Patterico's Pontifications

1/18/2010

Andrew Sullivan: Pity the fool?

Filed under: General — Karl @ 6:27 pm



[Posted by Karl]

Andrew Sullivan is wallowing in self-pity over what he anticipates as a double digit win for Scott Brown in the Massachusetts Senate race. It is a display that has television’s Andy Levy and IMAO’s Frank Fleming feeling sorry for Sully. But that pity might stop people from noticing that “the most popular one- or two- or three-man blog on the internet” has descended from unhinged conspiracy theorist to delusional hack.

Consider his analysis of the Massachusetts special election:

I can see no alternative scenario but a huge – staggeringly huge – victory for the FNC/RNC machine tomorrow. They crafted a strategy of total oppositionism to anything Obama proposed a year ago. Remember they gave him zero votes on even the stimulus in his first weeks. They saw health insurance reform as Obama’s Waterloo, and, thanks in part to the dithering Democrats, they beat him on that hill. They have successfully channeled all the rage at the massive debt and recession the president inherited on Obama after just one year. If they can do that already, against the massive evidence against them, they have the power to wield populism to destroy any attempt by government to address any actual problems.

I don’t remember that the GOP gave Obama zero votes on the stimulus bill, mostly because Snowe, Collins and Specter voted for it. I do recall Sen. Jim DeMint’s “Waterloo” comment, as it pointed out how utterly self-centered Obama was in trying to ram his unpopular proposals through Congress. I don’t remember that they beat Obama on taking over the US healthcare system, mostly because both houses of Congress have passed bills, and can pass a final bill without a single Republican vote. (One wonders why Sullivan, who claims to be a True Conservative, would see either of the health boondoggles Congress passed as desirable, but I digress.) I do not believe Obama has inherited massive debt, mostly because the claim is horse manure on at least four levels.

Then there are Sullivan’s predictions:

Even if Coakley wins – and my guess is she’ll lose by a double digit margin – the bill is dead. The most Obama can hope for is a minimalist alternative that simply mandates that insurance companies accept people with pre-existing conditions and are barred from ejecting patients when they feel like it. That’s all he can get now – and even that will be a stretch.

The earlier, less deranged Sullivan would have been smart enough — and attentive enough to the debate — to know that mandating coverage of pre-existing conditions has no chance of passage without coming up with the funding to prevent insurers from going into a death spiral, which sets you down the road to requiring people to buy insurance, etc.

It is one thing to entertain bizarre conspiracy theories about Sarah Palin, Dick Cheney, and so on. It is another to sloppily regurgitate partisan Democratic whine about the current political environment that has no basis in reality. Does he ever look in the mirror and entertain the thought that Obama and the Dems are suffering now because his hyperventilating, sycophantic paeans to Obama — and those of his fellow travelers in the establishment media — set up unrealistic expectations? Naaaaaaaah.

–Karl

31 Responses to “Andrew Sullivan: Pity the fool?”

  1. “Grandpa, is it true that Andrew Sullivan was once considered a conservative?”

    JVW (48cbba)

  2. Hey, Andrew, asked Obama about “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” lately?

    I think he’s forgotten that fierce moral urgency.

    Techie (43d092)

  3. The only significant debt “inherited” by Obama with respect to the recession was TARP and the GM / Chrysler bailout portions that partially occurred in the final months of the Bush administration. Both of which were bipartisan spending bills, and Obama strongly supported both and, post election, he was intimately consulted with regarding the implementation.

    SPQR (26be8b)

  4. Why does The Atlantic still employ this moonbat? Don’t they realize that he tarnishes their image?

    pst314 (dbf8fd)

  5. If they can do that already, against the massive evidence against them, they have the power to wield populism to destroy any attempt by government to address any actual problems.

    Behold the power of this fully operational Death Star! Destroy! Destroy!

    I’m not sure why the “FNC/RNC” did not deploy this incredible power in November 2008, but I’m sure Andy has an explanation.

    Subotai (a16ab6)

  6. Why does The Atlantic still employ this moonbat? Don’t they realize that he tarnishes their image?

    During the Bush years the Atlantic made the calculation that their only hope for circulation and ad revenue was to appeal to the far left. When Dear Leader came along, they thought they could continue by being a fan magazine for all things Obama. Newsweek famously followed suit. They will soon realize what a horrible mistake all that was.

    JVW (48cbba)

  7. http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2010/01/from-depression-to-rage.html

    Now I’m gloomy… NOW I’M MAD.

    That e-mail is a classic.

    chaos (9c54c6)

  8. I’ve seen a number of discussions of TARP and the consensus, I think, is that it was a mistake as carried out. In fact, the original concept was wrong as the important thing was to establish a market for the “troubled assets.” There was an early attempt which resulted in a sale at 22 cents on the dollar by Merrill Lynch. Had this been continued, there would have been a price signal about what these things were worth. Once the government stepped in, the market failed because nobody would sell if the government would pay more.

    The final decision by Paulson was to simply give the banks the money. The result has been an auction, not of troubled assets, but of influence. This has been the worst possible result.

    The GM/Chrysler bailout was a disgrace. GM should have been allowed to go to BK with the union contracts abrogated by a BK judge. Chrysler bondholders, many retired employees, were screwed. This will result in difficulty in raising money for decades. We now have a major moral hazard problem.

    Sullivan has no concept of any of this. I frankly wonder if his meds have affected his mind.

    MIke K (2cf494)

  9. Look, can we get back to the important issues: Sarah Palin’s privates, Barack Obama’s dreamy pecs and the towering human rights stain that is male circumcision.

    I mean, I’m not the issue. Now let’s talk about my undeniable moral standing.

    Excitable Andy Sullivan (fb8597)

  10. How is this different than his normal insanity?

    JD (5b977c)

  11. Andrew Sullivan is one of the few people I really can’t stand. He applies no reason or consistency to his thoughts or life.

    Elhaym (73bbf1)

  12. JD,

    His prior insanity seemed rooted in deep-seated hatred of particular people. It seems to have spread to include an inability to accurately relay easily ascertainable facts of record, like the vote on the stimulus, r the size of the Dem majorities in Congress.

    Karl (cc4af5)

  13. Gotcha, Karl. When he started crawling up Palin’s uterus, I thought even the leftists quit paying attention to him 🙂

    JD (0f29d4)

  14. When he started crawling up Palin’s uterus, I thought even the leftists quit paying attention to him.

    Sully hates Palin because she’s what he can never be: A well-adjusted beautiful woman.

    Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (9eb641)

  15. “Does he ever look in the mirror and entertain the thought….. “

    I get the impression he would not be able to hold or entertain any thought when looking in the mirror.

    Machinist (9780ec)

  16. I wonder if the HIV virus that Sullivan has openly acknowledged he’s infected with has altered his brain over the past several years? If not that, then something has pummeled and shredded whatever common sense once occupied that mind of his.

    Mark (411533)

  17. Sully hates Palin because she’s what he can never be: A well-adjusted beautiful woman.

    Ouch! That’s gonna leave a mark on Powerglute’s pudgy pecs.

    Bradley: best Sully comment of the year (and it’s only January). 🙂

    qdpsteve (5eb540)

  18. Qpdsteve, it’s just the truth. Sully has uterus envy.

    Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (9eb641)

  19. “Sully hates Palin because she’s what he can never be: A well-adjusted beautiful woman.”

    I nominate this for the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize.

    el duderino (f01e0a)

  20. Andrew’s story is the classic tale of a first-rate mind addled by years of debauchery and self-absorbtion….except for that part about, you know, the first-rate mind.

    Kevin Stafford (abdb87)

  21. (OK, OK – I apologise, in advance, for this one !)

    pst312 – he cannot tarnish the Atlantic’s image – he can only sully it …

    Alasdair (205079)

  22. Sully: “they have the power to wield populism to destroy any attempt by government to address any actual problems.”

    — Yep. There’s your True Conservative; wanting the government to solve problems, as opposed to getting out of the way so the people can solve them on their own.

    It’s good to know that Andy is keeping his brown eye on the MA election keeping his eye on Brown in the MA election.

    [I sooo denounce myself!]

    Icy Texan (e446d6)

  23. “The only significant debt “inherited” by Obama with respect to the recession was TARP and the GM / Chrysler bailout portions that partially occurred in the final months of the Bush administration”

    That and the point we were in the economic cycle and the previous policy attempts and non-attempts. But every president inherits and economic cycle.

    imdw (017d51)

  24. I think what Sullivan writes is useful because his views are likely shared by the President.

    Delusional hack – yeah, think about that for a minute. I’m sorry I ruined your day.

    Amphipolis (b120ce)

  25. This is what I think of whenever I hear the word “rage” used in this context: http://j.mp/7nFeMD

    sierra (4be1ff)

  26. For Andrew Sullivan, today may be the end of the world…

    You know, we evil reich-wing Republicans are hoping that, in a very blue state, we can win one special election for the United States Senate, but for Mr Sullivan, it is the end of the world.
    ……

    Common Sense Political Thought (73d96f)

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  29. I guess posting under Sullivan’s name after steeping in his mental juices ruins one’s ability to use google or do simple research.

    zero votes? really?

    that takes like 10 seconds to disprove.

    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29179041/

    “The Senate approved the measure 60-38 with three GOP moderates providing crucial support…”

    Gekkobear (25ea0f)

  30. You know, the president doesn’t have the power of the purse, so it’s unfair to blame 2008 Obama for the things 2006 Obama inherited along with the rest of the democrats. They inherited a huge boom that started in the mid 90s (hmm, what changed in the House and Senate in the mid 90s?).

    Domestically, it’s so much more important that the GOP has the House and Senate. Howard Dean’s everywhere approach was a sign that Howard Dean is no dummy.

    Presidents are much easier scapegoats, but there’s a reason Reagan did not get his way on domestic spending. And it’s no surprise that the GOP doesn’t have the best record on keeping things under control. They may have a much better record on the economy than anti-small-business democrats, but they are hard to trust.

    Dustin (b54cdc)

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