Like Jim Gilmore, George Allen has taken to blogging. I should think these are cool but, more than anything else, these blogs just make me sad. I can’t put my finger on why.
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Open source, procurement, and gov tech.
Like Jim Gilmore, George Allen has taken to blogging. I should think these are cool but, more than anything else, these blogs just make me sad. I can’t put my finger on why.
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Because we thought we had already done away with these losers?
Common, Waldo. “I can’t put my finger on why?”
Isn’t that a bit disingenuous of you?
It is because you disagree with their points of view and opinions.
Bloggers are great until they disagree with you and then they go from being great citizens with a voice to “sad”?
Well, honestly, that might be part of it.
After an election is over, and one’s opponent loses, it’s nice to be able to look back and think “hey, he wasn’t such a bad guy, and good on him for giving it his all — no doubt he’s moved on.” So to see Allen and Gilmore blogging, in all of their poor-grammared glory, is just too stark.
The phrase “old lions” comes to mind. To exaggerate to make the point, it would be like seeing a lion one had once done battle with, many years later, to find that he’s toothless, lost much of his hair, and lost control of his bowels. That bursts years of grudging respect for one’s former foe, having seen him as the mere mortal that he is.
Unlike my pretend lion, though, there’s no indication that these guys have learned any lessons. If Allen’s dedicated his life to fighting against discrimination against Jews, as he promised Wolf Blitzer that he would, I see no sign of it. If Gilmore has learned that a balanced budget is important, he’s keeping it a secret. I prefer being able to assume that they’ve come around to the errors of their losing ways than seeing that evidence to the contrary. It’s just easier to respect somebody when you don’t know anything about them, I suppose.
If you find honesty disingenuous, I’m afraid you’ve come to the wrong place. I prefer to admit when I don’t know something.
I know many, many bloggers with whom I disagree on really fundamental political issues, and they don’t make me at all sad. Shaun, Norm and Jim Bacon all spring to mind quite readily. And, of course, I have a great many friends with whom I disagree fundamentally on political matters.
No, I’m pretty sure it’s got nothing to do with political differences or, at least, only to the extent to which I’ve described above. In fact, I can think of one defeated ostensible Democrat (Steve Sisson) whose blog evoked the same feeling in me when he started it up.
That blog is outragous.
Well, I peeked at Allen’s blog, and I think it’s trying way too hard.
If you sign up (hint: don’t use your primary email address – I can only imagine the mailing lists you’ll end up on.), you can peek in and watch the comments held in moderation pile up (you can’t see what they say – just the increasing number . . .).
In any event, I’m happy to have him out there. It’s sort of like a head on a pike at the gates. A reminder to every Virginian – yes, someone like this was once able to win statewide elections. Take heed.
…and he and his ilk will be back again when webster is shown to be what exactly he is. A political hack who just happened to be the “anti”-something. Not “I’m for….” anything.
My, my, how confident MB gets when a Republican loses one election by less than half a percent.
I haven’t seen any polls on it, but I suspect that George Allen is still highly respected by a majority of Virginians. He lost graciously — refusing to force the recount he was entitled to — and has been very polite since then. The man still sports an impressive win-loss record in elections, and you’re quite naive to believe that he could never win another one.
Bill Clinton was governor, lost a governor’s race, then won it back. Political comebacks are hardly unheard of, especially when elections are as close as last November’s was (in a Democratic sweep year, no less).
And where does anyone (Dan) come off calling Jim Gilmore a loser? I’d be very interested to see what that’s based upon.
I’m not a fan of politician blogs. They’re nearly always heavily moderated, and serve as disguised press release outlets. I’ve read similar “blogs” (I don’t think they qualify) from Jim Webb, Fred Thompson, Obama, Hillary, and many other national politicians — and none of them are worth seeing more than once. Allen’s and Gilmore’s are no exception.
My favorite part is the scrolling pictures at the top. The football as a a kid pic. The NASCAR pic. The farm pic. Hmmm. What image is he trying to put out there? I’m surprised he doesn’t just put images of his boots and hat up. It’d take less time. What he’s got there now is just eye-rolling fluff.
I have a hard time believing Felix is actually writing any of that. “Press release outlet” is right.
And he’s totally gearing up for a run at something.
Publius, how do you come off questioning the validity of my opinion? Sure, Gilmore hasn’t been the loser on any high-profile election night. But, he was a total flop as RNC chair, he was a total flop as a Presidential candidate and he was a total flop as governor. And beyond that, I think he’s petulant and whiny and I just don’t like him.
And don’t forget, regarding Allen’s loss, that he started that race as the frontrunner for the Republican nomination for President, and that he was running against a relative unknown in a (supposedly) red state. That is a choke on 2004 New York Yankees proportions.
Hey, that’s cool. You think Gilmore is a loser because you don’t like his politics. Fair enough.
You’ve got it wrong. It’s not about his politics. I just don’t like him. It’s not political, it’s personal.
Publius is right. Allen lost by 9,000 votes in a year when there was a Democratic tidal wave. I imagine he’s still got a significant reservoir of support out there. He’ll be back.
Dan’s right too, though – he blew it. I mean, let’s be honest about it. Has that guy Wadhams gone back to Colorado yet? He should let Susan run his next campaign.
And what’s up with calling Allen “Felix”? Yeah, I know it’s his middle name, but it comes off as some sort of Julius Streicher-like Jew baiting. Very classy.
Good point, Smails. I wonder how people who get their jollies saying “Felix” react when they hear Barack Hussein Obama.
Allen reportedly doesn’t like his middle name, I suppose it might sound a little bit… you know… foreign. Certainly not a name a cowboy like Allen would have. So, it was a natural thing for Virginians who thought he was a disgrace to the Commonwealth would say.
I’ve never heard Obama comment on his last name one way or the another. Certainly, he’s not trying to hide his roots. It’s people like Fox News and others who “mistakenly” refer to him as Osama that piss me off. It’s disingenous, petty and it makes a mockery of three thousand American dead.
To my knowledge, Ted Kennedy was the first person to call Obama Osama. Here’s the text and link:
“Why don’t we just ask Osama bin — Osama Obama — Obama what — since he won by such a big amount. Seriously, Senator Obama is really unique and special.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A4354-2005Jan12?language=printer
I don’t really blame you, Dan, for not knowing that. It’s the kind of thing the mainstream liberal media doesn’t spend a great deal of time reporting on. Kinda like Obama refering to the PM of Canada as a “president” just the other day. Can you imagine the ridicule that would be visited on Romney, Thompson, etc for a similar gaffe?
In any event, I think it’s pretty clear that Allen’s detractors refering to him as Felix has ethno-religous undertones. At least Teddy K. just made a mistake. Of course, voluntary intoxication is no defense.
But, J.S., that was quite clearly a mistake on Sen. Kennedy’s part. And, for special ironic value, you link to the Washington Post while decrying the “mainstream liberal media” not reporting on this 30-month-old gaffe. :)
Coming late to the reply – no, not confident at all. There are plenty of unthinking voters left in this place. In any event, Allen’s being a Republican takes a distant second to my primary objection to him – his status as a Class A asshole who has no business near the levers of government.
And you and Smails throwing out the psuedo-anti-semite bit with Felix is so cute. It’s kind of like when Republicans get so het up about women’s rights around election day.
So Jim ‘Car-Tax’ Gilmore has a blog? I must visit so I can read about his legislative wizardry. The man is a political Harry Potter the way he disappears, and somehow magically reappears like a phoenix from his last failure. If Tom Delay ever franchised his bug biz, Jimbo is slotted as a regional manager.
I did follow the Allen link…hmmm…reminds me of a luggage website(“look at the pretty package we give you to wrap your life baggage in”)…without the personality.
These guys are empty suits.
Disarray in the party always brings out the opportunists.
Did you see that G.F. Allen has weighed in with his $0.02 on transportation funding? Yeah, drill the Virginia capes for oil.
“Opportunists?” Not sure whether that fits a former popular Congressman, Governor and Senator. Do you mean like how the Democratic Party was in disarray in ’92 after having lost the presidency 3 times in a row and Bill Clinton emerged?
Allen’s a guy who likes politics and probably wants his job back. Like, say, Al Gore, he lost by an excruciatingly close margain, and it’s no wonder he might like to give it another go.
Is this blogging thing a toe in the water? Yeah, I’d say so. Nothing wrong with that. The only question is whether he’ll run for Warner’s seat, the Goveror’s office or wait for Webb in 2012.
As the “Felix” name dropper (this time), I’ll just say that I do get a smidgen of sophomoric satisfaction (not really “jollies” so much) referring to GFA (is that better?) by a name he does not prefer.
It is interesting that GFA defenders are defending him against name calling (if you can actually say that calling someone by one of their given names is name calling – many people throughout my life have called me by my middle name, and I have never taken offense). “Macaca” anyone?
I’m not really sure where the “Jew-baiting” reference comes from. “Felix” as a name exists in many different societies with many different ethnic origins (to the point that it defies pinpointing). It’s not “ethno-religious undertones” (at least not from me – from others I guess it could be) – it’s irony. And oh yeah, a little sophomoric humor.
And for the record, when I hear “Barack Hussein Obama”, I think “they must be talking about Barack Obama”.
And I don’t spite GFA for wanting his job back (or for wanting someone else’s). Nor would he be an opportunist for doing so. I just think the guy is an actual bad representative in a representative government, and quite likely a bad person. He just happens to be a professional politician. And I, for one, am not a fan of professional politicians – be they Republican or Democrat. But we get what we vote for.
Smails, you keep dreaming. There is no comparison between William Jefferson Clinton and George Felix Allen. Ask your sister. Ask your momma. Ask your financial adviser.
Bill Clinton is the boy from Hope, Arkansas who made good. George Allen is the spoiled kid from Hollywood, who blew it on some cowboy duds and a George Bush fan club membership, with two trickle-down clusters. I’m just stunned by the delusion. But I’m thrilled by the possibilities.
Have you made your contribution to the “Good Government Action Fund” yet?
“The boy from Hope, Arkansas who made good?” C’mon, who’s drinkin’ the Kool-Aid here?