Today's the day. After 6 weeks of total teevee nonsense, the Pennsylvania primary is finally, and mercifully, upon us. Before the screeching heads drag out their political slide rules to demonstrate how blacks and women and white men and the albino constituency voted the way they did in the Quaker State…….here are two WTF blurbs for your edification and amusement….
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The following is why David Brooks is a super star columnist for the NY Times…
(David) BROOKS: …… You know, watching the debate, the whole furor over the ABC debate, what strikes me is we should actually test candidates by how they’re going to act as President. We should have war games. Put them in a room with their advisers, give them a circumstance and see how they react to decisions and uncertainty. The debate is a totally artificial way to judge who is going to be a good president or not. Link
Mr. Brooks would have Paula Abdul and the gang, you know, all giggly and sh*t, sequestering the Obama team into their American Idol President Reality Situation Room to react to, I don't know,…perhaps the uncertain life decisions of Brad and Angelina.
I can see it now….
Paula: "Barack Obama, your war game consists of determining what you would do if Brad leaves Angelina. The uncertainty facing your presidency, given this disaster, would be whether acknowledging Brad and Angelina's break-up publicly would be a smart political move for you or not. Questions about empathizing with the voters vicarious pain must be answered. Should you play to the sensibility portion of the electorate or to the Hollywood hating segment?
You only have a limited amount of time, the clock is ticking. If the lid blows on this and there's political fallout, no telling how much damage will be done to America's credibility around the world. You must act quickly, yet presidentially. Americans will be calling in to vote on their favorite presidential contestant. This uncertain hypothetical about Brad and Angelina is important to Americans. Barack Obama, you may prove your electability tonight by coming up with just the right solution.
So…retire to your Reality Situation War Game Room and come up with your answer. Don't forget, only one person will survive the ultimate American Idol President cut…..so put your thinking caps on and get with it."
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You Can't Make This Stuff Up or YCMTSU
This is the best of the day…..
Andrew Card, former chief of staff for George, the Younger:
But I worry, if we have a president that gets elected with significant momentum and his or her party is sharing the possibility of running Congress with overwhelming majorities that there would be a rush to do stupid things in the first hundred days. And the first hundred days could produce a lot of mistakes that would take years and years to undo. …….. it’s a blessing when bad things don’t happen because we woke up to recognize the consequence of the action. Link
I'm not totally up to speed on post-modernism. However, I have a sneaky suspicion that Andrew Card is stepping all in it with his total absence of self-awareness statements in front of some Chamber of Commerce group.
If Card is basing his comments on an assumption that the objective reality of the George W. Bush administration cannot be known, now or ever…..then maybe. Sadly however, we do know the objective reality of the Bush administration.
Bush was selected by the Supremes and lost the popular vote in 2000. That would qualify as nomentum….nomentum at all. Yet Bush rushed and did a whole wagon full of stupid things, many criminal. Yes, it would have been a blessing if Card's Boss hadn't done so many "bad things" by first recognizing the likely consequences of his….stupid f*cking actions. But he didn't, and now everything is all effed up.
Here's the problem I have with the loyalist buffoon Andrew card. Andrew Card knows how the country feels about his ex-Boss. We don't much like Bush's presidency. The biggest reason why America doesn't much like The Younger is because he "rush(ed) to do stupid things", particularly in Iraq. Card knows this. The only reason Card would then talk about some bullsh*t worry over a rush to elect Obama would be because Card is rubbing our faces in the stink of some post-modern cynicism. As if the truth of all of Bush's "bad things" is unknowable.
Note to Card: We only wish all those bad things your Boss did were not True.
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Pennsylvania Primary Prediction: Hillary by 4-5% in Pennsylvania. She'll win the Pa. popular vote, however, the delegate fight in Pa. will be a virtual tie.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Another debate or two would be a good thing. Cover questions in the
"What if…" category—
with Hill and O then include Mccain, too, when the nom process is over. America needs more entertainment along the line of reality shows.
Include, some "What now…" questions–now that our Constitution has been shredded—"Shall we determine whether Bush and Co. has, in fact, broken the law, in a court of law, and if found guilty, shall we send them to a Guantamano place for a taste of torture?"
Not so "tongue in cheek", but our country needs to reign in these terrorist types wherever they may hide. In my mind, I would like to tell the current administration, as a lowly used-to-be middle-class person, "You are either with US, or against US".
Rev,
I think it's time for someone to start a citizen's petition begging the League of Women Voters to come back and run the debates.
Perhaps Mr. Card is laying the groundwork for an insanity defense for the war crimes he could be charged with.
The Democrat delegate puzzle is so confusing.
Agreed on your first point w/ David Brooks. What a dumb idea.
Not a good night for Obama, or the Democratic Party. You're just gonna see more and more garbage thrown his way for the next two weeks. Obama is gonna win the nomination eventually, but he can't fall behind McCain more than 5 points by the time the primary is over.
And let's be honest, its not good for a party who claims to represent minorities (and who usually gets their vote) to vote so clearly along the lines of race.
Funny stuff Reverend. I'm afraid it may come true.
David: Agreed…it's not good to exhibit fault lines of division. Hillary's competetiveness, and self-centeredness, have exposed those fault lines. Main Knee Pad Media is orgasmic over recycling those fault lines.
larry: It's only a matter of time.