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Feb
8

I wanna be like you




Posted at 23:34 by Sadly, No!

Ah, kids with their innocence and their crazy ideas: Over at RealClearPolitics, John Ellis writes:

In a crisis, people (voters) naturally gravitate to the smartest guy (or woman) in the room.

Uh, Sadly, No!:

21 Comments »

  1. Kuda Bux said,

    February 8, 2008 at 23:36

    The trouble is, in 2000 things were hunky dory! We were bored and thought we’d see what happened if we let Shemp drive the country for awhile.

  2. kenga said,

    February 8, 2008 at 23:38

    Oh sure, like being reminded, every day, that the Pats choked at the big dance isn’t painful enough.
    You could caption that one, “Why does kenga drink and smoke to excess every god-damned day?”

  3. kenga said,

    February 8, 2008 at 23:40

    Well, at least I have a beer to cry into.

  4. Chuckles said,

    February 8, 2008 at 23:44

    This is why I have my IQ tattooed to my forehead and “In case of crisis follow me” tattooed to my ass.

  5. fardels bear said,

    February 8, 2008 at 23:45

    They DID vote for Gore. More voted for Gore than GWB. It was the electoral college that was dumb.

  6. Sadly, yes said,

    February 8, 2008 at 23:46

    Actually, the *voters*, in fact, *did* gravitate to the smarter person — Gore.

    Recall, Gore did win the popular vote (heh, punny).

    It was only among the conservative crazies on the Supreme Court that Bush prevailed.

  7. jim said,

    February 8, 2008 at 23:46

    Voters might gravitate towards the smartest guy, if the people they listen to don’t swindle them.

    Unfortunately 49% of the 2000 electorate drank the cool-kid-ade and were convinced that smart = nerd, so let’s put a frat guy in. Then, as the late great Hunter S. Thompson put it, Gore got mugged in a swamp in Florida…

    It still blows my mind that Gore showed us a *pie chart*, a freaking *graphic* of what the Bush administration’s policies would do to the budget. He literally stooped to *drawing a picture* of how there would be less money coming in, more money going out, and we would have a deficit.

    Ah well. The silver lining: conservatism is revealed as the shallow mess of disorganized cons plastered on top of an economic rape machine. Hopefully it’ll hurt enough this time that some of the 49% won’t drag our asses out on the block again.

  8. Five of Diamonds said,

    February 8, 2008 at 23:49

    fardels bear said…

    And the Supreme Court is dumb.

  9. Jas said,

    February 8, 2008 at 23:51

    5oD

    No, the Supreme Court is a fine balance between dumb and evil.

  10. Blue Buddha said,

    February 8, 2008 at 23:52

    Chuckles said,

    February 8, 2008 at 23:44

    This is why I have my IQ tattooed to my forehead and “In case of crisis follow me” tattooed to my ass.

    …and George has a tattoo on his head, which reads “half full”, but people follow him because it shows he’s a sunny optimist.

  11. Jas said,

    February 8, 2008 at 23:52

    The trouble is, in 2000 things were hunky dory! We were bored and thought we’d see what happened if we let Shemp drive the country for awhile.

    This made my whole afternoon. I want to hear either Hillary or Barack use it on the stump, dammit.

  12. Sinister eyebrow said,

    February 9, 2008 at 0:19

    There was no crisis in 2000, so lots of people forgot about that “smartest guy” and yes, decided to see what happened if Shemp drove the bus. But that doesn’t explain 2004.

  13. Blue Buddha said,

    February 9, 2008 at 0:42

    #

    Sinister eyebrow said,

    February 9, 2008 at 0:19

    There was no crisis in 2000, so lots of people forgot about that “smartest guy” and yes, decided to see what happened if Shemp drove the bus. But that doesn’t explain 2004.

    Two words: Ken Blackwell

  14. Caveat said,

    February 9, 2008 at 0:44

    Well, if by smartest guy he means the guy most willing to tell people what they want to hear…maybe - but I think the word would be ‘manipulative’..

    I’m thinking of picking up this book:

    In the Wake of 9/11: The Psychology of Terror
    Jeff Greenberg

    The author was on a political affairs show I watch. Interesting guy. He says when people are afraid and in a crisis they vote for whomever they think can pull them m out of it. He explains how fear of mortality is a ‘gotcha’ every time for politicians. Don’t know if he mentions religions or the cosmetic industry but I’ll find out when I read it.

    Discussed some studies they did, etc.

  15. g said,

    February 9, 2008 at 2:03

    Over at RealClearPolitics, John Ellis writes

    John Ellis. Would that be the same John Ellis who, while working for Fox News on election night 2000, illegally shared polling data with his cuz, George Bush?

  16. Mo's Bike Shop said,

    February 9, 2008 at 2:32

    Kuda Bux and jim together pretty much explain why I don’t drink to blackout every night.

    It is at least edifying to notice how much the little twerp has aged in office.

    Do we have any assurances that Chimpy will do like all good Presidents and go away after his term is up? I mean, I know he’s gonna pitch a fit when he doesn’t get appointed as the Commissioner of Baseball, but–given that far wingnuts have the attention span of a goldfish–he’s gonna be the most eligible sociopath as the conservative movement starts to build its ‘Confederacy of the Mind.’

  17. Smut Clyde said,

    February 9, 2008 at 2:47

    …and George has a tattoo on his head, which reads “half full”
    “Contents may settle after packaging.”

  18. Ferris said,

    February 9, 2008 at 8:55

    “John Ellis. Would that be the same John Ellis who, while working for Fox News on election night 2000, illegally shared polling data with his cuz, George Bush?”

    Fuck Yeah!

    The Bush Most Responsible For The 8-Year Shitting Of The National Bed: Mr. John Ellis.

    The same John Ellis who created the stampede to crown George W. Bush.

    It was Ailes who told you to do it, wasn’t it, John?

    Fuck you, John. Still.

  19. bjacques said,

    February 9, 2008 at 18:03

    All I found up there was him wailing and gnashing his teeth over Romney dropping out. “Waaah!! They took away The Smiler!.

    (A presidential candidate from the excellent 1997-2002 comics series Transmetropolitan, of course. Predictably, some rightwingers resurrected The Smiler to have a go at Kucinich in 2004 and Edwards this time. I guess if Richard Vigorish can resurrect the Blues Brothers from 28 years ago, dredging up a 10-year-old reference isn’t too much of a stretch. But only Giuliani could match The Smiler for sheer fakery, venality and vindictiveness, even if he didn’t have the looks. Romney only sort of looks like him but doesn’t have a wide enough vicious streak. But until he started to pork out, the person who *really* resembled the Smiler inside out was this onetime wunderkind. Thank any god or none that the GOP never thought they could get away with putting him on any ticket besides the Mike Curb Memorial Lt. Gov. spot in Tennessee.)

  20. Duros62 said,

    February 9, 2008 at 21:43

    …and George has a tattoo on his head, which reads “half full”,

    Funny I always thought it was three 6’s.

  21. ajay said,

    February 11, 2008 at 13:01

    “May contain nuts”.

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