Category: Awards

Yglesias Award Nominee

"She quit. Say what you want, for all his supposed faults and perhaps mis-steps, former president Bush never quit on Iraq, Afghanistan, or the war against terror, though he could have easily rationalized the decision given the political realities. Whether Palin quit because she marches to a different drum, or not, the fact remains, she left the field of battle of her own accord. A state governorship is too important a position to permit one to do that and dismiss it because the opposition was simply so outrageous. … I believe she is a fine person with much to give to and do for America and conservatism. But I hope it isn't about running for president in 2012. I simply can't judge her ready for that given everything we've seen. I wish it were possible to reach a different conclusion. Unfortunately, right now I can't," – extreme right blogger, Dan Riehl.

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.

Yglesias Award Nominee

"It is perfectly legitimate to argue that the House cap-and-trade system is flawed beyond redemption — so complex and confusing that it only benefits regulators and the lobbyists who outwit them — and that Congress should start over with a carbon tax. It is also legitimate to contend that, while the cap-and-trade system is flawed, it is better than inaction and necessary to spur innovation. And for eight House Republicans who took this stand at great political risk, it is not only legitimate — it is admirable," – Michael Gerson, yesterday's Washington Post.

–PA

Hathos Alert, Ctd

A reader writes:

Perhaps you could do your readers a favor and interpret that Sarah Palin ad. I honestly can't figure out what the message is supposed to be. It started out straightforward enough – Palin is strong on defense, because there are a lot of pictures of her and the troops. But then what? There's a picture of Barack Obama, a picture of air force one, and then a seemingly random image of king kong under attack by airplanes, and then a picture of Barack Obama smiling, with the ad the summarized by "We need her, big time."

These are Palinites so these are murky waters. But I think the ad is trying to say that Palin is strong on defense and that Barack Obama was actually in Airforce One when it made that stupid flight over New York recently that Obama subsequently investigated. But quite what these nutballs are really up to is beyond me.

Yglesias Award Nominee

"As someone who favors gay marriage, I think this Sanford scandal underscores a central truth. The anti-gay-marriage forces are stuck making a slippery-slope argument when, in fact, we’re already at the bottom of the slippery slope. Here’s a guy, Sanford, who has not just not a moral and religious incentive to keep his marriage vows, but also a political-survival incentive. Yet the public sense of the sacredness of marriage has declined to the point that even he couldn’t do it. How much more could this institution be eviscerated, by letting a tiny, tiny minority of same-sexers join it? (Gays are a small fraction of the population, and the percentage of them who want to get married is a small fraction of the small fraction. The issue is, as the lawyers say, de minimis.)", – Mike Potemra, NRO.