Althouse: "The euphoria that I had about the election is giving way to nagging doubts about the Democrat's strategic prowess."

November 17, 2006

"The euphoria that I had about the election is giving way to nagging doubts about the Democrat's strategic prowess."

Says Bob Wright -- at about 2:20 on the new edition of Bloggingheads.tv. How funny do you think Bob is trying to be, with his subtly overelaborate locutions and his poker face? I'm under the impression that he is trying to be hilarious, and I believe he's succeeding! He's the Buster Keaton of political talking heads... except Buster Keaton wasn't political... and Buster Keaton didn't talk. Despite all that, I'm getting a Buster Keaton vibe.

ADDED: I should say that most of the show is quite serious, though it's still amusing to the extent that intent wonkiness is amusing. And I should say that Mickey Kaus is also very funny. At the very beginning of the episode he's got some good prop humor (with a mask that isn't a Hillary Clinton mask), and, somewhere around the 25 minute mark, when Bob, needling him about his (shred of) optimism about Iraq, says he'd like him to speak at his funeral, Mickey's all: "Here's a man who threw his life away on something called 'diavlogs.'"

18 comments:

Ron said...: Remember Ann, just don't give off a Diane Keaton vibe!; 11/17/06, 7:51 AM
Ann Althouse said...: Ron, is that addressed to me or to Bob? If to me, how could I ever possibly do that?; 11/17/06, 7:54 AM
Ann Althouse said...: But did he talk in the talkies? I remember him in "Sunset Boulevard" and "Limelight" -- two of my favorite movies, but I don't think he talked.

But you're right that he was around for a long time, doing a lot of things during the talk era. Still, I have no recollection of him talking.; 11/17/06, 10:44 AM
Palladian said...: When's the next podcast?; 11/17/06, 12:41 PM
garage mahal said...: Mickey Kaus is alot like you Ann. A dishonest miserable self-loathing liberal hater. You've both given up on Republicanism long ago, but yet nobody is asking you two to come join the other side. Nobody.

George Bush could have a Constitution Burning Ceremony, and you and Mickey Kaus would take issue with John Kerry's hair, or Bill Clinton's socks the next day.; 11/17/06, 12:49 PM
Mortimer Brezny said...: A raincoat, gloves, sunglasses, and a nervous tic. That's how you could give off a Diane Keaton vibe.; 11/17/06, 1:07 PM
Anonymous said...: Wow! Garage, thank you so much for sharing your penetrating insight! While one trembles at the thought of getting along without it, one certainly would like to try.; 11/17/06, 1:31 PM
Simon said...: What is a "Diane Keaton vibe," anyway?

I scarcely dare give GM the satisfaction, but FWIW, I would be delighted to have both Ann and Mickey within the GOP's tent. Of course, I may well be a nobody...; 11/17/06, 1:51 PM
Simon said...: Ronin,
As one of my favorite characters in the history of American politics once said of someone he didn't like, GM "never opens his mouth without subtracting from the sum of human knowledge."; 11/17/06, 1:53 PM
Revenant said...: Mickey Kaus is alot like you Ann. A dishonest miserable self-loathing liberal hater.

Tsk. You'll never take the "Angriest Left-Winger" title from dave with those sorts of namby-pamby adjectives. Let's hear something about fascism or how stupid this blog is.; 11/17/06, 2:54 PM
Brian Doyle said...: Kaus, Althouse, Lieberman: Nominal Democrats, functional wingnuts.

George is absolutely right, and for good measure you're all a bunch of fascists and this blog is stupid.; 11/17/06, 3:14 PM
hdhouse said...: ann a democrat?????????????

ohmygod.

oh the humanity.; 11/17/06, 4:13 PM
Jeff with one 'f' said...: Ann and Mickey aren't doctrinally pure enough for the wannabe Robespierre's of today's Democratic left! Maybe UW Law and the editorial staff of Slate can organize struggle sessions to show them the error of their ways.; 11/17/06, 4:36 PM
Ann Althouse said...: Someone brought up Lieberman, which is my cue to say that the other night I dreamed I saved Lieberman's life. There was a tsunami coming toward the house and we needed to climb up to the attic, but he was incapable of climbing, so I and someone else each grabbed an arm and we risked our own lives climbing with him up to the attic before the wave hit. Then we heard horrible groaning and crying from the drowning people below (waking me up).; 11/17/06, 4:47 PM
Beth said...: I don't mean to throw a wet blanket on that dream, Ann, but it sounds a lot like stories I hear when I run into someone I haven't seen since the storm and ask them "How'd you make out?" The guy repairing my oven yesterday watched his house and work van go under in Lakeview, from the balcony of a neighbor's higher home. He's still freaked out about it. I mean, he's in my house about 20 minutes, figuring out what part to replace, and by the time he'd left, I knew his whole Katrina story.

My point in mentioning this is that I wonder to what degree the images and stories from the storm have crept into other people's dreams, our collective unconscious, if you will.; 11/17/06, 6:45 PM
Simon said...: Dave -
That's the hate/dependency thing they're going to have going on for atleast the next two years. I read with some amusement the other week that Kos thinks Lieberman has been "neutered" (that's the actual word he used),while everyone else in the world -- you know, the people who have a rudimentary grasp of math -- grasp that he is the most powerful Democrat in the Senate.; 11/17/06, 10:39 PM
Revenant said...: It'll be easy to tell if Lieberman wields a lot of power in the Senate. If he gets important committee assignments or chairmanships, that'll prove he's got a lot of power -- if he didn't, he'd never be allowed to take seats from actual, elected Democrats.; 11/18/06, 1:07 AM
Simon said...: Revenant said...
"It'll be easy to tell if Lieberman wields a lot of power in the Senate. If he gets important committee assignments or chairmanships, that'll prove he's got a lot of power."

Those assignments have already been made. He's going to chair the Governmental Affairs and Homeland Security Committee, and IIRC, he remains a member of Armed Services, Small Business and Environment & Public Works.; 11/18/06, 8:23 AM