Top Comments: Conventional Media Wisdom Edition
Thu Feb 07, 2008 at 07:11:07 PM PDT
John McCain is Mister Straight Talk is one of the most pervasive and pernicious ones. That he'll say what he means and hang on to positions, no matter how unpopular, because he'll always play it straight, which is what a noble and upright person who cares more about truth than being popular. Mr. George-Bush-hugging, campaign-finance-reform-pushing (only until it hurts his candidacy), his self-confessed ignorance of economic matters only he's not ignorant any more because he's just read Adam Smith (and implies that he understood everything!), and we shouldn't need to stay in Iraq long once we "win," although it could be a hundred years. I suppose if the shortest distance between two opposite points is a straight line, he's talking straight from one position to its antithesis. Look at his voting record: there's the straight facts. A little media spotlight on the nitty-gritty would be nice...but it'll never happen. That requires bucking the narrative. That takes true journalism. That requires...a miracle. In short: not bloody likely.
I'm not talking about the pundits who are pretty much expected to bend truth like a balloon poodle in order that their view of the political world is promulgated, I'm talking about the reporters—the unbiased source of knowledge in their area of expertise—who are supposed to know and avoid these meme-based pitfalls. Every once in a while you get a story that debunks a particular "fact," but the next news cycle it's back to the same old same old, with said "fact" once more Received Truth.
Today, as the canonization and excoriation of Mitt Romney took place, it was like there were two Mitts in the oven, not one. There was the Mitt who managed not one, but two ungracious speeches in 36 hours, the clumsy politician who'd managed to offend any number of people in a small victory speech Tuesday night (yes, small in both), and got them again, plus anyone he'd missed, in his over-the-top "it's never been about me" (of course it's about me) speech earlier today, when Mr. Conservative bailed on his race.
Mr. Conservative. Now there's a laugh. In some instances, the media did manage to note that his conservative patina started being painted on in the last two years of his single term as governor of Massachusetts, but seemed to think it had solidified sufficiently in that time that he was—at the time he dropped out—the True Conservative in the race. The poor conservative convention, CPAC, was in deep mourning when he announced his ignominious retreat suspension at their confab. The last hope of Conservatives Everywhere was gone: the White House was now lost to a President who had Conservative Principles.
Once you got past today, the Mittster was found to have every other virtue in his backstory. He was credited with "turning around Massachusetts" and other heroic deeds while in the Governor's mansion, saved the Salt Lake City Olympics, was a superb businessman and manager, et cetera ad nauseum. What he really did was let the state infrastructure crumble further while trying daily to cut taxes. "You get what you pay for" doesn't seem to be one of those things big businessmen like Mitt seem to understand. (On the other hand, just think how much he saved by cutting taxes while raising fees on almost everything the state charges for: he probably didn't have to pay fees as governor, but boy howdy, would he pay state income tax!) Those last two years on the job? He wasn't on the job at all! He was touring the country drumming up support for this presidential bid, because in Massachusetts he was the lamest of lame ducks: the Republicans had lost so many seats in both chambers of the legislature that they couldn't block veto overrides any more. The Democrats could ram through any legislation they wanted, and all he could do was give a speech about it when he vetoed it. Big whoop.
Not the Romney didn't do his best to regress the state. He pulled us out of a regional pollution accord (we're now back in thanks to Governor Patrick), signed up the state's police forces to do immigration enforcement (that's scrapped), and made a lot of deadwood appointments to agencies and boards—the Governor has that power, and we'll be dealing with their obstruction for years.
Mitt couldn't run far enough or fast enough from the Health Plan he co-created with the legislature that offers (and mandates) health insurance for every person in the Commonwealth. During the negotiations, he reluctantly agreed to accept the tiniest of employer mandates: those employers of a certain size who didn't offer at least minimal health insurance had to pay $295 per year per employee. That works out to an extra 14.2 cents per hour per full-time employee, but to Mitt that was simply outrageous, so he weaseled out of the deal he'd made by slipping in a line-item veto that removed the $295 employer requirement on his way out the door. He was overridden, and today his campaign was overridden by the Republicans. Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.
There are other stupidities being foisted off by the media. The "statistical tie" when the lead in the polls is within the margin of error: 48% to 44% with a 4.5% margin of error is one example. It isn't any such thing, of course, and to say so is highly misleading, not to mention ignorant of how statistics and polling work. But the media likes to deal in certainties, which polls never are, so they weasel their way around uncertainty. Another is the "all polls are created equal, and the latest poll is more equal than all the others" mindset, regardless of historical poll quality by a particular organization. Sad, really. Almost as sad as treating each poll as how it is and how it's going to be, as if change couldn't possibly happen overnight.
Change? You mean as in no more Mitt Romney? That's yesterday's news. It happened earlier today? Impossible: he's been out of the race for, like, forever.
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Despite it having been forever since last night, a mere forty thousand comments have been made since then, and some of them have been nominated for your consideration, having been emailed to the TopComments mailbox. If you saw any great comments that are not mentioned here, please do link to them in your own comments below. The address of that mailbox:
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From Ninepatch:
Ekaterin shares a poignant diary about voting in Tuesday's primary. FishOutofWater's comment sums up just how incredible this primary season is for those of us who have filled out more than a few ballots in our time.
lineatus submitted the following:
In Devilstower's front-page story These Are Not The Reasons I Voted for Obama, AndrewMC's comment is good, Hedwig's reply excellent.
swampus sent in this comment link (and sardonyx added a bit of text):
BradfordFullerton takes on over-analysis of the Republican mindset, especially with regard to their supposedly superior logic.
From land of the free:
I'd like to nominate this post by AlyoshaKaramazov in response to Mitt Romney's announcement today.
litigatormom sent the following:
From BarbinMD's front-pager Romney's Latest War Effort, this response by cskendrick to the prior comment that Romney is a douche totally cracked me up.
From DemocraticLuntz:
RonK Seattle one-ups me in word play in poor taste in my Edwards endorsement diary.
A nomination from Asinus Asinum Fricat:
The whole diary should be in top comments but this line from Grand Moff Texan sparkles. [Editor's note: the blockquote in this comment is what's being nominated.]
A few from sardonyx, your diarist du jour:
badger relates an anecdote about assumptions in Alegre's diary Let's Talk About Sex.
Guy Incognito takes a look at NATO operations in Europe and a doctrine even scarier than the Bush Doctrine, in LithiumCola's diary Rice to NATO on Educating "Our Populations".
Grassroots Mom writes about her mother and the current election in Me and my Mom.
Brainwrap notes just how low the bar has been set for Republican presidential candidates.
JR writes on the Democratic National Convention, and what they'd have to look for in a convention chair if we end up with a brokered convention.
No Top Comments diary would be complete without that day's top comments by number, aka top mojo—those comments which have received the highest number of recommendations from Daily Kos users like you. Today's is supplied by sardonyx, using his revision of cskendrick's mojo-to-Excel magic.
First, Top Mojo excluding search-identifiable tip jars, first diary comments, and Cheers and Jeers comments:
1) The link is in the first sentence, by blueintheface — 166
2) you really suck by nevadadem — 147
3) No. I Feel Rather Cheered eom by greenskeeper — 132
4) senator clinton's negatives are unrelated by TAPayne — 126
5) The Harvard comment is spot on. by Hudson — 125
6) Yes, after listing all of the reasons why she's by blueintheface — 113
7) Split Primaries by Ray Radlein — 92
8) this election is too important for smears n/t by citizen k — 92
9) I will vote for either one by BoiseBlue — 91
10) Regardless ... by VirginiaDem — 85
11) It would probably help if... by Free Spirit — 85
12) Me too. by DrSpalding — 84
13) My donation... by Kyle the Mainer — 75
14) jeff jeff jeff... by Buffalo Girl — 75
15) So lots of bad things by vbdietz — 73
16) does this mean by Stroszek — 73
17) What are you doing commenting? by SusanG — 68
18) The DLC isn't dead... by Daaaaave — 66
19) And don't forget, Barack lost his first primary by turnnoblindeye — 65
20) Really glad that you are by moiv — 63
21) Nope by discocarp — 62
22) Obama supporters really need to TONE it down... by Los Diablo — 62
23) Just a few other women I would never vote for... by Sharon Jumper — 62
24) maybe they should by Aethern — 61
25) You Only Prove Out My Point Here by Alegre — 59
26) Well, this 52 year old worried by mjd in florida — 59
27) I don't think that all women who are voting by blueintheface — 58
28) Not a long drive n/t by Helena Handbag — 58
29) And you are focusing on the one disclaimer in a by blueintheface — 57
30) It's not just sexism, it's ageism by Noisy Democrat — 57
31) I donated 5 dollars today. by PROfess PROgress — 57
32) Thanks for cutting by Hawkjt — 57
Top Mojo with No Exclusions:
1) So...did I piss you off? by wmtriallawyer — 432
2) Really just by Grand Moff Texan — 315
3) Obama $20.08 by poblano — 198
4) Hail to open gov. Democrats! by beachmom — 183
5) Have I mentioned I'm... by JeffLieber — 181
6) The link is in the first sentence, by blueintheface — 166
7) You know I had to do it like this. by DemocraticLuntz — 152
8) Tips for the end of identity politics by blueintheface — 149
9) Who's with me? by blueinks — 148
10) you really suck by nevadadem — 147
11) Do by BooMan23 — 145
12) Important diary by litho — 141
13) I chipped in $150 more tonight by Steven R — 138
14) No. I Feel Rather Cheered eom by greenskeeper — 132
15) senator clinton's negatives are unrelated by TAPayne — 126
16) Yes we can!!! (LATE TIP JAR) by Mark Warner is God — 125
17) The Harvard comment is spot on. by Hudson — 125
18) Two words: by Ken in MN — 120
19) LETS BEAT RON PAUL'S RECORD by Vote4Me — 117
20) Yes, after listing all of the reasons why she's by blueintheface — 113
21) Thanks! by Raising Kaine — 111
22) No, thank YOU, Mark! by Universal — 111
23) Split Primaries by Ray Radlein — 92
24) this election is too important for smears n/t by citizen k — 92
25) I will vote for either one by BoiseBlue — 91
26) Regardless ... by VirginiaDem — 85
27) It would probably help if... by Free Spirit — 85
28) Me too. by DrSpalding — 84
29) My donation... by Kyle the Mainer — 75
30) jeff jeff jeff... by Buffalo Girl — 75
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