Politics suck because politicians suck, so why would people want to drink a beer with a sucky politician acting like a regular guy? If he were a regular guy, then he wouldn't be in politics.
In his novel, Dune, Frank Herbert revealed a truth about why governments will always be corrupt:
"All governments suffer a recurring problem: Power attracts pathological personalities. It is not that power corrupts but that it is magnetic to the corruptible."
I'd argue that it's not so much that power is a magnet, but that sitting through boring legislative sessions, hearings, and strategy meetings is a repellant to anyone intelligent enough to be insightful, thoughtful, or interesting.
I read it too for comic relief and a glimpse into parallel universes, although it typically results in blood pressure spikes. It helps that the $1/month fee is covered by a credit card so I don't have to feel like I'm personally contributing funding to the bird-cage liner of a propaganda rag. See, everyone rationalizes their actions including me!
You left out the best part of Warren's embarassment. Not that she pretended to be a beer drinker but that she literally said "I think I'll get me a beer."
NYT skipped the beer test with Mandami and instead went with him to a dumpy Pakistani restaurant in Queens so he could prove his regular-guy bona fides. He claimed it was his favorite place to eat, then took his meal home in a bag because he was "too busy" to actually sit and eat. A more intrepid reporter would have undoubtedly seen a staffer flinging the doggy bag from his moving Escalade a block away, but no such luck from the fawning Times.
Elites try to appeal to downscale voters, so they set down the wine glass to sip a beer. No one wants to drink beer with a harridan like Elizabeth Warren.
Is it *really* fine, though, that the Times is doing a puff piece on this guy because they want the Republican to lose? You and I know the Times is the PR arm of the Democrat Party, but the paper sells itself as an ethical nonpartisan source of facts and analysis, and its readers/followers gleefully swallow that lie and all the lies that follow.
Oh Matt you HAVE to cover Nebraska politics! Both parties suing each other (and dems are getting sued by a county chair for sexual harrassment), both parties suing third parties to keep them off the ballot, and Osborn holding an "all are welcome" Soros rally and kicking out the press.
They miss the point. What you want to know is what happens somewhere around the fourth beer.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
See Paul and Nancy Pelosi.
Politics suck because politicians suck, so why would people want to drink a beer with a sucky politician acting like a regular guy? If he were a regular guy, then he wouldn't be in politics.
In his novel, Dune, Frank Herbert revealed a truth about why governments will always be corrupt:
"All governments suffer a recurring problem: Power attracts pathological personalities. It is not that power corrupts but that it is magnetic to the corruptible."
I can think of two or three morons I would rather have suffered a few beers with than have had them as president.
Operative words -"would rather have suffered"
The Dune sestet hugely clarified my political thinking. I can't count how many times those books blew my head right open.
Stinging, but on point.
I'd argue that it's not so much that power is a magnet, but that sitting through boring legislative sessions, hearings, and strategy meetings is a repellant to anyone intelligent enough to be insightful, thoughtful, or interesting.
It's nice that folks like you and Ann Althouse read the NYT so that normies don't have to.
Id love more coverage of what they stop covering.
Like how MSNBC has suddenly stopped caring about trans issues this year
I read it too for comic relief and a glimpse into parallel universes, although it typically results in blood pressure spikes. It helps that the $1/month fee is covered by a credit card so I don't have to feel like I'm personally contributing funding to the bird-cage liner of a propaganda rag. See, everyone rationalizes their actions including me!
You left out the best part of Warren's embarassment. Not that she pretended to be a beer drinker but that she literally said "I think I'll get me a beer."
Kamala may have flunked the beer test, but I bet she aced the box wine test.
And the vodka tonic ...
The NYT will twist itself in knots to push the agenda
Or just lie.
Hey, Slate, Trump's a teetotaler.
It's almost a shame, though -- he'd be a drunk among drunks, I'd bet.
He pulls that off without alcohol.
"There's no situation that can't be worsened with a drink."
NYT skipped the beer test with Mandami and instead went with him to a dumpy Pakistani restaurant in Queens so he could prove his regular-guy bona fides. He claimed it was his favorite place to eat, then took his meal home in a bag because he was "too busy" to actually sit and eat. A more intrepid reporter would have undoubtedly seen a staffer flinging the doggy bag from his moving Escalade a block away, but no such luck from the fawning Times.
"heteronormative leisure tendencies" might be the greatest punk band name ever.
AOC is already winning back working-class folks by discussing the Overton Window theory of politics.
Elites try to appeal to downscale voters, so they set down the wine glass to sip a beer. No one wants to drink beer with a harridan like Elizabeth Warren.
Hey - I resemble that remark!
I'd have a beer with you, Matt. :-)
My thought exactly!
I am constantly amazed, Mr Taibbi, how you can take a topic on which I have a vague memory and fill in a wealth of detail that I had never suspected.
Thank you for writing the suspected but unknown history of our era.
Is it *really* fine, though, that the Times is doing a puff piece on this guy because they want the Republican to lose? You and I know the Times is the PR arm of the Democrat Party, but the paper sells itself as an ethical nonpartisan source of facts and analysis, and its readers/followers gleefully swallow that lie and all the lies that follow.
Oh Matt you HAVE to cover Nebraska politics! Both parties suing each other (and dems are getting sued by a county chair for sexual harrassment), both parties suing third parties to keep them off the ballot, and Osborn holding an "all are welcome" Soros rally and kicking out the press.
Trump won the "beer test," but Hilary was the runaway choice for the "drink the blood of her enemies test."
I dont want to have a beer with a politician. I just want less of them.
Great story. I think I'm gonna get me a beer.