Let's see...haven't done this for a while, so there are a few.
Today at Plum Line I got into the question of whether Democrats have already surrendered on the budget by accepting a sequestration level CR (the answer? No, probably not, but I'm not impressed with their strategy).
And I got on Ted Cruz's case for his "new paradigm" of grassroots activism.
What else?
Cruz's rhetoric is self-defeating.
The Republicans could use a Pope -- or maybe Gowron.
Five reasons we might get a budget calamity.
Summers and the proper use of trial balloons.
Gowron is doubly apt. Recall Erzi's admonition of honorable Klingons willing to go too far in accepting the clear faults of the High Council and the Chancellor "for the good of the Empire." As in the Russian fairy tail of Cinderella, if the shoe fits, wear it.
ReplyDeletePlus, Tacking Into the Wind has John Vickery in it. Perhaps the next time they want a revelation, could they possibly find a way that isn't quite so uncomfortable?
Nicely done with the B5 reference (and one of my faves to boot).
DeleteWhen you say the Republicans need a pope, you're thinking of the pope as a resource for the smackdown of doctrinal heresy, no? Something like Ratzinger as Defender of the Faith before his final promotion...
ReplyDeleteAs a strayed member of the Catholic flock, I'm immensely fond of Francis for his attitude of conciliation and humility. But I'm not sure those traits make him the man for the job you've laid out.
Regarding your Salon article in which you write,
ReplyDelete"And that’s part of the reason why when Ted Cruz (or Rush Limbaugh, or anyone else who can plausibly claim to be a True Conservative) tells the party to head for the cliff, they start in that direction and may well still go right over."
I'm not sure if by "True Conservative" you're being facetious. But if not, I would claim that any True Conservative would be stably anchored to principles, which Cruz is not. Rather, Cruz and his types are simply the tail end of a weather vane, facing 180 degrees away from wherever Obama and the Democrats are pointing. And since the latter are not always pointing "due liberal," Cruz is not always pointing "due conservative."