Sullivan: Experience Only Matters for Republican Women
While I would not go as far as ILoveCapitalism does in labeling Andrew Sullivan in a comment to my most recent post, I do wonder as does he at the lengths to which this one-time thoughtful pundit goes to defend Barack Obama and trash his candidate’s adversaries.
ILC’s not the only one to point out the “twists and turns” Andrew takes to defend his man.
A reader writes in to Jonah Goldberg at the Corner:
Sullivan’s blog this weekend has been entertaining, to say the least. In one weekend, he has completed reversed his arguments on experience needed to be President, a candidate’s personal life as an appropriate subject in an election and just about any reason he had to vote for Obama in his analyses of the Palin pick. I’ve watched him twist his arguments to further his causes before, but this has been nothing short of breathtaking.
Read the whole thing. Whoever it was who wrote into Jonah has pretty much articulated my thoughts on the decline of a blogger whose web-site was the first I checked when I first discovered the blogosphere.
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I would like to add that Sullivan and many other lefties feel that way about everyone but rich white males. Black men don’t need experience, but they need the veneer of white men as in ivy league schools, very lefty politics.
They proclaim to represent the minorities – but only if the minority stays downtrodden. If anyone from those groups simply follows the American dream – works hard, has good solid values and succeeds – that is a slap in the face of liberalism!
Comment by Leah — August 31, 2008 @ 1:32 pm - August 31, 2008
Here’s the link to Sullivan’s piece again:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/andrew_sullivan/article4639741.ece
Here’s what it seems to be saying (at least as I read it):
- I’m Andrew Sullivan and I can talk about “tactics” and “strategy”. So, I’m smart. You need to listen to me.
- I love Obama enough to call him a “cool conservative”. Can anyone listen to me without spitting out their coffee? I know I can.
- Obama is a strategic genius, the way he is “perfectly prepared to hang back in a campaign, to allow attacks to pummel him”. Those aren’t gaffes or shoddy responses you’re seeing… they’re Obama’s brilliant strategery.
- The Wright flap almost got Obama. He sat back and took it graciously. [ed: No mention of the big March speech in defense of Wright, that Sullivan once ranked as one of the greatest speeches in American history.]
- Hillary Clinton almost got Obama. But that was all on purpose. Isn’t he dreamy?
- I must admit, McCain has been successful this summer. “However, when you take the long view, you see cunning and method in Obama’s restraint and discipline.” [ed: I see failure]
- “The convention showed how attuned Obama’s emotional intelligence is. He gave the Clintons all they could have ever wanted.” [Um, not exactly, bud. BTW Andy, how deep does your tongue go?]
- “When Bill personally vouched for Obama’s readiness for office that night, the deal was sealed.” [Again: not exactly. You've heard of the November election, right Andy?]
- “Somehow, Obama had brought the Clintons fully on board… Anyone who can handle the Clintons that deftly is a very smooth operator. ” [Unbelievably naive. It was the Clintons who handled Obama. Sullivan is now in the territory of journalistic malpractice.]
- “Then the best speech of the week: Michelle Obama’s.” [Wasn't hers the first night? Before the Clintons?]
- “Joe Biden’s speech… was also oddly effective. Biden oozed classic Democratic culture: Irish-Catholic ethnics in Pennsylvania and Ohio and Michigan.” [Umm... You wish.] “He was the white uncle of the promising young black guy, reassuring the punters in the pub that the kid was all right.” [Back to the Americans are Racist meme, eh Andy?]
- “Then the finale: Obama’s oration to 84,000 people in a football stadium. And again: a strategic decision…” [to sound angry and uninspired and unfair in front of 30 million viewers]
I’m gonna stop here because the rest is equally adulatory, confused, naive and unreadable. He coins bombastic phrases like ‘educational experience’ to refer to a candidate’s simple education. He even defends the faux-Greek set by assuring us “It did not look like a Greek temple.” Thanks Andy – of course I’ll believe your eyes before my own!
Then at the end, he makes his sexist slams on Palin’s qualifications – when hers are actually better than Obama’s, i.e., more relevant to the job of President.
Comment by ILoveCapitalism — August 31, 2008 @ 2:18 pm - August 31, 2008
Absolute panic out there in lefty blogosphere shows the pick was a good one, and a game changer. Palin was a flat tire for Obama coming out of Denver.
If Romney or Pawlenty had been picked the story would still be focused on the Obama-palooza.
Victory is coming ! Be confident and proud my gay conservative brothers. We have a winning ticket in place.
Comment by Go Sarah — August 31, 2008 @ 2:21 pm - August 31, 2008
There is one little problem: McCain is looking old, and he’ll be 80 before his term is out. Palin IS more qualified, on paper, than Obama. But she better hold up. She better be good.
Comment by ILoveCapitalism — August 31, 2008 @ 3:01 pm - August 31, 2008
ILC, thank you so much, I read the article and fumed, mainly because the only reason he can claim any authority – is because he used to be a thoughtful conservative.
So he’s been playing on that theme for years now, even though conservative can no longer be applied to Sullivan, let alone Obama.
So here’s proof that leaving the conservative side to become a sycophant liberal – really does turn ones brains to mush.
Comment by Leah — August 31, 2008 @ 3:01 pm - August 31, 2008
Apology and correction – McCain is 72 now, will be 76 when his term is out.
Comment by ILoveCapitalism — August 31, 2008 @ 3:02 pm - August 31, 2008
Thanks Leah. I just couldn’t believe my eyes. “The convention showed *how attuned Obama’s emotional intelligence is*“. Oh my god, what’s next – crediting Obama with Jedi powers?
Comment by ILoveCapitalism — August 31, 2008 @ 3:05 pm - August 31, 2008
One more and I’m outta here – nice quote from Ross Douthat:
All of which he’s done. I stand by my “sexist pig” assessment.
Comment by ILoveCapitalism — August 31, 2008 @ 3:41 pm - August 31, 2008
Huffington Post is already painting Palin as a backward hillbilly. (Don’t think that will gain Obama any Ohio votes.)
Can’t wait to hear the angry party go after her husband for being too rugged and manly. On zazzle.com there are already Todd Palin “Woof!” shirts.
Comment by MikeInSedona — August 31, 2008 @ 4:04 pm - August 31, 2008
Why does Andrew Sullivan matter? He is a nobody if you step outside of the “gay community.” Seriously, why have so many posts recently been on the topic of Andrew Sullivan?
I used to read his blog for a certain amount of entertainment. Lucianne would link to him now and then. But then Sullivan decided to salute John Kerry and he has been mostly petulant ever since.
Is there some residual “idol worship” at play here? When pundits start picking at pundits it all begins to be pointless before long.
Sullivan is a character waiting for Robin Williams to play him in a movie. He is a scene, a set and twittering wit. He is not of any consequence that I can detect.
Comment by heliotrope — August 31, 2008 @ 5:29 pm - August 31, 2008
9/11 was a transitional time for me, where as a dyed-in-the-wool-liberal, those conservative and libertarian threads that were always there, but isolated, came together to form a new core.
During this period, Thomas Friedman and Andrew Sullivan became lifelines, demonstrating how one could be a thinking, rational person demonstrating both compassion and the will to win the most important battle of our time.
Then, after his impressive work in “The World is Flat”, Friedman wandered off into the weeds of unthinking Environmentalism (there is a thinking form of environmentalism; he chose the other path) and became incomprehensible to me.
At pretty much the same time, Sullivan, feeling thoroughly (and often justifiably) betrayed by the Bush/Rumsfeld approach to the war, their willingness to engage in torture and unwillingness to revise the initial idea that this would be a hit-and-run style war, turned into some completely different person and also became incomprehensible to me.
Because of them I learned new things and found new ways of thinking about the world. I also learned to reject the kind of reflexive and hateful thinking that they (well, at least Sullivan) came to represent.
Comment by Ronald Hayden — August 31, 2008 @ 6:39 pm - August 31, 2008
And hilariously, all the Democrats who are screaming about how McCain is “too old” at age 72 have nothing to say about Daniel Akaka (age 84 in two weeks), Daniel Inouye (age 84 in one week), Frank Lautenberg (age 84 and eight months), and everyone’s favorite, Robert Byrd (age 91).
Comment by North Dallas Thirty — August 31, 2008 @ 7:47 pm - August 31, 2008
[...] 31, 2008 by irreconcilableideas I happened to run across this post over at Gay Patriot and couldn’t agree more. Andrew Sullivan, although I think he has some [...]
Pingback by Andrew Sullivan is Suffering « Irreconcilable Ideas — August 31, 2008 @ 8:41 pm - August 31, 2008
“He is a scene, a set and twittering wit. He is not of any consequence that I can detect.” <– that’s a great line Heliotrope! (comment 10). I’ll try to remember that one.
Comment by MikeInSedona — August 31, 2008 @ 9:08 pm - August 31, 2008
OMG. Sullivan is buying into the DailyKos ‘Trig Is Not Really Palin’s Son’ Smear. (So is Alan Colmes).
Is there any doubt now that Sullivan is out of his freakin’ mind?
Comment by V the K — August 31, 2008 @ 11:00 pm - August 31, 2008
Ace of Spades, as someone pointed out, is calling on bloggers to stop linking to miss Sullivan, even if you discuss him. I think its a fabulous idea. Anyone else?
Comment by American Elephant — September 1, 2008 @ 4:58 am - September 1, 2008
ILC. Sen McCain would love it if they made age an issue. “I’ll not let my opponent’s youth and inexperience become an issue in this campaign.”
And I’m afraid Sen. Obama does have Jedi powers. Look at how he works the press.
“This is not the domestic terrorist you’re looking for.”
“You don’t need to see my papers.”
“My vauge plattitudes are policy.”
Fortunately, Jedi Mind Tricks only work on the weak willed.
Comment by The Livewire — September 1, 2008 @ 8:32 am - September 1, 2008
ILC –
Do you live in Washington State?
If not you should live there.
You would make a great cherry picker
Comment by gillie — September 1, 2008 @ 9:53 am - September 1, 2008
#17 – gillie, do you live near Hershey, Pennsylvania? You know, the city with the candy factory?
If not, you should live there. I hear they’re looking for nuts like you.
Checkmate.
Regards,
Peter H.
Comment by Peter Hughes — September 2, 2008 @ 4:04 pm - September 2, 2008
Like you, I’m a gay man who used to read Sullivan regularly (back in the 2000-2005 timeframe). I finally had to stop.
His descent is a very sad thing, and a loss to journalism. I can’t help wondering if it’s HIV-related, whether the disease itself or certain drugs he’s taking for it.
Comment by Anon — September 3, 2008 @ 12:25 am - September 3, 2008