Serious Question

14 Comments

1. 

   hz on March 16, 2015 at 2:54 pm

   Gah, here we go again, the race to create the winning narrative.  So Halperin got there first, and soon enough we’ll be hearing from Friedman and Dowd with their personal variations on how Jeb is still the “smart Bush.”  Not to mention the overt partisan players.  Has it really almost been 4 years already?

   • 

     hz on March 16, 2015 at 2:56 pm

     My bad, Jamse Pindell, not Halperin, who apparently is playing second fiddle today with the phone cam.

2. 

   vicki on March 16, 2015 at 3:14 pm

   Here’s what I got from this brief read:
   He’s blah-blah, but not blah-blah.
   He’s not blah-blah, but he’s blah-blah.

   Jeb isn’t zen. He’s blah.
   A dangerous blah, yet still, blah.

   Oh, I did it, too. Maybe it IS the only way to describe him!

3. 

   Arthur Gilroy on March 16, 2015 at 3:49 pm

   Zen candidate?

   OH yes.

   he is.

   Like dis.

   First ve get him elected. Zen ve can rule the world again!!! AHHHHHH hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah!!!!!

   

   Bet on it.

   

   Later…

   AG

   • 

     yastreblyansky on March 16, 2015 at 7:41 pm

     Can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think you won the thread. That was great.

     • 

       Arthur Gilroy on March 16, 2015 at 11:46 pm

       I can’t be all wrong, eh?

       Keep looking.

       AG

4. 

   Marie2 on March 16, 2015 at 3:53 pm

   Zen would be the last word I’d ever think of in regard to any Republican politician much less a Bush.  In lifestyle, Jerry Brown once lived austerely, studied Buddhism and studied with a Christian/Zen, but was viewed in CA as quirky but not Zen.  

   Sounds like this politico writer hasn’t a clue as to Zen and is cribbing from Lincoln Mitchell’s, October 2014 NY Observer article: Jerry Brown in the 21st Century  

   “Jerry Brown is a guy who can go to a Zen retreat in Big Sur and in the car on the way home, plot the brutal political downfall of a rival. He is at the same time an idealist and an immensely pragmatic and knowledgeable politician. He has an uncanny ability,” Mr. McFadden continues, “to understand the psyche of voters. He is really attuned more than any other politician I’ve ever met. He has an above and beyond ability to unlock voters’ minds.” Charles Fracchia,…

   However, why aren’t we hearing Democrats saying this:

   “You don’t abandon your core beliefs; you got to try to persuade people,” Bush told a group of business leaders from the Nashua area. “You need to be genuine. You need to have a backbone.”

   Not that Jeb! will reveal his “core beliefs” anymore than Clinton, or Jerry Brown for that matter, have or will.  “Genuine?”  Jeb?  I prefer “authentic” to “genuine.”  There are a few Democratic politicians that are authentic.  Not sure about Republicans, but a number of them do appear to be authentic loons.  It’s “backbone” for oneself and one’s ambitions is what all the POTUS candidates have.  But there’s another common word for that characteristic.  

   • 

     MNPundit on March 16, 2015 at 3:58 pm

     Cruz gave a right wing populism speech the other day. Largely recognized the problems but of course his solutions are all about making things worse as we’ve always seen. Most democrats are not populists and many disdain populism.

     • 

       Marie2 on March 16, 2015 at 5:42 pm

       Maybe we should retire the word “populism” because its original meaning has been lost and is now conflated with “popular.”  Taxes have never been popular, but anti-tax populism is an oxymoron.

       The choice is between industrialized feudalism or socialism.  At most only 20% of the population desire the former and that only because of the benefits that would directly inure to them even if far less than 20% would fare worse under socialism.  The real word choice isn’t between feudalism and socialism, but where to draw the various lines between government and private sector activities.  Seriously, how many people would do away with government insurance on bank deposits?    

       • 

         MNPundit on March 16, 2015 at 6:48 pm

         I think a lot of people would for banks, especially above a certain threshold.

         I sort of agree with you about populism as so many times in American history it has mixed with nativism.

         • 

           Marie2 on March 16, 2015 at 7:21 pm

           I have never met anyone that doesn’t want their bank deposits insured.  Created a bit of a problem in the late 1980s when people discovered that their S&L deposit accounts exceeded the FSLIC guaranteed limit and those high interest CDs weren’t guaranteed.  Some quick retroactive legislation made the smaller depositors whole.

           “nativism” — good word.  Must remember to use it more often.

         • 

           MNPundit on March 17, 2015 at 1:22 am

           I was trying to be cute and referring to bank bailouts. Limiting insurance for the banks in the form of government bailouts would be something a lot of people would support.

5. 

   calling all toasters on March 16, 2015 at 4:14 pm

   “The central message of Buddhism is not ‘Every man for himself.'” —  A Fish Called Wanda

6. 

   Alice on March 17, 2015 at 9:42 am

   Looks like they’re going for “the sincere one” and “the honest Bush.”  Oooh the dignity!  

   But of course Vicki and Arthur have both got it right.  Jeb tops my list of most despised candidates.