Friday, March 4, 2011

Recommended Reading

Nate Silver explains with polls and graphs why there's little chance of Newt Gingrich becoming the Republican nominee next year, let alone the next President of the United States. I don't think you need all those numbers to come to that conclusion. You just have to look at the guy and listen to him. Republicans especially vote for the guy who looks and sounds most like Daddy. They may appreciate Newt's value as an operative and a strategist but they'd rather see him as Chief of Staff to the fellow who looks and sounds like a wizened, avuncular statesman. Sarah Palin doesn't fit the presidential mold either. As near as I can tell, her main support comes from folks who want to see her win just because of how much it would upset Liberals.

I don't think Gingrich or Palin can win and I sure get the feeling that neither of them think that, either; that all this talk is just because they see future opportunities — political but more likely financial — to being a candidate...or at least not ruling it out too soon. Personally, I think the Republicans should run John McCain again so they won't have to break in a new loser.

• Posted at 12:40 PM · LINK

Today's Video Link

And speaking of polarization: Our friend, the witty chanteuse Shelly Goldstein, offers a musical greeting to Speaker of the House John Boehner. Since it's Shelly, it's very funny and well worth clicking and forwarding...

• Posted at 11:09 AM · LINK

Recommended Reading

Daniel Larison on the virtues of Obama and his administration not taking sides in certain foreign revolutions or uprisings. We live in polarizing times when everyone is expected to exploit everything for partisan advantage...and it doesn't have to be that way.

• Posted at 11:08 AM · LINK

Go Read It!

Noel Murray over at the A.V. Club offers an interesting analysis about an episode of The Dick Van Dyke Show...the one entitled, "The Return of Happy Spangler." It may or may not have impacted what Murray wrote to note that the big monologue Rob Petrie delivers at the end is a routine that Van Dyke had performed on TV a number of times before that series...and he used it again from time to time after. He did it on that weird 1965 CBS variety special that was a tribute to Stan Laurel after he passed. So the script for "Happy Spangler" was probably written around that routine.

• Posted at 10:44 AM · LINK