Marrying Up

Jim Lindgreen is single-handedly trying to turn what I used to regard as the best read on the Internet into something resembling Instapundit without the links. Please, Eugene, make the silly man go away.

Brayden, Jim’s complaint was not that Scheifer was a bad moderator, but that he was a biased moderator. On that count, Jim was wrong.

For the record– even though a) I was rooting for Kerry and b) I don’t think Bush needs any help to lose debates– I thought Scheifer was pretty clearly biased, throwing meatball after meatball to Kerry and phrasing questions in peculiarly loaded ways.

Schiefer didn’t make Bush lie about his bin Laden quote, or make him take the bizarre tack of telling people over and over again that they’re really better off than they think they are (Guardsmen, veterans, the unemployed). Bush did all that all on his own. But, yeah, I’d certainly judge Scheifer to be disqualified from future debate moderation duties.

Yo, what does “abb” stand for?

The preposterous imputation of liberal bias to Bob Schieffer aside, the right seems mostly to object to the debates framing the election as a referendum on the Bush presidency. But everybody seemed to think that Reagan’s “are you better off now than you were four years ago” was a fair criterion in 1980. Why isn’t it a fair criterion now?

Volokh lost Jacob Levy? That must have happened while I wasn’t paying attention. Can anyone fill me in on what happened?

Quite frankly, I’ve often wondered at some portion of the blogosphere’s fascination with the Volokh site. Sometimes it’s ok, sometimes it’s dreadful, sometimes it’s good, rarely is it insightful. It’s better than Reynolds’s sight, but that’s not much of a compliment.

I have to speak up in favor of volokh.com. I think people read it because Eugene’s thoughtful style makes him a rightwinger that lefties can turn to for sane analysis. His posts are carefully argued, and he usually addresses the opposing view without mockery, ad hominem dismissal, or unfair characterization of the argument. Also, he normally sticks fairly close to his area of expertise, so his posts are usually more valuable than those of a generalist or a political junkie. In short, he seems to be arguing in good faith even if you disagree with him. Levy was also good, as was Tyler Cowen back when he used to post more

Jacob: This demonstrates the difficulty of judging bias. I thought the moderator had a pro-Bush bias, and that Kerry got the bulk of the “gotcha” questions.

I think the soft ball part of it is that Teressa isnt a “string woman” she came from a well off family, flitte around in swtizerland then married a fortune. The correct responce would be that no she’s a rich brat

Whereas George Bush, on the other hand…?

Kieran, the link is broken for me; though the only other post from Lindgren I’ve read supports your overall estimate. (MoveOn says Bush said that Saddam sought uranium from Niger! But Bush said “Africa”!) I agree with catfish about the Volokhs overall, though.

Giles, I agree with you that Teresa Heinz is not “string.”

Bob Schieffer: Mrs. Heinz-Kerry, are you a string woman?
Teresa Heinz-Kerry: No, I’m a fraid knot.

Kerry was born rich, with relatives who had even more money. Now he’s married to a woman who married extremely well the first time around and who as a result has more money than he does.
Kerry and Bush are both ‘Bonesmen’ and the Times had even had a graph of their overlapping family histories. Bush and Kerry are distant cousins.

This is not a vote for Jacob Levy; I find them all unbearable, Volokh included.

Just one more thing about Bob Schieffer, the one whose animus against Bush was so blatant that Mr. Levy (posting above) believes that Schieffer ought never to moderate a presidential debate again:

Bob Schieffer is not merely a friend of Bush’s. His brother Tom was, with Bush, a co-owner of the Texas Rangers baseball franchise. Moreover, Tom Schieffer is now the U.S. ambassador to Australia, and was appointed to that post by Bush.

I think Kerry’s answer was brilliant, and TOTALLY trumped Bush’s. Why? When asked about “strong women” Bush chose his wife. Kerry chose his *mother*.

I think Kerry sewed up the votes of MANY undecided women, right there, in one answer.

I might explain. When I was a young single asshole (as opposed to the old married asshole I am now), the focus of my life was gaming the “dating” system for my own hedonistic gain. I had several platonic female friends who were very sharp in gaming the system from the other side, to secure the “perfect” man. We respected each other and compared notes and I learned a lot.

One of the things I learned is that an important question savvy single women ask a prospective mate is: “How would you describe your relationship with your mother?” It’s a very important question and the answer supposedly reveals a lot about man’s attitude towards and respect for women, and his comfort with and ability to maintain loving, close, personal relationships. From what I’ve been told, a woman can quickly “out” a closeted misogynist, nebbishy mama’s boy, or various other afflictions, based on his level of comfort in answering this.

Just as Kerry aimed his Swift Boat directly into fire, he aimed his answer directly at the archetypal strong woman in his life, the woman that has the single greatest influence on any mammal’s life, the one who really defines for most men the ideal of what women are all about: his mom. He went above and beyond the call of duty. Award the man a Silver Star for that answer.

It’s even more ironic (and telling!), since Bush’s mom is most *definitely* a strong woman– well-known and admired by many– who had a huge influence on him and would have been an excellent political choice as an answer. She’s also the person in the family that he resembles most: her nasty and vindictive streak is legendary. Regardless of whether Bush chose not to answer “Barbara Peirce Bush” out of political cowardice, emotional cowardice, neglect, or stupidity, he *loses*.