Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse on the floor of the Senate yesterday:
“When it turns out there are no death panels, when there is no bureaucrat between you and your doctor, when the ways your health care changes seem like a good deal to you, and a pretty smart idea, when the American public sees the discrepancy between what really is, and what they were told by the Republicans, there will be a reckoning. There will come a day of judgment about who was telling the truth.”
I hope he’s right. Here’s his speech from yesterday where he nails exactly what Republicans are. .
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Conservative David Frum on where Republican’s “no, no, no policy” has left the party.
The furious rejectionist frenzy of the past 12 months is exacting a terrible price upon Republicans. We’re getting worse and less conservative results out of Washington than we could have negotiated, if we had negotiated.
As is, we’re betting heavily that a bad economy will collapse Democratic support without us having to lift a finger. Maybe that will happen. But existing party strategy has to be reckoned a terrible failure. Most Republicans will shrug off that news. If polls are right, rank-and-file Republicans feel little regard for the Washington party, and don’t expect much from it. But it’s the rank-and-file who are the problem here! Republican leaders do not dare try deals for fear of being branded sell-outs by a party base that wants war to the knife. So we got war. And we’re losing. Even if we gain seats in 2010, the actions of this congressional session will not be reversed. Shrink Medicare after it has expanded? Hey- we said we’d never do that.
I hear a lot of talk about the importance of “principle.” But what’s the principle that obliges us to be stupid?
This is what happens when a party allows demagogues like Palin and Limbaugh to speak for it.
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I could not care less how Tiger Woods or any other athlete conduct their private lives (unless they’re operating a dog fight operation, of course). Whether or not Woods is having an affair should be of concern to only his wife and their children. But in a world where the public is fixated on the minutiae of rock stars and athletes, it turns out that it is a big deal…for Woods…and I’m not referring to his rocky marriage.
Tiger Woods is a money machine, and while many fans might think he earns most of his money by winning golf tournaments, it’s his outside commercial endorsements and ventures that bring in 90 percent of all his money. He’s made an estimated $1 billion in endorsements in his 13-year career, the most of any athlete ever, far eclipsing Michael Jordan’s athlete-as-mega-business model of the 1990s; Sports Illustrated estimates he’s now bringing in almost $100 million a year pitching products.
What this all means: Tiger Woods is not dealing just with medical recovery, marital strife, and legal headaches following his car crash early Friday morning. Enormous financial issues are at stake.
[...]
…some of his largest endorsements—brands with more mainstream images—could be threatened if Tiger dithers and the personal story gains a tawdry steam. With a large pool of athletes to choose from, large companies are extremely reticent to tie their products to anything with the whiff of scandal.
As we’ve seen in politics countless times (Sanford’s Appalachian trail anyone?), the intoxicating allure of sex numbs the rational part of even the strongest minds. It is only with this understanding of sex and human nature, can we begin to fathom how anyone living in a fishbowl can for a moment convince themselves that inappropriate behavior can go unnoticed. Combined this with the sense of invincibility which comes with power, fame or wealth and it’s not difficult to figure out at all.
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Palin faced a choice–seriousness or celebrity–and she chose the latter.
But while Palin’s choice means that we’ll be spared of the prospect of Senator Palin or President Palin, that doesn’t mean that we’ll be rid of her any time soon. In fact, Palin’s choice augurs a longer period of relevance for her. Defeated politicians fade away (Mike Dukakis anyone?), but, in this day and age, celebrities, even talentless ones, linger. Less like pneumonia and more like a certain communicable disease, I’m afraid Sarah Palin is one of those things that will always be with us.
The reason for Palin’s staying power will be the same thing that keeps a celebrity like Richie’s old running partner, Paris Hilton, in the spotlight. No, not a sex tape, thank God, but something related: shamelessness. These days, once someone has attained a certain level of celebrity (as Hilton and Palin have), if that person is willing to say or do anything (as Hilton and Palin are), then it’s pretty much impossible to lose it (which Hilton and Palin won’t).
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