Monday, March 22, 2010

Ravings of a Madman...

No, not me...

I've got too much stuff going on here, as usual. I'm trying to add entries to a bibliographic database I'm working on, but I got sucked into the Wikipedia article on Turgot and now I've got a bunch of new stuff to read.

I have resigned myself to the fact that I will never, ever, be well educated. But none of this is made easier or faster by having Glenn Beck on the radio. I feel the need to check in with the demagogues once in a while, but it's not conducive to multitasking. There's also the rumor that listening to Beck makes you dumber, which isn't helping me index de Toqueville, if true.

The day after a big Democratic win is usually the easiest listening, because the demagogues are apoplectic. Glenn seems less angry than I thought he'd be, but he's got that giddy Seroquel giggle. He's made some blunders, too...

he made a concrete prediction, which is always a bad idea for these guys; it provides an opportunity for the interested listener to test the demagogue's assertions. Beck asserted that Obama's approval rating would fall. This is a falsifiable proposition that will be tested in the next 2 weeks. If he's wrong, (and he will be. MY hypothesis predicts his approval will rise in the next two weeks. Hold me to it.) then his credibility suffers.

Or suffers with any critical listeners he has. There must be some.

He also said something (unintentionally) hilarious; he was describing the elaborate machinations of the Democrats to pass healthcare reform, and he got to the part where "and then, they got him (Massa) to come on my program..."

someone must have signaled him in the studio, because he tried to recover. "Well, I reached out to him..."

it made all the commercials worth it; the vision of a conspiracy so capable, so nefarious, so omnipotent that it could determine the booking of guests on Beck's own program. And there are so very many commercials, most of them featuring actors with fake southern accents and country music. I haven't timed this, but it feels like there's more time spent on commercials than the actual broadcast. I'm not even counting the time Beck spent reassuring his listeners that the recent drop in gold prices didn't mean his indefatigable flogging of his gold sponsor had been misguided.

Okay, now Rush is on. Maybe he'll elaborate on his threat to emmigrate to Costa Rica if healthcare reform remains in place.


2 comments:

  1. Bad Bet. I believe Obama is suffering from nearly the lowest popularity of his presidency, right now.

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  2. That turns out not to be the case...

    his poll ratings are unchanged. Both Beck and I were wrong. I can't tell you how much it galls me to be as wrong as Glenn Beck. But it's extremely important to constantly reality check one's beliefs. It's the difference between a scientist and a demagogue.

    I was sure that the simple fact of scoring a "win" would provide a small boost to his approval. The question for me now is why didn't that happen...

    I'm guessing issue fatigue. Beck's theory, that the bill was massively unpopular and that its passage would provoke outrage, must also be considered as disconfirmed.

    You'll be amused to know that Kathy also called me out on this, although for some reason she can't post comments to this page.

    Good looking out.

    ReplyDelete