Commentary Magazine


Flotsam and Jetsam

Just in case Hillary Clinton didn’t experience enough condescension during the primary they are now going to pray for the dear, sweet thing.

What does she want? Other than things she can’t have (the top or bottom of the ticket) I think Ted Kennedy said it: “For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die.” (And we know how that election turned out.)

Nine days of vacation. First the seal, then the “president” sign on his chair and now taking time a chunk of time off in August. Almost like he thinks he’s already president. Or like he doesn’t have to run very hard.

A sentence only the New York Times could love. But hard to argue that military tribunals are pawns of the Bush administration.

Another pundit for the Dewey analogy! (But no one ever said of Dewey: “arrogant, aloof and somehow ethereal. There is no there there.”) Still she’s right: “For the first time the idea began to take hold that John McCain can win this thing.” (I think “might” rather than “can,” but that’s a minor quibble in a must-read piece.)

Exactly right. How often do I agree with The Nation? As a rule, it’s a bad idea to give a totalitarian regime an international forum for propaganda. They don’t behave better; they show their true colors. And you wind up sacrificing your own values to make everything go smoothly.

From the New York Times , if you can beieve it, we get complaints about the nanny states and cities: “Conservative talk radio on the West Coast would have to go silent without the fodder of strong-armed earnestness from city halls in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle this summer.” Wait until the tire inflation cops show up.

Barack Obama is right to call out Nikki Tinker. (One wonders why far worse, explicit language from Reverend Wright didn’t evoke as strong a reaction until the National Press Club fiasco.) Nice also to see that we have consensus from liberal pundits that it really is never appropriate to invoke your opponent’s religion in political discourse.

It is not coincidental that the first time the Republican minority shows spine and guile, Newt Gingrich (who won back the GOP the majority in 1994 with both) appears to cheer them on. And really, Nancy Pelosi does a book tour while this is going on?

Eliot Spitzer was clearly the not the worst public official of the year. Yes, yes, he’s not the Kwame Kilpatrick whom Obama knew. (That list is getting long, isn’t it?)

Didn’t anyone mention that when concern is brewing about an over-the-top cultish movement the last thing you want is a “salute“? The Denver crowd should also leave the uniforms and torches at home. Bad imagery may result.

It really isn’t that nasty, but for those who think campaigns should be played by Marquess of Queensberry rules I suppose the candidate who reneges on a promise to hold civil townhall debates (and then lies to the dean of the Washington press corps by claiming that his campaign actually tried to reach a deal) should be whistled for an infraction.