New Feature: "What the hell is wrong with...?"

It seems to me that any self respecting blogger has to come up with their own schtick. Kevin Drum came up with Cat Blogging; Jesse Taylor, Ezra Klein, and Matt Yglesias seem to have a corner on the youth blogger market, Eric Alterman has Slacker Friday, Uggabugga has great flowcharts and graphics...

...and Glenn Reynolds has abject stupidity.

Henceforth, I have decided to come up with a running blog feature known as "What the hell is wrong with...?" I will try to use it on a semi-regular basis, but it will most likely be used whenever I have sufficient cause. For example, Nicholas Kristof would have qualified, and he still might do so again depending on future columns. But for now, the inaugural post will be "What the hell is wrong with... Glenn Reynolds?"

If you are at all familiar with Mr. Reynolds, you might wonder if this entire blog will now turn into nothing but "What the hell is wrong with... Glenn Reynolds?" posts. I do limit my reading of his work just so my head doesn't explode. But I found a particularly good reason to comment on his work, which can be found here. Regarding the appointment of Rice, Glenn sez:

I think she's a good choice, notwithstanding the bipartisan appeal of the Lieberman idea (which was probably a nonstarter anyway, as I don't think the Dems want to lose any Senators).

Condi is a good choice? WTF? She was an awful NSD, and that opinion is certainly not confined to one side of the aisle. The only people who liked her were Cheney, Rummy, and Wolfie because she let them run roughshod over Powell at over at State. In what universe is she anything more than a comfort choice for Dubya (just like Gonzales and all the others)? Plus, he comments on her selection like it was some sort of surprise to him... this was damn near written in stone over a year ago.

Next issue: Lieberman appeals to virtually nobody. The Dems are tired of him and the Republicans reluctantly put him in the "barely tolerable" catagory. Weepin' Joe's moralizing is so badly presented he probably annoys Mullah Dobson. The only reason he is a national figure is due to the outdated DLC influence on the Democratic Party.

Up to this point, I am thinking "Ok, he's just got the standard-issue Bush Blinders(TM) on..." but then I think he has got to be joking with this next bit:

I wonder if she's being groomed for a Presidential or Vice-Presidential slot in 2008?

After the shock of that statement wore off and I picked myself up off the floor, I started laughing... not that funny haha laugh, but that nervous laugh you use when it is beginning to dawn on you that someone is actually being quite serious on something so obviously insane.

I mean, you gotta be shittin' me... Condi "Mushroom Cloud" Rice? The person who was placed in charge of the Iraq Stabilization Group? (If you said "What is that?" you made my point exactly) The person who can't mediate intra-agency squabbles as a part of her current job? (I mean, really... it is probably a good thing she isn't married with kids because she would never be able to medicate sibling conflicts, let alone issues facing the State Department)

And now the paint isn't even dry on her new office and Glenn is wondering if she is being groomed to be the President?!? The absurdity of this aside, McCain and Jeb Bush will be duking it out in 2008 for the Republican nomination. I'll grant you that Jeb *might* be willing to consider Rice as a VP candidate or something (unless they come out with a novel embalming process for Cheney). C'mon folks... really.

But wait folks, he's not done yet:

Upside: She's up to speed on the issues. Downside: She's been working awfully hard for the past 4 years. She's probably tired. But hey, when Cheney steps down, she can be moved to the Vice Presidency and get a little rest. . . .

Remind me what she has been working so hard on these past four years? Oh yeah, I remember: lying and doing a shitty job in general. And what makes him think Cheney's job is so easy? It's tough being the President, especially since you have to do it all through the dummy sitting on your lap...

And finally, Glenn is nothing if not thorough... he gets you dizzy and tottering with the insanity of his main post, but he doesn't leave you be: he goes for the kill by approving notes of reader email:

Thank God for the GOP’s affirmative action stance. Namely, “may the best person win.“

Yeah, we have seen a lot of that, haven't we? Kinda like how Clarance Thomas is on the Supreme Court? Kinda like how Colin Powell was always considered in White House delibrations and had all sorts of respect by the time he stepped down? Kinda like how several appointees have learned that if you speak the truth and try to do your job, you are on the short list for being canned? Hmmm...

Actually, the fact that it's not being hyped (overly or otherwise) by the press is an indicator not of progress on America's racial front, but an indictator that she was appointed by a Republican (you know, the Party of Lincoln), rather than by a Democrat.

Man, I love it when the right brings out this little chestnut because it is always more reveiling of their true party status then they think... as you all probably well know, the meaning and representations of each party was much different in those days, and it completely ignores the Strom Thurmond Dixiecrat shift over to the Republicans and Nixon's Southern Strategy. The fact that they have to reach back to Lincoln on matters of race is always amusing. Anyone who believes this is an indication of the tolerance of their party is simply a Republican who is trying to make him/herself feel better.

So, after all that I still didn't reach any conclusions to my original question, but the embrace of the DHP felt good.

Update: Kevin Drum has this to say about POTUS '08 candidate Rice...