alternative hippopotamus

progressive cyberdadaism from our nation’s capital

May 9, 2006

Dickerson: A Little Bit Lacky, A Little Bit Hacky

by AltHippo @ 2:46 pm. Filed under hacks

I’ve seen some commenters on the right talk about this, but this John Dickerson entry is the first time I’ve seen this in the main-stream media (well, Slate. Which is not main-stream to the extent of a Time magazine, perhaps, but is main-stream relative to your humble Hippo):

It is important to investigate the ways the Bush administration has used and abused its executive power, but it is much more important not to talk about those investigations when you’re trying to launch your policy agenda. It’s unbelievably tactically stupid. Perhaps Pelosi couldn’t have stayed completely mum on the topic, but she could have given some bland answer about Congress needing to play its oversight role and then returned to her positive agenda items.

It sounds like he’s saying Bush should be investigated, but it should be part of a secret Democratic agenda. (In fact, it’s so secret that he can only write about it on Slate.) Because it’s things like secret agendas that will build up trust.

Besides the fact that he wants Pelosi to keep the impeachment a secret, I’m also bothered that Dickerson uses charged language in a way that’s not 100% flattering to Pelosi. Expressions like “unbelievably tactically stupid” and “Then, as if to kill her plans in the same interview in which she was hatching them…” and “Across the country, vulnerable Republican candidates are saying thank you to Pelosi.”

Later on Dickerson posits: “I thought the whole point of unveiling an agenda was to show that the party wasn’t going to get bogged down with investigations and embrace the worst Bush-hating tendencies of its members.” This I find an interesting dichotomy:

If I’m catching his meaning correctly, he believes that “It is important to investigate the ways the Bush administration has used and abused its executive power”, but at the same time investigations would “embrace the worst Bush-hating tendencies of its members.”

I notice that if you combine those two together you get:”It is important to embrace the worst Bush-hating tendencies of its members at the ways the Bush administration has used and abused its executive power”.

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One Response to “Dickerson: A Little Bit Lacky, A Little Bit Hacky”

  1. alternative hippopotamus » Blog Archive » Question: What is the Conventional Wisdom on the Rightie Blogosphere? Says:
    May 10th, 2006 at 11:01 am

    […] Tom Maguire, meanwhile, intent on tossing another well-beaten canard on the Unhinged Leftie dead horse, cites feminist of the year Richard Cohen, and secret agenda advocate, John Dickerson, inferring that both are lefties. (”Richard Cohen of the WaPo and John Dickerson of Slate, neither of whom will be mistaken for member so the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy, strike related notes in assessing the Democratic prospects in 2006.”) […]

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