An interesting observation from Bill Kristol, writing of the Weekly Standard’s first ten years:
Among the most important lessons I’ve learned [in the first decade as Weekly Standard editor], blindingly obvious though it might at first appear, is one I think applies with equal force not just to Washington journalists but also to the people we write about–and to our readers. It concerns a central, chronic misunderstanding of modern political life. Let’s call it “the fallacy of hidden design.”
Men and women in public life are nowadays constantly confronted–much to their exasperation, as I recall from my own past life in government–by reporters who have trouble believing in the possibility of a news story whose deepest meaning isn’t in some sense a secret. It cannot be, so these reporters suppose, that the president has made his most recent pronouncement or decision simply because he thought it, on balance, the right and timely thing to do. At least it cannot mostly be that. There must also be some strategy afoot–probably a cynical or selfish one related to some interest group, polling demographic, or whatnot.
But the president’s aides would tell you–correctly, in my experience–that top-level, behind-the-scenes Washington doesn’t actually work like this. It can’t: People are too busy, there are too many competing agendas to juggle, there’s not enough time, in-boxes and calendars are too full, and five big things still have to get done by 6 o’clock whether you’ve perfected them or not. Under the circumstances, then, the best and much the safest thing a politician can usually hope to do is play it straight, with minimal calculation. Generally speaking, the clearest and most reliable expressions of a public figure’s intentions are his own words and deeds. Put another way: The most accurate and intelligent interpretation of the news tends to be the one that best concentrates its attention not on some imagined, backstage Wizard of Oz, but on what’s happening in front of the curtain, for all to see and hear.
I think Kristol is quite correct—too many media folks “question the timing,” and the blogosphere, as we all know, is replete with conspiracy theories that, for them to have any force whatsoever, require us to believe that the Chimp and his cabal of uber-secret cronies—while arrogant and evil and almost preternaturally stupid—are nonetheless the most creative and capable manipulators of domestic and world events since a Cold War-era Mason-Zionist alliance within the military industrial complex conspired to kill the Kennedys and draw us into prolonged police action in Vietnam that had the practical effect, years down the road, of weakening and ultimately defeating the Soviets (and so opening up huge markets for Levi Strauss and Pizza Hut, in which the Zionists and Masons were both heavily invested).
Of course, it’s quite possible that Kristol’s simply raising this common sense approach to interpreting unseen events to make it more difficult for those really in the know to shine the disinfecting light of Truth on Karl Rove and his secret thought pipeline, which travels to and fro between a transmitter plugged directly into his cerebral cortex and a mainframe hidden inside the coat room at the PNAC headquarters. Because Kristol is, after all, a neocon.
So, you know.
BUSH LIED!
****
update (a case study): the remarkably self-righteous and hugely untalented David Anderson believes that I deleted his trackback to an earlier post, which I did not; in fact, as anybody who’s ever tried tracking back to this site knows, my trackbacks seldom work (for instance, the last I checked, Blogsnow shows that 11 sites had linked to the ice cream post, but only 4 trackbacks made it through)—which is the simplest explanation, but one that doesn’t allow for David (who is hugely untalented and remarkably self-righteous) to claim that he is the victim of being silenced, and that I refuse to address criticism.
Ironically (well, to me), this all takes place in a post of his that excoriates me for first, making an argument against a moderate, and second, for rebutting someone who’d criticized that post. That is, he is upset that I dedicated an entire post to making a counter argument (which I quoted from and linked back to )—just before he accuses me of being afraid to address criticism.
Also in David’s post is the claim that I always send my “minnions” [sic] over to attack him—which I do, presumably, via links to his criticisms—the very ones he’s accusing me of being afraid to provide.
Or, to put all this more simply, did I mention David Anderson is remarkably self-righteous and hugely untalented…?
That Joe Gandelman would applaud David’s barely-literate and logically incoherent efforts (rather than answering the charges in my original post) is, well, very sad. I’d always held Joe to a much higher standard.
****
update 2: The remarkably self-righteous and hugely untalented David Anderson has written yet another post dedicated to me in which, in the course of telling me to “get over it” (not sure what I’m supposed to get over, exactly, but really, does it matter?) he reminds us that he is fat and Black; that I am unoriginal, a hypocrite, and a liar; and that Tony Pierce is a Black blogger.
He also reminds us that his talent lies in making money—though I can’t speak to whether his being fat or Black or knowing who Tony Pierce is has anything to do with that, either.
****
mind-boggling hypocrisy update: The remarkably self-righteous and hugely untalented David Anderson, beneath a post that accused me (falsely) of deleting trackbacks, has deleted my response and closed his comments section.
However, knowing that he’d likely do so, I saved my comment, which you can see here.
And my experience working in government is the same. Usually the simplest answer is the correct one because too many people are both too busy and too lazy to waste time on some (to them) trivial matter that a deep plot would require.
Or, you could just believe that I, too, am part of the conspiracy.
[Mr. Rove, uh, sorry about that dent in the door of the Dirigible of Doom(c) but I swear it wasn’t my fault!]
Word: fine. “This is another fine mess you’ve gotten us into!”
“It cannot be, so these reporters suppose, that the president has made his most recent pronouncement or decision simply because he thought it, on balance, the right and timely thing to do. At least it cannot mostly be that. There must also be some strategy afoot–probably a cynical or selfish one related to some interest group, polling demographic, or whatnot.”
Sounds like a bad case of Clinton-itis to me.
Most of the time an A is simply an A; a pig is simply a pig. Or a swirly soft serve ice cream top is simply a swirly soft serve ice cream top.
Looking for deeper (sinister) meanings and motives seems to be a pasttime with people all over the world with too much time on their hands.
In DC perhaps everyone associated with the press longs to be the next Woodward or Bernstein. It is not enough to report the “events” as news, we must now have a side dish of “analysis”.
mopaul (1000 posts)
Sat Sep-17-05 06:40 AM
what the f*ck america? what the f*ck?
what’s keeping it from utterly collapsing? you can only put duct tape and lipstick on it for so long before it sinks asunder. how can it continue as if nothing were wrong? why aren’t people rioting yet? why do so many STILL support the ape? where are the f*cking democrats? how is it all propped up and held together? what fog is blinding so many millions to the actual state of the union? what mind trick? what curse?how long can it stand before it finally implodes like the twin towers? not much longer i’m afraid. how long before the distracted masses have that ‘what the f*ck’? moment? what invisible string binds it all together still? what hypnotic trance are we in that prevents us from surrounding the white house and ridding it of the cockroaches?dead people are floating down the streets of america, and we all go to church on sunday like robots. what the f*ck america? what the f*ck?
(http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104×4801937)
Don’t you see?
Kristol is a secret moniker for the Rovemeister himself. First you take the KR – see there are his initials. Then you have ‘is’ – and then the acronym ‘tol’ – that’s thinking our lives.
KARL ROVE IS THINKING OUR LIVES!
Oh, brother. Here come the recursive conspiracy theories…
I predict a global mind-meltdown sometime in early ‘06…
Yeah, Kristol’s one of those guys that told us in the eighties that he wasn’t selling out, he was buying in. There’s internet chatter that this guy’s really a bionic man, a clone with a computerized brain, the first in what can only be an army of yesmen designed to sway public opinion and dilute the opposition.
So, you mean, when Clinton said he was trying to stop ethnic cleansing in Serbia, he was actually trying to stop ethnic cleansing, and not just distracting from the Lewinsky affair?
And when John Kerry got shot (or, y’know, “as some people are saying”, shot himself) in Viet Nam, he wasn’t planning for a Presidential run 30 years later?
And wait a minute… do you mean to tell me that when the Democrats try to direct some federal spending toward helping poor inner city kids get a real education, it’s NOT just a part of the liberal strategy to oppress black people (because, after all, liberals are the real racists) and turn the U.S. into a Stalinist dictatorship complete with gulags and BUTSADDAMHADrape rooms?
OH. MY. GAWD.
This changes everything.
Well, except for that one thing…
Y’know…
MICHAEL MOORE IS [STILL] FAT!!1!
mopaul should get his own sitcom.
Good insights, Jeff. I’m taking some folks to task on another site who seem to be speculating that President Bush & Co. put incompetents in high-ranking government offices to weaken people’s trust in government as part of the Great Weaning. Instead of thinking, y’know, that Michael Brown was just another political appointee and that Bush had his hands full with other things at the time.
I sometimes wonder how some people who subscribe to conspiracy theories explain away the chaos in their own workplaces. Is there a sinister cabal in play there, too? Or is it just that everyone else is incompetent (except the complainer, of course)?
I’m reminded of a line from Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. From memory, it said something like, “the majority of human history comes not from people being good or people being evil but from people being people.” Believe it or not, that applies to gummint types, too.
I should have invested in Alcoa years ago.
Better you than me, slarrow. I’m way too tired.
http://www.cato.org/dailys/02-11-99.html
CJ –
Ah, history does have a funny way of replaying itself…although flying bombing missions isn’t the same as putting jackboots on the ground.
I think we learned how effective Clinton’s approach was to ending the Bosnian conflict. A politically expdient way of “addressing” the situation without actually doing something about it.
Oh, and Kerry didn’t wait 30 years to be a lying prat – – see -> Winter Soldier where he led the anti-war movement that rolled over on its belly and negotiated with the North Vietnamese. It was convenient 30 years later to try and spin that a different way but history didn’t forget – and neither did the Swift Boat vets. Ain’t that a shame?
http://ice.he.net/~freepnet/kerry/staticpages/index.php?page=puppets
Cheers – DC
Okay that’s all well and fine. But as for me, I’m just glad the Say Anything Girls are back.
Good job Jeff.
mopaul’s free verse is merely a cheap imitation of William Blake’s The Tyger, and Blake at least was able to write without using the F-word repeatedly.
Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
In what distant deeps or skies
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand dare sieze the fire?
And what shoulder, & what art.
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand? & what dread feet?
What the hammer? what the chain?
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? what dread grasp
Dare its deadly terrors clasp?
When the stars threw down their spears,
And watered heaven with their tears,
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the Lamb make thee?
Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?
“Or, to put all this more simply, did I mention David Anderson is remarkably self-righteous and hugely untalented…?”
Jeff, I’d prefer 10 bites from a thousand alligators to just one laceration from your sharpened quill.
-Steve
I’ll start the healing, Citizen Journalist:
I regret even entertaining the notion that Clinton was wagging the dog in Kosovo. I was suffering from a mild case of Clinton Derangement Syndrome, and therefore, while technically not responsible for my actions, I do want to say, “I’m sorry, that was inappropriate”.
OK, your turn!
Cold War Mason-Zionist alliance within the military industrial complex conspired to kill Kennedy and draw us into prolonged police action in Vietnam that had the practical effect, years down the road, of weakening and ultimately defeating the Soviets (and so opening up huge markets for Levi Strauss and Pizza Hut, in which the Zionists and Masons were both heavily invested).
Dude, you are so gonna get it for saying that out loud.
*where he led the anti-war movement that rolled over on its belly and negotiated with the North Vietnamese.*
Yes but whats treason compared to the blatent racism and constant lying of the Bush administration.
If John Kerry were president, he’d would have been in New Orleans before the hurricane hit, waiting on it. He’d organize sit-ins to protest the pending destruction and they’d sing protest songs about neo-con created/controlled weather patterns.
Clearly, he was the right candidate for the right time. Its just unfortunate those character assassins had to tell the truth about Kerry and Vietnam.
Wait, did I say truth ? I meant LIE LIE ABOUT JOHN KERRY AND HIS SELF INFLICTED GUNSHOT WOUND.
Wait, did I say self inflicted? Karl Rove’s machine must be working on my brain.
When David says minions, he means Jews ?
Stop sending Jews to David’s site Jeff, next thing you know, they’ll be taking it over and establishing an official jewish internet domain, in defiance of the the oppressed liberals who normally post there (all three of them).
“waiting” This gentile is waiting for his chance to join the JEF (Jewish Expeditionary Force)and troll websites with impunity.
http://www.zionazi.jew
Just to be as offensive as possible.
It’s a living…
SB: really
If you apply Occum’s Razor to Bush’s actions from day one, you see a fairly clear and consistent philosophy and policy. If you believe, no matter whether you agree or consider it a wise decision, that he does what he says he’s going to do for the reasons he says he’s going to do it, then it’s pretty simple and straight-forward. If you subscribe to the dark hidden agendas, you end up sounding like the KOS kids or DU living in an alternate universe far removed from the most basic aspects of reality.
When David says minions, he means Jews ?
STOP RE-SIGNIFYING DAVID’S LANGUAGE, MATT!
Can I be a ‘minion’ and join with the horde?
Please? Awwww, come on. I will be good! Pretty please?
wannabe
Fred:
That’s no excuse! We must all be held to the Independent-Minded-Libertarian-Who-Is-Not-At-All-A-Republican-Shill standards of personal responsibility for all of our actions.
BECAUSE OF THE FELLATIO!
Successful conspiracies require of conspirators:
1. Modest intelligence
2. Discretion
3. Self discipline
4. Patience
5. Careful planning skills
6. Execution skills
Sounds like the Senate in spades.
But have you noticed that both Joe Gandelman and Jeff Goldstein have the initials JG? Has it occurred to you that they could both be alter egos of … none other than Karl Rove??? J is alphabetically distance one (1) from K. G is alpabetially distance eleven (11) from R. Karl is number one in our thought, number one in our hearts, number one in our minds!
STOP RE-SIGNIFYING ONE OF KARL’S PROXIES YOU ROVIAN PAWN!
So, no healing today, huh, CJ?
David A: 1. I could care less about your critique.
Right. Which is why he wrote ANOTHER post about/to Jeff, to let people know HOW LITTLE HE CARES!!! I DON’T CARE, JEFF!! SEE? THIS IS ME.. NOT CARING!! WHAT? ME CARE?? NO WAY!
DAVID COULD CARE LESS!!
“Healing”? Healing?
CAN MARY JO KOPECHNE EVER “HEAL”, YOU INEBRIATED COMMIE TERRORIST-LOVER!?
I addressed the whole “my real talent is making money” on the first thread you linked. I was unsurprised that I didn’t have to look but mere inches down his main page to find a statement that I can only describe as struggling to approach ineptitude.
Lydia,
David doesn’t care. He’s cold; unfeeling. He just doesn’t CARE!! Maybe he’s a racist, anti-Semite, circumcised gentile, who was weaned prematurely. Or maybe HE JUST DOESN’T CARE!!
I’d always held Joe to a much higher standard.
Many in the blogosphere have and I’ve never understood it. He’s certainly not in the Kos/Pandagon territory of partisanship and
demagoguery, but he’s nowhere near as “moderate” as he wants you to believe.
BTW, is it just me or is everyone who claims to be moderate on the left in one form or another?
And NOT CARING takes talent! Maybe that’s how he makes his money? Seein’s as how point number 3 refers back to point number 1, and all.
for the record, im confused too.
If my recollection is accurate, this conspiracy phenomenon really took off during the Watergate scandal. Ever since they nailed Nixon, the news media has been looking for dirt under the carpet and tryincontributes to their aura of credibility and integrity.
Unfortunately, as has recently been revealed, there was no Woodward and Bernstein–the story was coming out anyway. they just jumped the gun on it. (Sorry, no link, I’m too lazy.)
In reality, it’s the witch-hunt mentality masquerading as virtue. So here we are in America: all witch-hunts, all the time.
And, you know, this poisoned political atmosphere is a big discouragement to honorable souls who might want to run for office. Who needs to deal with lies, bullshit and character assassination? Only egotists, charlatans and bottom-feeders like Bill and Hillary.
Feh.
There was a time when I was an SAT tutor. After having done it for a while, the company I worked for started sending me the dregs, with the expectation that my experience would be able to more effectively address the significant problems these kids had.
One girl I remember distinctly. She had, to put it simply, big problems with just about everything. Her practice test score was 420 (the lowest someone can get is 400). She naturally needed lots of extra help beyond the normal class instruction. I spent hours going over her practice tests, walking her through the individual problems, breaking them down into as many simple, leading questions as possible.
It sometimes got to the point where I basically told her the answer and then asked her about 3 seconds later the same question that I had just answered, and often: She. Still. Got It. Wrong.
Now, I had tried very hard to maintain an attitude of support, helpfulness and enthusiasm, since this girl clearly had serious shyness confidence issues.
But when she couldn’t repeat what I had JUST SAID, I couldn’t help but let my mouth hang open a little and stare in shock for a second or so before I regained composure.
I mention all of this because I had the same reaction reading Anderson’s calvalcade of non sequiturs. It’s a good thing his apparently impressive income doesn’t have anything to do with making sense or getting across an idea.
My first paragraph got corrupted:
“If my recollection is accurate, this conspiracy phenomenon really took off during the Watergate scandal. Ever since they nailed Nixon, the news media has been looking for dirt under the carpet and trying to act like Woodward and Berstein. They think it has something to do with integrity.”
Can’t argue with that logic.
“Observation is not Logic. It is the grain which the kine of Logic tread.”
— Some Smart Guy Getting Too Metaphorical
SB: hair
shirts on sale
If he could care less, why doesn’t he? These questions are what keep me coming back to Jeff’s place. Because he caresâ„¢.
I’m losing my faith in cynicism.
If he could care less, why doesn’t he?
Yes, well, because he’s David. He’s left behind reason for shouting and chest-thumping and braggadocio long since. When I first stumbled on him, at least he would listen. He hasn’t for some time. I used to respect him; don’t, anymore. Pity, really.
Ah, well. New horizons and all that.
What the hell is that all about, I went over there for a Happy Hour laugh or two, scanned the comments and only saw two familiar posts. Did he delete everybody or is that something else he is imagining?
Watch out for the bats around Barstow, dude.
Maybe everyone was simply too stunned to say anything. His prose can have that effect if you haven’t prepared yourself for it. I like to prepare by finding some of my wife’s old essays from eighth grade and then imagine them rewritten as B’s instead of A’s.
> I like to prepare by finding some of my wife’s
> old essays […]
Oh, yeah, you go girl.
[… but honey, I was just making a joke with the guys.]
David writes:
David, I take shits that could bury you in a debate.
You are a moron. I know people have probably been telling you your whole life how special and smart you are, but they were being kind.
Trust me.
And look at yourself, man. You all but begged me to link you. You dared me. But until you started making shit up about me deleting your trackback I had no intention of linking here—not because I’m afraid of your middling intellect (and I’m rounding up), but because you haven’t made an argument.
I mean, look at the comments of your supporters. They barely rise to level of coherent English. This site was once fairly popular because it supposedly contained the sensible viewpoints of a “moderate” lefty. But you let the mask slip, Dave, and now its clear to just about anyone who can read that you are nothing but a whiny, embittered, self-righteous handwringer—a tiresome scold who is so convinced of his own superiority that he can’t even fathom what a joke he’s becomes.
I responded to Joe’s post. I linked it. I discussed specific passages. I made an argument revolving around a central thesis. You are free to disagree with said argument—Mighty Middle did, and I was happy to reply and continue the debate—but what you bring to table is just your seething hatred of me. Which I can understand, as I come over here from time to time and club you like a hefty baby seal.
You want to argue, fine. But “Jeff is a dick head and he argued with Joe Gandelman because he thinks he’s so smart” is not an argument. It’s a pathetic taunt from an intellectually challenged hack.
The comments are still open in his other thread.
For now.
He deleted it from there, as well.
Guess it’s okay to say nasty things about me, but when I give him a little taste back, all of a sudden he’s not so into the free speech thing.
Not that I mind that he deleted it. Hell, I would have deleted it, too. Just so long as he read it, I’m content.
Occam’s Razor – that’s the general principle, a corrolary of KISS.
If you are faced with two or more hypotheses that all explain the same observable data, chose the simplest.
Good rule but it doesn’t fill up the space between tire ads very well and doesn’t sell newspapers.
I’m losing my faith in cynicism.
SarahW, can I use that on a bumper sticker?
Regards,
Ric
I posted this on his site a few mintues ago…how long before the little coward deletes it too?
—
CENSORSHIP!
Smell the hypocracy!!!
Why are you against free debate? What do you fear?
Read this post quick….Dave got a taste of censorship and won’t hesitate to delete it ASAP.
Too bad deleting will only prove my point.
Posted by: T at September 19, 2005 09:22 PM
—
He deleted my comments in the thread as well. Apparently Jeff isn’t the only one who touched a nerve David was ashamed of. Or did that make me an automatic member of “Jeff’s Minnions” [sic]?
You can read Anderson’s next response here.
I responded, and now I’m through.
I honestly didn’t think mine was anything close to an insult, but rather a simple retort to the “Starship Troopers” line of logic that if one defends extending the War against Islamofascism to the Ba’athists in Iraq one should sign up with the military and go fight there. He said:
To which I replied, basically, that I’m sure that as a opponent to the war he had taken up positions as a human shield… unless of course he prefers to sit on the sidelines…
I also pointed out that his complaint about posts that were “immature ramblings meant to insult” cut against him as well.
Obviously, a candidate for deletion on a site that wants all viewpoints expressed, right?
Dave’s adherence to the chickenhawk meme is astounding. And it is one of the reasons why I refuse to take him seriously.
“Oh yeah, I forgot” is one hell of a line. A classic that apparently never goes out of style. Truely the pinnacle of all zingers.
Yipes! Why bother with this guy? Or are you just fucking with him to make him feel important?
It’s pretty funny that he is upset that you jumped on the locals so quickly for the mess in NO. Regardless of what Bush was forced to do politically, the facts still support your conclusion.
BY GOD, YOU’D BETTER LISTEN TO THEM! THEY GET THEIR FACTS STRAIGHT FROM THE HORSE’S ECHO CHAMBER!
“In DC perhaps everyone associated with the press longs to be the next Woodward or Bernstein.”
Posted by ris
There is no “perhaps” about it. Woodward and Bernstein forever corrupted the “media” by becoming superstars. Bringing down a president (especially a Rethuglian President) is now the equivalent of winning “Mega-Ball” to most journalists. How boring to report facts, when you can be famous, get rich, and “change the world” just by throwing turds at a wall. N’est pas?
That mask slipped, as far as I’m concerned, during the last couple of weeks of the 2004 presidential campaign when he went ballistic over hysterical (and never actually substantiated) allegations of organized Republican voter suppression tactics.
That was about the time I decided the shark had seen the undercarriage of his motorcycle and that was that.