I have read some profoundly stupid commentary on the right about Christine O'Donnell, pronouncing O'Donnell's campaign dead because of a sophomoric series of appearances in the 1990s on Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher.
It appears that some people are hoping for an O'Donnell loss so they can say "I told you so."
I'm glad I took the day(light) off from blogging for the holiday, so I'll have the overnight to resist saying something I will regret.
See you in the morning.
Update: Not everyone has my impulse control.
Update 9-19-2010: It's morning in America, Memo to the Right: "The Lombardi Rule" Is In Effect.
And, O'Donnell says that her "dabbling into witchcraft" was in high school. In normal times, the conservatives who have declared her campaign dead would apologize, but we do not live in normal times. Instead, they have doubled-down today with incredibly snotty updates to the post linked above. You want seething Republican arrogance, you got seething Republican arrogance.
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When you return check out Ann Althouse who has a much fairer take on it.
ReplyDeletePowerline guys can't help but show their inside-the-beltway colors. 'Tis a shame.
ReplyDeleteThis is my take, Professor.
ReplyDeleteShe went on Maher's shows a long time ago because she was a "good sport" and she perceived he was also, even though he was a "Libertarian atheist" or such.
Well, she's NOW finding out who the &^%$ Bill Maher really is.
Like Christine O'Donnell, I dabbled in the occult in my senior year of high school, and even my first year of college. Like Christine O'Donnell, I became an evangelical Christian in my late twenties. It's called spreading your wings, experimenting, and then real life begins to slap you across the head and you grow up. Any questions?
ReplyDeleteI'm not pronouncing O'Donnell's campaign dead due to the Maher clips because I thought she had no chance to win to start with. But if Maher really has clips of her on 22 of his shows, this just adds to the obvious: O'Donnell is not a serious person. The mere fact of her having apparently been something of a regular on Maher's wretched program -- which was a platform for him to spread his poisonous politics with a thin disguise of humor -- should prove this beyond all doubt to anyone serious about politics.
ReplyDeleteComing on top of all the other flaky things about her, these Maher clips will make her the butt of jokes for six weeks. You're a serious person, Professor. Don't waste your time and devote half your blog to trying to prop up this flake. She simply doesn't deserve it -- and there are so many competitive candidates who do.
For all the blather about her as someone with real conservative convictions, it's very hard to avoid the conclusion that she's a self-promoting phony. Maher needed the occasional apparent conservative or Republican on his show to serve as a foil for his leftist bombast -- and it looks as if CD was happy to play the foil to get the TV exposure.
We, technically speaking, dabbled--until my wife figured out that the priest of our nominally Christian church was teaching witchcraft.
ReplyDeleteBut when yoiu approach the problem later this morning, please remember that:
Witchcraft is legal in many states.
Cocaine is illegal.
Witchcraft is legal in many states.
Marijuana is illegal in many states.
Witchcraft is legal in many states.
Voter intimidation is illegal in some states.
Witchcraft is legal in many states.
Tax evasion is illegal.
Witchcraft is legal in many states.
One of us ought to work out what "desperation" looks like.
ReplyDeleteAnd who is suffering it.
WE HAVE WON! ACCEPT THAT!
Powerline is not just inside the beltway, it's specifically aligned with Karl Rove. Remember, it came into prominence during Bush certificate controversy. They never have anything interesting to say. I am more and more convinced that these are Karl Rove shills and the campaign against Christine is being waged by all former Rovians- Powerline, Patterico, Frum, Krauthammer. SOmething else is going on behind the scenes than mere "elitism."
ReplyDeleteBy the time we reach our 40's, most of us aren't the same person we were when we were 20. The fact that we aren't is a sign of growth and maturity. If O'Donnell were still flitting around trying to "find herself", I might be concerned but it appears she knows who she is.
ReplyDeleteYeah, a friend of mine sent the FOX article to me. Meh....we all do stupid $h!7 when we are young.
ReplyDeleteWell I am Miss Goody-Two shoes because I never dabbled in witchcraft. I have no intention of dabbling in witchcraft.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I am somewhat guilty of dabbling in what is in fact known as the occult. Ooooh shock horror!!
Explaination: I sometimes read my Horoscope. My birth sign is Leo. I know the traits of the Leo person, and there is no way that aka Øbama acts like a Leo, especially for someone whose alleged birth date (not year) is so close to my own. From time to time I actually read what the horoscope says, usually for giggles. However, at one point I saw a horoscope that was almost accurate and was nearly taken in.
I do not read Tarot cards, have my aura read, read tea leaves, or even go near a fortune teller.
As for Powerline, all I can say is that I am disappointed that they are indulging in this kind of nonsense.
El Gran Combo - Brujeria (sorry for awful audio quality):
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFy6mXXSgK8
I've been reading Powerline for a long time, and they're pretty straight shooters. The notion that they're doing this because they "have" to be right is baloney: they've been wrong plenty of times in the past and have admitted as such. And if they're Beltway insiders, they're the only ones I've ever heard do two hours of radio live from the Minnesota State Fair.
ReplyDeleteThere are two undeniable facts here: one, as utterly hypocritical as it may be, liberals will go after her solidly for this. The Maher show clips will be running on the air relentlessly.
Two, she was not vetted properly and this is coming as a surprise to her people. Maher held on to these details in hopes she'd win the primary, and their inexperience has given him the initiative.
Now, whether this really means her career is done before it even started, that's a prediction, and Powerline may well be eating crow come November. But you can't get flustered over a prediction and then deny the seriousness of the situation, and that her people made a huge rookie mistake.
If they refuse to acknowledge that mistake, to own that mistake and fully internalize it, they will make it in the future. This isn't about "told you so" or other crap, it's about running a solid operation.
"I've been reading Powerline for a long time, and they're pretty straight shooters."
ReplyDeleteOnly Hinderocker does the Minnesota State Fair show. I have no clue where Scott Johnson is, but Paul lives and works in Washington, DC. I have no clue if he has ever been to Minnesota. Paul is notorious for being a squishy insider RINO type.
As for vetting, O'Donnell was appropriately vetted and found to be a fully-qualified real person. These issues that you and your leftist buddies are raising are irrelevant compared to the destruction that you're inflicting on our nation. After years of abusing your power you suddenly find yourselves losing it, so sorry, but we will not allow ourselves to be sidetracked by irrelevant issues by our "friends" who are just worried about seeing us prevail over our political opponents. /sarc
@Ben - the issue is not whether a particular blogger is a straight shooter, but whether at this point in the process they are aiming at the right target.
ReplyDeleteConsevatives throwing temper tantrums over a blog post that will ultimately have no influence over the election result can only make liberals smile. I don't know if that's profoundly stupid but I wouldn't exactly call it smart
ReplyDeleteThe irony of all of this- which (or should that be witch?...) I'm sure is lost on the Powerline bloggers and others in their efforts to hype the this story- is the fact that if O'Donnell were a liberal, feminist Democrat running for office in certain liberal areas of the country, admitting that she had 'dabbled in witchcraft' might actually be seen as a positive. I don't simply mean that jokingly- many feminist writers have embraced Wicca as a form of defiance against real/perceived 'injustices created by patriarchal structures' (especially during the ERA 1970's), and various witchcraft denominations exist honoring the Goddess Diana to provide a female-centric spirituality.
ReplyDeleteAll of this of course, is not something you would expect to find in a conservative politician, and I doubt O'Donnell in her high school years was thinking along these lines. But with all the negative things about Ted Kennedy, Robert Byrd, etc. that never prevented them from holding office, why does this one fact have to be the end of her career supposedly to the Powerline guys, especially when it is obvious that she eventually found herself? I think hoping for a loss in order to say "I told you so" really does explain it.