Obama Derangement Syndrome

[Brainster]

Some on the right have noticed this and are speaking out about it. Charles Johnson and David Horowitz.
(And, predictably, getting hate mail from the wingnuts about it). Johnson writes the Little Green Footballs blog, a right-wing blog, but one that is firmly on the side of reason and science instead of woo.



One one the worst cases of of ODS (among people with high media profiles) is Glen Beck.
Dude seems to be having a nervous breakdown.

Beck's shenanigans have been little short of astounding. The sad thing is that he's getting excellent ratings, which means it won't stop anytime soon. This is the problem with the proliferation of channels; at some point you can become a ratings success just by appealing to the kooks. Narrow-casting has arrived on TV.

Don't ignore, though, that Beck is a showman through and through; I read an interview recently where he mentioned watching Howard Beale's performance in Network, which seems to clearly have inspired his current nuttiness.

I agree with Horowitz and Johnson; this crap makes it extra difficult to oppose some of Obama's more excessive programs without seeming like you're part of the idiot brigade tilting at the windmills.

 

[DC]

Alex Jones is far more entertaining.

 

[Ziggurat]

Anyone who understands the strategic mistake Hitler made in invading Russia without securing England knows that the invasion of iraq was a brain dead idea in light of hisotry.

What, you mean the idea that one should never fight a two-front war? Well, I'm afraid that's not really the lesson of WWII, because we won doing exactly that. Whatever the problems with invading Iraq were, it didn't resemble Germany's invasion of Russia. Plus, there's the whole lack of freezing winters thing.

Face it, the Shrub did nothing right, compassionate, or logical for eight years.

There's nothing that Bush did right in all his eight years? And you came to this conclusion based upon a detailed analysis of everything Bush ever did in office, right? Because you would never make sweeping absolutist statements that you couldn't actually back up. Nope, you've got far too much integrity to ever engage in wild hyperbole.

Criticism of a particular action is rational. Whining about how disasterous it is to have an activist president who does not kiss the perfumed butts of the investor class is irrational.

Kinda ironic, given your previous statement. I'm actually in agreement that general "sky is falling"-type criticisms don't make much sense, but you don't seem to be able to recognize that's exactly what you were just doing within this very post.

 

[leftysergeant]

What, you mean the idea that one should never fight a two-front war? Well, I'm afraid that's not really the lesson of WWII, because we won doing exactly that.

Hitlerlost in large part because he left in tact a logistical operations center on his flank from which the Allies were able to stage raids on Nazi-controlled targets in Europe.

Actually, going to war in the first place was his biggest strategic mistake.

Whatever the problems with invading Iraq were, it didn't resemble Germany's invasion of Russia. Plus, there's the whole lack of freezing winters thing.

Shrub invaded Iraq to secure control of the oil fields for his owners. Hitler invaded Russia for the wheat. The Ukranians welcomed the Germans until they found out that they were worse than the Russians, and decided to burn the wheat instead of letting the Germans have it. There were Iraqis who thought that our overthrowing Saddam was a good thing, but then they found out that the idea was to install a Friedmanite dystiopia to show the world that it could be made to work, despite the dismal failure of that garbage in Chile. Next thing you know, they're planting IEDs.

You really need to get a better understanding of military science before you start claiming that any Republican since Eisenhower has had a clue how to run a war.

There's nothing that Bush did right in all his eight years?

He appointed Clay Aiken to a panel on the needs of disabled citizens.

Other than that he appointed the least qualified morons and assorted kakiocrats to pretty much ever position he could. Worsty Sec Def in my life time, worst AG, worst VP. Aiken is the only appointment he made that made a lick of sense. That was probably a mistake on the Shrub's part because he knew that aiken is an avoiwed Christian and thought that that meant he would follow the Shrub's warped view of what Christianity is.

And you came to this conclusion based upon a detailed analysis of everything Bush ever did in office, right?

No, I came to that conclusion based on my knowledge of history and military strategy, compared to the bone-headed moves that the Shrub made.

 

[Ziggurat]

You really need to get a better understanding of military science before you start claiming that any Republican since Eisenhower has had a clue how to run a war.

I didn't make that claim.

Aiken is the only appointment he made that made a lick of sense.

You don't think Gates' appointment made sense? Then why did Obama keep him on?

No, I came to that conclusion based on my knowledge of history and military strategy

Because military strategy decisions are the only decisions Bush made, is that the idea? Sorry, still don't follow you.

Apparently you've come to a conclusion about each and every single decision Bush ever made, even though you haven't, by your own admission, looked at each and every decision Bush ever made. How... thoughtful of you.

 

[dudalb]

After a March 2009 taping of Beck's FOX News show on which he appeared to choke up on air, wiping tears from his eyes and explaining, "I'm sorry. I just love my country, and I fear for it,"[33] Beck was mocked by fellow FOX personality Shepard Smith[34] and Comedy Central satirist Stephen Colbert.[35] The New York Times ran a feature piece on Beck later in the month, quoting an interview with Beck in which he identified himself with Peter Finch's "mad prophet of the airwaves" from the 1976 film Network, Howard Beale, and continually noting Beck's reputation as a performer rather than as a journalist

I get the feeling that a lot of the other hosts at Fox really,really, do not care for him much,and think he will damage their credibility. But as long as Beck brings in the ratings, Rupert does not care.
And does Beck really not get that Beale in "Network" was portrayed as being crazy, someone who occasionally told the truth but most of the time was bonkers?

 

[Cleon]

I get the feeling that a lot of the other hosts at Fox really,really, do not care for him much,and think he will damage their credibility.

They've already put up with Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity. I don't think "credibility" is something the folks at Fox News are really concerned about.

But as long as Beck brings in the ratings, Rupert does not care.
And does Beck really not get that Beale in "Network" was portrayed as being crazy, someone who occasionally told the truth but most of the time was bonkers?

He either doesn't get it, or doesn't care.

 

[uk_dave]

You guys obviously didn't get the memo. Dontcha know that Obama Derangement Syndrome is manifest by an 'irrational' delight in the President Obama....witness....

Nothing as glamorous as this has happened in London since William the Conqueror arrived amid some controversy.

My normally down-to-earth colleages in the BBC are simply blown away by the Size of His Car. A BBC editor shouts at me across the room: "Did you see the three point turn?!"

You realise when you come abroad with him just how starved of day-to-day Obama moments everyone outside the US really is. They want to see his car. They want to touch his garments.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/justinwebb/2009/04/obamania_again.html

Ohhhhh to have an unpopular president again....

 

[dudalb]

They've already put up with Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity. I don't think "credibility" is something the folks at Fox News are really concerned about

I don't care for and seldom watch O Reilly and Hannity, but they are not total loony tunes the way that Beck is.

 

[leftysergeant]

You don't think Gates' appointment made sense? Then why did Obama keep him on?

Gates still didn't tell the Shrub that he screwed up. Gates still has some support among the officer corps and would be able to untangle the mess the Shrub made, and is not just there to buy weapons. Not the best man for the job, but he will do for now. Just not the disaster that idiots like Rummy and Rice and Brownie were.

Because military strategy decisions are the only decisions Bush made, is that the idea? Sorry, still don't follow you.

His picks for the supreme Court and AG sucked enormously, too. His tax cuts were distilled and concentrated FAIL.

He isn't even much of a man. Nothing to like about him, really.

 

[leftysergeant]

And does Beck really not get that Beale in "Network" was portrayed as being crazy, someone who occasionally told the truth but most of the time was bonkers?

This could be because he is a psychopath himself. He doesn't understand that Beale is nuts, because the rantings of the lunatic make sense to him.

 

[Ziggurat]

Gates still has some support among the officer corps and would be able to untangle the mess the Shrub made, and is not just there to buy weapons. Not the best man for the job, but he will do for now.

Either Obama's choice of keeping Gates was a mistake, or Bush's appointment of Gates wasn't. Nothing about Gates or his performance fundamentally changed. You haven't actually answered which you think it is.

Just not the disaster that idiots like Rummy and Rice and Brownie were.

We're not talking about whether or not Bush made any mistakes, we're talking about whether or not everything he did was a mistake.

His picks for the supreme Court and AG sucked enormously, too.

Most conservatives would disagree. In fact, even conservatives who think he screwed up royally tend to think his SC picks (though not the Meiers nomination) were excellent. So that sounds pretty much like a standard policy disagreement: who'da thunk that "leftysergeant" doesn't like conservative justices? But this, too, doesn't really answer the question: your claim was that every Bush action was a mistake, not simply that his major decisions were mistakes, or that he made mistakes in every major area. Picking out what you consider to be individual mistakes doesn't prove your contention.

He isn't even much of a man. Nothing to like about him, really.

Which is also irrelevant to the claim I challenged you on. Sounds like you're trying to move the goalpost.

 

[leftysergeant]

Are you suggesting that there are no judges in the country with more brains than that partisan hack Roberts?

That was just pay-back for what he did to sabotage the recount in florida.

 

[Upchurch]

I don't care for and seldom watch O Reilly and Hannity, but they are not total loony tunes the way that Beck is.

Ye gods. How many levels of loony tunes could there be? Isn't that like being "only a little pregnant"?

 

[Ziggurat]

Are you suggesting that there are no judges in the country with more brains than that partisan hack Roberts?

I'm suggesting that conservatives are very satisfied with Roberts. He is, in fact, a very smart man, and he's made decisions along the lines that conservatives want. That a leftist like you would be unsatisfied with him is unsurprising. Just like it would be unsurprising if conservatives were unsatisfied with the sort of judges you would want appointed to the bench.

And you seem to have given up trying to defend your claim that every decision Bush made was a mistake, without actually retracting it.

 

[leftysergeant]

I'm suggesting that conservatives are very satisfied with Roberts. He is, in fact, a very smart man, and he's made decisions along the lines that conservatives want.

Care to show me an example of anything intelligent the shyster has said since he was appointed?

And you seem to have given up trying to defend your claim that every decision Bush made was a mistake, without actually retracting it.

Roberts got where he is because he was a party hatchet man. Thewre is nothing that lifts him above the crowd of judges available. Same with the Shrub's idiot lawyer Gonzo. Appointed purely on the basis of loyalty to the Shrup and the GOP. Of course conservatives like Roberts. No one with a brain does, though. He is holding a seat that should actually belong to a legal scholar. He's just a well-connected shyster.

 

[Ziggurat]

Of course conservatives like Roberts. No one with a brain does, though.

And here we see what your argument ultimately boils down to: people who disagree with you or have different values than you are idiots.

Stay classy, lefty.

 

[leftysergeant]

And here we see what your argument ultimately boils down to: people who disagree with you or have different values than you are idiots.

Stay classy, lefty.

Hey, I'm not one of those who think that the Shrub was worth anything as POTUS.

 

[Peephole]

Shrub

Stop this, it makes you sound like a four-year-old.

 

[leftysergeant]

Stop this, it makes you sound like a four-year-old.

I am referring to a child who convinced people who should have known better that he had in deed grown up.

I hardly see how it is less childish to act as though he had succeded as anything, even as a man. Would you react the same way to someone who found a disrepectful name for Stalin?