Under The Marble Arch
“In my darker moods, I suspect that American politics, at least at the presidential level, is ultimately just a popularity contest. In the television age, the more personally charming guy wins — or, at minimum, has a monumental advantage. Partisans on both sides tend to not like this argument for all sorts of reasons. For instance, they tend to like their candidates better than the other team’s. Of course, this is often just a rationalization. If you honestly believed that Michael Dukakis was a more likable guy than George H. W. Bush, or that Nixon would be a more entertaining drinking buddy than JFK, you should seek therapy, or a vigorous regimen of enemas, or both. The simple fact is that if John Kerry and Al Gore weren’t pompous human toothaches, they would have blown George W. Bush out of the water.” -Jonah Goldberg, May 8, 2009
Philosopher's Corner

"With their memories of the sixties, when to be young was very heaven, they still believe that an oppositional stance in pursuit of perfection is virtuous in itself—indeed, is the prime or sole content of virtue. And it is this belief that renders them interesting to Hollander, for it makes genuine moral reflection about the nature of various governments and policies impossible. It transforms merely personal discontents into matters of supposedly great general importance."

-Theodore Dalrymple on Paul Hollander: The Only Superpower: Reflections on Strength, Weakness, and Anti-Americanism

Envy the Stupid People
The Leper Colony
  • Peggy Noonan
  • Christopher Buckley
  • Nicole Wallace
  • Steve Schmidt
  • David Brooks
  • David Frum
  • Jeffrey Hart
  • Arlen Specter**
  • Olympia Snowe*
  • Susan Collins*

h/t Red State

*RINO Lepers

**Who says a leper can't change his spots?

Even The Lepers Don't Want Her

Kathleen Parker

Quarantined for Observation

Michael Steele

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Monday
27Jun

Washington Times, Fashion Times

The Washington Times today has a great article about fashion inside the Beltway.  We got all nostalgic thinking about Joan Kennedy and her miniskirt and Jane Fonda and her 64 PSI ta-tas.  But we much prefer the present times with Condoleeza Rice.  Woo woo.

We have commented with some regularity about fashion and politics.  It's a recurring theme because of Quid 3's personal fascination.  As the principle writer of this blog, I, the Beeb, had never much noticed men's ties before Q3 opened my eyes.  And it helps to have a president who knows how to dress, or at least someone who knows how not to attract attention.  The only president in recent memory who screwed that up was Jimmy "Sweater Boy" Carter, and he's still paying the political price for his frumpy, homespun appearance during the late '70's (see Funeral Fashion Notes).

Relevant aside: American Experience, a PBS show, has a timeline of the Carter presidency and this is one of the first entries:

February 2: Wearing a cardigan sweater, Carter delivers his first national television address on energy policy.
Now PBS would never, ever have something on a website that would embarrass or discomfit Jimmah (no rabbits, no Billy Beer ads) so they don't have a pic of The Sweater.  We do, along with Miss Fonda's fashion faux pas (besides the helmet, that is).
sweater.jpgfonda1.jpg
Sweater Boy and Needs A Sweater

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Reader Comments (1)

She is so classy, that Condi.
June 27, 2005 | Unregistered CommenterWill Franklin

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