Politicians provide plenty of fodder

Posted at 8:12 PM on September 26, 2007 by Bob Collins (3 Comments)

There are a couple of don't-miss segments in the Minnesota media for political wonks. For years, hundreds of years it seems, Almanac on TPT is one of them. For me, the weekly appearance by WCCO political reporter Pat Kessler on Dan Barreriro's show on KFAN is another.

Today, they chatted, of course, about the Larry Craig case, which was in court today. But they also talked a bit about the David Brooks column I referenced yesterday, and also the situation with the Iranian president being in New York.

Kessler said, I think, pretty much how I feel. Give a person who's "out there," a chance to speak, and a reasonable person will conclude, in all liklihood, that the person is "out there." I feel the same way about non-major candidates who can get no breaks from mainstream media. "They're nuts," a newsie might say in defense. All the more reason to put them on the air before they get themselves elected.

Anyway, listen to today's segment. It was enjoyable. You can find it here. Or listen directly here.

Comments (3)

Well, their chat about the Senate resolution about MoveOn and Gen. Petraeus reminded me why I quit listening to Barreiro, and why I'm not a big fan of Kessler.

(Though, I like Barreiro when he sticks to ranting about sports.)

They both were wringing their hands about the Senate spending their time on this, and Kessler wondered about politicians having to distance themselves from outside organizations.

It's only the most contentious issue in our nation today. MoveOn is a not insignificant source of support for the Democratic Party.

It's perfectly valid to ask politiicans, especially those running for President, if they support that kind of thing.

It's perfectly valid for the Senate to spend time on this. The ad appeared during the hearings with Petraeus. Congress was listening to Petraeus's report as part of their oversight responsibility.

How easy for cynics like Barreiro to pretend they sit above all that messy stuff.

Posted by jeff | September 27, 2007 2:52 PM

Hey, Jeff. Nice to hear from you.

I guess I tend to agree with you but as I listened -- and it's not the first time I've kicked this moveon.org stuff around in my own mind -- I got to thinking that political debate in this country is alla bou reacting to ads.

And of course there's nothing but hypocrisy on both sides on this issue and the whole idea is rather than focus on something of substance... like an actual issue ...

I think it's all about cynicism and as a proud cynic, I can thus proudly say that while we talk about important issues and the future of the country and yada yada yada, the only REALLY important issue for a politician is surviving the next election. Everything else centers around that.

So, sure, we can harumph around and scream about moveon.org from one position or the other and we can harumph around and scream about Swift Boaters or (fill in name of perceived slight in TV ad here). But in the end, it's all political theater.

I'm still waiting for something to actually get accomplished in this session of Congress.

By the way, the moveon.org ad is NOT the most contentious issue in the nation today. The war in Iraq is.

Posted by Bob Collins | September 27, 2007 3:23 PM

Oops, I should've been more specific.

I did mean the war in Iraq was the most contentious issue today.

I think all the harumphery is not so much about the ad itself.

It's about whether or not we really do feel that way. Who feels that way.

Do we really think a commander like Petraeus would make things up? Do we think he really would betray us? What does victory look like? Do we want victory?

I've said before I wish I would hear from the Left a cogent argument for why (hasty) withdrawal would not lead to a recruiting bonanza for Al Qaeda, a compliant tool for Iran, a haven for terrorists. I'd like to know what the Left thinks will happen to Iraq. Will there be a bloody civil war? If not, why not? If so, do they care that there could very well be large numbers of casualties?

Even if someone said, yeah, all that will happen and I really don't care, that would be something.

The ad was an excuse, albeit a sharply divisive one, to talk about all that.

At least, from my corner of the world, that's what the ad was all about to me.

Posted by jeff | September 27, 2007 4:12 PM

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