Beware of politicians gifting bears.

Hullabaloo is quite verklempt over some blogpost written by George Packer.

Now, as thinking people here on Hullabaloo, let's think about what Packer's
yakking about in his little throwaway. Packer says that thinking people, during
the past years, had forced on them hard trade-offs and ideological confusion.
But even five minutes of thought in 2002 would have revealed Bush/Iraq as
screaming yellow bonkers. But Packer didn't have the moral integrity to give
Bush/Iraq five minutes of thought, as so many others did around the world.
Instead, Packer let himself be unthinkingly swept away by Makiya's rhetoric -
and others'. Packer checked his brain at the door and went with his gut: LET'S
DO SOME GOOD!

Unthinkingly swept away by rhetoric? How could anyone do that? Ignoring the possibility of a disastrous war? Damn, that's feeble. How can you sit and listen to someone's words and not even hear what they are saying because of the rush of happiness that comes from belonging, being part of a group or movement, letting someone tell you what you want to hear?

I don't know who Obama has working for him on this stuff, but I hope he's
tapping into the best talent from the arts as well as politics. The right speech
in the right setting could reignite Obamamania into a roaring brushfire at just
the right moment.

Kill me now, please.

ADDED: Via Avedon Carol, IOZ speaks.

Watching vero possumus transmogrify before progressive eyes into status quo ante is less entertaining than it ought to be because it
lacks an element of suprise. Still, it's good for a grin. Barack Obama made such
fast work of it, leaping to
the defense of defenseless nuclear Israel, then proceeding to wrap himself
in an American flag, arm himself to the jowls, climb atop the Statue of Liberty,
and fire warning shots in a wild, easterly direction, lest the Hordes mistake
New York for Vienna and the twenty-first for the seventeenth century. Yeah, but
they'll show him. They're gonna vote for him, and they're gonna give him money,
but by motherfucking god, they're gonna blog about their disappointment.

Who was it who said, put all your eggs in one basket, and then watch that basket?