Althouse: "The one thing that's being tamped down here is, we're losing characters... The place needs character, and characters."

March 7, 2012

"The one thing that's being tamped down here is, we're losing characters... The place needs character, and characters."

"When I got here, you had Jim Traficant, you had Barney, and then Dennis came..." says Rep. Steven C. LaTourette (R-Ohio), a nine-term veteran, reflecting on Kucinich's loss yesterday in a primary "in a newly drawn district against his once-close ally, Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio)."

Well... does Joe the Plumber count as a character? Actually, he "almost lost his House bid to an obscure auctioneer named Steve Kraus — when the dust settled, Wurzelbacher escaped with a narrow 51 to 48 percent victory."

31 comments:

Patrick said...: He sort of says it, but doesn't understand it. They do need "character," but they do not need characters.; 3/7/12, 12:37 PM
Scott M said...: Remember when the Democrats wanted to replace current census protocols with statistics sampling? I wonder what the real motivation behind that was...; 3/7/12, 12:41 PM
Tyrone Slothrop said...: Those Ohio voters are going to regret it when our alien overlords get here, and they don't have Kucinich to smooth the way.; 3/7/12, 12:41 PM
a psychiatrist who learned from veterans said...: I was so happy to hear on MSNBC that Kucinich wouldn't get a chance to define reality for me in the House.; 3/7/12, 12:42 PM
Hagar said...: You prefer Kaptur to do it?

It's going to be a Democrat vote either way, but Kucinich at least was "cute and lovable."; 3/7/12, 12:47 PM
chickelit said...: We need more characters and fewer caricatures.; 3/7/12, 12:50 PM
Bob said...: Kucinich will just pull a Murkowski and run as an Independent against her. These hogs have to be dragged kicking and screaming away from their places at the trough.; 3/7/12, 12:54 PM
cubanbob said...: Bob said...
Kucinich will just pull a Murkowski and run as an Independent against her. These hogs have to be dragged kicking and screaming away from their places at the trough.

3/7/12 12:54 PM

That should be fun, especially if the republican candidate has a chance in a 3 way race.; 3/7/12, 12:58 PM
Levi Starks said...: Unfortunately in the final state of communism,
Individualism isn't really all that much of a desired trait.
The "Characters" may have been necessary in it's creation may find themselves becoming obsolete rather more quickly than they imagined.; 3/7/12, 12:59 PM
LordSomber said...: (D-OH) = D'oh; 3/7/12, 1:05 PM
traditionalguy said...: American voters have always voted their pocketbooks as well as they could figure it out. But today they don't know who to believe.

There is no surplus money anymore to vote for themselves. There is only borrowing of inflated dollars.

To get fast and lose with borrowed money requires today's politicos to use a Hoax about the end of life on the planet earth, heading this way fast.

War of the Super Powers seems unlikely. An asteroid collision seems sci-fi.

But a good old "UNCLEAN" air hoax sells well among the guilt ridden post-Christians with legalistic upbringings but no system of atonement.

Therefore old fashioned politicos are being trashed when ever possible.; 3/7/12, 1:11 PM
KCFleming said...: " The place needs character, and characters."

But do all the characters have to come from Looney Tunes?

Why not Marvel or DC?

Why not characters that aren't cartoons?

Maybe from a novel. Atticus Finch, for example. That would be nice. Hell, even Captain Ahab would be at least nearly sane.

But noooooooo; we get Marvin the Martian and Barry the Big-Eared Alinsky.; 3/7/12, 1:18 PM
tim maguire said...: Yes, more characters. We don't need leaders, we need entertainers. Too bad Hollywood isn't more interested in politics.; 3/7/12, 1:21 PM
MadisonMan said...: This need for having characters in your workplace while the place goes up in flames need a name.

Might I suggest LaTourette's Syndrome?; 3/7/12, 1:21 PM
KCFleming said...: LaTourette managed a fairly deft insult of Kucinich there, actually.; 3/7/12, 1:35 PM
traditionalguy said...: On a superficial level Kucinich, may have run afoul of the Rule not to ever loan money to a man with a sense of humor.

I still don't understand that rule.

Is it that a happy man is not worried enough to pay anyone back? Kucinich was a happy man.; 3/7/12, 1:47 PM
edutcher said...: I'm sure LaTourette, good little RINO that he is, will miss the gnome.

Truth to tell, I'd rather see Kucinich, who worked as a janitor to put his siblings through school before he worked his own way through college, that LaTourette.; 3/7/12, 1:49 PM
The Crack Emcee said...: Tyrone Slothrop,

Those Ohio voters are going to regret it when our alien overlords get here, and they don't have Kucinich to smooth the way.

You beat me to it. That said, Kucinich Was A Crappy Congressman,...; 3/7/12, 1:54 PM
wyo sis said...: We seem to be getting a lot more characters than we really need. The whole idea that we need characters is absurd.
I suspect even the "character" he's talking about is not the same thing the other side views as character.
I'd love to see some character in the political class. Character as in integrity and ability. Maybe that's asking too much.; 3/7/12, 1:57 PM
Anonymous said...: What the place needs is characters who can't be limned in 140 characters or less.; 3/7/12, 2:15 PM
Blue@9 said...: Well yeah, of course talking heads and comedians want politicians who are "characters"--what else would they talk about?; 3/7/12, 2:19 PM
MadisonMan said...: It would be great if redistricting could always be done so one incumbent would have to face a different incumbent every 10 years.; 3/7/12, 2:19 PM
Henry said...: LaTourette comes up with a nice metaphor. The "tamping" down of Congress creates an image of monolithic uniformity.

I, for one, have always appreciated those few politicians that didn't dance to a predictable tune. It helps if the unpredictability is based on intelligence and character, rather than colorful stupidity.

It's very discouraging to look at our politics and see it crawl irresistibly in the same destructive direction no matter who is in power. But at least the crawling is at a crawl. If you have too many colorful characters, who knows what invidious legislation might suddenly get passed.; 3/7/12, 3:15 PM
The Crack Emcee said...: Blue@9,

Well yeah, of course talking heads and comedians want politicians who are "characters"--what else would they talk about?

Damn, you beat me to something, again - I gotta up my game today:

Beam Him Up, Scotty (Dennis Kucinich Is Outta Here,...); 3/7/12, 3:41 PM
NotWhoIUsedtoBe said...: Characters are for TV.; 3/7/12, 3:58 PM
Doug said...: 51 to 48 - it's almost like he won!; 3/7/12, 4:22 PM
Mark said...: You have to love it that Politico felt the need to spin so hard against Wurzelbacher "escaped with a narrow 51 to 48 percent victory" over Kraus "[who] had raised and spent less than $10,000 — a pittance in the world of modern-day congressional campaigns." Never mind that Joo the Plummer raised and spent only a pittance times 6.

Politico = partisan political tool. (I picture Politico as a rubber hammer, in that watching how it bounces can be occasionally amusing.); 3/7/12, 5:41 PM
Blue@9 said...: It's weird because these elite left are the cultural gatekeepers who bemoan our American Idol culture and lack of substance. But look at how they treat politics-- Chris Christie is fat, Bush looks dumb, Romney is boring, Clinton is a fun rascal, JFK did nothing but was handsome, Obama sends tingles up legs. Heck, these are the same peeps who want to pardon Roman Polanski-- because drugging and raping little girls is okay if you're European and sound sophisticated. What a character!; 3/7/12, 5:43 PM
NotWhoIUsedtoBe said...: Congress isn't the Althouse comments section.; 3/7/12, 9:20 PM
Fen said...: “The place needs character, and characters.”

No, the place needs term limits. And fumigation, the corruption is so systemic.; 3/7/12, 10:41 PM
Fen said...: "to end the career of one of the most colorful figures in Congress."

Colorful? Oh you mean like Rush Limbaugh?; 3/7/12, 10:42 PM