Is Our Republicans Learning?
James Wolcott's blog
No, they is not.
Earlier today MSNBC dug former House majority leader Dick Armey out of a box of cereal to give his expert insights into the Republican race and roll out a few droll observations, which didn't roll very far. The dust bunnies that came out of his mouth seemed as dated as everything else we hear from Newt-era conservatives. First he brushed aside Barack Obama as a willowy lightweight who wants us to all hold hands and sing "Kumbaya." No doubt Armey hasn't had the time and may never have the inclination to read Todd Purdum's just-up profile of Young Obama, but you'd think that even modest exposure to Obama's TV presence would have clued him in to the candidate's tensile strength and counterpunch capability. Republicans who dimly persist in defining Obama as a peace-love poster child are replaying culture-war battles that are as outdated as a Dennis Miller monologue filled with references to OJ and Ward Churchill.
But the most mildewed offering Armey made was his advice on how John McCain should woo the conservatives who loathe him so. He said John needs to come back with some bold initiatives to reclaim the conservative base, such as promoting private accounts in Social Security. Yes, please, Hera, let John McCain heed Armey's advice and hoist Social Security privatization as his flagship issue. Perhaps he should hold a press conference announcing his new plan, flanked by Phil Gramm and Steve Forbes and senior citizens herded from the nearest center; in a time of economic distress and stock market turmoil, I can't think of a better way to hari-kari your candidacy than to advocate something George Bush couldn't put over after barnstorming the country when the country wasn't as sick of him as it is now. All that political capital squandered after Bush's reelection, and Armey wants McCain to repeat the same folly.
Thank you, O sage.
(Continued here.)
No, they is not.
Earlier today MSNBC dug former House majority leader Dick Armey out of a box of cereal to give his expert insights into the Republican race and roll out a few droll observations, which didn't roll very far. The dust bunnies that came out of his mouth seemed as dated as everything else we hear from Newt-era conservatives. First he brushed aside Barack Obama as a willowy lightweight who wants us to all hold hands and sing "Kumbaya." No doubt Armey hasn't had the time and may never have the inclination to read Todd Purdum's just-up profile of Young Obama, but you'd think that even modest exposure to Obama's TV presence would have clued him in to the candidate's tensile strength and counterpunch capability. Republicans who dimly persist in defining Obama as a peace-love poster child are replaying culture-war battles that are as outdated as a Dennis Miller monologue filled with references to OJ and Ward Churchill.
But the most mildewed offering Armey made was his advice on how John McCain should woo the conservatives who loathe him so. He said John needs to come back with some bold initiatives to reclaim the conservative base, such as promoting private accounts in Social Security. Yes, please, Hera, let John McCain heed Armey's advice and hoist Social Security privatization as his flagship issue. Perhaps he should hold a press conference announcing his new plan, flanked by Phil Gramm and Steve Forbes and senior citizens herded from the nearest center; in a time of economic distress and stock market turmoil, I can't think of a better way to hari-kari your candidacy than to advocate something George Bush couldn't put over after barnstorming the country when the country wasn't as sick of him as it is now. All that political capital squandered after Bush's reelection, and Armey wants McCain to repeat the same folly.
Thank you, O sage.
(Continued here.)
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