Read @ NYTimes.com

The Very Useful Idiocy of Christine O’Donnell

ALL it took was some 30,000 Republican primary voters in a tiny state to turn Christine O’Donnell into the brightest all-American media meteor since Balloon Boy. For embattled liberals, not to mention the axis of Comedy Central, “Saturday Night Live” and Bill Maher, she’s been pure comic gold for weeks: a bottomless trove of baldfaced lies, radical views and sheer wackiness. True, other American politicians have dismissed evolution as a myth. Some may even have denied joining a coven. But history will always remember her for taking a fearless stand against masturbation, the one national pastime with more fans than baseball.

Yet those laughing now may not have the last laugh in November. O’Donnell’s timely ascent in the election season’s final lap may well prove a godsend for the G.O.P.

[SNIP]

The more O’Donnell is vilified, the bigger the star she becomes, and the more she can reinforce the Tea Party’s preferred narrative as “a spontaneous and quite anarchic movement” (in the recent words of the pundit Charles Krauthammer) populated only by everyday folk upset by big government and the deficit. This airbrushed take has had a surprisingly long life even in some of the nonpartisan press. In a typical example just three weeks ago, the influential publication National Journal delivered a breathless report on how the Tea Party functions as a “headless” movement where “no one gives orders.” To prove the point, a head of the headless Tea Party Patriots vouched that “75 percent of the group’s funding comes from small donations, $20 or less.”

[SNIP]

The more O’Donnell is vilified, the bigger the star she becomes, and the more she can reinforce the Tea Party’s preferred narrative as “a spontaneous and quite anarchic movement” (in the recent words of the pundit Charles Krauthammer) populated only by everyday folk upset by big government and the deficit. This airbrushed take has had a surprisingly long life even in some of the nonpartisan press. In a typical example just three weeks ago, the influential publication National Journal delivered a breathless report on how the Tea Party functions as a “headless” movement where “no one gives orders.” To prove the point, a head of the headless Tea Party Patriots vouched that “75 percent of the group’s funding comes from small donations, $20 or less.”

Full article @ NYTimes.com

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Good looking 7-day wonders and fads are what the popular media like MSM and Fox News love to host from their respective sides of the extreme ends of the aisle.

As the media creames its ratings, the country's aspirations go down the drain.

I just hate to see our country continue to pick as leaders those who have no accomplishments to their credit, no serious record of governing.. and a long list of lies and questionable associations/behavior in their baggage that media glosses over and the people forget to seriously ingest and make sense of and integrate in their decision-making.

Leadership requires that the person be credible, honest, reliable in their commitment and demonstrably living the values they speak.  It requires that the person be able to formulate and convey goal and objective that are specific and all consuming. 

Case in point about leadership... Today  CNN GPS Fareed Zakaria Interviewed the Premier of China. The Premier came through as a magnificent example of a leader.  I found myself agreeing with him even if I didnt want to - he was magnificant in his thoughts and expressions (translated of course).

We are not getting leadership in Tea Party candidates.  We are getting wave-riders.  This is a very serious situation.

-- Edited by Sanders on Sunday 3rd of October 2010 03:51:27 PM