Saturday, August 23, 2008

Genius, courage, creativity and utter ruthlessness!

The title to this post comes from the commentary I cite below. I expect Michael Kinsley was one of those that most helped temper my Progressive and Populist views. During the late 90s I'd read Slate nearly every day, even while trying to keep my practice going and salvage my then marriage. Michael's WaPo piece from today, Convicted Of Charisma, is a gem. I especially appreciated the following:
"Most amazing among the principles of the Republican Way of War is: Don't waste much time and energy probing the enemy's weaknesses. Go directly to his biggest strength."
Yet,, he's right to note the following that lets these rascals get away with their ruthlessness:
".... journalistic convention makes it hard for reporters to deal with a big, complicated lie. They can't call it a lie, so they end up giving the impression to all but the most obsessive followers of politics that, well, it's complicated, and the Republicans are probably exaggerating, but there must be something there."
Thanks for the smart, hard work Michael! That he soldiers on with his health problems makes his work all the better. John Gunn

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