George Will Competes His Jump Off The Tire Swing
George Will to McCain: Obama will quickly shed his inexperience, but you'll always be a hot head.
I guess this isn't a total surprise because Will just last week the best he could muster was a tired divided government argument, which was as transparent as it was desperate (where was that in 1996, 2000, 2002, 2004, or 2006?). Still, he practically commands his readers to vote for Obama (albeit as a lesser of two evils) because McCain and his Queen-of-Hearts temper cannot be trusted.
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Thanks for the link, excellent piece by Will.
September 23, 2008 8:02 AM | Reply | Permalink
Glad to oblige. I thought so as well.
Will's an intresting character to watch because he's an intellectual conservative who has been palpably uncomfortable with the anti-intellectualism of the neocons, but unsure about what to do about it. (I've had a similar dilemma: I'm uncomforatable with the Democrats' impulse to out tough the Republicans on some issues, including criminal justice, but voting Republican hardly seems to be the answer.) My guess is that he and others are coming around to the idea that they need to purge the Republican party and get back to the intellectual conservatism of Milton Freedman. But we'll see how this shakes out.
September 23, 2008 8:36 AM | Reply | Permalink
The republicans are in for a good ole PURGE. Will knows this and voting for O will aid in that effort. Very good read my friend.
September 23, 2008 8:55 AM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks.
I wonder what Will and others think will replace the current Republican establishment. Hard to see how an intellectual free market platform is going to get traction in the next, oh, 30 years or so after this mess.
September 23, 2008 9:04 AM | Reply | Permalink
Hello, the Republicans already had a purge and the best Democrats could do was replace them with Pelosi and Reid. These two incompetent leaders are going to hand Congress back to the GOP, folks, unless we get rid of them. You heard it here first.
September 23, 2008 9:46 AM | Reply | Permalink
It is a good piece. Just to note though, Will has never exactly been on the tire swing. He's never really liked McCain. He hated McCain-Feingold and doesn't seem to particularly care for the man himself either. "Moral vanity," was a term I believe he used a while back.
While I don't agree with Will on quite a bit, I respect him. I suspect he is highly frustrated with the hijacking of the GOP by the social conservative wing of the party. I can't say I know his social views extensively, but he strikes me as a fiscal conservative with a bit of a libertarian streak in him, and I think he's not exactly thrilled with either of the candidates.
September 23, 2008 10:32 AM | Reply | Permalink
yes, i think this is personal, but at the end of the day Will will vote McCain, because i have also heard him say you vote for the guy that will appoint people that make policy you agree with.
September 23, 2008 11:27 AM | Reply | Permalink
Depends on your definition of tire swing. The piece last week struck me as finding some reason, any reason, to support McCain. That would seem to fit my definition, but Josh probably defines it more narrowly.
September 23, 2008 12:07 PM | Reply | Permalink