A Reason To Dislike Jonathan Chait - Democratic Underground

Dr Ron

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Mon Jun-26-06 08:50 PM
Original message

A Reason To Dislike Jonathan Chait

Here's one of the worst starts to a political article to appear recenlty:

"After the 2004 presidential election, some of us liberals came away with the conclusion that it's awfully hard to defeat an incumbent president during wartime. And some of us came away with the conclusion that John Kerry is a really awful politician."

http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?i=w060626&s=chait060626

This is already bad enough. This doesn't even have much to do with the rest of the article, yet for some reason he felt compelled to start with bashing Kerry like this.

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wisteria

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Mon Jun-26-06 08:54 PM
Response to Original message

1. Isn't this the group that supported Lieberman in 04? n/t

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Dr Ron

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Mon Jun-26-06 09:06 PM
Response to Reply #1

2. TNR backed Lieberman

TNR generally is pro-Lieberman. I don't recall who Chait personally endorsed. It definately wasn't Kerry. In 2003 the various TNR editors wrote editorials backing different candidates. The only candidate that nobody supported was Kerry.

That's one reason I find an all out, knock down battle between Kos and TNR so amusing.

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wisteria

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Mon Jun-26-06 09:43 PM
Response to Reply #2

3. Thanks for the information. n/t

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karynnj

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Tue Jun-27-06 07:30 AM
Response to Reply #2

8. So, if Kerry is such an awful politician how did he win the primaries

without their help? If I assume that he was an awful politician, then it must be that he won because he was so superior a statesman and potential president, that he won in spite of his poor political skills. I think there is some merit to the idea that he was and is that superior, but even having people see this is a certain amount of political skill.

I think this charge has as much merit as all the comments such as:
-He's a boring speaker and
-He can't connect

When I hear any of these people - when they appear on CSPAN or one of the talk shows, they would not stand out in a crowd for their charm or personality.

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JI7

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Mon Jun-26-06 09:52 PM
Response to Original message

4. did his girlfriend dump him for Kerry or something ?

that's the exact type of attitude i get from these fuckers. Chait being one of the worst. they always come across as bitchy , jealous pricks.

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globalvillage

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Mon Jun-26-06 10:00 PM
Response to Original message

5. Lead deserves a nomination!

http://www.bulwer-lytton.com/

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Dr Ron

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Mon Jun-26-06 11:32 PM
Response to Original message

6. Actually he makes good points if you ignore his opening

I finally got around to reading what Chait really had to say. If he had left out the cheap shot against Kerry, it is a decent column. I sort of like it as, while Chait apparently does not realize it, the rest of his column could be used to defend Kerry against his attack.

I discussed this at The Democratic Daily:

http://blog.thedemocraticdaily.com/?p=3444

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ProSense

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Tue Jun-27-06 06:03 AM
Response to Reply #6

7. That's pretty much all it boils down to

cheap shots.

During the debate in the Senate, which I watched from the gallery, supporters of the war resolution talked of minimal casualties, a quick victory, and a "short war."

Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), who won a Silver Star and Bronze Star in Vietnam, only to come home to oppose that war, implored his colleagues:

"There has been a lot of talk on this floor about treaties, resolutions, principles... and all the strategic reasons for going to war... But sometimes... in the words we lose sight of the personal stakes...

"Our VA hospitals are already full of several generations of veterans who carry or wear daily reminders of the costs of war... They cannot care for those already needing help. So, are we ready to spend the money on a new generation of patients?"

The Kerry addressing the Senate that day was a very different man from the one who a decade later would vote for a war resolution with Iraq for reasons of political expedience and his own presidential ambitions. But on this occasion, he was speaking from the heart.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/murray-waas/a-reporters-bias_b_23782.html

I notice a lot of little cheap shots even when they cannot ignore that Kerry is right!

Does Wass really believe that Kerry gave his Oct. 2002 speech against the war, voted on a resolution to hold Bush accountable, spoke strongly against Bush's rush to war in the months before the invasion and since then for political expedience? Is Wass saying he believes opposing the war was politically expedient?

The comment isn't even germane to the story. He could have talked about this:

http://blog.thedemocraticdaily.com/?p=1855

http://www.kerry.senate.gov/v3/cfm/record-ma.cfm?id=252492

Like I said, cheap shots (and ulterior motives).

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Dr Ron

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Tue Jun-27-06 09:14 AM
Response to Reply #7

9. Only the IWR counts

They only pay attention to the IWR vote.

Kerry's reasons for voting yes do not matter.

None of Kerry's many anti-war statements (before or during the war) count.

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karynnj

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Tue Jun-27-06 10:13 AM
Response to Reply #9

10. What makes it particularly annoying is

when some of the same people absolve Edwards because he said "I was wrong". They should stop and think why they hold Kerry to a higher standard. For some, it might be disappointment that Kerry didn't do as expected and eloquently lead the opposition.

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Mass

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Tue Jun-27-06 10:34 AM
Response to Original message

11. TNR, TNR, TNR...

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