Fox News’ Political Insiders Reject Their Insider Status

Democrats, Elections, Politics, Republicans

The Fox News show Political Insiders may have to change its name since the term political insider has, at long last, become a pejorative. Regular Doug Schoen appeared on November 1, right away protesting too much about being no an insider. The pollster declared himself an OUTSIDER. The former “long-time Clinton insider” may no longer be a Clinton insider, but he is the consummate insider in Republican circles; a Democrat house-trained by Republicans insiders.

Pat Caddell, on the other hand, is a different kind of animal. Caddell was perhaps the only Democrat (other that Dennis Kucinich) to express righteous indignation, in 2013, over the treatment of the tea party by no other than “establishment Republicans.” They “wanted the IRS to go after Tea-Party groups,” contended Caddell. These groups “are an outside threat to their power hold, the lobbying-consulting class of the Republican party.

In the wonderful chaos initiated by the Republican campaign of Donald Trump, it’s good to see the insider honorific become a liability.

Blind, Self-Absorbed Media Lose Out In The NYC Marathon

Human Accomplishment, Pop-Culture, Reason, Sport, The Zeitgeist

In the context of the 2015 TCS New York City Marathon, whose “story” ought to be more compelling to a rational individual?

The story of Kenyans Stanley Biwott and Mary Keitany who won the race, or the quirky story of some blind Frenchman, who resides in the US, seems to have access to all the resources in the world, and decided on a whim to recruit friends to assist him in running a marathon (the result of which would be guaranteed face-time on the American mass media, which is forever searching out freaky stories, or ways to shape their viewers’ notion of heroism).

The correct answer—yes, I’d argue there is such a thing—is the two Kenyans. You can be sure that the two gifted, heroic runners acquired their endurance and speed by running barefoot to school and back, each day. Barefoot not because it’s the latest (Western) trend in running, but by necessity.

Wow! Can you believe that the barefoot line was written above before I looked up the story, “What Makes Kenya’s Marathon Runners The World’s Best”?

In addition, most kids usually run to school barefoot, which I think has some effect because it means they grow up being excellent runners …

In fact, the “ran to school every day” thought was first floated on Barely a Blog in 2012, on 07.26.12 @ 3:01 pm, to be precise.

In any event, our heroes are: Anyone who runs a marathon, in general. And the incredible Kenyan champions who run against all odds.

In sum, sentimentality clouds judgment and leads to misplaced sympathy and, consequently, to the blind self-absorption and solipsism on display in the blind man Fox News segment.

Halloween Candy: When Made In China Is Magnificent

China, Ilana Mercer, Regulation, Trade

Sometimes the nastiest, unhealthiest Chinese candy, just shy of toxic, is what the doctor ordered. It’s what this household seeks out every Halloween. Candy too nasty for adults to consume is still legal at Fred Meyer, that great American supermarket.

If it’s in the house, chocolate fiends like myself will consume bad chocolate like Kit Kat or Hershey’s. So for Halloween, we look to China. The kids love the body parts candy on offer. None has yet to die.

The Freaky Fingers purple and green, for example, contain sugar, corn syrup, Sorbitol, gelatin, corn starch, malic acid, pectin, artificial preservatives like Potassium sorbate, and artificial colorants like Red, Blue, Yellow 5 and 6. Candy that’s just dandy for kids.

We’re up front about what we offer, thanks to explicit labeling that includes a “Chocking Hazard” alert on the wrappers.

In the case of Halloween candy, made-in-china is magnificent, so no tariffs on bad candy form China, Donald Trump.

Just as I was setting the stuff out, I heard one of Fox News’ female fascist “experts” advise parents to call the … cops if they spot untoward candy, presumably like the stuff our household puts out.

And we call China a police state.

Anyhoooo, as The Simpsons’ Mr. Barnes would say, there are leftovers, if you’d like some for your kid. The candy only expires in May of 2016.

Jeb Bush’s Kaput. Why Aren’t Wrong-All-The-Time Commentators Fired, Too?

Bush, Justice, libertarianism, Media

S.E. Idiot aka Cupp, together with all establishmentarians, has been insisting that, to quote the noise-maker last week, “The safe money is on Jeb Bush.” He’s the politically smart candidate to back, she said the other day.

In fairness, S.E. Idiot is one among many white-noise generators on television. (You’ll find everything you need to know about Cupp “commentator” in “Just Another Mouth in the Republican Fellatio Machine.”) While Cupp is not nearly as off-putting, banal and over-the-top as Jedediah Bila, she’s up there. I recall how her fans on Taki’s cussed me when the above piece was published. Now they likely agree. (The same people wanted me fired from WND for opposing the invasion from hell, starting in Sept., 2002; now, not so much.)

Jeb Bush’s campaign is over, toots. It was moribund when Cupp first misspoke. What she meant is that she thought Jeb was the smart choice. Is the woman (and others like her) engaged in Freudian wish fulfillment, namely “the satisfaction of a desire through an involuntary thought process”?

Isn’t such a messy habit of mind cause for firing when your thought process is what, ostensibly, got you hired?

This column has been consistently predictive. The punditocracy is consistency unpredictive. When do they get fired and we–I’ve linked to good guy William N. Grigg, as an example—get hired? Wait a sec. I know the answer: when we agree to a lobotomy; when we ditch our non-partisan principles for theirs.

Seriously, when will America pull the plug on these pathetic pundits and seek out those who have a record of accurate predictions on the defining issues of the day?

To plagiarize a 2004 column:

“Suppose your doctor misdiagnoses your condition – he tells you that six months hence you’ll be stone-cold dead, pushing up the daisies. As it turns out, however, you did not have leukemia after all, but were only suffering from Lyme disease. Would you not consider switching practitioners?

Say your stockbroker’s picks leave you with a portfolio more volatile than Vesuvius and an eviscerated bank account. Short of buying shares in a Baghdad bed and breakfast, he did everything wrong. Would you still entrust him with your money?

Imagine you’re a fisherman. Your local weatherman predicts calm, but you lose your boat in treacherous seas. (Thankfully your life is spared.) Then he forecasts a storm, but the sea is as calm as glass, and you miss out on the biggest catch ever. How long before you stop trusting his “expertise”?

These analogies came to mind as I listened to a different sort of failed “expert,” for whom public goodwill runs eternal.”