State of the Union
Satire?
From the Onion‘s feature on the Obama administration’s first 100 days:
DAY 41: Sixteen hours and 25 cups of coffee into a Treasury Dept. strategy session, Tim Geithner proposes nationalizing CitiGroup, Bank of America, all nine seasons of Seinfeld, toast, Albania, and the third law of thermodynamics.
Let me guess, my invitation got lost in the mail
Barak Obama, being the smart cookie that he is, moved quickly to disarm his potential opposition among the Cosmo pundit class by recently meeting with several notable Right and Left wing columnists. The lists of Right-wing social democrats were: George Will, Charles Krauthammer, William Kristol, Larry Kudlow, David Brooks, Rich Lowry, Peggy Noonan, Michael Barone, and Paul Gigot (and Will’s home no less) while the Leftists include: E.J. Dionne, Eugene Robinson, Gerry Seib, Ron Brownstein, Frank Rich, Maureen Dowd, Andrew Sullivan, and Rachel Maddow.
What’s interesting is not that he met with the boys and girls members of the insider club. Its that he’s not extending his “outreach” to those outside Cosmo world. Now, I certainly didn’t expect him to set up a working breakfast with Lew Rockwell, Dr. Thomas Fleming, Pat Buchanan, Taki, Bill Kauffman, Eric Margolis, Scott McConnell, Peter Brimelow or Jason P. Sorens. Hell, I would have settled with 15 minutes with Ron Paul and all he has to do for that is walk down Pennsylvania Ave.
But I didn’t see Kos’ name, or that other prominent Left bloggers on the guest lists for the liberal’s face time, nor that of Glenn Greenwald, Matt Ygelsias, Alexander Cockburn, David Corn, Matt Rothschild, Paul Glastris, Michael Lerner or even a Unte Reader editor either.
That Was the Year That Was
How weird a year was it?
Here’s how weird:
• O.J. actually got convicted of something.
• Gasoline hit $4 a gallon — and those were the good times.
• On several occasions, Saturday Night Live was funny.
• There were a few days there in October when you could not completely rule out the possibility that the next Treasury Secretary would be Joe the Plumber.
Sock and Awe
Throwing shoes at people isn’t polite. But video games aren’t real, so enjoy Sock and Awe — about a million other people have so far. (H/t to Eric Margolis.)
Bail Out Print Journalism
P.J. O’Rourke observes:
The Government is bailing out Wall Street for being evil and the car companies for being stupid. But print journalism brings you Paul Krugman and Anna Quindlen.
The Right Before Christmas
The ingenious Scott Lahti posted this little ditty in the comments section of a post a while back. I figure it deserves a bit more attention — enjoy!
THE RIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS
Now, Ingraham! Now, Philgramm! Now, Graham, K-Lo and Zell!
On, Marksteyn! On Malkin! On Levin and Bozell!
To the Dem bums we’ll scorch! To the RINOs we’ll maul!
Now Rush away! Rush away! Rush away all!
With each but a nerd, they went straight to Judge Bork,
And hung up their bloggings, then barreled for pork,
And slipping their fingers inside of their ears,
And aping J-Pod, read “The Corner” for years;
They sang to DeLay, to his toe they were mistle,
While the Dems clover-leaf’d, as the shamrock o’er thistle.
But I heard them exclaim, ere they Roved out of sight,
“Barry Christmas to O., from what once was the Right.”
A Beloved Thanksgiving Tradition
President Bush pardons a turkey:
In Thanksgiving Tradition, Bush Pardons Scooter Libby In Giant Turkey Costume
Scooter should thank heaven that Sarah Palin wasn’t the one doing the pardoning…
It’s A Cook Book!
Andy McCarthy and others are peddling the theory that Bill Ayers is the ghostwriter of Obama’s Dreams of My Father. Matthew Yglesias is thinking small when he writes, “the speculations gets really interesting when we consider the possibility that Ayers was the assassin Hillary Clinton hired to kill Vince Foster.”
When the other shoe drops, it will be clear that Obama and Ayers are part of an advanced team of elitist extraterrestrials here to harvest hard working Red State Americans as food. Look out for their next book: To Serve Man.
Tina Fey as Sarah Palin, Round 3
The YouTube videos quickly get zapped for copyright infringement, but the Huffington Post has (for now) the video of last night’s “SNL” spoof the VP debate here. It’s dead-on satire, except that the skit is more substantive than the actual debate…
Update: Here’s the video, from NBC.
Next Let’s Hear From Judge Judy
So now Deepak Chopra is an elitist? Deepak Chopra? Patrick Deneen writes:
Michael Kinsley challenges Sarah’s defenders to “show me the snobs.”
How much time does he have, I wonder?
There are a few good examples posted over at “No Left Turns.” But the one piece of evidence I’d like to offer has to take the cake: a posting by Deepak Chopra on HuffPost. It’s a prime piece of evidence of exactly the disdain that the “enlightened” have toward the very people from whom they are seeking votes. Can the Democrats really be so obtuse to wonder why they keep losing elections during the course of which they insult the segment of electorate they are seeking to attract?
To wit, here’s Deepra.
Chopra is a self-help guru. Just the sort of person at whom we elitists—as one of the few people who hasn’t gone Palinsane, I’m part of an elite—look down our noses. In fact, a few years ago, some genuine elitists awarded Chopra an Ig Nobel Prize:
The coveted Ig Nobel Prize in Physics went to Deepak Chopra of the Center for Well Being in La Jolla, Calif., for “his unique interpretation of quantum physics as it applies to life, liberty, and the pursuit of economic happiness.”
I don’t think they meant it as a compliment. The Huffpost article that Deneen links to is semi-literate at best; containing gems such as “on the surface, she outdoes former Vice President Dan Quayle as an unlikely choice, given her negligent (I’m guessing he means “negligible,” but who can say for sure?) parochial expertise in the complex affairs of governing” and “[Obama] is calling for us to reach for our higher selves, and frankly, that stirs up hidden reactions of an unsavory kind.” It’s gaseous drivel.
Rod adds, “If I were Team McCain, I’d photocopy that essay and pass it out in the parking lot of every Wal-Mart in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan.” Perhaps, but I’m guessing that if you check the book aisles in those Wal-Marts you will find many books written by Deepak Chopra.