Things that were not immediately obvious to me

Back on 1 September, Ebert wrote a post bearing the charming title “Put up or shut up”. It amounted to a call for prominent Republicans to make a great production out of denouncing claims to the effect that Obama was a Muslim. This was either an incredibly naive or massively disingenuous post. Today, I’d like to explain why I say that, and why I waited so long to comment on it.

Persuasion

When you’re attempting to persuade, you want to talk about those issues that support your point. When Ebert wrote his piece we were deep into the 2010 midterm election season, and Republicans and Democrats were each attempting to persuade voters to back their side in the election. Any fair reading of Ebert’s political stuff would put him firmly in the “Democrat” column, and mark him as an active participant in the attempt to persuade.

Field of Battle

In early September, the GOP was beating the stuffing out of the Dems in the persuasion contest; whether on taxes, spending, defense, terrorism, or health care, the GOP was happy to talk about the issues because it was winning on them. The only sensible response to this for the Dems was to try to change the subject to something that favored them.

What was a good topic? Well, there weren’t many, but this “Muslim” thing seemed like a good one. If the debate could be made into a question of whether or not Obama was a Muslim … well, the Dems could win that argument.

Bad Advice

This is what makes Ebert’s statement:

We know, because they’ve said so publicly, that George W. Bush, his father and Sen. John McCain do not believe Obama is a Muslim. This is the time — now, not later — for them to repeat that belief in a joint statement. Other prominent Republicans such as Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul also certainly do not believe it. They have a responsibility to make that clear by subscribing to the statement. Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin and Rush Limbaugh must join, or let their silence indict them.

so silly. For GOP-types to even bring up the “Muslim” question would have been to play into the hands of Dem strategists, because it would have shifted the playing field to something the Dems could win on. If Ebert didn’t understand this when he wrote the piece (and impugned the integrity of any GOP pol who wouldn’t do the damn fool thing he suggested) then he’s incredibly naive. If he did understand it, he’s a disingenuous creep.

I didn’t bring this up at the time, because, well, I didn’t want to change the subject.

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So, Michael Buffer. The “Let’s get ready to rumble” fight announcer guy. I looked him up on Wikipedia the other day, and it turns out that he’s made quite a tidy living from that schtick. Supposedly, his trademark on that phrase has earned him four hundred million dollars.

5 words. Nearly half-a-billion dollars. Marketing’s a hell of a thing, isn’t it?

Also interesting to consider: I’d be surprised if the second-most successful ring announcer (Jimmy Lennon Jr.?) had made even 2% as much as Buffer. Winner-take-all?

An Argy friend of mine was given to:

1. Joking about some of the less-charming stereotypes of her countrymen. (“The French of Latin America.” “How does an Argentine commit suicide? He climbs to the top of his ego and jumps off.”)
2. Opining that I would fit in well in/get along with the people of/be happy in Buenos Aires.

Since the two ideas were usually expressed at some temporal remove from one another, only much later did I realize that the overall message was not necessarily entirely complimentary.

Some random thoughts on Wikileaks. Be warned: I’m going to be doing a bit of “people say such-and-such” w/o providing any links, because I’m feeling a bit lazy. I don’t think any of these unsourced mutterings will be much in dispute, however.

The short version:

• The horse is out of the barn
• Julian Assange ought not be prosecuted by the U.S.
• Australia could plausibly see him as a traitor, however
• And he definitely seems to be an enemy of the U.S.
• The Swedish “rape” charges look to be entirely bogus
• Bradley Manning should be prosecuted by the U.S.
• It’s possible that this is all a U.S. psyop

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