Month: December 2011

Teddy Wayne describes his long back-and-forth with an overseas scam artist:

"Claire" quickly asked me to send her money by Western Union so she could come back to the U.S. and be with me, her "husband." Over the next three months, I kept up an ongoing dialogue via Facebook messages and chat in which I continually found ways to irk her by screwing up the Western Union payment, demanding she send me more photos and de-friend the other men on Facebook she'd added in hopes of scamming them, claiming I'd lost all my money during Irene, and repeatedly confiding in her that I had chronic diarrhea and hoped she would still love me.

A favorite exchange:

Teddy Wayne: i am afraid you will stop loving me once you have to live with my chronic diarrhea. please tell me you will not let it get in the way of our love.

Claire Anrie: i wont i promise you my love

Teddy Wayne: thank you. it has gotten worse with the stress from the hurricane but i am only having "episodes" 12 or 13 times a day now.
         – but enough about me. how are YOU?

Claire Anrie: 24 and you?

Teddy Wayne: 32. i have had the chronic diarrhea since i was 24, though, so we have something in common!

Claire Anrie: what we have in common is love

Teddy Wayne: yes. love, and your age being the age when i developed chronic diarrhea.

Claire Anrie: – and i will always be there for you my love
         – honey when are you sending me the money i asked you?

Will Truman imagines the Republican race as fiction:

[I]f someone had written a TV show and the plot followed the current Republican primary, I would have some serious problems with it. Namely, I would pan the show as unrealistic. A joke. Liberal Hollywood’s parody of what the Republican Party is. 

Trevor Thrall fears so:

The U.S. media doesn’t pay much attention to foreign affairs in the best of times these days, but the Arab Spring’s timing could hardly be worse. The United States has just entered its quadrennial "quiet period" on foreign policy as the nation spends a year or so navel gazing to elect a president. This year’s ritual inward turn may have especially unfortunate consequences for the U.S. foreign-policy agenda and for the world. During the most critical period of modern Middle Eastern history, the United States is taking its eyes off the ball and will play a less important role in helping shape positive outcomes there than it should.

Nope:

[Y]et presidents do seem to age before our eyes. [S. Jay Olshansky, a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago and a longevity expert] says that’s partly because we just notice it more in someone who lives in the public eye. In his JAMA article, Olshansky cited a study that connected gray hair to stress. But in his conversation with me, he emphasized that the outward signs of what we commonly attribute to aging and genuine aging aren’t necessarily related. "Getting wrinkles and turning gray—they really don’t matter very much," he said.

Today on the Dish, the Syrian protestors braved the streets as Assad sat down with Barbara Walters. Andrew discussed Tim Tebow and prayer as public event (readers weighed in here), Newt's narcissism towers above the White House, his campaign embraced fiscal recklessness, and the Tea Party latched on. Erick Erickson shared a confession, Michael Kazin is thrilled about the possibility of a Gingrich nomination, and the Trump sideshow continued. For 23 percent of white evangelicals, Mormonism is unforgivable, Romney put his marriage on display, and Gingrich remained fragile. Rick Perry condoned the beating and lynching of gays, Ron Paul recommended Frédéric Bastiat's The Law, international investors put their money on the US, and offering to take voluntary contributions does not represent a serious plan for deficit reduction. Limbaugh took on the GOP establishment, Obama set the stage for 2012, and Huntsman committed a soft pander. 

We explored China's growing presence in Africa, the Middle East grappled with overt sectarian conflict, and Eli Lake uncovered pro-American institutions within the Pakistani services. 

In our AAA video, Andrew remembered the moment he considered suicide. We approached our inevitable decline in slow motion, came back to the foreclosure crisis, and revisited the debate over women and combat. Conservatism is about modesty and moderation, circumcision is about self-determination, and kids are not political props. Glenn Reynolds wants to hold colleges responsible for student loans, pitt bull apologists made their case, and the locker-room nudity thread took a turn. We need humans at the helm, and should avoid projecting intelligence onto plants. 

Email of the day here, chyron of the day here, FOTD here, VFYW here, MHB here, and the most devastating Huntsman ad yet here. 

— M.A. 

A reader writes:

Re: your Bowl and is likely to be this year's Most Valuable Player:

"I feel like my stance and my desire has always been to follow a quote from St. Francis of Assisi, who said, 'Preach the gospel at all times. If necessary, use words.' So basically, I'm not an over-the-top, or an in-your-face kind of guy with my faith. I would rather people have questions about why I act the way I act, whether they view it as positive or not, and ask questions, and then given an opportunity at some point, then you can talk about your faith a little bit. I firmly believe, just personally, what works for me, and what I enjoy doing is letting my actions speak about the kind of character that I want to have, and following that quote from St. Francis.'"

Perfectly put. And it illustrates the difference between a quiet Christianity and a noisy, self-aggrandizing Christianism. I should say again: I have no problem with Tebow expressing his faith so openly as a citizen. As a Christian, it seems, well, un-Christian. The Onion (and many readers) object to the notion of Tebow as a great quarterback. One writes:

Tim Tebow is not a really good quarterback. The media attention devoted to him is spurred directly by this fact combined with his outward faith and his team's inexplicable winning streak. Haters hate and say his team wins despite his shortcomings and complain about his evangelism. Supporters believe his faith and leadership extend beyond him to help the team as a whole. He is a lightning rod for polarized debate. One of the most entertaining trends to come from his NFL emergence is other players trolling him by 'Tebowing' , a celebration of sorts where they mock the kneel and pray Tebow has been photographed doing so often.

While he certainly rubs me the wrong way in just about everything he does – from his terrible play to his role as JC's PR guy – I cannot deny his seemingly magnetic attraction to the spotlight. However, the guy is not a really good quarterback.

From the above link:

Mere days after "Tebowing" became the newest planking-esque fad to take the internet by storm, it’s already being used in NFL games…as a celebration for sacking Tim Tebow.

(Photo: Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers looks on before playing against the New York Giants on December 4, 2011 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The Packers defeated the Giants 38-35. By Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

A reader complements the thread with a segment from "The Dog Whisperer":

Noah Millman recognizes the limits of American power:

There was nothing the United States could reasonably do to effect a liberal victory in Egypt’s elections. Nor was there anything the United States could reasonably do to achieve stable, long-term legitimate governance of Egypt by a political coalition unrepresentative of and unaccountable to the Egyptian people. What remains to be seen is not whether Egypt will remain on our “side” or not, but whether the United States and Egypt do have essential interests in common, and whether we can find the language that enables those points in common to predominate in our relationship over the points where we are at odds. 

Jack A. Goldstone makes a related point:

[A]n Islamist majority was always logically to be expected from free elections in Arab countries, and show no disappointment on that score. The crucial issue regarding the new regimes in Tunisia and Egypt is not that they are Islamist, but how will they act? How will they act toward other non-Islamist parties, and non-Islamic groups in society? How oppressive will they be toward women? How effective will they be on economic policy and science and technology? How will they manage popular hostility toward Israel? These are the issues that will determine the risks and success of these regimes.

Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich leaves his home to go to his sentencing hearing in Chicago, Illinois on December 7, 2011. Later in the day, Blagojevich was sentenced to 14 years in federal prison after being found guilty of 18 charges, including trying to sell President Barack Obama's vacated Senate seat. By Scott Olson/Getty Images.

Update from a reader:

Wow, did Blagojevich purposefully give the "Be Seeing You" salute from The Prisoner? If not, what a bit of ironic foreshadowing.