- Yes, Harry Reid got his version of Obamacare past a procedural hurdle on Saturday, but now the fun begins. And the fun should be dealing with amendments. The best idea I read: either defund the bribe that bought off Mary Landrieu, or match it for every other state.
- The Instapundit made a point that I've long thought myself, to wit: "I think Obama’s 'charisma' was based on voter narcissism — people excited not just about electing a black President, but about themselves, voting for a black President. Now that’s over, and they’re stuck just with him, and emptied of their own narcissism there’s not much there to fill out the suit."
- And in case you missed it, Saturday Night Live finally gave the President a good shot. Powerline has the video. The key line, put in the mouth of Hu Jintao: "I am noticing that each of your plans to save money involves spending even more money." While I'm sure at least one of my portside commenters will be along anon to chastise me for not being sufficiently vigilant in scorning the profligate record of the George W. Bush, let me at least say this: in the context of Washington profligacy, I don't suspect the first year of the Obama administration would be "change you can believe in."
Monday, November 23, 2009
Lightning Round - 112309
Busy weekend and not much time for blogging; perhaps I'll catch up later. In the meantime:
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14 comments:
Ah, but people so narcissistic couldn't have stopped feeling so self-congratulatory so early, could they?
The Dowd article that is referenced is great, but as usual Instapundit, still wounded from the election, prefers to draw insulting conclusions about people who voted for Obama, as if that would solve anything. (Instapundit, I'm so sorry we hurt you.)
While Dowd analyzes Palin's approach, as it would apply to Obama, Instapundit instead reverts to the dumbed down understanding of people that put Palin on the GOP ticket in the first place.
"Women will vote for McCain because Palin is FEEE-MALE."
"People only voted for Obama because he's black."
One might consider that the majority of people who voted for him would've voted for the Democrat candidate anyway. I definitely didn't vote for him because he's black.
One might consider that the majority of people who voted for him would've voted for the Democrat candidate anyway. I definitely didn't vote for him because he's black.
I didn't say that, Amanda. Neither did Instapundit. But there is a cohort of those who voted for Obama who did. How many of those people are now disillusioned with what's happened? It's hard to say, but the polling data regarding independents suggests that Obama and the Democrats have lost a lot of ground in the past year.
That's not to say that these people will vote for Republicans, as we don't know that. They may decide to stay with Obama despite whatever is disappointing them (could be any number of reasons), or they may vote for Republicans, or they may sit on their hands. In two of the three scenarios, it will hurt the Democrats.
And by the way, Instapundit is libertarian and was hardly "wounded from the election."
Sorry if you were insulted, Amanda, but he wasn't talking about you.
Hey Amanda,
If you thought Instapundit was talking about you, isn't that narcissistic? Or does the world revolve around you and no one told me?
The Saturday Night Live skit was awesome!! :o)
Mr. D, he said "people." He didn't say "Independents." By your argument, he wasn't necessarily talking about anybody. Is there some hard data of people admitting that they only voted for Obama because he's black? If not, then this is yet another empty conjecture to sooth the frustration of the Right.
I am sure the Instapundit occasionally exhibits more breadth than this; I just don't feel this is one of those occasions.
Also I find it hard to believe the inference that Libertarians wouldn't be more pleased with the outcome of the election if McCain had won.
Anonymous, thanks for proving my point.
Mr. D, he said "people." He didn't say "Independents." By your argument, he wasn't necessarily talking about anybody. Is there some hard data of people admitting that they only voted for Obama because he's black? If not, then this is yet another empty conjecture to sooth the frustration of the Right.
Independents are people, Amanda. And you know that neither party has a majority of voters, so the votes of independents are key. In 2008, independent voters swung decisively toward Obama. There are plenty of polling data out there right now, from Gallup through CNN to evil Rasmussen, that indicate independents voters are turning against the current administration and Congress.
Trust me on this: I'm not frustrated at all. Things are playing out pretty much the way I expected them to. Obama's inexperience, coupled with the attractive leadership tandem of Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, are putting a wonderfully accurate face on the Party of Government. What does frustrate me is that the Republican Party isn't showing many signs that they've learned much from the last 3 years.
"wounded from the election."
Probably wounds from Obama's New Black Panther thugs, eh Amanda.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neGbKHyGuHU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DQAOZlNrO8
"Things are playing out pretty much the way I expected them to."
Life must be much easier since we don't have to worry about putting gas in our car or paying our mortgage, thanks to Obama!!!! Praise The Lightworker!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P36x8rTb3jI&NR=1
Life must be much easier since we don't have to worry about putting gas in our car or paying our mortgage, thanks to Obama!!!! Praise The Lightworker!
Heh. I remember that.
I apologize in advance for being nitpicky: *I* didn't say "independents are not people." I said that the Instapundit said "people." And I didn't argue about the Gallup poll, I took issue with the notion that anyone (since the word was "people") - including independents - who voted for Obama, did so because of their own narcissism (which constructed a false patina of charisma around Obama's persona).
It's an attempt to paint the opposing viewpoint as superficial and meaningless, so that one doesn't need to listen to the other side.
Anyone who disagrees with me on that, PLEASE think about why it is important to you, to believe that people who voted for Obama are in reality just in love with themselves.
(And if it weren't important, then it wouldn't have been said.)
Finally: I cannot say that anyone who attacks the Left is frustrated - it is just a conjecture - but formed from an impression that resorting to outlandish stories and accusations (in general ultra conservative media, not in this blog) seems to me like a desperate measure born out of frustration. And the Bush election was pretty stinging for me (esp the 2nd one), so I assume that people who hate Obama would feel similarly.
Amanda, why are you bothered by the thought that some people voted for Obama because he's black? If I were a political moderate I certainly would have considered it. Why? As a symbolic action to repudiate slavery and Jim Crow. For a politically moderate American that must have been very attractive, especially when the other option wasn't all that great. During the campaign I remember hearing (admittedly anecdotal) evidence that some folks were excited to do that very thing. I wouldn't impugn such people who did it in good faith. Nor should you impugn conservatives for having noticed it.
Amanda, I've got one word for you: Projection
It's an attempt to paint the opposing viewpoint as superficial and meaningless, so that one doesn't need to listen to the other side.
No, actually it's describing what I heard anecdotally as well.
Anyone who disagrees with me on that, PLEASE think about why it is important to you, to believe that people who voted for Obama are in reality just in love with themselves.
I'm not talking about pathological narcissism, or its kissing cousin solipsism, which I won't define because I suspect know what it means.
We are all narcissistic to one extent or another -- hell, if I didn't have a little bit of narcissism, I surely wouldn't feel the need to blog. And there were people who felt like it was cool to vote for a man who happens to be black for president. It factored into some people's equations.
Instapundit is a highly successful blogger and is a law professor at the University of Tennessee, so I suspect he chooses his words quite carefully. And he wasn't particularly frustrated with the election results. My guess is that he preferred McCain, but only tepidly.
I can't speak for other bloggers, but of the blogs I read, there's not a lot of hate for Obama. There's plenty of worry about him -- I daresay the emerging consensus on the Right is that Obama is in waaay over his head and he doesn't have the right sorts of people around him. We see a lot of bad things happening and we see a lot of flailing around, which isn't helpful to anyone. His trip to Asia was a disaster, which is why I blogged about it. The shot he took from SNL was notable because it was the first time the mainstream entertainment establishment actually took a hard shot at Obama personally, instead of carrying his water. Other voices on the Left are starting to murmur as well. It's not just "frustrated" right-wingers who are feeling this way.
Which brings me back to the original point. Obama's support was always wide but not deep and in the main not especially ideological. There was never any reason to believe that the country had swung hard to the left. There were plenty of people who wanted to fire George W. Bush and that hurt Republican candidates up and down the ballot. What a lot of people didn't understand is that giving Obama the keys also meant that the country was giving even more power to the refugees from Madame Tussaud's who comprise the Democratic leadership in the Congress. They understand that now.
Mr. D, good points.
During the election I asked a lot of people a question:
Give me a good reason why I should vote for Obama?
I never got a real answer!
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