We Are a Joke

Item the first:

More on Biden vs. Palin [Ed Whelan]
In this NRO essay today, Michelle Malkin gets Biden right:

Biden’s erratic and gaffetastic behavior is the least of America’s worries. He’s worse than a blunderbuss. He’s an incurable narcissist with chronic diarrhea of the
mouth. He’s a phony and a pretender who fashions himself a foreign-policy expert, constitutional scholar, and worldly wise man. He’s a man who can’t control his impulses.
10/22 10:21 AM

Replace "Biden" with "Malkin" and she's absolutely right. Projection ain't just a way of showing movies.

Item the Second:

Kathryn Jean Lopez writes an article entitled "Black Like Me." That's like dangling Junior Mints in front of me. Junior Mints offered by George Clooney. In a tuxedo. With flowers and a limo.

I'm sorry, what was I talking about?

Oh, yeah, K-Lo. She says that if black people support a black candidate, it is because he is black, not because they think he'll do a good job. She can't believe that someone would choose Obama over McCain when McCain wants to save blacks from the evil abortion doctors, and give vouchers to students who go to inner-city schools. You see, America is conservatives, as she and Jonah and the other conservatives keep saying. No black man or woman reads, thinks, and decides that Obama is better than McCain. No, it's all about identity politics. For them, of course. Not for conservatives. No, sir. Nope. Never. After all, look at Miss Lopez herself. She's Hispanic and a woman and still wants McCain to win with every unsatisfied bone in her body. If she can ignore reality in favor of ideology, why can't everyone else?

Item the third.

Michelle Bachmann, (R-Idiot), admits that Chris Matthews is far smarter than she is.

That's all. This report is humiliating enough exactly as it is.

Item the forth, and my personal favorite.

Here's a story you probably already heard.

The Republican National Committee has spent more than $150,000 to clothe and accessorize vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin and her family since her surprise pick by John McCain in late August.

According to financial disclosure records, the accessorizing began in early September and included bills from Saks Fifth Avenue in St. Louis and New York for a combined $49,425.74.

The records also document a couple of big-time shopping trips to Neiman Marcus in Minneapolis, including one $75,062.63 spree in early September.

The RNC also spent $4,716.49 on hair and makeup through September after reporting no such costs in August.

The cash expenditures immediately raised questions among campaign finance experts about their legality under the Federal Election Commission's long-standing advisory opinions on using campaign cash to purchase items for personal use.
....
But hours after the story was posted on Politico's website and legal issues were raised, the campaign issued a new statement:"With all of the important issues facing the country right now, it's remarkable that we're spending time talking about pantsuits and blouses. It was always the intent that the clothing go to a charitable purpose after the campaign," said McCain-Palin spokesperson Tracey Schmitt.The campaign's position is that Palin couldn't dress herself appropriately for the high profile position of someone campaigning to be VP, so they shelled out some dough. That makes sense, having "the clothing go to a charitable purpose after the campaign" doesn't.

Page Six says:

One source familiar with Palin's primping posse told us, "They do not want the American public to know that Palin is using stylists or that she is paying for expensive clothes this early on in the campaign."

We spoke to someone on Palin's styling team, who told us, "I did a little bit of personal styling, but I can't discuss anything I've done with Sarah Palin. I'm not sure which designs she wore . . . anything related to working with her is confidential."

Presidential nominee John McCain's wife, Cindy, recently took some heat after Vanity Fair itemized the cost of her wardrobe during her RNC speech with Laura Bush to a whopping $300,000 worth of designer wear and diamonds.

A representative for Valentino confirmed Palin wore one of his designs during her convention speech, but said she did not buy it from a Valentino store. Palin's reps had no comment.

But she's one of the people, just like Joe The Plumber. What we have here is some basic psychology at work. Palin must be expensively dressed, to show she is an Authoritarian Leader to the other leaders, while at the same time she must declare herself jus' folks, so the tribe feels like she is one of them. It ain't working. The elite think she's a hick, although the followers love her "aw shucks" routine.

The Corner has suffered from this dichotomy.

[David Frum]: A reader writes:
I wonder if you are aware to the extent of the alienation and frustration (at you, Peggy Noonan, David Brooks, Doug Kmiec, Chris Buckley, etc…we’re still cutting Krauthammer some slack) that has recently occurred among those (of us) who would normally be your customers?
We have a strong feeling that there now exists a “Heartland conservatism” - in the Reagan tradition - and an “East Coast conservatism” that is seen as increasingly “elite” and out of touch with our values. The message you are trying to send to us, to change our message, we are reflecting back at you (all). Here’s the problem, our numbers area far, far greater.

Most of this alienation and frustration, I believe, has been exasperated by the very public criticism, from “conservatives”, of Gov. Palin, who “out here” is very well liked. We “get” her David, but we don’t “get” you (all) anymore, it’s that simple.

David, if you alienate “your base”, who will be left to buy your books?

Nothing like bare-assed threats to put the apostates in their place, as Kathleen Parker well knows. The reader reminds Frum that liberals aren't the only ones who can be persecuted. But the readers don't pay Frum. They might buy some books, but Jack Fowler, editor of NR, buys more. Regnery pays the author, and the publicity gets the author on tv, which leads to speaking gigs. The man of the people can scurry back to his Heartland hole, because in the end the only thing that matters is obedience to the leaders. If Frum doesn't play the game well enough, there are a million little Liberty and Catholic U. graduates to take his place.

So this is what we've come to. The wealthy one percent set up two candidates like little Rock-'em Sock-'em Robots and get the media to start wildly pressing the buttons. The elite shove and maneuver to get themselves close enough to the winner to catch the crumbs falling from his table. The media suck up to the elite, the elite bloggers suck up to the media, the peon bloggers suck up to the elite bloggers, and the "customers" (formerly citizens) of the United States suck up to the peon bloggers, when they are not threatening them.

Jefferson and Washington would be so proud.

Later: Who put the speed in Jonah's Cap'n Crunch? He's actually moving and writing typing.

What Other Explanation Could There Be?
A reader sent me this gem from our old buddy Dave Neiwert:"So why do Republicans hate democracy? Maybe because they are the party of Oligarchical White Privilege. And democracy is about to kick them in the ass."
Why, it's almost as if he thinks the white man is the Jew of liberal fascism.

So stupid. So Jonah.


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