Saturday, July 17, 2010

issues? we don't need no stinking issues!

this is a pretty funny headline, but also says a lot about the sad state of american politics.

there's really no incentive for the GOP to have an agenda. if they wrote down a list all it would do is risk pissing off some faction in their tent. in theory not having an agenda could also pose a risk, the risk that the press would make a big deal about how the party doesn't stand for anything other than obstructing the democrats. but there's no chance of the press doing that. the current state of affairs is viewed as too normal to be newsworthy.

ASIDE (that really isn't totally an aside): want another example of the craziness of the american political press? matt lewis, columnist for politics daily, reads the same article and thinks the most newsworthy bit of the story is the fact that newt gingrich calls political consultants "stupid". yes, an insult hurled at a respected beltway profession is far more newsworthy than the fact that one of the two political parties doesn't have an agenda and isn't sure whether it needs one.

(via memeorandum)