My Mistakes And Other Matters...

I feel so validated, in a Charles Johnson-ish sort of way.

Big-deal lefty blogger tbogg has stopped by to give me some shit for my less than completely charitable assessment of Jill Dorson's self-absorbed (and stupid) apology for votin' Bambi:

....said the guy who let himself get fucked over by Roger Simon.

Yeah. You should give her lessons on judging people.

Like I said, I really feel validated. Who knows, if I can get KOS to come here and give me a hard time, maybe I'll consider putting together that 2011 DtP calender (with original photography) that you're all dying to buy.

Needless to say, though, tbogg does have a point. The wrong point, but a point nonetheless. Certainly I made exactly the same mistake with Roger L. Simon that Jill Dorson and David Michael Green made with Barack Obama. That is beyond dispute. Where tbogg misses the mark is in contending our error was a matter of misjudging character. That is incorrect.

The mistake David, Jill and I made was placing trust in a person we did not know anything about. We were not in a position to make an informed judgment because we did not possess sufficient information to do so. We ignored that and went ahead and trusted anyway. That was our error, and it was a recipe for disaster.

Just as Jill Dorson and David Michael Green got what they wanted when they voted for Barack Obama, I got what I wanted when I associated myself with Roger L. Simon (and Charles Johnson). What I thought I wanted was a profitable new business, but what I asked for (and what I really wanted) was a chance to win on a roll of the dice. If I had really wanted a profitable new business, I'd have taken more care as to who I associated myself with. I would have done the homework necessary to ensure I didn't end up working with the type of people I did end up working with. I didn't do that, and in the end... I got what I wanted.

I got a roll of the dice.

At least I'm not blaming it on Sarah Palin, for Christ's sake.

Comments

[richard mcenroe]

You evidently never heard Simon's story about going on the Alaska wolf hunt...

[richard mcenroe]

...and the really amazing thing, Dennis, and something that tbogg oddly overlooks, is that Barack Obama told his backers before the election EXACTLY what you're telling them. He actually told the NYT his greatest strength was that he was a "blank slate" on which his supporters could "project" their desires...

[Dennis The Peasant]

Richard-

You know better than to start dragging facts into this...

[LP Steve]

Richard--

I'm pretty sure the "blank slate" quote is from his book, "The Audacity of Hope," and not a NYT interview. It's a significant distinction. If it'd been in the NYT, it might have been widely disseminated among and masticated upon by the Dowds'n'Riches in real time. But because no one besides opposition research types actually READ Obama's book, this trope remains relatively obscure. I think Hillary tried to make something of it in the primaries, but it didn't stick.

[Mike Myers]

Is "blank slate" another name for empty suit? Because sure as heck, that's what we got.

[J West]

1. Not funny.
2. Beginning to sound like a 'Stones song title.
3. I'll buy a calendar.
4. Just make sure it includes at least 2 mug shots.
V/R JWest

[Alex]

Dennis -- You're on a roll this week, but your statement that "The mistake [we] made was placing trust in a person we did not know anything about. We were not in a position to make an informed judgment because we did not possess sufficient information to do so" is unfortunate.

The information pertinent to making an informed judgment about Barack Obama was available to anyone willing and interested enough to seek it out or just pay attention, for a good long time before his election and immaculation: at least since the publication of Dreams from My Father, and right there in front of every one of us every time he opened his mouth on the campaign trail.

I had his number somewhere around December '07, though that was still later than many.

It took just a bit longer than I thought it would take for him to live down to my worst expectations, but not too much longer.