Amanda Marcotte And The State Of The Union...

I don't do Amanda Marcotte anymore, largely because (for whatever technical reasons) Pandagon's website makes cut-and-paste impossible. Plus, Andrew Sullivan's always available. But every now and then a Mandy post comes along that needs examining. Amanda's SOTU, After A Good Night's Rest is just such a post.

Here are a few of the classics:

Sentence #1:

I nearly fell off the bed in anger last night when Obama dusted off that hoary right wing pandering trope about how since you tighten your belt in hard times, the federal government should. 

Hmmm... Perhaps a government grant for a program encouraging appropriate bed sitting is in order. Michelle could front it for us. Reducing the number of bed sitting-related injuries would help keep health care costs down.

Sentence #2:

I guess Obama didn’t get the memo about how every time you repeat a trope, you lend it authority and credence, because that was an awful thing to do. 

This makes no sense. Literally. You gotta love the editing-be-damned stream-of-consciousness of it all.

Sentence #3:

Making military spending sacrosanct only reinforces this idea---masculine spending is always necessary, don’t you know?  

Barack Obama is heteronormative? Who knew? But don't worry, the military's about to become a whole lot less masculine... In a Village People sort of way.

Sentence #4:

I don’t disagree that the federal government spends a bunch of unnecessary money. 

The government has unnecessary money? Do they keep it segregated from the necessary money? Is it there for use in funding unnecessary programs? Who knew?  

Sentence #5:

If Obama rolled out a plan to cut those instead of earmarks, then I’d be all ears.

And if Obama rolled out a plan to cut something instead of stretchmarks, then you'd be all stretches.

Brainfart #1:

However, I doubt very seriously we’re going to see the Obama administration try to rework our agricultural system during a recession, because a lot of choices would threaten existing jobs even if they created better jobs down the road.  And because eliminating cheap, high calorie food would be extremely unpopular, because it saves people money in the short term while continuing to blow health care costs through the roof in the long term.

Darn people. Why don't they be like the federal government and loosen their belts in hard times? Then they could spent money they don't have on expensive vegetarian-type foods that are Amanda-approved. This will allow them to remain healthy as they spend the next few years living in a tent while job hunting.

Brainfart #2:

Or we could, per my request in the Hyde amendment video, cease and desist funding private armies that are up to no good worldwide, and often advertise themselves specifically as capable of squashing rebellious inclinations amongst working people.  But that’s swept in under “defense spending”, which we have learned is sacrosanct.  

Yeah, remember the good old days when Bambi and the progressives thought colonial occupation and private armies were a bad thing? You know, when Bush was doing it. Now, not so much.

Brainfart #3:

Stopping the War on Drugs is a great idea, but it would reduce the need for prisons dramatically, leading to many to be shut down and all their staff to return to the ranks of the unemployed.  Unless the federal government is willing to step up and create entire new industries where prisons are the only industry (which is true in many red states), then this could actually be a disaster for them. 

Huh. Red State America is the new Gulag Archipeligo. Most prison guards are Republicans. Well... She's got us there. Dammit, us Rovians were hoping we'd slipped that one in under the radar. Anyway, I think she's wrong on this one. It's never been a War on Drugs. It's a War on Negroes. We'd just find some other reason to throw 'em in prison...

You know, revisiting Pandagon brings the same sort of pleasure one would associate with finding a container of leftovers in the back of the fridge that went on to its final reward long ago.

Note: Still no denunciation of John Edwards.

Comments

[richard mcenroe]

Dennis, please. A little perspective here, OK? How can you expect a denunciation after that wild not of passion they spent in the Greyhound restroom in Charleston before the election? You KNOW she knows Rielle meant NOTHING to him...

[richard mcenroe]

not = night

Jesus, even my degenerate imagination rebelled at that one.

[Joe Redfield]

Is "unnecessary" money anything like Joe Klein's "magical" money?

[mmack]

Dennis, if I vote for Brainfart #3 as the "Amanda Sentence of the Week", do I FINALLY get my 100% authentic "Pandagon Jaws of Death and Bottle Opener"?

I guess Obama didn’t get the memo about how every time you repeat a trope, you lend it authority and credence, because that was an awful thing to do.

Does that make Obama a miss-an-trope? Debate\discuss.

[Peter VE]

When exactly did you "do" Amanda? ....