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Wednesday, September 01, 2004
I Really Thought This Was a Joke
I wasn't watching the convention last night and didn't realize that the Bush daughters had spoken. Then I saw this transcript and I simply did not think this was real -- maybe a Jon Stewart written bit or something. Unbelievable. Why would anyone want to remind the American people how Bush himself must have been like when he was 21. Apparently, I'm not alone -- even the Fox News paid-Republican-consultants feel the same way:
Bill Kristol: "The last half hour did not help, as far as I can tell,
Bush's campaign for reelection."
Mort Kondracke: "Those two girls were ditzes. I'm surprised they were
allowed on the program."
Fred Barnes: "I think she [Laura] had no place up there or the daughters
either....Their mother said they'll be pursuing their own careers. I would
advise them to look in some field other than comedy."
Ryan Lizza also has it right too:
I understand that self-deprecation can be a useful political tactic for
elected officials. Bush's jokes about himself have always been incredibly
disarming, for instance. But I was sort of shocked to see that the conceit of
Jenna and Barbara Bush's speech tonight was that they are, well, dumb...
The reason that self-deprecation works as a rhetorical device is because
the person using it has developed at least some level of credibility that cuts
against his or her caricature. But if the only thing people have heard about you
is that you are a hard-partying, spoiled, not-so-bright, rich kid, well wouldn't
it be more useful to tell them a different story about yourself, instead of
reveling in your immaturity and ditziness?
What was Karl thinking?
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