Lactation Lamentation

"Ah, that I were dark and nocturnal! How I would suck at the breasts of light!"

--Z

What's up with that?

Now that John Boehner will become Speaker of the House, I think it is time for a comparison between him and Nancy Pelosi:
1) In neither case is it at all clear to me why these people make good politicians. Neither of them seem to be in the least sincere in anything that they say. Perhaps this kind of public inability to project sincerity is something that comes with being more involved in arranging things behind the scenes.
2) In both cases, they have borderline freakish appearances.

I have speculated on 1 already. Why is 2 the case? Is it just a coincidence that the most fake looking people end up being Speaker of the House?

The lowest moment of W's presidency

Evidently W was deeply troubled by Kanye West saying he doesn't care about black people. He insists this means he is racist.

MATT LAUER: You remember what he said?

PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: Yes, I do. He called me a racist.

MATT LAUER: Well, what he said, "George Bush doesn't care about black people."

PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: That's -- "he's a racist." And I didn't appreciate it then. I don't appreciate it now. It's one thing to say, "I don't appreciate the way he's handled his business." It's another thing to say, "This man's a racist." I resent it, it's not true, and it was one of the most disgusting moments in my Presidency.
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MATT LAUER: This from the book. "Five years later I can barely write those words without feeling disgust." You go on. "I faced a lot of criticism as President. I didn't like hearing people claim that I lied about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction or cut taxes to benefit the rich. But the suggestion that I was racist because of the response to Katrina represented an all time low."

PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: Yeah. I still feel that way as you read those words. I felt 'em when I heard 'em, felt 'em when I wrote 'em and I felt 'em when I'm listening to 'em.

MATT LAUER: You say you told Laura at the time it was the worst moment of your Presidency?

PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: Yes. My record was strong I felt when it came to race relations and giving people a chance. And-- it was a disgusting moment.

Three points:
1) Is it really okay to be that upset about having been called a racist if you believe that being non-racist is essentially a matter of giving black people a chance? "Try us: you'll like us!" How generous of him.

2) This is the cost of the social phobia about racism. It's plain as day that only a monster would be a racist. From this principle, each of us can easily deduce that we must not be racists. I don't think stigmas like this are the best way to solve these sorts of problems. It's not clear to me whether the stigma against being a racist even has an overall positive effect.

3) Of course, a real leader wouldn't allow himself to fall into feeling guilty in the way W evidently did as a replacement for re-doubling his efforts and so on. To think as W evidently does (and is willing to go around admitting) that what matters most in a situation like Katrina is how a private citizen's remarks might make the president feel is just so childish. "Godfather, godfather, what can I do? -- You can act like a man!" His idea is he wants to go around crying about how somebody called him a name 5 years ago? Maybe it does hurt. Maybe it hurts for a reason. Tell someone who cares (or whose job it is to pretend).


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/02/george-bush-kanye-racist_n_777967.html