Will to Ruin

In a column that neatly combines East Coast elitism with the always-hilarious conservative Republican deathwish, George Will issues his anti-Terminator marching orders:

Truly conservative Californians -- you few know who you are -- will vote against the recall to protest its plebiscitary cynicism. And as a precaution they will take the time required to find in the lottery-determined listing of names the name of a conservative candidate. [?]

California's Republican Party, sunk in frivolousness and opportunism, also deserves to come out of this badly. That is conservatism's hope for this recall: ruin all around.

Comments

[Kevin Carson]

So Mr. National Greatness Conservative/Henry Clay Conservative is deriding Schwarzenegger's position as "I'm for limited government, but..." Talk about the pot calling the kettle black! I don't recall a TR loophole in Article I Section 8 or the Tenth Amendment.

I'd like to take Will's bow-tie and push it up his ass with a pair of barbecue tongs until he screams like a woman.

[Anonymous]

If Arnold can't figure out a good script from a bad one, how can he figure out good policy from bad?

The fact is, everybody is a special interest.

[Matt Welch]

In the L.A. Times today, Reagan biography Lou Cannon said he's sure that Ronnie would oppose the "radical" recall on "conservative" grounds....

[Jackson Cooper]

I hate to even admit that I caught a bit of the Rush show at lunch today, but he was reading from an article written by Reagan in 1990 which clearly indicated his support of the Ballot Initiative process in general and the recall of government officials specifically.

[jdog]

Dearest Will,

You don't live in California so
the incompetence of Gray Davis is not a real problem to you, but it is to me. Having this bozo stay in office for 3 more years is not acceptable to me and most of my constituents. Points taken of the difference between a Republic and a Democracy, and the foolish decision made by the people in re-electing said bozo. That's 'water under the bridge'.

Gray ( bozo, gumby ) Davis has done everthing in his power to re-make California into the People's Republic of Mexico. He's just being fired and that's all there is to it. This is not uncommon practice in business even when there's an outstanding contract with a flopping CEO. What, you don't think the people have this right ?

jdog

[Jean Bart]

jdog,

You have constituents?

As to the part of getting rid of Davis and all, its not a done deal yet. Don't bring down the woof Gods of politics down on your head.

Will was making the same argument several weeks ago on "This Week." I like "This Week" much more than I did in the past; Will doesn't have that moron Sam Donaldson to roll over anymore, and Fareed Zakariah is not afraid to tell Will that he's wrong. I remember the first time I saw Fareed take Will on; Will seemed shocked and aghast that someone would dare challenge his intellect. I guffawed. Also the new black woman pounds Will on occassion too; and she does it in a style to shatters Will's pomposity.

Anyway, its certainly better than the aging crew that pontificates every Sunday morning as part of the "McLauglin Group." The avg. weight of those people must be 400 lbs. when Clarence Page isn't amongst them.

[Ray]

Don't apologize Jackson, you listen to Rush everyday just like a majority of the visitors to this site.

Getting someone to admit that they listen to Rush on a regular basis is like getting someone to talk about their Ann Coulter book collection. They love it all but they don't want anyone calling them, gasp, a conservative.

Just isn't cool is it. . . .

[Rick Barton]

Does Will understand conservativism at all? I remember George Will, in a column, rejecting the libertarian foundations of conservatism, for reasons of style! In contrast to, for example, Ronald Reagan's statement that libertarianism is the "kernel of conservatism."

If Will believes, as he says, that Arnold Schwarzenegger's philosophy is:
"I am for limited government, but the children . . . "
Isn't the best strategy, then, to encourage Arnold to adopt a winning anti-government message and agenda? He has shown promise, pushing Milton Friedman's books, showing up at a Reason Magazine banquet ,etc.

[Jean Bart]

Brad S.,

You are a national chauvinist; this is a kin to racism, BTW, and just as ugly. Crawl back into the 19th century and die.

[s'wonderful]

Ray,
Yeah. Listening to Rush is like dating an ugly girl. Take her out, have a great time, but do not bring her up in front of your friends.
I like Rush's take on Arnie (NOT a conservative), but I think that it really helps Arnie not to have Rush's endorsement. (AHH...conspiracy mongers have your big O now)

[s'wonderful]

Jean Bart,
geez, settle down fella. Ever heard of that little device called your sense of humor? National chauvinist?? Maybe you should pull out the dictionary, brainiac, before you go trying to insult someone. Got that? Sense of humor and a dictionary. Seriously.

[Rick Barton]

...And besides being intellectually bereft, George Will is a Girly Man.

[Don]

"Ever heard of that little device called your sense of humor? "

He's French, remember. He doesn't have one of those.

[Brad S]

Jean Bart - a frenchman calling me a "national chauvinist"? LOL! Uh, hello? Kettle? You're black...

[Jean Bart]

Don,

Oh I have a sense of humor. I laugh every day at America and Americans.

[Jean Bart]

Brad S.,

Well, you are a national chauvinist. Your only response to anything I might say is ... "A Frenchman calling me, him, it, etc....", as if my opinions are somehow unworthy of merit due to my nationality. In the future try to think beyond the excessively constraining stereotypes you have about nationalities, "races," etc.

s'wonderful,

And yes, like so many things, a Frenchman coined the word; however it was the English who coined philanderer. 🙂

[Brad S]

Jean Bart - All I've said, in essence is this: "okay, George Will may be pompous, but so is Jean Bart. Okay, I am a national chauvinist, but so is Jean Bart (not that there is anything wrong with being a national chauvinist, as I see it, "national chauvinist" is just code for being proud of one's native land). I would apologize for the stereotypical frenchman insinuations, if only you didn't act like a stereotypical frenchman. Ducks walk funny and quack. They're pretty easy to spot.

[Jean Bart]

Brad S.,

How does a stereotypical Frenchman act? This should be funny. BTW, whoever said I was French? 🙂

[Mo]

I know that Reason has turned into the Arnold love-fest, but can we be serious for a second? I was a big fan of Arnold at first, but his constant dodging of questions of substance disturbs the hell out of me. Why won't he answer questions of substance? Does he think he can govern simply by being the Terminator and a nice guy? The more I look at the situation, the more it looks like Ueberroth is the man for the job. Good politics, good track record and he's probably the most competent candidate.

Sadly, all of this mean that he doesn't stand a chance. What I want to know is why isn't Reason talking about Ueberroth at all? Did it turn into Variety all of the sudden?

[Douglas Fletcher]

"What I want to know is why isn't Reason talking about Ueberroth at all?"

We're still shuddering in horror from that 1984 post-Olympics show. I still have nightmares about the Shirley MacLaine number. Really, I do.

[Anonymous]

I'd hate o support a candidate simply because he's read a Milton Friedman book. Sadly, that's more than any other candidate has done.

[Brad S]

LOL! A frenchman just belittled someone else for his pomposity. Uh, hello, kettle? You're black.

[Mike]

One can only hope Arnold is surrounded by the proper brains. A good article would investigate who surrounds him; that would better indicate what kind of Gov he would be.

Anyway, what's with Will and "condign". It's in just about every article he writes. Does he get a $1 every time he uses it?

[Jesse Walker]

I know that Reason has turned into the Arnold love-fest

Arnold? Puh-leez. Actually, I'm torn between the guy from TSOL and Don "Father Guido Sarducci" Novello.

[Zathras]

Since when has the California Republican Party needed George Will to screw up?

[max power]

Mo says: "Sadly, all of this mean that he doesn't stand a chance. What I want to know is why isn't Reason talking about Ueberroth at all?"

Mo, it means no such thing. Arnold has been playing it very shrewd so far, most notably by pretending not to run so he could get Feinstien out.

Now, he knows he only has to keep the positive buzz going for 6 weeks. He is purposely remaining vague on the issues for as long as possible. At some point he will have to... but why mess with all the positive press before then?

[Ray]

Someone said that Will was intellectually bereft. . .

He may be alot of things but a smarty pants lightweight he ain't.

And Arnold is probably doing right to dodge questions at this stage. He has a bulls eye right between his eyes and he knows he's going to be "sound-bitten" to death. A declaration of "this" will be so badly twisted into "that" by the time he gets a chance to clarify it would be suicide to tell too much too soon.

[thoreau]

A few months back I read a column where Will basically said (paraphrasing) "Californians made a big mistake. They should have to suffer for it for four years, rather than getting the chance to do-over. Maybe if they have to stick with Davis they'll be so disillusioned with Democrats that they'll vote for Bush in 2004."

So, basically, instead of finding someone better to do the job (not that the current recall process is guaranteed to do that, but bear with me here) we should suffer so that we learn our lesson and vote for your favorite guy in 2004. OK, George.

[joe]

Actually, I'm torn between the guy from TSOL and Don "Father Guido Sarducci" Novello.

"If-a you got more than an ounce, it's a mortal sin. If-a you got less than an ounce, it's a venal sin."

Jean Bart, we laugh at Americans every day, too. How often do you laugh at the French?