Letters to the Editor
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L.W.M
i believe that obama is a progressive liberal, who can skillfully engage with differing viewpoints. i don't think he is a secret neocon, and i don't think he is a secret muslim plant. i don't like his move to the right that is occuring through this election process, so i also have my doubts of him ... but in order for him to win the general election he must /think/ he needs to appeal to the broader population by "not being weak on terrorism." his campaign has been masterful thus far, so i don't venture to complain about him not having the balls to stick up for blah blah blah. if glenn's posts are true, and i think they are, that this "move to the right" is based on a false premise (that americans support the war, etc., etc.) ... i want him to change things while in office. i think he is the best person to do this. i generally trust him and trust his message. not blindly, but this is my assessment.
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reporters
It seems to me that the press doesn't treat Hillary all that much worse than they've treated any democratic candidate over the last eight years or so...
Remember Al Gore? Or John Kerry? Or Howard Dean?
If I were the press, I'd be worried about that about now.
If I were the next democratic president I'd make it plenty clear to the powers that be in the media that the current crop of reporters would be completely unwelcome in my White House and that if the news media wanted any stories or more importantly any cooperation they'd be well disposed to assign a whole new slew of reporters both print and electronic to cover my White House.
It's not petulance, it's important that the news media understand that they report the news, they don't make the news and they don't ignore the real news in favor of fake made-up news.
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Re: "I truly want you to be this champion."
Don't look for champions. This is real life. No fables.
You vote for whoever you want but do it with your eyes open. None of the candidates are your "champions" either. There are many bloggers whose opinions and worldviews resonate with me. I rely on a few of them but in the final analysis I make up my own mind based on what is most important to me.
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And I thought the relationship was supposed to be MORE adversarial . . .
If a candidate brings coffee and bagels onto the press corp bus as a genuine show of good will (the equivalent of an office break room), all that's owed by the reporter is a "thanks" or "no, thanks".
If the candidate is looking for an interview, or wants to hold a press conference, it strikes me that there's a way to go about doing it. Professional courtesy cuts both ways.
If on the other hand the candidate simply wants to extend an olive branch, I think Clinton did the right thing; and the reporters played their part as well. Nothing was owed on either side and there was no reason to pretend that a personal relationship actually existed, when there wasn't one to begin with.
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Thanks Glenn
I understand your point. You wrote the bus stuff. You think it's right and valid. I happen to disagree on that minor point, but agree in the larger context.
I do believe you that you are self-reflective, and also appreciate it. I don't need you to prove it by agreeing with me in this moment.
I don't know the exact point of your next book, but I hope you touch on these themes: being "right" is "strong" ... and admitting mistakes as "weak." You are one of the few people in the world capable of BOTH redefining poitical discourse, and redefining bullshit traditionalism around gender roles (my words, my summary). I very much want you to be successful in this endeavor ... if I have captured it accurately.
I also hope all of "us" loosen up with the need to be right all the damn time.
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Cosimo de L
Clinton's enemies on the Left hate Republicans, but they hate the senator more; they are the 'aristocrats' of the Democratic Party.
I get the impression that a lot of them feel Clinton is a DINO.
Which is not far off my own feelings.
Mr Hillary signed NAFTA, dismantled welfare and vastly expanded the drug war.
Not really the actions of a liberal.
With Mrs Bill we will get more of the same, possibly in spades.
IMO, of course.
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Re: i don't think he is a secret neocon,
But you haven't really looked at his foreign policy positions or at least discussed them with some person with expertise in the field whose opinion you trust, right?
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LWM
but in the final analysis I make up my own mind based on what is most important to me.
At last you and I agree on something.
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L.W.M.
With all due respect, I think Lambert's a grade A moron, so I hope this is not one of those people you rely on. I had a go around with him on the Obama/Krugman stuff and in the very few instances when he lowered himself to speak to what I had said, he generally made asinine easily refutable arguments. If I were to venture onto Powerline or the Corner on the National Review, (or a few climate blogs I can think of), I would expect no less rational a response. That is saying something.
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@ totoro
I didn't accuse you of supporting Clinton. I was merely inferring and observing based on your behavior. I hear that is fair game.
I think you need to watch more closely and more carefully. Glenn's had similar discussions many a time (such as over his asserted "liberalism"/"leftist leanings") with people that try to infer more into what he wrote than he committed to paper. I think it would be fair to attribute some unspoken thoughts to him if his public actions were not in accord with what he actually wrote. Or if he hadn't bothered to address a subject in writing, but hinted in other ways that he mioght have certain thoughts.
But he's usually quite careful and precise in what he says, and this is what we have to work on, for the most part; his private life being of little relevance to his writings in most cases, and generally in accord with such in the rest. So I think you should do him the justice of reading him carefully (and going through the archives if you have doubts or are uncertain in specific areas). Then you can start to challenge him for hypocrisy. But so far, despite a fairly regular charge of such against him, I haven't seen any that withstood much scrutiny.
Cheers,