Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in
rising every time we fail.
Confucius
Pro-Liberty Thought of the Day
Sunday Talk Soup
Because of recent travel and relocation and various computer-related issues, I've had a backlog of podcasts I'm only starting to draw down. I have never been a fan of Meet the Press, but hearing a dose of revisionist history of the Benghazi 9/11 scandal, the sanctification of Hillary Clinton, and the Christie lane closure kerfuffle utterly nauseates me. Let me just respond with a few points:
The Gray Lady story on Benghazi doesn't change the facts that Benghazi was unstable long before 9/11 (including the targeting of British diplomats among other things), the denied requests for more security from area diplomatic staff, and the use of professional military weapons in the attack. It is also fell on a date known to be significant for radicals, something explicitly acknowledged by the Obama Administration on the tenth anniversary of the attacks in domestic security planning. Using an Internet video in public talking points was intellectually dishonest; it doesn't surprise me in the least that after-the-fact interviews by radical sympathizers might validate leading questions over a notorious video in the Muslim world. The Gray Lady piece, which I see as a leading blocker for a Hillary 2016 run, simply doesn't pass the smell test, not to mention Ockman's razor; it made a better case than Hillary in her own behalf or the Obama Administration overall, despite weeks to plan for Congressional testimony.
Second, and although I'm increasingly bored by talking points of both parties, I think that round table discussions on MTM approach collective madness, in particular, for hyping a possible Hillary Clinton candidacy. Gregory said something to the effect that Hillary seems invincible except for the Achilles heel of Bill Clinton; there was one female guest whom was laying on Hillary hype to the point of embarrassment. Let's look at the facts: despite a weak field in 2008, despite inheriting all of her husband's political organization and a high-profile Senate tenure, she couldn't put away an unaccomplished first-term senator from Illinois whom had lost a Congressional primary and got his nomination for Senate only after the leading candidate imploded over a personal scandal. Contrary to Gregory, Bill, despite his marital scandals, is a much more natural, charismatic politician; Hillary comes across as more shrill, strident, judgmental, condescending. I don't have an issue with her work ethic and basic competence, but she is not a leader in any conventional sense. Her political views are fairly conventional "progressive", she did not show any organization or legislative-based leadership in her brief Senate tenure. She will be one of the oldest nominees since Reagan or McCain, and she's been part of partisan gridlock since 1992; it's difficult to see enthusiasm for her candidacy in a change election year. I'm not saying Hillary cannot and will not win in 2016; there's no doubt with her experience as Secretary of State, she's a more formidable candidate, but I think the current matchups are misleading, and I don't think her election is inevitable.
On Christie: quite honestly, nothing surprises me about hardball politics. Personally, I don't think that Christie needed a Democrat mayor's endorsement for his reelection, and petty politics (lane closures) over an endorsement had a bad risk/reward ratio. Frustrated drivers are just as likely to blame a governor (remember "Senator Pothole" D'Amato?), so it's a double-edged sword. I don't doubt strident subordinates can act out of misguided loyalty. I have mixed feelings about Christie; I liked him his first year or two, jawboning self-interested educators, but I disliked the politics of Hurricane Sandy. I'm not ready to write his political obituary, but he's got to change the story. He needs to base a 2016 campaign beyond his electibility in a blue state; electibility is only as good as your last polls, and his numbers have dropped in the aftermath of this "scandal".
Towards Truly Competitive Schools
Remy Is Back.... Working 1 to 5
Political Cartoon
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| Courtesy of the original artist via Illinois Policy Institute |
Barbra Streisand, "Woman in Love"
