Your Next President, Robert Jordan

Matt Welch | June 23, 2008

I recently sat down with the L.A. Times' delightful Andrew Malcolm, the Oldest Rookie of political blogging, to talk about my John McCain book. The first segment of the interview went up last week; now we've got four more!

Part II is about McCain's unusual co-opting of 12-step recovery ideas and terminology. Part III examines the wide gap between McCain's foreign policy reputation and reality. Part IV talks about the centrality of "healing Vietnam" in the first two decades of his political career. And Part V delves into his interesting psychology of "beautiful fatalism" and aspiring to be Robert Jordan from For Whom the Bell Tolls.

Comments

Bingo|6.23.08 @ 11:23AM|#

McCain tugged irratatedly on his long braided hair and sniffed at the wool-headed men?

Matt Welch|6.23.08 @ 11:24AM|#

Just don't ask about the sleeping bag!

Kenny|6.23.08 @ 11:24AM|#

Experience an easier way of shopping for bespoke suits & shirts at Euro Tailors

Kenny Surtani

J|6.23.08 @ 11:24AM|#

That's what I was thinking too.

J|6.23.08 @ 11:25AM|#

*Bingo

Jozef|6.23.08 @ 11:29AM|#

At first I thought that the "Sword of Truth" author Robert Jordan was running for President. Now he'd be quite an interesting character...

|6.23.08 @ 11:32AM|#

I think Kenny hit the nail right on the head. Is McCain trying to make my suit and suit shopping experience as easy as it can be? Will McCain's service and commitment to quality even begin to rival what Euro Tailors has to offer? I, for one, will ponder Kenny's arguments for the rest of the day. I suggest you all do the same.

T|6.23.08 @ 11:55AM|#

So, he'd die before finishing his life's work? Oh, wait, wrong Jordan.

Of course, in McCain's case I think that means he'd die before getting elected president. Which seems like a very real possibility at the moment, and one that wouldn't bother me in the slightest.

|6.23.08 @ 12:14PM|#

I'm always glad to hear that other people have read thousands of pages and hundreds of thousands of words in one extremely long meandering story that will not debatedly be complete due to an author's death. I was sad when he died, but what a bastard.

From now on, I'll only read completed series.

All that being said, The Fires of Heaven rocked.

Wait, what are we suppossed to be talking about?

|6.23.08 @ 12:36PM|#

From now on, I'll only read completed series.

So... no more Warren Ellis for you too, then?

EJM|6.23.08 @ 1:02PM|#

I recently sat down with the L.A. Times' delightful Andrew Malcolm, the Oldest Rookie of political blogging[...]

However, he doesn't look at all like Paul Sorvino.

(reference explained here)

|6.23.08 @ 1:17PM|#

At first I thought that the "Sword of Truth" author Robert Jordan was running for President. Now he'd be quite an interesting character...

That's Terry Goodkind. Robert Jordan (pseudonym) wrote the unfinished (some would say interminable) Wheel of Time series. He died last year of an incredibly rare disease. Someone else has been drafted to write the (they promise!) last book in the series.

Orange Line Special|6.23.08 @ 1:30PM|#

Andrew Malcolm sure is "delightful". Take a close look at my comment at the following Malcolm post (the first comment, from NoMoreBlatherDotCom) and see if you notice anything strange about it:

latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2008/04/mikehuckabeespa.html

Now, here's the comment as I submitted it:

---------------------
If the MSM had been doing their job, Huck's political career would have ended within a month after he entered the race:

http://nomoreblather.com/mike-huckabee-mexican-consulate

Instead, the articles on him allowed him to lie, when they even went beyond how funny he was and what a great guy he was. Oh, and he played the bass too!

Here's an example of the MSM allowing him to lie:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=nIbDAVQMKGM
---------------------

What a "delightful" person!

And, here are other posts with comments from me that include links and that weren't edited:

latimesblogs.latimes.com/webscout/2008/06/the-obama-campa.html?cid=118488762
latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2008/06/john-mccain-a-1.html?cid=118207838
latimesblogs.latimes.com/laplaza/2008/05/reckless-journa.html?cid=116782168

DannyK|6.23.08 @ 4:15PM|#

At first I thought that the "Sword of Truth" author Robert Jordan was running for President. Now he'd be quite an interesting character...

I am glad not to be the only geek in this thread.