Come for the politics, stay for the snark.
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Two more reasons to like Ted Williams
From the June 15th Sports Illustrated, describing Williams at training camp in 1979:
He would show up every morning in his old Ford station wagon, identifiable only by the IF GUNS ARE OUTLAWED, ONLY OUTLAWS WILL HAVE GUNS sticker on the rusty bumper.”
and
I stood with other members of the new generation of the Knights of the Keyboard, William’s term for his longtime adversaries in the press box
Thanks again, Ted.
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Democrats and the False Dichotomy (a.k.a. the False Dilemma) via Matt Yglesias (I saw this yesterday but did not think about it until he framed it the way he did)
One of the most annoying things about Democrats is that they are never called to the carpet over their lies and half-truths. The media never requires them to back up their assertions with evidence, and for some reason Republicans sit idly by and let the Democrats spout off at the mouth without ever challenging them. I still think this is because the media is so unfriendly to Republicans, and also because of the Newt effect- Democrats so successfully portrayed all Republicans as mean and angry that they are terrified to appear that way. Whatever the reason, Democrats are literally getting away with murder every time they open their mouths.
One of the most annoying perceptions is the false dilemma they have currently created regarding Republicans and the business community. A false dilemma is a logical fallacy that limits the number of options in an argument to two, while in reality, there may be any number of options. For example, the statement “You are either with us, or against us,” is a perfect example of a logical fallacy.
The Democrats have skillfully employed their lazy friends in the media as puppets to help put into place in the mindset two wonderful false dilemmas. Somehow or another, the Democrats have managed to convince people that being pro-business means that you are anti-consumer or anti-worker. It is a ludicrous assertion, but it is what the Democrats are banking on.
The other false dilemma they have created is that of choice in parties- The false dilemma is that if Republicans are pro-business, then Democrats must be pro-worker or pro-consumer. However, results of a new poll show that half of the public thinks that Democrats are too much in bed with big business.
Once you realize these fallacies are in place, two things become crystal clear:
1.) The manner with which mainstream media aids and abets the Democrats in their lies is appalling. The fact that this poll info is buried at almost the end of the NY Times and not headline news (like, for example, when the smug Joe Lieberman comes on Hardball and starts lying about Republicans, why did Matthews not bring this up?) is maddening- in fact, on MSNBC, they merely reported the perceptions of Republicans and did not even mention Democrats.
2.) The Democrat strategy for 2002 becomes crystal clear. The President is simply too popular to run against, so rather than attempt to refute his positions, it is necessary to attempt to knock him down a little. Hence the zeal with which everything must become Enron related (remember how they tried to attach everything to this administration), why it is important that we re-open a 12 year old investigation into Harken, why we start this Halliburton nonsense (how many shareholders in Halliburton have the Democrats really screwed in the last couple of weeks with their rhetoric- Since June 1st the stock has dropped from nineteen to 12.85 at its close yesterday- how about those employee’s retirement portfolios- is your political smear more important than their retirement? I guess they do have your precious social security with its generous $500.00 a month benefits).
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Some of you might be upset that the Blogfather and the Drunken Master are both on vacation. If you are, then it is a sure sign that you are not reasding William Quick, the Dailypundit. I make his website a thrice daily stop, and so should you.
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Rejoice!!!
Cue the Hallelujah chorus!
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How nutty is Phil Donahue? He is the only person left in the media who takes Arianna Huffington seriously. The interview/discussion tonight was almost unbearable.
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Mike at Cold Fury just hammers something I mentioned the other day- the fact that Cheney exercised his options in Halliburton when he did because he was essentially forced to by the media pressure and the Gore campaign.
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Ann Coulter may sometimes write with a touch of rhetorical excess,
but I think Democrats are losing their minds. Bush’s 72% approval rating, and the fact that none of the scandals they have tried to create and pin on him (the scandal attempts literally run from arsenic to Worldcom) are working is making them nuts. Everytime I see them on television, every time I read them in print, they seem to be slipping deeper into hysteria. Of course, the NY Times has never been known for their editorial balance or integrity, but they are now rapidly approaching dementia. Krugman, Kristoff, and Dowd are nearing a Chernobyl like meltdown.
The NAACP and the NEA are hysterical, and as two of the major arms of the Democrat party, they must be worried that they are making no inroads.
Even Senate and House Democrats are losing their minds. If you listen to Lieberman and Daschle, you might actually think that the President can talk and magically confidence will be restored in corporate officers. A few well placed words and VOILA!, the economy will be booming with no sign of inflation. Hell, Joe Biden actually tried to say that the President’s speech caused a nose dive in the market 20 seconds after it was delivered. Cynthia McKinney thinks… Oh, who cares what that nutbag thinks.
Even left-wing bloggers are going off the deep end. The normally calm and well-spoken Matt Yglesias (who, btw, has a new layout), seems to becoming increasingly stridenmt, and his writing seems to rely more on ad hominems than logic and analysis. Indeed, he refers today to a Newsweek article that Josh Marshall read and distorted, and tries to present that as evidence that Cheney has problems because of his behavior at Halliburton. The article is innocuous and raises no new information- what is amusing is Josh Marshall’s fevered response and hyper-active imagination:
In the calculus of the Bush White House political game Cheney isn’t just the heavy. He’s the anvil. Whenever there is a hint of trouble — like when the first intelligence failure revelations came out — you can bet they’ll send out Dick Cheney to go right for the Dems’ jugular.
Cheney is like the mob goon who comes to your house, looks at you with maniacal eyes, wrings your neck with his clammy hands and tells you if you don’t cool it he’s not just gonna kill you, he’s gonna wipe out your family, knee-cap your nephew, saw your dog in half, and pour salt and bleach all over your lawn so nothing grows on it again for another hundred years.
Too many viewings of Casino and Goodfella’s there Josh? You can almost see the condescending smile on Marshall’s face as he wrote this (just look at his picture in the upper right hand corner of his page, as he gazes off into space reflecting deep policy issues- remember Democrats = Smart, Republicans = Dumb). I am not sure what is worse- Marshall’s ramblings, or the fact that Yglesias is taking him seriously. And these are decent Democrats. As the election nears, who knows what kind of great lies, false truths, and gimmicks the real scum of the party will try to rally around? We know the Democrats are not against pandering and sheer racism– what other depths will they sink to this year to smear a popular President.
One more thing Democrats- could you PLEASE get your stories straight. I s Bush either a dunce or a criminal business mastermind? Your story changes every day and I am getting confused.