You know the acquaintance at the party who, desperate to impress you or otherwise form some sort of connection, hangs on your every word, asking questions and analyzing your behavior to the point of annoyance? Talking Points Memo is that fucking guy now. You make an off-the-cuff remark about meeting up for a beer in a doomed attempt to defuse the controversy that resulted from making a simple statement of fact about something that happened to a guy you know. But you keep forgetting that That Fucking Guy will remember your promise the next day and start sending Facebook messages that are all like, “so u still down 4 beer 2moro?” And he’ll keep getting all up in your grill about it until you finally meet him one afternoon for a sympathy drink.
People talked about Bush as the president with whom Real Americans would want to shotgun Thunderbird or Steel Reserve or High Life or whatever while watching the Dallas Cowboys. This is mainly because Bush understood one fundamental point that Obama apparently does not. Article 301(b) of the Constitution:
No President shall addrefs his Subjects as rational, fully-functioning adult Humans.
Obama’s mistake was to think that his audience would take his “beer” remark for what it actually was–a bit of cultural shorthand for working out differences, airing grievances, etc. But the press once again demonstrated its infantile fascination with unscripted political speech, mindlessly promoting a literal reading of Obama’s remarks. What resulted was the painful photo-op we continue to be subjected to today. An awkward-looking public “meeting” on a Potemkin patio surrounded by a barricade to create the illusion of privacy and intimacy. It’s going to be a long four years eight years painful decline of the empire.
I was tempted to just write a pithy entry about the appropriateness of Gates drinking Blue Moon at the Beer Summit. A mediocre product designed for people who value authenticity, substance and change, created by an Astroturf organization that serves as a front for billionaire corporate suits… I like my beer like I like my presidents.
UPDATE: Corrected post title.
