Our Needless Pundits Are Emotional Children

Over at HuffPo, there’s a great little video edited by Ben Craw of various pundits calling for Obama to show more emotion, wear more “rugged” clothing, and to be more “empathetic” in the face of the Gulf Oil Spill tragedy. It is, at various moments, hilarious, embarrassing, sad, and infuriating.

From the hysterics of Donny Deutsch:

At least I want the guy feeling. I want to feel his pain with my pain.

To the idiocy of Gretchen Carlson:

Look, he should’ve had on something that looked as if he was a little bit more at the scene.

[Think of] George W. Bush down at 9-11, in the pit. Those are poignant moments that are forever emblazoned in people’s heads, and that puts emotion in their hearts as well.

They (the morons with opining jobs) are calling for more emotion, just like George Bush! One suspects they long (especially Carlson) for the days of Bush’s stuffed codpiece n’ fighter pilot “outfit,” landing, hugging, posturing, and seeming to be doing something. No pragmatic assessment, no reasoned response and sure, steady contemplation, just spazzing out with reality show, reptilian brain fear and frenzy.

(I also find Carlson’s use of the word “emblazoned” extremely telling- “to conspicuously inscribe or display,” “to adorn a surface richly with prominent markings.” She wants to “conspicuously display,” “adorn the surface” with emotion and peacocking, which is what George W. was so masterful and sadly adept at- the ability to gild the surface, to act the part, to “wear the fighter pilot outfit,” as it were. As long as one looks the part, and says the correct platitudes, the children will feel as if daddy’s got it under control. Rather than the President actually having it under control.)

The encouraging part is that Mr. Craw has included various citizens calling in to let the pundits know what a non-story this is- the callers are rejecting the talking points/storyline outright. No one with any intelligence wants the President jumping up and down like a fusspot, saying “Bring it on!” and getting all emotional. They want the pragmatic, measured adult that they elected to handle the crisis, instead of (for example) invading another country that didn’t attack us because he feels like it.

When did thinking become a bad thing?

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The Tide is Turning

Andrew Sullivan’s coverage of the Iranian “election” debacle and the subsequent protests and fascist crackdown by the Revolutionary Guard has been truly admirable. Something is happening in Iran, indeed.

You can’t force democracy down the barrel of a gun, the way the Neocons think. All this weekend, as all hell is breaking loose in Iran, I’ve had a line from Peter Gabriel’s “Biko” running through my head:

You can blow out a candle/But you can’t blow out a fire/Once the flame begins to catch/The wind will blow it higher.

There are young people in Iran (and all over the world) who are sick of the tyranny of old ideas, who want to be part of something hopeful, not repressive and brutal. While we’re worried about whether Adam Lambert is gay or indulging Sarah Palin’s shameless mock outrage at Letterman, people like this are fighting for their lives and freedom in Tehran.

One wonders if this was Obama’s long game: to engage the hopeful, and young, and through his Middle East address present them with a choice of continued submission to tyranny, or to forge their own future, much as the USA has done. “May you live in interesting times.” It doesn’t get much more interesting, y’all.

I wholeheartedly suggest following Andrew’s blog as well as Huffington Post’s coverage. It’s not as if Fox is gonna cover it; they’re too busy praying to God that Obama fails. Party first, country last, right guys?

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