Strange Doctrines

Vetting the Bush Way

Shorter John McCain's deliberations in choosing Sarah Palin: I looked the woman in the eye. I was able to get a sense of her soul.

UPDATE: Further confirmation on McCain's use of the Bush technique (via Brad DeLong): "John McCain, in his first television interview since his shocking vice presidential pick, said that he saw in Sarah Palin 'a partner and a soul mate.'"

Wailin' on Palin

It rarely makes sense to link to any Mark Kleiman post in particular, since you should just read them all. But he's got good stuff on Palin here and here.

I think I'm really beginning to ❤ Sarah Palin.

Panic Attack!

Whether Jim Lindgren in his post here is trying to stir up panic among Obama supporters or is merely noting an interesting sort of fringe behavior among abnormally voluble wackos I couldn't say for sure.

But Their Write Just as Good

So in addition to inventing new grammatical tenses, they've taken to implementing a novel use of the genitive case.

For They Know Not What They're Talking About

Shorter P.J. O'Rourke: I don't understand science at all; I can only conclude that believing in science takes more faith than religion.

See also Otherwise, You Have Believed In Vain.

(Via Arts & Letters Daily.)

Neoconjuring Health Care Reform

Via Talking Points Memo, a Dallas Morning News report on the policy magic of John Goodman* the Magnificent!, a "health policy adviser to the McCain" campaign:

Proofs That Not-P?

While commenting over at Balkinization yesterday, I realized a new proof that not-p may have spontaneously developed among the pundit class.

Casey at Bat

"John McCain calls himself a 'maverick.' But he votes with George Bush over ninety percent of the time. That's not a maverick; that's a sidekick."
--Senator Bob Casey, Jr. (in his speech today at the DNC, ca.6:28p PST)

UPDATE: And the mighty AP strikes out.

Heeeeeere's Johnny!

Over at Talking Points Memo:

Last night was John McCain's thirteenth appearance on the Tonight Show. Even more times than Pam Anderson and Dr. Phil.

Or even Britney and Paris combined!

John McCain, POWTM

Note to self: Never get on Mark Kleiman's bad side.

Paramnesia for the Course

No surprise: Given that Clinton Rules apply, the media's historical forgetfulness about convention conventions is just déjà vu all over again.

Inferential Distance

We cannot judge God.

  

God is good.

(It doesn't take much.)

Narrative Enforcement

"We want to speak to a lot of those delegates -- especially those Clinton delegates who aren't very happy."
    --Wolf Blitzer today on CNN, ca. 2:34p (reporting from the Democratic National Convention)

And the vigilant search for disunity among the Democrats continues...

Fournier Analysis

'Fournier transformation', n. The representation of a propaganda function as a news function. Compare 'Fourier transformation.' N.B.: Only the latter operation is isomorphic.

(Link to Steve Benen via Mark Kleiman.)

UPDATE: Mark Kleiman constructs a few appropriate derivations.

McCain Continues to Underuse POW Experience

From CBS (via Talking Points Memo):

Couric asked about McCain's answer when Politico inquired about the number of homes he and his wife, Cindy, own. [snip]

"I am grateful for the fact that I have a wonderful life," McCain said. "I spent some years without a kitchen table, without a chair, and I know what it's like to be blessed by the opportunities of this great nation.

Just wait till McCain actually starts to use it.

I expect we'll get to the point where he uses it as an honorific -- "John McCain, POW."

That Would Be Rich

The Daily Howler is a font of much-needed wisdom, but Bob Somerby really falls down today in discussing McCain's flip definition (at Rick Warren's court) of 'rich' as $5 million-plus in annual income.

Somerby criticizes journalists who've held McCain to the figure, because it was a "joke." And true enough, if you tell a joke and then "sensibly move[]" to a discussion of [your] actual tax proposals," you shouldn't be held to the figure you gave in your joke.

McCain's Patriot Act

Shorter John McCain: I do not question Senator Obama's dubious loyalty to America.

(Uncharacteristically, McCain failed to take the occasion to note that at one time he had once been a POW.)

Tongue Tied

This is right about when Saakashvili started to regret having told Gurgenidze, "If Russia pushes back on Ossetia, I'll eat my tie":

(Via Majikthise.)

How Barack Gets Back on Track

By listening to Theda and Glenn and Jack.* (To wit: Attack, attack, attack.)

* With apologies to Jonathan Zasloff for the poetic license.

Walking a Tense Rope

With regard to the current U.S. Attorneys scandal, one of the things the Bush administration has to show is that President Bush was not involved in the machinations behind the firings; otherwise, he'd be implicated in a conspiracy to break federal law.

But another of the things the administration has to show is that President Bush was involved in the machinations behind the firings; otherwise executive privilege doesn't apply.

This tension has led to some interesting formulations:

"The record does reflect at this stage that the president was not involved in decisions about who would be asked to resign from the department," Justice Department lawyer Carl Nichols argued in federal court in June. However, "the record does not reflect that the president had no future involvement." [My emphasis.]

Say what you will about President Clinton's infamous appeal to the ambiguity of the copula (or, for that matter, of 'copulation'); at least he didn't contrive a whole new grammatical tense.

(Via Democratic Underground.)