Morning Jolt
. . . with Jim Geraghty
August 11, 2010
In This Issue . . .
1. Robert Gibbs Just Can't Take It Anymore!
2. No One Can Wrangle Rangel's Mouth, Not Even Rangel
3. Sorry I Bought into the Headlines, Ted
4. Addenda
Welcome to your Wednesday morning Jolt!
Enjoy,
Jim
1. Robert Gibbs Just Can't Take It Anymore!
As I declared on Twitter last night, one interpretation of White House press secretary Robert Gibbs's lashing out at what he calls "the professional Left" is that the Obama administration has, all too late, awakened and smelled the coffee, and is now trying to shift back to the center; the midterm elections are shaping up to be catastrophic for the Democrats, and the White House wants to mitigate the damage. But a deeper interpretation is that Gibbs is a congenital whiner.
The lefty blogs were, predictably, outraged -- let's face it, these guys greet the sun rising in the east with outrage every morning -- but the reaction among the righties ranged from gloating to mockery to predictions of Gibbs's departure. I'm a bit surprised no one actually defended his position, but I suppose the entire controversy starts from the premise that disapproval from "professional liberals" is a serious problem for President Obama. In the history of the modern presidency, very few activists have ever felt completely satisfied with the president they helped elect. Don't believe me? The Washington Post, July 21, 1981, in an article about conservative response to the nomination of Sandra Day O'Connor to the U.S. Supreme Court: "For some of the most vocal leaders of the New Right movement, the nomination was the latest in a series of slights and insults they have suffered from Reagan advisers which raise questions in their minds about whether the president is really their kind of conservative."
I guess those in Washington who aren't liberal bloggers tuned out the complaints of liberal bloggers long ago; everyone else is surprised that Gibbs worries about it.
Mary Katharine Ham: "Washington was hot today, and Democrats were tearing at each other's hair like a clatch of tween frenemies fighting for the front row at a Justin Bieber mall appearance. . . . Understandably, those who would totally be satisfied if Dennis Kucinich were merely head of HHS were tweaked by the press secretary's mischaracterization of their position. So, then FireDogLake was all, 'So, you have to be on drugs to want a single-payer health care plan. Was Obama on drugs in 2003?' Oh, snap!"
At Legal Insurrection, William Jacobson is in full gloat mode: "I haven't had so much fun since never. . . . Oh, and no, you can't get your money back. He broke you, now he owns you. If I were you, I'd stay home in November. It's all you have Left."
At The American Spectator, Joseph Lawler wonders if Gibbs has reached burnout: "It's enough to make one wonder about the wisdom of maintaining the same press secretary for over a year. Gibbs's job is to deflect tough questions and to withhold information that people really want. Given enough time in this role, he was bound to develop some animosity with his toughest critics. Now that animosity has surfaced, and it's Obama who must deal with the fallout."
At Hot Air, Allahpundit wonders: "He duly walked back his Kinsleyan gaffe a few hours later, insisting that he spoke 'inartfully'because he watches too much cable or whatever. Laying aside the fact that it's moronic to antagonize your base three months before a major election, a simple question for you: Is he right about lefties never being happy with The One or not? PPP reports today that Obama's support among liberals has been both very high and very consistent, topping out near 90 percent. (Then again, Gibbs made clear he wasn't talking about liberals generally, just the ones who make their living whining about politics.)"
Gabe Malor, writing at Ace of Spades, expects Gibbs's departure: "I'm surprised he lasted this long. After his hilarious 'Baghdad Gibbs' start, he settled mainly for answering press questions with variations of 'I'll have to look into that' and 'I left that information in my other pants.'"
Allahpundit wonders: "Gibbs's comments would have generated the best JournoList thread evah, huh?" Way to go, Tucker Carlson.
2. No One Can Wrangle Rangel's Mouth, Not Even Rangel
Mediaite summarizes: "The term 'political theater' gets thrown around a lot, but that was exactly what happened on the House floor today. In a moment so unexpected the cable news networks seemed caught off guard (until they all went wall-to-wall), Rep. Charlie Rangelspoke for more than 20 minutes about his pending ethics trial. It was a rant that slammed everyone from House Democrats to Pres.Barack Obama-- and he promised not to go away anytime soon. This was a very senior member of Congress, who clearly thinks he's been wronged by both the press and his colleagues, sounding off aboutexactlythe way he feels."
It was apparently the sort of rant that left viewers wondering if Rangel would follow it up by attacking a McDonald's drive-through window or by setting off the emergency exit on a JetBlue plane.
The Washington Post's Jonathan Capehart is left begging Rangel to leave the race. It sounds like Rangel's colleagues agree: "Democratic members, approached by reporters for comment as they left the chamber, looked stricken. 'Not now,' said Rep. Louise Slaughter. 'I didn't really hear it,' pleaded Rep. Howard Berman. 'What speech?' asked Rep. Steve Cohen. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz merely rolled her eyes and shook her head."
3. Sorry I Bought into the Headlines, Ted
While he lived, I rarely thought much about Alaska's Ted Stevens, other than the persistent rumors of favor-trading and addiction to pork, and the infamous "the Internet is not a big truck, it's a series of tubes" video. But upon hearing of his death in a plane crash yesterday, I felt particularly bad, perhaps partly due to guilt that I bought into the accusations of corruption that ultimately got tossed because of some pretty glaring prosecutorial misconduct.
Had the prosecution shared the potentially exculpatory evidence -- or at least contrary evidence -- it's possible Stevens wouldn't have been found guilty; many folks think that without the late October convictions, there's no way Stevens loses his reelection bid in 2008. Had he been in office, he might not have been on that plane yesterday. Had Stevens won in 2008, would Arlen Specter have flipped parties? Would Obamacare have passed the Senate? Would Scott Brown's election in Massachusetts have become a conservative crusade? From small decisions, far-flung consequences.
At Red State, Dan McLaughlin salutes a life full of accomplishments: "It's ironic that Senator Stevens would meet his end in a plane crash; he earned the Distinguished Flying Cross in World War II and survived a 1978 plane crash that killed his first wife. Stevens was a monumental figure in Alaska politics and the Alaska GOP, and had a long and fascinating life -- I'd recommend taking a few minutes to peruse his biography on Wikipedia (for want of a better source, though the Anchorage Daily News will doubtless have a more comprehensive profile shortly) for samples of some of the now-uncontroversial parts of his life story, from delivering newspapers with news of the Lindbergh baby kidnapping to why he didn't become a fighter pilot to his days as a cigar-chomping frontier prosecutor to his Incredible Hulk neckties. (For example -- more on which here -- Stevens was instrumental in overcoming then-President Eisenhower's concern that Alaska statehood would leave Alaska vulnerable to Soviet invasion given its proximity to Russia.) Stevens throughout his career was a proponent of a strong military. During World War II he flew C-46 and C-47 transports behind enemy lines over China, earning him decorations as well from the Nationalist Chinese government."
4. Addenda
Daddy duties interfered with a lot of the usual primary-night campaign blogging last night, but I'll be catching you up on the results in Colorado, Connecticut, and elsewhere throughout the morning. . . .
At Ace of Spades, Russ from Winterset contemplates yesterday's lead item, the reality television show that would follow the adventures of Levi Johnston as he runs for mayor of Wasilla, Alaska: "Well, think about how tired you are of hearing about the Wacky Antics of this sub-genius. Now picture all the residents of Wasilla, who've known him one hell of a lot longer than we have. Yeah, this should go over like a warm case of New Coke in the Runaway Weather Balloon with Star Wars Kid AND the 'LEAVE BRITNEY ALONE!' androgyne. We're not just in Heaven's Gate territory here; this is full on Caddyshack 2. [Heck], this is Slap Shot 2." |
