Althouse: Mississippi!

March 11, 2008

Mississippi!

Crank up your excitement once again. Today, we're so very interested in Mississippi.

16 comments:

Peter V. Bella said...: When was the last time anyone was excited by Mississippi? When was the last time Mississippi was in the national spot light?

Are we spelling it right?; 3/11/08, 9:50 AM
Bob said...: It's spelled right, but to pronounce it you leave out the middle "iss," so you end up with "Missippi."; 3/11/08, 10:00 AM
Beth said...: MCG: how about when Katrina blew the Gulf Coast to kingdome come? Or is Katrina so passe these days?; 3/11/08, 10:18 AM
Trooper York said...: "Or is Katrina so passe these days?"

Beth, go back and read the posts here around September. You will see a lot of people telling New Yorkers to "get over it." They said 911 was a long time ago. Thats how people are. It's just unfortunate.; 3/11/08, 10:32 AM
Anonymous said...: MCG: "When was the last time Mississippi was in the national spot light?"

Last week, when Brett Favre retired. He's from Kiln in Hancock County, you know. He went to U of Southern Mississipi; he now lives in Hattiesburg.

He's a damn sight more important than the consarn politicians. 'Cept mebbe for Haley Barbour.; 3/11/08, 10:33 AM
rhhardin said...: Who can forget Mississippi? Round on the ends and high in the middle, as the song goes.; 3/11/08, 11:04 AM
George M. Spencer said...: Howard Wolfson, Clinton's chief spokesman, said during a conference call with reporters that Clinton would not pick a running mate who has not met the “national security threshold” — as Clinton’s military advisers and Wolfson put it on the call — but that it is possible Obama could meet that threshold by this summer's Democratic convention.

What is she getting at? Why is she raising this particular point right now?

One news article defines the term this way: "National security intrudes on almost all aspects of government - foreign policy, immigration policy, domestic surveillance, the size of the military, and the treasury among them. National security is not just a landmark issue, it’s often seen by Americans as a broader reflection of what a candidate is made of."

Instead, I think it refers specifically to military and terrorist threats and intelligence gathering and whether or not a person can be trusted with such matters.; 3/11/08, 11:10 AM
Peter V. Bella said...: George said...
Instead, I think it refers specifically to military and terrorist threats and intelligence gathering and whether or not a person can be trusted with such matters.

There are two ways to look at this. The broad way is to look at it from the stand point of trust in International and National defense and Foreign and Domestic policies.

The narrower method is to use the definitions and regulations the government uses to grant various security clearances which are based on a broad range of personal, professional, and financial tests to determine trustworthiness; the kind of clearances that Hillary never had or submitted herself for.; 3/11/08, 12:00 PM
Peter V. Bella said...: Beth, my apologies. I said excited by Mississippi, not empathetic to the state.; 3/11/08, 12:01 PM
titusinfirstposition said...: I am not excited about Mississippi today.

I have never been excited about Mississippi.

I find Mississippi depressing.; 3/11/08, 12:08 PM
titusinfirstposition said...: Who lives in Mississippi?; 3/11/08, 12:08 PM
Peter V. Bella said...: titusinfirstposition said...
Who lives in Mississippi?

Mississippians!; 3/11/08, 2:29 PM
Beth said...: MCG, good point, and don't take it personally. I'm sensitive to the subject.; 3/11/08, 5:21 PM
blake said...: Mississippi kind of got the short end of the stick in the Katrina coverage, seems like.; 3/11/08, 9:58 PM
Beth said...: blake, that's true. But they received, proportionate to the damage they received, many times over the federal bucks for recovery than Louisiana has, and more quickly than Louisiana. A good bit of that money has gone to developers, though, not to the people who lost homes, so I don't have an ill word to say about the Mississippians who suffered the storm. They do deserve more attention. But along with that increased coverage, I'd love to see some on who among the friends and family of Haley Barbour got recovery-related contracts and grants.; 3/11/08, 11:24 PM
blake said...: beth,

I don't think the press would allow itself to cover the fiasco very deeply. (There were a few articles, I think, but nothing like the coverage of how necessary throwing all this money around in the first place was.) I think it's too clear a reminder of what happens when you entrust the government to take care of people. The first order of business is the ceremonial "greasing of the palms", be it in New Orleans or Iraq.; 3/12/08, 5:14 PM