Two bits from this Morning’s Jolt . . .
. . . of all the reactions to the new GOP Pledge, this one, posted to the Corner by Kathryn, set me off the most.
While I support their attempt at redefining government, the politicians once again proved they cannot do anything with simplicity and eloquence.
I read again the Declaration of Independence after reading The Pledge and was struck by The DoC’s brevity and clarity — two pages versus twenty some odd for The Pledge. The one launched the greatest nation the world has ever seen and the other……only time will tell.
Really? It’s not as brief and clear as the Declaration of Independence? It’s not as good as one of the most important and powerful political documents in human history? Setting the bar a little high, are we?
I’m reminded of an infamous statement from basketball coach Rick Pitino, when he decided to bluntly tell reporters and fans that the Boston Celtics team he was coaching wasn’t as talented as past legends and that expectations had to be ratcheted down: “Larry Bird is not walking through that door, fans. Kevin McHale is not walking through that door, and Robert Parish is not walking through that door.”
Well, Americans, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and John Adams are not walking through that door. We’ve got a pretty good crop of GOP House candidates running this cycle, and this was the basic platform that they could run on in all 50 states and a couple hundred House districts.
The rest of the Pitino’s rant might apply to our current circumstance as well: “I wish we had $90 million under the salary cap. I wish we could buy the world. We can’t. The only thing we can do is work hard. And all this negativity that’s in this room sucks . . . I’ve been around when Jim Rice was booed. I’ve been around when Yastrzemski was booed, and it stinks. It makes the greatest city in the world lousy. The only thing that will turn this around is being upbeat and positive like we are in that locker room . . . And if you think I’m going to succumb to negativity, you’re wrong. You’ve got the wrong guy leading this team.”
Let’s go get ‘em, guys! . . . Of course, the Celtics went 36-46 that year.
And the Addenda . . .
The other night on Hugh Hewitt’s radio show, we were mocking the new CNN show — it’s technically called “Parker/Spitzer”, not “Client Number Nine at Eight” and Hugh observed that instead of Kathleen Parker and the whore-mongering former governor you could make a more interesting show by picking any two speakers on the National Review Post-Election Cruise. He picked, at random, Phyllis Schlafly and Andrew Breitbart, which seemed like a surefire formula for fireworks.
Try it at home, it’s fun: James Lileks and John Derbyshire: Sunshine and Gloom!
Andrew McCarthy and Rob Long: Law and Order and Cheers!
The Goldbergs, Jonah and Bernie!
Bernard Lewis and Greg Gutfeld! Let’s pair a British intelligence officer in World War II and the world’s preeminent expert in Islam with a former editor of Maxim!