Jonathan's blog

From Michael Gerson, former speechwriter for George W. Bush (link):

For politicians, the teleprompter has always been something of an embarrassing vice -- the political equivalent of purchasing cigarettes, Haagen-Dazs and a Playboy at the convenience store.

This derision is based on the belief that the teleprompter exaggerates the gap between image and reality -- that it involves a kind of deception. It is true that there is often a distinction between a president on and off his script. With a teleprompter, Obama can be ambitiously eloquent; without it, he tends to be soberly professorial. Ronald Reagan with a script was masterful; during news conferences he caused much wincing and cringing. It is the rare politician, such as Tony Blair, who speaks off the cuff in beautifully crafted paragraphs.

But it is a mistake to argue that the uncrafted is somehow more authentic. Those writers and commentators who prefer the unscripted, who use "rhetoric" as an epithet, who see the teleprompter as a linguistic push-up bra, do not understand the nature of presidential leadership or the importance of writing to the process of thought.

Governing is a craft, not merely a talent. It involves the careful sorting of ideas and priorities. And the discipline of writing -- expressing ideas clearly and putting them in proper order -- is essential to governing. For this reason, the greatest leaders have taken great pains with rhetoric. Lincoln continually edited and revised his speeches. Churchill practiced to the point of memorization. Such leaders would not have been improved by being "unplugged." When it comes to rhetoric, winging it is often shoddy and self-indulgent -- practiced by politicians who hear Mozart in their own voices while others perceive random cymbals and kazoos. Leaders who prefer to speak from the top of their heads are not more authentic, they are often more shallow -- not more "real," but more undisciplined.

(h/t Political Punch)

Here some video of the Carpenter boys from a week ago.

1st Half:

2nd Half: (Including Ethan hitting a lay-up from his knees at the 2:37 point)

Post-game:

The word around the league is that after finishing the season with two wins filling in as head coach, Tony will be looking for a new contract and a big pay bump next season...or a head coaching job elsewhere. ;-)

This seems to me to be an especially effective commercial:

... of Sen. Chuck Grassley.

First he told an Iowa radio station that AIG executives ought to

...follow the Japanese model and come before the American people and take that deep bow and say I’m sorry, and then either do one of two things — resign, or go commit suicide.

Then he breaks out "that's what she said" during senate budget debate.  Here is the video:

(h/t HuffPo)

Familiar with the phrase "Bush Derangement Syndrome" as coined by Charles Krauthammer?

the acute onset of paranoia in otherwise normal people in reaction to the policies, the presidency — nay — the very existence of George W. Bush

Well, in case you haven't noticed, the virus has mutated.  The new version is very similar, except now it's associated with Obama.

I've seen the symptoms cropping up everywhere lately.  Here are a few examples:

Freaking out because Notre Dame invited the POTUS to speak at commencement (because his views on abortion conflict with the teachings of the Catholic church), but a Catholic university awarding an honorary degree to a pro-choice, pro-death penalty, pro-Iraq-war (all of which are in conflict with the Catholic church) secretary of state is perfectly fine.

Delighting in the thought that Obama's extensive teleprompter use is a sign of some critical character flaw...despite the fact the previous POTUS was famous for inserting his foot in his mouth...thinking that Obama is an idiot despite being able to talk intelligently and extensively about policy with or without a teleprompter...despite the fact that he has a BA from Columbia and graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law.

Believing that the stock market tanks every time Obama speaks, taking day to day stock market declines as a sign of his failure, yet being strangely silent as the stock market goes on an extended multi-week surge...even though it's now up since Obama took office.

Freaking out about a bill with bipartisan support that significantly expands the AmeriCorps program for national service...claiming he's planning to take away your kids for some sort of Hitler-esque youth squad.

Claiming that Obama's gallows-humor chuckles during a 60 Minutes interview are signs that he doesn't take the economic crisis and the suffering of the little guy seriously...that an unfortunate but self-deprecating reference to Special Olympics on Leno shows what a horrible guy he really is.

Obama proposes reducing taxes for 95 % of us and increasing the tax rate on the rest by a few percentage points, returning it to where it was under Clinton (a level that is low compared to some historical levels)...and it's proof-positive that he is a Marxist, a Socialist, a Communist, and this is clearly no longer the country we knew.

Ridiculing Earth Hour (in which people around the world are encouraged to take the symbolic act of turning off the lights for an hour) as childish and silly, while completely missing the childishness of encouraging folks to do the opposite (turn on every light in your house)...and calling Obama an "extremist tyrannical president."

Don't get me wrong.  I don't deny that there are plenty of philosophical and policy issues where many folks will have profound differences with Obama.  Even a guy like me (who is generally in agreement with Obama on many issues) can see plenty of mis-steps and imperfections in his brief presidency thus far (I'll write about those sometime soon)...but folks, remember how silly Bush Derangement Syndrome looked (looks; it's still out there)?  That's how you look now.  Derangement syndromes aren't admirable no matter who the target is.