A Note to Andrew Sullivan

by Pejman Yousefzadeh on December 8, 2010

Welcome, Andrew Sullivan readers. Check this out.

Concerning this post:

1. It is not any kind of orthodox Republican talking point that Barack Obama is “an alien and a threat.” Most Republicans simply view the President as someone with whom we disagree on a host of policy issues. To be sure, there are some Republicans who hold extreme views, and because of the nature of the press coverage in this country, where the most controversial people get the biggest megaphones, we hear their voices the loudest. That doesn’t mean that those voices are representative of the bulk of Republicans in the country. (PS: Polls are snapshots of selected sets of the population, at selected times. They may offer an insight into certain trends, they may certainly be valuable sources of information, but they do not offer the whole picture–how could they?–when it comes to public opinion concerning a given topic, and therefore, are not definitive proof of anything. Something to bear in mind if and when you try to respond by citing a poll purporting to state that Republicans believe the President is a “socialislamokenyan just to the right of Stalin,” or some other such silly contention.)

2. The mere fact that Republicans are negotiating with the Obama Administration over legislation does not mean that critiques against the Administration are somehow invalidated. You weren’t making this claim about the supposed invalidity of Democratic critiques of George W. Bush when Democrats were negotiating with him over legislation, were you?

3. Just out of curiosity, how much “meep, meeping” were you doing when the election results were coming in on the night of November 2nd? You tool.

Tagged as: Andrew Sullivan, Barack Obama, Democrats, Obama Administration, Politics, Republicans, Tax Deal

  • No One, Really

    Good points, but you might as well be talking to a wall.

  • Anonymous

    “Just out of curiosity, how much “meep, meeping” were you doing when the election results were coming in on the night of November 2nd? You tool.”

    Maybe you want to know, but most of us don’t even want to think about it.

  • seanmahair

    Ok, I really am tired of repeating this every time it comes up but here it goes. Obama’s birth certificate is not the real issue as most people who continue to beat that drum will tell you. It isn’t about the certificate itself. It’s about the fact that this man, this one man has gotten away with avoiding the law over and over and over again. In order for my son to into the military he had to show a birth certificate, in order to put my children in school I had to show a birth certificate. In order to get hired in his job my husband had to show a birth certificate.
    Now I have two children who were born outside the US (military babies) so I know what a Birth REPORT is. It is NOT a birth certificate only a record of a report of a birth. There is a difference, sorry but it’s true.
    The point in all of this is why this president thinks he’s immune to Federal law. Why since this has been an issue from the beginning did he not just release his birth certificate? End the debate, put a stop to the argument.
    As for your second point, there must always be compromise. This is government of ALL the people not just the group in power. And so it falls to those in the middle to build something everyone can live with.
    I don’t know what “meep, meeping” is but if Sully’s doing it, it can’t be good.

    • Anonymous

      Oh, awesome. The birther argument.
      This issue has been settled. Please don’t raise it again here–even obliquely. That’s my one and only warning.

  • pbaseoul

    Please, please, please stop paying attention to Andrew Sullivan.

  • Anonymous

    When Obama was inaugurated, the right flipped out about the fairness doctrine. Then they said he was nationalizing the auto industry as a prelude to proletariat ownership of the means of production. Then they argued that the Heritage Foundation’s health insurance reform plan was socialist fascism. Then they said that he was humiliating America by bowing to the Japanese emperor. Next week it’ll be that he’s destroying our security by selling arms to a nearly-Islamofied Europe. The GOP routinely opposes policies it ostensibly supported a month or a year ago, bnecause GOP allegiance has no policy content. This is true not only of “extreme” elements of the GOP, but every single ellected GOP official, because there is no such thing as a moderate Republican. See: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2010_06/024459.php

    The one fixed, unalterable belief of the right is that Obama ain’t one of us. He’s in the “them” box with liberals, Muslims, foreigners, coastal elites, etc. There is no fact or development that will alter that view– not even a negotiation on tax rates. It is rooted in tribalism, not rationality. It can’t be reasoned away.

    (Plus, they’ll hear from their news outlets that Obama only went along with this because he’s going to go back on his word; that it was a terrible sellout by the GOP; that it raises taxes on all Americans; that it’s a feint before he declares Sharia; that it included a secret provision to fund ACORN and require affirmative action in NASCAR; that no deal ever took place; that he signed the bill while he disrespectfully put his feet up on the Oval Office desk and rubbed his bum on the American flag, etc.)

    The right hates because they hate. There is no policy rationale, no reasoned argument, that can change that.

  • Oboe

    Yeah, Sullivan’s point is just wishful thinking. One thing we’ve seen again and again is that the GOP base is on a short leash with this stuff. If it’s in the interest of the Conservative noise-machine to “rehabililtate” Obama, it’s the easiest thing in the world to do. Heck, 5-6 years ago, John McCain was a RINO–a traitor to the cause. Two years ago, he was the GOP nominee.

    And, yes, the credit Sullivan extends to Obama for his “eleventy-hundred dimensional chess” strategic mastery is a bit over-the-top. DADT crapped the bed? All part of the plan, man! Meep-meep!

  • Tank Palin

    Er. Polls asking about Obama’s birthplace have repeatedly, repeatedly found massive Republican support for birtherism. These aren’t statistical outliers. These aren’t fluke results. The GOP base simply does not believe that the President is an American (or the legitimate President). Although I’m more worried about the 24 percent of Republicans who think Obama “may” be the Antichrist. Anywho, if you won’t accept these polls as accurate, then what evidence do you intend to examine to discern the opinion of the GOP masses? Anecdotes?

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