I think Matt is basically right. I don't see why i'm supposed to be pissed that Obama shared a meal with a bunch of right-wing columnists. I love the shot at bloggers, though. The more I read those sort of backhands, the more I think it's just job anxiety.
I despise Will and Krauthammer (an idiot and a hack) more than ever, after forcing myself to read them for my blog last summer and fall. But I can't get worked up about this either.
If Obama can dampen the negative chatter amongst the Villagers, it'll help swing things a bit more his way. If he can score points with them by giving up an evening, rather than a $300 billion tax break, I'm all for it.
******
I am trying to send this in for Mr. Hitchens,
If you are in contact with Maureen Dowd will you please ask her to leave me alone. I did not visit because I did not have the money to drive out and do not feel well. I am under the impression that you all want to destroy me. All I want is my privacy. I will not say another word after the 20th. I am begging you and everyone in that box that follows me everywhere to please leave me alone and let me be a private person.
I was completely unbothered as well. I feel a little sorry for the columnists. They'll shortly be revealed as the sniveling, spineless little suck-ups they are when we get a fresh round of uncharacteristically kind columns from each of them.
I can't imagine the sort of mindset that would think, "Sure, it's fine to talk to Iran without preconditions, but don't you dare talk to David Brooks."
I expect the only people upset over this will be the ones who opposed Obama in the primaries because they thought he was some kind of stealth conservative. Hard to see anyone who supported Obama from day one being worked up about this.
To me the message is pretty obvious-- the President will now be a confident man, able to stand on his own outside the bubble. Bush didn't have the intellect or the guts to sit down with liberal pundits-- he just invited a phalanx of fellaters like Hannity and Hinderaker to listen to his inanities.
I think it's a clear contrast being drawn with Bush. It's NOT about making nice-nice. It's more about him not backing down to them, showing that he will face down ideological opponents with a barb and a smile-- and they will end up, as Will did, feeling privileged to have experienced it.
i expect that Obama will really represent a new age of *gasp* good communication and listening in politics.
i also expect Obama will continue being shrewd, by parsing out symbolic gestures to the right (inviting Rick Warren to speak) while simultaneously pushing through intiatives for the LGBTQ community (as documented on his transition page, Change.gov, under "Agenda" and "Civil Rights".
This tactic has been used against us by the right forever. naming a street after MLK, then doing nothing substantial for the black community.
I won't be surprised if Obama names a street after Rush Limbaugh.
Not only am I not twisted about this, I think it is a brilliant stroke on Obama's part. The right wing, for better or for worse (who am I kidding, there is no better) is largely directed by these conservative voices. Moderate their positions and you help ease the path the politicians have to take to support Obama's initiatives.
Obama is showing, time and again, that actually talking to your opponents, finding common ground, and working together is something he actually believes. The money seems to always end up right where his mouth is.
The comments I read on the liberal blogs were mostly very positive which shows you how clueless the MSM is. Btw, Obama met with the conservative media's counterparts today according to Politico's Ben Smith. Dowd, Dionne, Eugene Robinson and Rachel Maddow(glad she is on the movers and shakers list) were among those mentioned. J Martin also said that last night's meeting was strictly off the record and also included Rich Starburst Lowry and Peggy Noonan (Wonkette's beloved muse)
It is so easy as a progressive to despise the current conservative movement for being ideological and hidebound that we can forget that many progressives are just as ideological and hidebound.
I would suspect the lines being drawn by Obama have nothing to do with right/left leanings but by open/closed minded qualities. It will be fascinating to watch both the far right and the far left decry him as "weak" as he sets about accomplishing an extraordinary agenda.
Think about it, folks. This man is sitting down with people who insinuated he was a terrorist and out to destroy America. That he couldn't beat Clinton and had loser written all over him because of Palin's supposed electoral prowess. Now they have to eat steak with the living monument to their utter defeat. A normal man would be sweating under the collar from shame for having said the things they said about him. This is so delicious it has to be fattening.
What I wouldn't give to be a fly on the wall while they serving the main course--I would probably just die of laughing.
Now they have to eat steak with the living monument to their utter defeat. A normal man would be sweating under the collar from shame for having said the things they said about him. This is so delicious it has to be fattening.
That is the money quote. Where can I buy your stock?
I can't imagine the sort of mindset that would think, "Sure, it's fine to talk to Iran without preconditions, but don't you dare talk to David Brooks."
Meme chose.
Though I was willing to be mildly piqued on your behalf that Andrew got to go, but perhaps you'll be included when he gets around to "D & D bloggers."
When did Rush become a journalist? He's the proto blogger. An obvious and admitted propagandist to boot. How did this thing get identified as a meeting of journalists? It didn't. It was billed as meeting with columnists, or commentators.
I think it's deeper than job anxiety. It's status anxiety. They need to separate themselves from others, putting themselves as the higher status group of course. They are the Villagers, bloggers the barbarians.
Then too they are under constant attack by bloggers. Some fair some not so they are just lashing back. Very very weakly by they way for they are in a weak position. The economic crisis is the visible part of the deeper crisis that has come from the weakness and corruption of our elites. These opinion makers were hired on as courtiers and as things devolve it's becoming a difficult job to laud the royalties tattered wardrobe.
Here's a piece no one cared about. Meh, whatever, probably the most enjoyable article I did during my stint at TIME. Premiered a month before I got laid-off. The nail in the coffin? Ya think?
Here's me going after Al. I didn't so much have a problem with him, as I had a problem with media acting like this dude was the go-to guy for everything black.
This was my first real story at time. I was writing for the Business section, a real change of direction for me. At any rate, it's about Wal-Mart's attempts to colonize the inner-city. As much as I enjoyed this piece, I mostly enjoyed going out to Chicago, which is a beautiful, beautiful city.
This a piece I did about the cops just outside our nation capitol, in Prince George's County, a few years back. I wanted to offer a counter to the dumb, conventional wisdom that if you paint your police force black, you could eradicate police brutality. In fact, Prince George's--one of the richest, blackest counties in the country--also had one of the most brutal police force's in the country.
The Beautiful Struggle: A Father, Two Sons, and an Unlikely Road to Manhood 
I despise Will and Krauthammer (an idiot and a hack) more than ever, after forcing myself to read them for my blog last summer and fall. But I can't get worked up about this either.
If Obama can dampen the negative chatter amongst the Villagers, it'll help swing things a bit more his way. If he can score points with them by giving up an evening, rather than a $300 billion tax break, I'm all for it.
"Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over."
Psalm 23:5
******
I am trying to send this in for Mr. Hitchens,
If you are in contact with Maureen Dowd will you please ask her to leave me alone. I did not visit because I did not have the money to drive out and do not feel well. I am under the impression that you all want to destroy me. All I want is my privacy. I will not say another word after the 20th. I am begging you and everyone in that box that follows me everywhere to please leave me alone and let me be a private person.
Well, he's damned if he does, damned if he doesn't. The Villagers are insecure like that.
I was completely unbothered as well. I feel a little sorry for the columnists. They'll shortly be revealed as the sniveling, spineless little suck-ups they are when we get a fresh round of uncharacteristically kind columns from each of them.
Obama's about to drop the big Charm on them.
I can't imagine the sort of mindset that would think, "Sure, it's fine to talk to Iran without preconditions, but don't you dare talk to David Brooks."
I expect the only people upset over this will be the ones who opposed Obama in the primaries because they thought he was some kind of stealth conservative. Hard to see anyone who supported Obama from day one being worked up about this.
To me the message is pretty obvious-- the President will now be a confident man, able to stand on his own outside the bubble. Bush didn't have the intellect or the guts to sit down with liberal pundits-- he just invited a phalanx of fellaters like Hannity and Hinderaker to listen to his inanities.
I think it's a clear contrast being drawn with Bush. It's NOT about making nice-nice. It's more about him not backing down to them, showing that he will face down ideological opponents with a barb and a smile-- and they will end up, as Will did, feeling privileged to have experienced it.
i expect that Obama will really represent a new age of *gasp* good communication and listening in politics.
i also expect Obama will continue being shrewd, by parsing out symbolic gestures to the right (inviting Rick Warren to speak) while simultaneously pushing through intiatives for the LGBTQ community (as documented on his transition page, Change.gov, under "Agenda" and "Civil Rights".
This tactic has been used against us by the right forever. naming a street after MLK, then doing nothing substantial for the black community.
I won't be surprised if Obama names a street after Rush Limbaugh.
Not only am I not twisted about this, I think it is a brilliant stroke on Obama's part. The right wing, for better or for worse (who am I kidding, there is no better) is largely directed by these conservative voices. Moderate their positions and you help ease the path the politicians have to take to support Obama's initiatives.
Obama is showing, time and again, that actually talking to your opponents, finding common ground, and working together is something he actually believes. The money seems to always end up right where his mouth is.
The comments I read on the liberal blogs were mostly very positive which shows you how clueless the MSM is. Btw, Obama met with the conservative media's counterparts today according to Politico's Ben Smith. Dowd, Dionne, Eugene Robinson and Rachel Maddow(glad she is on the movers and shakers list) were among those mentioned. J Martin also said that last night's meeting was strictly off the record and also included Rich Starburst Lowry and Peggy Noonan (Wonkette's beloved muse)
It is so easy as a progressive to despise the current conservative movement for being ideological and hidebound that we can forget that many progressives are just as ideological and hidebound.
I would suspect the lines being drawn by Obama have nothing to do with right/left leanings but by open/closed minded qualities. It will be fascinating to watch both the far right and the far left decry him as "weak" as he sets about accomplishing an extraordinary agenda.
Think about it, folks. This man is sitting down with people who insinuated he was a terrorist and out to destroy America. That he couldn't beat Clinton and had loser written all over him because of Palin's supposed electoral prowess. Now they have to eat steak with the living monument to their utter defeat. A normal man would be sweating under the collar from shame for having said the things they said about him. This is so delicious it has to be fattening.
What I wouldn't give to be a fly on the wall while they serving the main course--I would probably just die of laughing.
"This is so delicious it has to be fattening."
Great line.
OT Coates:
Timuel Black was personally invited to the Inauguration on behalf of the President-Elect by Senator Dick Durbin.
I was smiling so hard when I saw the report on the news.
Now they have to eat steak with the living monument to their utter defeat. A normal man would be sweating under the collar from shame for having said the things they said about him. This is so delicious it has to be fattening.
That is the money quote. Where can I buy your stock?
I can't imagine the sort of mindset that would think, "Sure, it's fine to talk to Iran without preconditions, but don't you dare talk to David Brooks."
Meme chose.
Though I was willing to be mildly piqued on your behalf that Andrew got to go, but perhaps you'll be included when he gets around to "D & D bloggers."
Fladem, Dragnet,
Great posts. Love the Psalms quote, love the fattening line.
When did Rush become a journalist? He's the proto blogger. An obvious and admitted propagandist to boot. How did this thing get identified as a meeting of journalists? It didn't. It was billed as meeting with columnists, or commentators.
I think it's deeper than job anxiety. It's status anxiety. They need to separate themselves from others, putting themselves as the higher status group of course. They are the Villagers, bloggers the barbarians.
Then too they are under constant attack by bloggers. Some fair some not so they are just lashing back. Very very weakly by they way for they are in a weak position. The economic crisis is the visible part of the deeper crisis that has come from the weakness and corruption of our elites. These opinion makers were hired on as courtiers and as things devolve it's becoming a difficult job to laud the royalties tattered wardrobe.