Who's the smartest liberal in America?
Who's the smartest liberal in America?
My vote goes to Camille Paglia. Sorry the linked to article is four pages long, but it's really good reading. If the Dems would listen to her the presidential election would be no contest. http://www.salon.com/opinion/paglia/200 ... index.html
Last edited by L Day on Wed Sep 10, 2008 3:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I clicked the thread to write "Pigsteak" but Rhunt was on it!Before I go on a tangent on Paglia...
A more useful commentary on Palin is that she's not so much a "hockey mom" as that she's a "hockey thug." Many successful hockey teams have one - a guy who doesn't score goals, doesn't steal the puck, doesn't defend the goal - he's never going to make it on the All Star Team. Rather, he skates around high-sticking, throwing elbows and punches when the ref isn't looking. When he's really good, he throws a punch, and just as the opposing player punches back, the ref looks over and guess who gets sent to the penalty box. What these players do is throw the better team off their game. The good players are distracted trying to get the ref to call penalties and getting pissed off, rather than focusing on getting the puck in the goal.
Clinton's recent speech in Florida and Obama's recent speeches in places like Michigan focusing on education and the economy are signs that they got that message - they're focused on "putting the puck in the goal."
I'll be interested in hearing Paglia's take on the current whining by (I'm not making this up) "the Palin Truth Squad" whining about "lipstick on a pig." The whole campaign seems to undermine the very strengths that Paglia points out. Obama has wasted some of his time commenting on it, but he's not backing down (thankfully). All this from the campaign of a man who has lashed out at his current wife, calling her a "cunt" in front of other people.
A more useful commentary on Palin is that she's not so much a "hockey mom" as that she's a "hockey thug." Many successful hockey teams have one - a guy who doesn't score goals, doesn't steal the puck, doesn't defend the goal - he's never going to make it on the All Star Team. Rather, he skates around high-sticking, throwing elbows and punches when the ref isn't looking. When he's really good, he throws a punch, and just as the opposing player punches back, the ref looks over and guess who gets sent to the penalty box. What these players do is throw the better team off their game. The good players are distracted trying to get the ref to call penalties and getting pissed off, rather than focusing on getting the puck in the goal.
Clinton's recent speech in Florida and Obama's recent speeches in places like Michigan focusing on education and the economy are signs that they got that message - they're focused on "putting the puck in the goal."
I'll be interested in hearing Paglia's take on the current whining by (I'm not making this up) "the Palin Truth Squad" whining about "lipstick on a pig." The whole campaign seems to undermine the very strengths that Paglia points out. Obama has wasted some of his time commenting on it, but he's not backing down (thankfully). All this from the campaign of a man who has lashed out at his current wife, calling her a "cunt" in front of other people.
Bacon is meat candy.
Which reminds of the book titled Cunt, in which I believe Paglia is quoted or referenced. The beginning of the book puts quite a spin on the word, promoting it to something more honorable than currently deemed in our culture.tomdarch wrote: man who has lashed out at his current wife, calling her a "cunt" in front of other people.
That's sort of Paglia's whole shtick. I hate to compare her to someone so vile, but she does have some similarities to Ann Coulter in that she gets a lot of buzz for her self by intentionally taking controversial positions (Strippers are the ones with the power!) Paglia hasn't gotten much press in a while, and I saw some of that "button pushing" in this piece. She's hopping on the hot issue and getting herself some attention. I also noticed that she's playing to folks like Larry by taking a critical tone about people pointing out all the crazy shit that Palin is into and how she hasn't seen the evidence herself. (Does Camille only have dial up? She can't go on YouTube and hear Palin say goofy shit herself?) Oh, those crazy liberals and their focus on issues and concerns about another dim religious nut in the White House, how silly!Meadows wrote:Which reminds of the book titled Cunt, in which I believe Paglia is quoted or referenced. The beginning of the book puts quite a spin on the word, promoting it to something more honorable than currently deemed in our culture.
That's the thing about her piece - it's all about surface and "image", but maybe that's where the presidential race is rooted. It's pretty debatable whether she's either "liberal" or "a feminist." But it seems that the term "feminist" has become entirely meaningless in actual usage.
Hey, McCain's quite a "feminist" himself. Here's his attempt to "empower" women with humor:
Tuscon Citizen 10/27/86Did you hear the one about the woman who is attacked on the street by a gorilla, beaten senseless, raped repeatedly and left to die? When she finally regains consciousness and tries to speak, her doctor leans over to hear her sigh contently and to feebly ask, ‘Where is that marvelous ape?’
I guess I'm some limp-wristed, effete liberal, but how is that even sort of funny?
Larry: I'm seriously interested - which part's of Paglia's piece do you think Obama should pick up on?
Bacon is meat candy.
More the Democratic party than Obama, but I think her main point is that influential Democrats are largely out of touch with middle America, mostly for cultural reasons.
I think the last Democrat who really understood and could relate to the red states was Bill Clinton, and you need a few of those states in order to win.
I think the last Democrat who really understood and could relate to the red states was Bill Clinton, and you need a few of those states in order to win.