Kay (Team America)
@JWL: OK. You’ve had enough time. Admit it. I am your intellectual superior.
Game, Set, and Match for Mr. Kay, representing Team America.
Mnemosyne
@Yutsano:
No need to go all the way to Atlanta — just come down the coast to Roscoe’s.
(Yes, I used to be semi hip and have black friends who introduced me to cool places. Now I’m just an old white semi suburbanite.)
In NaNoWriMo news, I did manage to almost meet my quota for the day (came up about 60 words short) but I keep nodding off, so it’s probably time for bed.
Oh, and Alexa is a cutie! She could have Maine Coon characteristics without getting the size: our Annie has the classic Maine Coon look and body shape but she barely weighs 8 pounds soaking wet.
Yutsano
@Mnemosyne: Sheesh. One would think my friend who lived down there until a couple of years ago (He lives in Phoenix now and he’s a full-blown Communist. Yes I give him shit for that.) would have taken me there, especially since he went to college in Louisiana.
Anne Laurie
@Yutsano:
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Shelters all over New England are full of Maine Coon “mixes” who have all the genetic markers except that they’re normal-cat-sized. (Lexie is a ringer for our Kishkan, who’s only 6-1/2 lbs.) I think the ‘robustness’ gene is like polydactyly — humans find it attractive, so bigger MC purebreds have a better chance of passing on their genes, but it’s not an essential part of the “furry northern pirate cat” gene-set. Cats are not nearly as genetically flexible as dogs, but I know just from being around show dogs that a fad for bigger or smaller dogs can change the look of what appears to be an entire breed over a ten-year period… not to mention that supposedly identical dogs in different parts of the country can be very different. (When we first moved from the Midwest to New England, the average Midwestern showring Labrador Retriever weighed around 80lbs, but the average NE Lab was more like 60lbs.) Outside of a totally controlled (by humans) environment, I suspect that a seven-pound cat just has a better chance of surviving on scraps & varmints, and of staying out of the way of predators, than a twenty-pound cat — reversion to the feline mean would be strongly selected for, in barn cats like Lexie’s parents.
Yutsano
@Anne Laurie: That makes sense, especially considering Mom is 10 pounds if that soaking wet. She also doesn’t have the same coloring as Lexie totally (I think the tom does but I’ve never seen him) but in body shape they’re more or less identical. She also is normal toed, so I’m guessing if the Maine Coon is there it’s only expressing in fur density and markings.
And for all her fans, another brief appearance.
Susan Ross
Sorry, but I’d have to soak in Lysol for three days if I ever again went to Politico. I’ll just rely on you to leep me updated.
kommrade reproductive vigor
Great, more quacks who can read minds by reading body language.
And just read minds by wanking off until they enter a trance state.
What the fuck does that even mean? (If I were going to compare Obama to an athlete, I’d pick P. Manning. Perhaps Politico thought that would be miscegenation or something.)
arguingwithsignposts
@Mark S.:
I realize this is totally late, but they actually do kill trees for an edition of politico that is distributed in DC. lots of lobbying ads in it. I’m sure that wouldn’t shock anyone.
Pete
I think that post may have cured my hangover…
debbie
Projection is a bogus concept, whether it’s coming from a Freudian shrink or a political pundit. It always says more about the author than it does the subject.
kay
It’s funny, because humility is probably what pundits value least, behind basic competence. The whole idea that humility is valued in this country is ludicrous. Politico promoted a whole slate of conservative candidates who never apologized or even acknowledged the fact that the entire financial system crashed under their ideology. We worship the FIRE sector, and those people pretty much define the phrase “delusional hubris”. Is there a humble conservative? If so, I have yet to meet him or her.
Obama should swagger more, and start making shit up. They’ll be eating out of his hand.
Suck It Up!
@JWL: From the left’s own description the blue dogs are easily swayed, easily cowed, the least devoted and basically dino’s. When you need to get a bill passed, do you court the people who are already on board, the team players, or the group that would switch their votes if a Republican looks at them wrong?
Sorry, but I think its creepy whenever I see complaints from the left about how Obama is talking to this group or working with that person. Its like listening to a jealous girlfriend. Mad that her man is paying even the slightest bit of attention to anyone else. He’s doing what he needs to do, it doesn’t mean that he likes them more than you, ok? but hey, what do I know? I’m not in Obama’s head, I’m not in the meetings and neither are you.
Suck It Up!
@kay:
you ain’t kiddin’. well said.
JWL
@Suck It Up!: OK. You’re right, I’m wrong.
What the fuck was I thinking?
Jeezuz, thanks for straightening me out.
mark boggs
I had no idea that William McKinley was picked for President by passerbys who gazed upon him in the upstairs window of a nunnery. How serendipitous for him. Course then he gets assassinated. Should have left the drapes drawn.
matoko_chan
This is absolutely hilarious….at first I thought it was a spoof.
OneSTD stands for one standard deviation (in IQ), not one sexually transmitted disease. He’s one of my old homies from the GNXP days.
Obama’s election made these guys all bugfuckin’ nutz crazipants– Razib Khan and John Derbyshire are two more nutters now.
Angry, these white guys all went totallement insane when Obama got elected! Its like demonic possession by the spirit of George Wallace.
The comments on that post are a hoot.
bwhahahaha!
arguingwithsignposts
@debbie:
I saw what you did there.
matoko_chan
Here is the new motto of the ‘conservative’ soi-disant intelligentsia.
i kinda like
we should have a contest.
Stefan
“The question is, does Obama have the suppleness of mind, the flexibility, the self-confidence to question basic premises?” the Democrat asked. “And does he have the intuition to know when to take half a loaf and when to stand firm? They don’t teach that at Harvard Law, you know.”
As an HLS alum myself I can attest that yes, the Socratic questioning of basic premises, suppleness of mind, cross-examination, rigorous analysis, the ins and outs of negotiation and compromise, flexible analytical thinking — of course, they teach none of these things at Harvard Law. These are certainly not skills that lawyers are ever taught, or that are at all useful for a future legal career……
And as for the intuition of knowing when to take half a loaf and when to stand firm, poor Obama! it’s not as if there was an entire Program on Negotiation (PON) at Harvard Law when he was there which could have taught him how to do this, and which — if it did exist — would have been “a university consortium dedicated to developing the theory and practice of negotiation and dispute resolution. As a community of scholars and practitioners, PON serves a unique role in the world negotiation community. Founded in 1983 as a special research project at Harvard Law School, PON includes faculty, students, and staff from Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Tufts University” devoted to”developing the theory and practice of negotiation, to nurturing the next generation of negotiation teachers and scholars, and to helping students become more effective negotiators” and where “through different lenses, including law, business, government, psychology, economics, anthropology, the arts, and education, members of the PON community seek to better understand negotiations.”
matoko_chan
@matoko_chan:
Cat
@matoko_chan:
OneSTDV on the SF happy meal ban:
Your ‘friend’ is an moron, which is understandable as OneSTDV above the mean on the IQ scale is just smart enough to know you are smart, but not smart enough to accurately judge your own performance.
Citizen_X
@matoko_chan: So…what, Karl Rove and climate scientists are supposed to be part of the same faction? What the fuck?
And what’s their solution? Shoot everybody educated, Khmer-Rouge style?
matoko_chan
@Cat: aint my friend any more.
dude, i was the linked darling of John Derbyshire and Glenn Reynolds.
An anime toon asked a birdflu question to Speaker Dr. Bill Frist on an Instapundit podcast.
They all hate me now.
Im on jihad against teh Stupid.
This drives me as crazy as teh old white christian cracker party drives Angry Black Lady…..why are conservative candidates so awful?
C’mon boyz, it aint that hard.
Because Salam-Douthat stratification on cognitive ability is just weasel speak for SELECTION FOR STUPID.
matoko_chan
@Citizen_X: Rove is business class elite. That is all that is left in the GOP.
Cultural elites (hollywood, art, music and media) and Intellectual elites (scientists and academics, political elites) have all left the building.
A snippet from murrays book.
The dumbass thinks his graph shows Obama is out of step with the American people…. it actually shows something that should horrify conservatives.
intellectual uppers are the cultural and intellectual elite.
traditional uppers are the bankstahs and business class uppers.
Who shapes culture?
Word.
This is not something to exult about, Charles. Stratification on cognitive ability gave us Sarah Palin and Christine O’Donnell.
It is the dooooooom of the GOP.