andrew sullivan c/d

soto double otm

"Ben Smith infers that she will - from the way she behaved at the Iowa State Fair. Everything I know about her suggests she will. But Washington - Republican and Democrat - is convinced she's over. We'll see. I hope the establishment is right. But none of the current candidates seems viable to me."

He's talking about Palin, of course. Why does he persist in such a platitudinous lie? He wants her to run as badly as I do. It would a) be the greatest thing in the world for spiking readership on the Dish, b) be vastly entertaining, and c) come with no risk whatsoever--she'd undoubtedly do major damage to whoever emerges from the wreckage as the Republican nominee, significantly increasing (maybe even guaranteeing) the reelection of the guy he's rooting for. I wish he'd just say so for once.

he's taking another month off. am i wrong or have his vacations become longer and longer and more frequent?

The second reference to the awesomeness of Poppy Bush's foreign policy this week, this one alluding to the wisdom of Obama's:

s potent and nuanced a management of global politics as anything since George H W Bush.

What on earth did Poppy do that was so damn admirable -- in his own way he was as bellicose as Reagan (Panama) and as devious as Kissinger (basically elbowing Saddam into having a fit in the Middle East, then acting shocked when he invades Kuwait).

He was pretty savvy about the fall of the Soviet Union. Organized a good campaign at the UN and among NATO allies in lead-up to Gulf War I.

He may have been a devious fucker but he was far more competent that his son at getting shit done right.

Dunno if he deserves undue credit for the fall of the USSR. It was an impossible situation. Gorbachev gradually lost all domestic support, and international acclaim eventually destroyed him. Bush for years dithered between supporting Gorby or transferring this support to Yeltsin.

Iraq I was another war waged under dubious circumstances.

I didn't even mention a certain event in China in June '89.

In the light of his son's failures and the ideologues running for office these days, I appreciate the impulse to warm to Poppy's professionalism -- I'm guilty too -- but it's too easy to transform into a symbol of tweedy restraint.

I think he handled the fall of the USSR with great aplomb considering the stakes.

I think his diplomacy after Kuwait was invaded was pretty effective whatever you think about Glaspie etc...

I didn't even mention a certain event in China in June '89.

Sometimes a dude's just gotta blow chunks and pass out in another dude's lap. What can I say?

i suppose if i had to choose between reagan, bush I, bush II, and even clinton, i'd probably reluctantly opt for bush I as the best of a bad lot.

One heartbeat away from Pres Quayle...

Dunno if he deserves undue credit for the fall of the USSR.

oh none at all, but avoiding war over the pieces of a global empire is at least decent -- and historically unusual.

I didn't even mention a certain event in China in June '89.

so what should he have done?

is it just me or his blog super boring lately? I've been reading the blog for a bunch of years now, because I find the man, in all his batshitness, compelling, while rarely (at least since 2003) being malevolent. Which is to say: I like reading the man. But not a bunch of boring links. I don't really see how the blog as a link aggregator reflects the man, & I care about pretty much none of those links. I dunno: is something up with him so that he's not writing as much anymore (while just keeping the # of posts up by having his interns post lots of links each day)?

He employs interns and acolytes now. The death penalty "forum" was interesting. But I don't give a fuck about Palin or his obsession.

the rumor is that he's been pretty sick lately, though he looks okay in the recent video things

I'm tired of those curated "discussions", which is also just the work of acolytes. I'd be happy if they just filtered out Sullivan's own posts, even (& maybe especially!) if it's just one every couple of days.

(mostly this is me sighing at my rss feed overflowing yet again because I can't keep up with the volume, & Sullivan's the worst at this)

xp huh, yeah, that wouldn't surprise me

he is huffpo-lite, streamlined into one column

Breaking up is hard to do.

what a dumbass

9.50 pm. Ron Paul is now the leading candidate in Google searches in South Carolina. Hmmm.

GOOGLE EXIT POLL

too bad sully wasn't around to blog the 1860 elections

10.57 pm. A great night for Ron Paul:

Ron Paul quintupled his 2008 Virginia vote count, and because of the smaller turnout overall he octupled his percentage of the vote there. Paul tripled his 2008 result in Vermont, and he did the same in Oklahoma and Massachusetts. He is running ahead of his 2008 numbers in North Dakota, and he has a chance of scoring an upset in Idaho or Alaska.

A GREAT NIGHT

I try to keep social occasions off the blog since so much of my life is an open book. But it was a really magical evening. I'm a proud Tory and a proud American (almost a citizen) and to see my political party bond so effortlessly with a president I endorsed and admire was enormously gratifying. It made me feel saner, amid today's Republican madness.

I bumped into many people - we were next to John Legend and his fiancee and the British ambassador and his wife at dinner - and did have a brief and warm chat with the president. I think such things should remain confidential, but you should know that there's a Dish-reader in the Oval Office, and "not just the political stuff." So don't feel too guilty about our regular dips into pop-culture, high and low. POTUS gets the mix.

There were several openly gay couples present, which is change you really can believe in, and we entered with the future HRC head, Chad Griffin and his boyfriend. I also didn't realize the impact that the Newsweek Obama cover-story had on Obama donors and staffers until last night. So many people mentioned it. Oh, and George Clooney came up to say hi. Not since John Hamm came out as a Dish reader at the White House Correspondents' Dinner did such a shiver go up my leg.

The tent in the garden was gorgeous, as you can see above. And particularly poignant for Aaron and me: it was designed and produced by Bryan Rafanelli, who planned our own wedding. Good times. And a bit of a hangover.

I was going to link to that...makes me queasy too.

(The political incestuousness, I mean--don't want to be misconstrued.)

but you should know that there's a Dish-reader in the Oval Office, and "not just the political stuff."

PUKE

In other words, Obama appreciates beard fetishes.

vat a kantry

superfluous "-ry"

okay this is easily one of the most disappointing moments in obama's presidency

can't believe i once defended this guy: he's insufferable most of the time

I don't have problems defending him when I agree with him but I never, ever forget that he's a total dick

I don't fault Obama that much for issuing the invitation--the inherent political calculation is somewhat unseemly, but, as the saying goes, whatever. I don't fault Sullivan all that much for attending--in an ideal world he wouldn't, but I'm sure it's difficult to turn down an invitation like that. (I know I wouldn't.) It's writing about it in such a way that may not exactly be flaunting it, but is going to make anybody wonder, "And you're different from Fox how?" (I realize someone will ridicule the idea that anybody could ever have thought otherwise.)

If invited I would attend but would hope to have the good sense not to post a valentine.

lol wait, on what grounds should Sullivan have turned down the invitation

At the next such dinner:

"Greetings Dr. Morbius and Mr. Perrin. Are you together?"

"In a way..."

Sully is one of those guys who goes I HAD THE MOST INCREDIBLE NIGHT and when you ask what'd do he says nothing but smiles impishly and goes back to trolling bear-4-bear sites.

i can forgive the president for buttering up sullivan, like ive read the daily dish before okay, but encouraging his "not just the political stuff" just crosses the fn line - i pray that it was just some aide whispering in his ear 'and tell him not just the political stuff' and obama had no idea what he was talking abt

That's it (Alfred's earlier post)--it's the gushiness of the post that makes me queasy. And no attempt whatsoever to acknowledge the fine line he's treading. (The grounds would be, "Appreciate it, but I write about you 12 times a day, and supposedly I'm 'of no party' and beholden to no one." But again, I understand that he's a person before anything else, and that that's easier said than done. And admit that I wouldn't turn down the invitation either, were I him.)

WRT 'not just the political stuff' -- folks, you're sounding like what's his name from Homeland who was surprised that Obama watches his show. President again revealed to be wonky nerd, film at eleven.

sullivan has the worst taste in everything is basically what im reacting to fyi, homeland is sweet tho

andrew sullivan isn't someone for wonky people tho, like that's almost his problem

he is just kinda dumb

wdn't get in a room w/ either of the men in question, unless making a citizen's arrest

he likes Pet Shop Boys though

just hoping the he doesn't sing a few bars of 'west end girls' at the next fundraiser

xp lawl

for all sullivan's endless professions of noble orwellian objectivity, 'of no party,' etc etc, i can think of few political commentators more prone to gushy, uncritical hero-worship of powerful ppl.

Not since John Hamm came out as a Dish reader at the White House Correspondents' Dinner did such a shiver go up my leg.

Don Draper, I am disappoint.

should I post his 2002-era encomia to David Frum's pellucid prose voiced by Dubya?