Kristol: Obama "Pseudo-Thoughtful," Cheney A "Grownup"
Here's Bill Kristol's take on today's dueling speeches:
Cheney vs. Obama: A MismatchI've read both speeches.
Obama's is the speech of a young senator who was once a part-time law professor--platitudinous and preachy, vague and pseudo-thoughtful in an abstract kind of way. This sentence was revealing: "On the other hand, I recently opposed the release of certain photographs that were taken of detainees by U.S. personnel between 2002 and 2004." "Opposed the release"? Doesn't he mean "decided not to permit the release"? He's president. He's not just a guy participating in a debate. But he's more comfortable as a debater, not as someone who takes responsibility for decisions.
Cheney's is the speech of a grownup, of a chief executive, of a statesman. He's sober, realistic and concrete, stands up for his country and its public officials, and has an acute awareness of the consequences of the choices one makes as a public official and a willingness to take responsibility for those choices.
Josh
Matt
Eric
Shorter Bill Kristol: "I'm an asshole, a douchebag and a compulsive liar and you people better take what I say seriously."
May 21, 2009 12:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
Not surprising, given that Kristol probably wrote a good chunk of Cheney's speech.
May 21, 2009 12:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
I don't know how others feel. I don't read Kristol and if I wanted to see his drivel, I wouldn't come on this site.
I can understand the outrage but he's a buffoon, like so many of them. A one-trick pony.
Just MHO.
Thanks, and Jail Cheney,
O.T.
May 21, 2009 12:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
Co-sign. Wholeheartedly.
May 21, 2009 12:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think Josh's take on it was terrific: wonder how long it took Bill Kristol to write this speech?
May 21, 2009 12:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
Is this something that Scooter would have been involved in before his conviction? :) Not so many staffers to call upon in pseudo-retirement, eh?
May 21, 2009 1:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
Republicans are strange. Yeah, I know, and water is wet, too.
But seriously: what's with all the yearning for "adults"? The "adults" were back in charge after Clinton. Cheney is an "adult".
And why does anyone listen, seriously, to anything Bill Kristol has to say about policy or politics? He was so spectacularly wrong over the course of the general election that everything that comes out of his mouth should be laughed at.
Is anyone going to track how many times "adult" gets used to describe Cheney's speech?
May 21, 2009 12:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
Sorry, That should be "grown up".
I think some wingnuts have some serious father issues they need to work through.
May 21, 2009 12:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
Kristol just wants to be hit with a ruler and told to go sit in the corner.
Why he thinks the rest of us are into that sort of thing, I will never know.
May 21, 2009 12:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
Woo-hoo! :)
May 21, 2009 12:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
What Kristol (and his nutjob buddies) says about politics and policies is an insult to our intelligence. I mean seriously. I just don't know what else to say about those guys.
May 21, 2009 12:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
You're so right. Their appeal is mostly to people who don't have our intelligence, of course. Cheney's endless repetition of the same malarkey doesn't seem to faze the Joe-the-Plumbers of the world.
Bush was the same:
Q: Why is Saddam such an imminent threat to USA that we have to attack him now and not catch Bin Laden?
A: "He gassed his own people."
Q: [Follow up question]
A: "Gassing his own people is what he has done."
Cheers, and Jail Cheney,
O.T.
May 21, 2009 12:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
Adult? Both were alarmingly wrong about everything, why anyone would award credence to either one is laughable. It is just more of the same to try to save his legacy. In the meantime it continues to add discourse & maintain the us versus them debate, which is so harmful.
May 21, 2009 12:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
What did you expect?
May 21, 2009 12:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
Kristol: Pseudo-retarded
May 21, 2009 12:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
No, not "pseudo".
May 21, 2009 12:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
Nice to see Kristol poke his head out from under Cheney's desk for a second. Think he should've at least used some mouthwash first though.
May 21, 2009 12:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
OOOOOooooooooooooooooooooooooh!
May 21, 2009 1:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
Nice to see that everyone here is giving both Kristol and Cheney the respect they deserve.
[I wish the people who run this site had given some warning that TPMDC was going to start off with Kristol. I nearly threw up. Srsly. I feel queasy at even the thought of him.]
May 21, 2009 12:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
This rote handjob from Kristol lends further evidence to my suspicion that Cheney is going to attempt a suicidal/megalomaniacal presidential run in 2012.
May 21, 2009 12:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
I have been thinking the same. I hope so, nothing would give me more pleasure than watching this immoral coward go down in a landslide. Maybe then he would go away and stop his fear mongering.
May 21, 2009 12:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
Seriously? You think that's possible?
May 21, 2009 1:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
Never...
May 21, 2009 3:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
At least Kristol is consistent.
Consistently wrong.
May 21, 2009 12:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
Why what Kristol has to say any where on this site?
What a waste of space.
May 21, 2009 12:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
Can we get someone who at least rises to the pseudo-thoughtful level up on the top of the page.
Kristol's not worth covering.
May 21, 2009 12:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
What he said
May 21, 2009 12:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hey, we can't always be snarking on Michelle Bachmann.
May 21, 2009 2:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'd like Kristol to "take responsibility" for his statement on NPR in 2003 that there was no way the Sunni and Shia wouldn't get along and that opinions to the contrary were "pop psychology." Many lives were lost based on such bullshit assumptions and whistling in the dark.
And I'd like Cheney to admit that he didn't "take responsibility" when his country called him to serve in Vietnam.
May 21, 2009 12:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
Seems to be some projecting here.
The Bush admin was essentially childlike in its good vs. evil paranoia and recklessness and irresponsibility.
Obama is the grownup in the room, patiently talking with opponents, taking prudent and reasonable steps, etc. etc.
It's hard to see the angry, defensive, egotistical petty megalomanaia of Cheney as mature in any way. He's foulmouthed, vulgar, crude, and never admits to his long line of failures. He acts like a 12 year old bully, harassing other kids and wearing out his teachers.
If your child acted that way, you would scold them.
May 21, 2009 1:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
Are they still paying Kristol to write this drivel? Is anyone still reading (other than those who have to to keep others informed of the drivel level). Cheney's attempting to justify his crimes often enough that when it comes to judgement he'll avoid jail. Still, I have this mental picture of Cheney having the cell next to Rove and each of them sharing theirs with a very hostile guy named "Bubba".
May 21, 2009 1:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
Kristol, Kristol... Where do I know that name from?
Didn't he used to be someone?
Billy Crystal was that guy in "The Princess Bride,"
but Bill Kristol...hmmmm, he was some kind of fiction writer once wasn't he? Mystery novels or something...
Seems to have lots of opinions though, he says things with such self assuredness he must know what he's talking about.
May 21, 2009 1:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
Kristol? Seriously? TPM deems Bill Kristol's opinion to be important enough to devote a news post to? Why don't you tell us what Joe the Plumber, Michelle Bachmann, and Sarah Palin think about Obama's speech while you're at it.
May 21, 2009 1:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
Kristol is one of those nice Jewish boys, well-educated but blindingly sheltered, who will go to his grave permanently and obsessively stuck on trying to please Mommy and Daddy. It's a little weird to see him trying to discuss who is or is not an adult.
May 21, 2009 1:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
William Kristol full disclosure: My bff and roomie in college was Alan Keyes, noted Obama observer. That being said, I feel:
Cheney smells like a man. That's a real stimulus package. Fresh pacemaker batteries and he's right back in the saddle.
Obama? My eyes glazed over, just like college. I read the Cliff's Notes. (((yawn)))
May 21, 2009 2:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
William Kristol full disclosure: My bff and roomie in college was Alan Keyes, noted Obama observer. That being said, I feel:
Cheney smells like a man. That's a real stimulus package. Fresh pacemaker batteries and he's right back in the saddle.
Obama? My eyes glazed over, just like college. I read the Cliff's Notes. (((yawn)))
May 21, 2009 2:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
So Kristol still wants to tie his boat to the U.S.S. Cheney, which is going down in infamy?
People will be talking about the Bush-Cheney evilness in two hundred years. Kristol will be a long forgotten footnote.
May 21, 2009 3:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
This coming from a guy who used to tie Dan Quayle's shoe laces.
May 21, 2009 3:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
Kristol applauds vicious paternalism and mistakes nuance for lack of maturity.
Obama doesn't pretend he has the last word on the pics, he acknowledges that the courts have yet to rule on his opposition to releasing pics. That's nuance, not
Cheney pretends he IS the last word.
May 21, 2009 4:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
Cue Jon Stewart:
"... but you were always WRONG!"
May 21, 2009 5:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
Anytime a conservative/Republican uses the prefix "psuedo" you can just drop it out and get an accurate descriptor of who they're talking about. University professors are "pseudo"-intellectuals, Liberal activists are "psuedo"-altruists and Obama is "psuedo"-thoughtful/charismatic/aware he is President and not dictator.
May 21, 2009 5:22 PM | Reply | Permalink