Friday, October 29, 2010

What She Said

I like this woman! Politico's "Arena," where important questions are met by talking points and press releases from a diverse group of hacks, lobbyists, publicists, and other compulsive faxers, today asked if it was "refreshing" that John Boehner and Mitch McConnell had promised an agenda of total, nihilistic obstructionism rather than "the usual platitudes about bipartisanship and working across the aisle." Harvard sociologist Theda Skocpol decided to pull the rug out from under the question and rose to the occasion with the best, sassiest, most withering answer I've ever seen on the site:

Is this question a joke? When one of the country's two major political parties announces that it has no intention of joining in trying to solve the major problems the nation faces, that is an obvious scandal. POLITICO is enabling U.S. decline by implying otherwise. No country with 10+ percent unemployment, decaying infrastructure, major wars to fight and educational and health crises can survive the sort of political extremism for obstructionist purposes that the GOP is willfully and proudly engaging in. Only the super rich who want mansions in enclaves at home or abroad benefit from this.

Americans of all persuasions have said they do not want this, but media outlets continue to use fake "debates" like this for marketing purposes.

Don't you just want to give her a hug?

8 comments:

Fran said...

LOVE her.

Imagine having the courage to discuss that the two GOP emperors actually do have clothes on, but that they are hideous clothing. And like all hideous clothing, dangerous clothing as well.

Matthew Hubbard said...

She's an elitist.

Anonymous said...

Theda Rocks!

Anonymous said...

So rare these days. Thanks!

Karen Zipdrive said...

I love smart people.

samael7 said...

Ms. Skocpol is, in fact, "refreshing."

Sharkbabe said...

Way nice to see a speed-slapping of the Politiwhores and their puke patrons. God we need so much more of it. Thx Dr. Theda.

Crucially, though, we also need to dumb it down to third grade. We've never been able to do this, and it's killing us. Two sentences, tops. No words more than two syllables.

Zark said...

i will say when she wrote about and heralded a new 'focus by social scientists on the state as an agent of social and political change'...she probably wasn't looking at these social and political changeSS.