Tuesday, July 12, 2011

T-PAW!

I feel like people should be screaming 'T-Paawwww; what, what!' after his name is announced when he walks onto stage.

I also think I hate him more every time I listen to him on a Sunday talk show. Given that I developed a strong distaste for him in 2009, he's sunk pretty low by now. It's not just that he says dumb things - everyone spouts bullshit on these shows (the reason Tim Russert was so great was the pushback he gave). David Gregory is ok about forcing people to be honest, but just seemed to give Pawlenty a free pass. Chris Wallace did a better job, but still let T-Paw get away with quite a bit. Problem is, whenever this man is interviewed, it seems as though he says something stupid, and the interviewer just lets him get away with it because it will take too much effort to explain the fallacy, and even if you did explain why he's wrong, Pawlenty would just double down on stupid. Kind of like Joe Wilson. And Bachmann. And, really, boiler plate Tea Party in general.

The awesome thing Pawlenty suggested was fixing Obama's approach to Libya by approaching it the way Reagan would. Gregory suggested Reagan pulled out of Lebanon, which runs counter to Timmy's "Obama isn't tough enough" mantra. T-Paw counters that Reagan used other methods to dispose of dictators. Awesome: Presidential Candidate Tim Pawlenty just went on national tv and suggested Iran-Contra was a good idea. Or maybe he just supported the way Reagan dealt with Libya. That was a time when our country was run by a strong, military-minded President who wasn't afraid to take on Gaddafi. So he engaged in a bombing campaign while refusing to send in ground troops and eventually called an end to hostilities without ever taking out Gaddafi. Which, oddly enough, seems to be what everyone is accusing the current weak, pinko president of doing...

For the record, Reagan on the debt ceiling:
Denigration of the full faith and credit of the United States would have substantial effects on the domestic financial markets and on the value of the dollar in exchange markets. The Nation can ill afford to allow such a result. The risks, the costs, the disruptions and the incalculable damage lead me to but one conclusion: the Senate must pass this legislation before the Congress adjourns.

I wonder what it's like to exalt a man as your infallible guide to policy and politics, yet disagree with most of what he stood for and did.