Our inside the Washington, D.C. beltway chattering classes really have it made. Get a really large pay check (and invitations to those parties where they serve cocktail weenies) whilst you bloviate by pulling stuff out your….er, of thin air.
Ah, the political prognosticator of prognosticators, George Will, one of Newsweek’s resident gasbags, weighs in on the possibilities for republicans:
….Romney might be the most unconstrained of the four in selecting a running mate. A former business executive, he is partial to people who have run large entities, which would point him toward other governors. That would reinforce his theme that Washington cannot be improved by people acculturated to its milieu. Because the winner of the presidency usually wins a majority of the states in the Mississippi Valley, Romney might select Matt Blunt, 37, of Missouri, the bellwether state: It is the only state that has voted with every presidential winner since 1956….
Uh, Missouri didn’t pick the winner in 2000, buddy.
And that other weekly newsmagazine was already having a great week. Heh.
“…Romney might select Matt Blunt, 37, of Missouri…” We can only hope.
“…he is partial to people who have run large entities…” The phrase – “…into the ground…” – was obviously left on the cutting room floor by the editors.
George Will hasn’t been paying attention to Missouri lately, has he?
“baby” Blunt – November approval ratings – SurveyUSA
George, we could go on…well, we did.
Mistakes Were Made: Taking Responsibility for Eckersley’s Firing
The Kansas City Star’s resident political stenographer finally notices something’s afoot
Scott Eckersley and Matt “baby” Blunt: memo, memo, who’s got the memo?
How did George Will ever manage to keep this Newsweek gig?
Norman Solomon at FAIR:
…The New Republic declared Will to be “the one person who has been most embarrassed by Debategate” and faulted him for two aspects of his behavior: “Appearing on ABC’s ‘Nightline’ the night of the debate, Mr. Will was one of the commentators who awarded the ‘victory’ to Mr. Reagan; he posed as a referee without ever making it clear that he had been one of the seconds.” In addition, the columnist “knew about the purloined briefing books” but kept the knowledge to himself. “Mr. Will said nothing about this on ‘Nightline’; nor did he write about it.”
…The controversy blew over. And in retrospect, Will’s prominence in Debategate probably helped rather than hurt his career. The incident certified that he was a power player at the highest reaches of presidential politics.
Nearly three years after his stealth role in the Carter-Reagan debates came to light, a front-page Los Angeles Times profile called Will “the pre-eminent American political commentator.” When the story briefly touched on Debategate and quoted Will, the tone was far from apologetic: “I simply reject the idea that I misled anyone. It wasn’t a state secret who I was for.”
But George Will knew that those Carter briefing papers were stolen. He made use of them. And he kept mum for as long as he could…
And there were these great moments of pearl clutching and hand over mouth gasping:
Moral relativism and public scold. I guess those qualify one for a good paying gig, though I don’t think it makes for a very valuable political endorsement.
I needed a good laugh. The sly reference to Fiddler on the Roof in your title brought a chuckle, but the outright laugh came with “into the ground.” Thanks.