Burly Republicans,
Girlie Economists,
Surly Protestors,
and More Politics As Usual

Base10 missed Aaaarnold's speech last night. Base10 instead saw the Yankees lose by the biggest margin in the history of their club and tie the record in baseball since 1900. The Tribe scorched them at 22-0. That is not a typo. The Mets lost too, but who cares anymore? The press is insinuating that Art Howe may be gone if they don't break .500, but maybe that's just wishful thinking.

I digress. Base10 did catch Laura Bush. She gave a very nice speech, but hey, if a presidential candidate can't depend on his wife to say good things about him, he has no business running. The First Lady's speech was tasteful, decorous and devoted to her husband. The qualities of the speech are assuredly the qualities of the speaker.

Reviews of Arnold are pretty good. James Lileks has a nice commentary. You can decide for yourself by reading it here.

While I read James Taranto everyday, I usually don't link to him. Today's column is particularly good. Mr. Taranto points out that Arnold used the phrase "girlie man" in reference to those who doubt the strength of the US economy.

You know, Base10 wonders about the phrase "girlie men." Shouldn't the Democrats be able to get more mileage out of criticism of this term? It occurred to Base10 that this is an old Saturday Night Live line coined when the Governator was still big in the movies. One wonders, did Al Franken write this line during his tenure with SNL? Mere speculation, of course.

Taranto also makes an interesting point about the protestors. The press treats them as youthful, exuberant peaceful folk "doing" democracy. Taranto describes them quite differently as "global village idiots." Quoth he:

Street protest is central to the mythology of the liberal-left in America, which romanticizes (rightly) the civil-rights marches of the early 1960s and (less rightly) the antiwar demonstrations of the late '60s and early '70s. In contrast, there's nothing like this on the right, except for the antiabortion movement and the occasional ad hoc protest, like the one in Florida against the Clinton administration's abduction and deportation of Elian Gonzalez. The liberal media generally present these protests as if they're wholesome, all-American expressions of opinion, glossing over the reality that the protesters are a motley collection of extreme partisans, antieverything nihilists and single-issue fanatics. This allows liberal elites to imagine that their loathing of the president is a populist posture.

Taranto also challenges the idea that the mainstream Democrats are really different from the looney left. The distinction, he argues, is is getting harder and harder to see. As proof, he quotes from this article about a speech that "girlie man" economist Paul Krugman gave at an NYU event on Monday. The remarks were clearly right-wing conspiracy gibberish, but as Taranto points out, they are deeply disturbing when they come from a formerly well respected economist who has a twice weekly op-ed column in the New York Times.

Last, but not least from Taranto, see this unfortunately worded headline from the Times.

The above article is about the supposed Bush statement, "We can't win the war on terror." Base10 previously posted that this was actually a thoughtful comment given the context after reading this article on the AP wire. After reading this piece by Donald Sensing, Base10 is even more convinced of left-wing media bias. Why in the world didn't the AP include the rest of this transcript in its article?

Finally, America should realize that they are not alone in this fight. Chechen rebels seized a school in southern Russia earlier today and are holding up to 400 children hostage. And all threats are not from terrorists. A half-million people in southern Florida were told to evacuate from the path of hurricane Frances which is likely to make landfall sometime on Friday. Base10's hopes and prayers go to the displaced Floridians and most especially to the families of the hostages.

Tonight, Zell Miller and the Cheneys. TTFN.
- posted by Base10 @ 4:32 PM