Political Commentary

The Washington Male

16 Comments

This was written about Richard Holbrooke, who is likely to be a major player in the new administration (despite the fact that he outed Valerie Plame):

I’m violently opposed to the idea of Richard Holbrooke as Secretary of State and only slightly less set against George Mitchell, and it is entirely personal. I don’t care if they’re qualified. They represent that which makes life in Washington hell. They are archetypes of the Washington Male…

The Washington Male has absolutely and profoundly no sense of humor… And greater love hath no man than this: that of the Washington Male for the Washington Male. A really pure Washington Male can be wrong about everything he does and says for decades without harboring a single twinge of self-doubt…

But it seems to me to apply even more to Vice-President-Elect Biden. I don’t know how familiar with geography Sarah Palin is, but ignorance can be cured. Rampant idiocy cannot.

[Evening update]

A commenter corrects me. It was indeed Richard Armitage (another Democrat) who outed Valerie Plame, not Richard Holbrooke. In my oncoming senility, I confused my Democrat candidate Richards for SECSTATE.

16 thoughts on “The Washington Male”

  1. However, ascending to the Vice Presidency should not be advertised as a cure for the Ignorance of Geography.

    Whew…. Close call there Mavericks….You folks really need to stop defending someone so utterly unsuited for the job. If Palin should go to the White House, she should apply for a position as perhaps a maid or a dishwasher – an occupation where physical skill is useful and the capacity to utter gibberish would not result in a major predicament.

    Seriously, if Biden is an Idiot, the English language has no word to describe Sarah Palin!

    Which, given her clear inability to express herself coherently in any language, and the fact that she vigorously resisted correction of her lack of knowledge by the Maverick team, may be called serendipitous.

    Frankly though, from my perspective, boosting her as the leader of the GOP is fabulous. So perhaps I should just shut up and allow you to fawn over her.

  2. II

    That’s not fair. Palin obviously was not an idiot, but she clearly wasn’t interested in the subjects that a president must be an expert in. To not be clear on whether Africa was a continent or not isn’t alarming per se — after all, as Rand points out, you can learn things like that, and quickly too. But not knowing about Africa and NAFTA when you are in your 40s means that you’re not interested in international affairs. If Palin had become VP (or President) she no doubt would have become more interested, but that interest would have been based on an extrinsic motivation — it wouldn’t be the same joy-of-learning interest that the readers of this blog have when they learn about the world, and that would have hobbled her leadership. The Republican party is full of people who are interested in the world, and one of them should have been McCain’s running mate.

    Palin’s performance in the debates indicated to many people that she needn’t be a maid or dishwasher if she doesn’t want to be one. She was a journalism major, she’s obviously a quick study, and she is quite qualified to be an empty-headed smooth-talking TV journalist. I’m quite curious whether the Alaskan people will judge her qualified to continue to be Governor, if she runs again.

  3. …perhaps I should just shut up…

    If you did so, it would be the first sign of wisdom that you’ve ever shown. We can certainly understand why you don’t want your true name associated with your idiotic and classless comments. At least Joe Biden is willing to display his foolishness in public under his own name.

  4. Also, Rand, the link pointed to the from 52 to 48 with love site. (Cool link by the way, but as a Holbrooke fan, I’m looking forward to the correction.)

  5. …the fact that she vigorously resisted correction of her lack of knowledge by the Maverick team…

    That is not a “fact.” It is anonymous gossip that you want, desperately, to believe. Unsurprisingly for an anonymous troll.

  7. So perhaps I should just shut up

    Oh that’s not necessary. Honestly, it would make so little difference to the amount of quality commentary here, I wouldn’t bother, if I were you.

  9. I prefer to think of Gov. Palin as an ordinary person who has done some quite extraordinary things thus far in her life, and will continue to do so as the most popular Governor in America. And she still has more executive experience than the President-elect.

    Rand, I believe that Richard Armitage was the one who outed Ms. Plame, not Holbrooke, although I don’t yearn for the return of Clintonian foreign policy, either.

  10. I thought holbrook worked for Dick (aptly named) Armitage, and it was Armitage who first “leaked” valerie.

  11. II, what is it with you and Palin? Did she forget to grease you up last time or what?

    Just go get a soft chair cushion and some ointment or something, dude. Calm down.

  13. Hmmmmm.

    “Richard Holbrooke, who is likely to be a major player in the new administration (despite the fact that he outed Valerie Plame)”

    You mean Richard Armitage?

  15. II, you sure pick winners for your links. Among other things, this Nate Silver guy says:

    Although this is the least likely possibility, Alaska is a provincial state with some history of corruption, and Democrats ought to be making sure that too many of their ballots haven’t been disqualified.

    Name a state that isn’t, by definition, provincial. And name a state that doesn’t have a history of corruption. Certainly makes for quite the foundation of an argument.

  16. In my oncoming senility,

    So when you gonna start volunteering for human trials of some of the drugs you can’t wait to come to market?

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