Will we be singing "Hoppy Days Are Here Again"?

[infrogmation]

Leap Day will mark the start of "The Year of the Frog"

I choose to take this as a good sign.

Meanwhile in politics:



Photographic proof! Calvin Coolidge actually a sleeper agent for the Red Menace!

One of the things I'm amused at is the Republicans attacking Obama as someone who glosses over complicated issues with optimistic generalities-- while at the same time the Republicans kowtow to the idol of Saint Reagan.

Comments

[mmcirvin.livejournal.com]

I don't agree with Obama about everything, but one thing I do like about him as a campaigner is that he projects an incredible sense of not being afraid of these guys.

John Kerry, like a lot of Democrats, treated every smear that someone sent his way, no matter how ridiculous, as an unexploded bomb, to be handled gingerly and defensively or left untouched lest it destroy him. Hillary Clinton's a tough person but even she does this to some degree.

Obama doesn't. You attack him with something that is substantively stupid and mendacious, and he will jam it right back down your throat, often within hours of its appearance in the infosphere and without appearing the least bit rattled. This is why I never believed the people who thought he'd melt in a presidential campaign because he seemed like such a nice guy—he and his campaign already had this rapid, cool, precisely targeted response down pat when the "madrassa" lies first surfaced over a year ago (and it didn't hurt that one of the targets was a personal nemesis of mine (http://mmcirvin.livejournal.com/367943.html)). I don't know if he can keep it up all the way to November or if something will actually manage to get under his skin, but he's been really good at it so far.

Back in 2004 (I think), Josh Marshall proposed what he called the "bitch-slap theory" of campaign politics in the post-9/11 world, that much of the purpose of ridiculous and unbelievable campaign smears was not to tarnish the candidate's reputation directly but to create the appearance of weakness in response. If Kerry can't handle these morons, how will he handle The Terrorists? etc. I think Obama's internalized this.

Yay, Obama!

[infrogmation.livejournal.com]

What a great candidate! Not only will Obama bring back hope, he will personally smack down your childhood nemesis.

I agree about his deft dealing with attacks. This is an interesting campaign to watch. I'd rank Obama's style above both Reagan and Bill Clinton. I think has incorporated elements from both of them, along with other great speakers of the last half century.

[mshollie.livejournal.com]

I'd celebrate the year of the frog with you if you were able to leap around. :) Oh, I'd celebrate anyway. Cheers. :)

[mshollie.livejournal.com]

Could you put your pics behind a cut? Thanks.

[infrogmation.livejournal.com]

Okay, done. Too large a size? You webbing on your ipod?

[ancientscripts.livejournal.com]

Leap to a happy frog year, froggy!

Figuratively speaking, of course. How's the knee doing?