Ugh. Does everything have to tie back to the campaign?
(Yes, I know Wallace wrote an essay about following around the McCain campaign in '00. Nevertheless. Show some respect.)
ADDED: Here's the essay.
September 15, 2008
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Agreed.
Apparently it is Christopher Beam's way of mourning.
"Wallace never really decides whether McCain is categorically, irrefutably “for real.”"
That sums it up. We are left to reach our own conclusions, not impute our beliefs onto someone who cannot participate in the conversation.
That headline would make sense for someone like Tim Russert, who died suddenly and of natural causes. For a suicide, however, it seems strange.
Arrr. Poor David Foster Wallace. Now he won't be a seein' National Talk Like a Pirate Day on Friday, now will he? Took a jump in the dark, he did. Dancin' on the dule tree. Aw, sweet mercy, keep me from the galispole.
Arr.
Speaking of Tim Russert, his son Luke is a rising star at NBC, I read this weekend. I'm guessing the lad cannot grow fast enough for the hard news entity.
Other than this commentary, I won't dignify Beam's partisan lack of taste on the back of a suicide. Ugh, indeed...
Update 1:49 p.m.: Wallace did, in fact, weigh in on the presidential campaign in a Wall Street Journal interview back in May. His assessment of McCain: "McCain himself has obviously changed; his flipperoos and weaselings on Roe v. Wade, campaign finance, the toxicity of lobbyists, Iraq timetables, etc. are just some of what make him a less interesting, more depressing political figure now—for me, at least. It's all understandable, of course—he's the GOP nominee now, not an insurgent maverick. Understandable, but depressing."
I missed the previous Wallace thread and didn't find out about his suicide until this morning. So sad, and such a great loss to American letters.
And, of course, Beam's attempt to leverage yet another campaign article out of Wallace's death is despicable. Particularly since in the "Update" he admits that he didn't even bother to do the research to find out that Wallace had, in fact, commented on McCain '08, which makes Beam's piece even more pointless and offensive.
Wallace would look at Obama's conservative record, compared to McCain's reaching out to get things done, he would reach an inevitable conclusion.
While Obama talks change, McCain is the agent of change, has been for years.
http://tinyurl.com/5dltm7
Does everything have to tie back to the campaign?
Yes. Yes, it does.
I wonder what Hurricane Ike thinks of McCain 2008?
What Would George Carlin and WF Buckley Make of McCain 2008?
How about Buffy and Jody?
Lindsay Lohan?
Snuffleupagus?
I wish that Wallace had had a stronger base of argument, or a set of principles that he could have brought to bear on the thinking.
I found this recent article to explain a lot of my own thinking about why I will vote Republican after having been a Democrat for decades.
http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/haidt08/haidt08_index.html
The dude tied a rope around his neck and climbed a chair .... I blame Bush! I blame Bush!
What I make of McCain is that he will be a severe disappointment in office to anyone remotely conservative.
But the other guy's a crypto-marxist.
So I and most other conservatives will vote McCain, sans illusions.
So can we do it already?
This waiting till November, and the inevitable riots, either way, is torture.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NrQ36Djf2E
The great difference between McCain 2000 and McCain 2008 is that McCain I was running against Bush and McCain II is running against a liberal democrat. There has been no great transformation in McCain's character-- only a great transformation in the press's perception of his character.
Does everything have to tie back to the campaign?
Let me count the ways...
The Bank of America's gimmick "keep the change" has a patent "pending".
I thought 'you can get a patent for that'?
It does figure though... look how far Obama has gone with his "change" gimmick.
His assessment of McCain: "McCain himself has obviously changed; his flipperoos and weaselings on Roe v. Wade, campaign finance, the toxicity of lobbyists, Iraq timetables, etc. are just some of what make him a less interesting, more depressing political figure now—for me, at least. It's all understandable, of course—he's the GOP nominee now, not an insurgent maverick. Understandable, but depressing."
OK, so now we know why he killed himself. He was depressed that John McCain transformed himself from a principled loser into an opportunistic winner.
Many liberals are bothered by that. They loved McCain when he was the object of Republican contempt.
Now that he's on his way to becoming the next President the libs are like - "John, guy what are ya doing man. Yer killing me over here."
Actually, I am much more interested in what to make of this article, which I find completely fascinating.
Cheney, so focused on what he thinks needs to be done that he's unconcerned with the precedents being set, the politics of it, the legality of it?
Former liberal boogeyman John Ashcroft, showing how asinine that smear was?
Bush, wrong in being so insulated, or for surrounding himself with those who would insulate him for their own purposes? Or right, for acting properly when given enough information?
Is Comey a hero for wanting to resign rather than threatening to do so in order to try to change a decision, and for finally getting through? Or is he a cad for not offering his resignation but rather saying "Mueller is going to"?
Overall, I think that, if this is a relatively accurate account, then Dick Cheney is a complete and utter asshole, John Ashcroft is a hero, and George Bush is a guy trying to do the right thing but who made some horrible personnel decisions, including his choice for Vice President.
Excepting, of course, that he may never had been elected if not for Cheney brunting the lack of experience charge.
And the biggest takeaway? Political ideology is a poor indicator of who will abuse power.
What happened to Hot Air? Both Firefox and IE time out each time I try to connect.
Hold up a sec. We need a drink, ya know? Too much politics.
This thread asks us to comment about an article that speculated about what a recently deceased, apparently troubled, author would think of John McCain's 2008 campaign.
It places a higher premium on the deceased's hypothetical ruminations than on his life.
We need to back away from politics for a time and perhaps meditate on the pain suffered by David Foster Wallace that led to his taking of his own life, and the pain his act caused those who knew him.
We need to back away from politics for a time and perhaps meditate on the pain suffered by David Foster Wallace that led to his taking of his own life, and the pain his act caused those who knew him.
#1 - That McCain article is a little dated.
#2 - The sox are beating the crap out of Tampa Bay 13 to 1. Right now I could not mourn even if I knew the guy.
Did Wallace leave a note?
Meh. I read all 11 pages of this used toilet paper. Yeah, it was messy, but what can you say? Wallace is a douche-nozzle.
I don't want to meditate on the pain suffered by DFW that led to his taking his life. Meditate on what? The shmuck got all wrought up and let himself get carried away by despair. I can understand why Christians call it a sin. Stupid egoist.
The shmuck got all wrought up and let himself get carried away by despair. I can understand why Christians call it a sin. Stupid egoist.
How do you know what DFW was "wrought up" on? How can you possible presume to understand his reasons for diving into oblivion sooner than later? Are you such a "stupid egoist" to imagine that you'll ultimately escape his fate?
Someone apparently forgot to tell you that it's rude and vulgar to speak ill of the dead.
To hear Keith Olbermann comment on the latest electoral college numbers and the dripping sadness with witch they "reported" that the Lehman bankruptcy was still too soon to muffle the "Palin Bomb".
Olbermann seems to have no problem meditating on the pain suffered by the hundreds of people who lost their jobs today.
What a guy.
Lem: I share you sense of priorities. Go Sox!
Olberman has nothing useful to say on any topic under the sun. Ignore him and you're body and mind will appreciate it.
Oh yeah
sharon delaila
Based on the comments, this is probably the worst post of Althouse.
Based on the comments, I want Ann to make a new thread. The moment they hit 200, they become tedious.
I don't know the answer.
As far as political campaigns getting worse and worse,
We need another Henry Wallace (no, not George Wallace. I said HENRY Wallace.)
Victoria:
I agree. Coming in late at night (I work two real jobs, and today I was working from 4:30 AM pretty much nonstop until I got back at 11:30 PM) it's frustrating to not be able to scan the all the comments because only half the comment thread ends up loading, and forget about any possibility of actually posting on them.
Hey Anne, I like your blog and I always appreciate your worldview even when I dont agree with it. However I do sense an absence of 'cruel neutrality' as you rarely attack Mccain (or Palin) but never miss an opportunity to attack Obama. I've read all the loony attacks on Palin- which you have rightly pointed us to- but none of the credible ones. Im talking the bridge to nowhere fiasco, her lack of experience, lies on earmarks and going to Iraq..etc. I'd be very interested in your take on it but I do find myself disheartened that you are a lot less balanced these days.
Poor little Minzo - wants her Huffpo everywhere. As for "her lack of experience, lies on earmarks and going to Iraq..etc." just replace "her" with "his" and think of Obama. You will be comforted - afterall, Palin is the VP candidate.
How about po' little Bambi - caught lying about negotiating with the government in Iraq. Well done, rook. You are going to make a swell hopey changey president. Just not in this country.
Does everything have to tie back to the campaign?
For some people, everything is political. I call them polical whores. They really need to get a life. Politics may be a necessary evil but it's evil none the less.
I'd like to know if Saddam Hussein's dead boy Ousay (sp)would have put a picture of Sarah Palin up in his bedroom like he did the Bush twins. Eh?
I’ve been thinking about it for a while now, and I’m pretty sure that life on a farm is kind of laid back. You know, there really isn’t much an old country boy can't hack. So long as it’s early to rise and early in the sack, you’ll thank God you’re a country boy.
Ladies and gentlemen, let's all give a warm welcome to one of the world's most beloved entertainers, Mister John Denver!!!1!!
**enthusiastic applause**
FAR OUT!!1!11!
ricpic:
What I make of McCain is that he will be a severe disappointment in office to anyone remotely conservative.
But the other guy's a crypto-marxist.
So I and most other conservatives will vote McCain, sans illusions.
So can we do it already?
Well put, and I wish. I've especially tired of political items inundating my Facebook account and moms' group lists. "Look at this lie from McWar! No good mother/Christian/rational thinker could ever support such an evil person!" Yawn.
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