Month: July 2009

The Esther Syndrome

That's the dog-whistle behind "If I die, I die." It's a quote from the Biblical figure, Queen Esther, who rose from being a Beauty Queen to being the champion of the Jewish people in their battle for survival. Now imagine if McCain had won, had to resign because of illness, and we were facing an international crisis with Iran. Now take a Xanax.

For The Money?

Here's a money quote for you:

"If she has an eye on 2012, she probably will write a carefully worded, bland policy book that won't make headlines. If she's not running for president in 2012, she can write a much more candid book that's likely to get attention from both the press and the public. She can explain the real reason she resigned the governorship, and she can talk about how badly she was treated by specific people in the media and the John McCain campaign."

The real sell of the book will be the truth about the resignation, if she can keep it hushed up that long. Look: it feels far worse to be forced to resign than to resign in advance for inexplicable reasons. This way, she still feels in charge of the situation, and can leverage what she won't tell the press to lard up an explosive book. Then she becomes a super-celeb and joins the far right money-train. The question I'm asking is whether anyone else in a tiny group of people has already cashed in. But we can't know because we don't have a working press prepared to ask every possible question that needs to be asked.

The NYT’s Approach To Journalism

Instead of actually reporting, they tell everyone else to stop reporting or asking questions:

From this perspective, the decision was simple and sensible: Less stress, and more national attention and money. A year from now, perhaps, she will find herself in a position where she wants to run, or is being pressed to run, and may do it. Or she may find that being a big player in her party and the conservative movement — you could see candidates making a pilgrimage to her doorstep for her endorsement — might be satisfying enough. Yes, she might have some grand plan to make her way into the White House, as so many people have speculated. But maybe, for now at least, there is less there than meets the eye.

Remember when newspapers actually wanted to find out the truth, rather than explaining why there's no truth to be found? They weren't interested last fall and they aren't interested now. All they seem interested in is getting on Morning Joe.

Malkin Award Nominee

"I don’t know why I’m telling you this, but maybe now you’re beginning to understand the high-stakes game we’re playing here. This ain’t John McCain’s logrolling senatorial club any more. This is a deadly serious attempt to realize the vision of the 1960s and to fundamentally transform the United States of America. This is the fusion of Communist dogma, high ideals, gangster tactics, and a stunning amount of self-loathing. For the first time in history, the patrician class is deliberately selling its own country down the river just to prove a point: that, yes, we can! This country stinks and we won’t be happy until we’ve forced you to admit it," – David Kahane, revealing that National Review is now circling the drain Glenn-Beck-insanity.

The Lingering Question

Why did she make her announcement so suddenly? The more you read, the weirder it gets:

Does the reference to the “If I die, I die” quote that happened more than a month ago mean we can assume that Palin began thinking about throwing in the towel prior to June 4?  If so, it raises new questions about why the hastily called press conference with less than 2 hours notice minutes before 5:00pm on the east coast on the Friday of a holiday weekend when Todd had to pack up and fly in from Dillingham 300 miles away?  Why not 2 weeks ago?  Why not 2 weeks from now?  Why not the safest decision; 18 months from now?

Indeed. A Mudflats commenter notes:

Anyone who fishes Bristol Bay will tell you that NOBODY leaves the area on or near July 4. It is the peak of the run. Todd did not fly his plane in to be by her side for “something we have been planning for some time”. I am quite sure the reasons she gave him on the phone had nothing in common with what we, the public, have been told.

We scan the sky for shoes.

Thinking About The Jobless Recovery

Free Exchange tries to understand why jobs have been slow to come back. Arnold Kling adds:

My thesis is that unemployment is more persistent when the layoffs come from structural change rather than from excess inventories. With excess inventories, once the excess has been absorbed you can go back to work at your exact same job. On the other hand, when firms and industries permanently shrink, you have to find a new job, and possibly even an entirely new occupation. It is rare for people to have the capacity to do that, and it takes quite a bit of time when they do.

As Goes Ohio … ?

Nate Silver argues that focusing on Obama's Ohio approval dip misses the bigger picture:

Obama's approval ratings have declined nationwide by perhaps 3-5 points since early May. I have little doubt that this has mostly to do with the flagging economy. Each day, a few more voters are going to blame Obama for the economic troubles that we're in. If the economy seems to be showing some "green shoots", as it did in March and April, then Obama will be fine — voters don't expect the economy to turn around overnight. But if the economy isn't showing any signs of life — and most of the economic news for the past 45 days or so has been pretty grim — he'll fail to keep pace with those modest, but ever-increasing, expectations, and his approval ratings will decline.

The Daily Wrap

Today on the Dish we took stock of the 32 odd lies told by Sarah Palin, who continues to pile them on. Andrew, with the help of Tommy Craggs and Mudflats, tried to make sense of her latest statements. Even JPod voiced doubt.

In other news, HuffPo hired Froomkin, Ahmadi challenged Obama, and DC officially adopted marriage equality. While Hertzberg and Hilzoy reflected upon Stonewall, Andrew took a long look at the turning point of  gay rights in America. We also added another entry to our series on Iranian culture, with a reader follow-up here. And check out this cat.

— CB