Paralogia

Driftglass explains how David Brooks can lie with a straight face (in four parts: I, II, III, IV), the nut of it being:

 In 1982, in an essay entitled “The Spawn of Annenberg, Part 1”, Harlan Ellison wrote about his visit to San Quentin and the chilling experience of listening to the convicted murderer of a 5-year-old child explain why he couldn’t have done what he obviously had done.

The convict had stomped the boy to death, but explained that he could not have done it because he wears sneakers.

And sneakers are soft.

Why did CBS fire John Batiste?

Faiz at Think Progress:

To recap, here are the previous faulty rationales offered by CBS for firing [Gen. John] Batiste:

Reason #1: Batiste was engaging in ‘advocacy.’ CBS VP Linda Mason said Friday, “We ask that people not be involved in advocacy.” But Greg Sargent revealed instances in which CBS News military consultant Michael O’Hanlon has engaged in advocacy for the Iraq escalation.

Reason #2: Batiste was ‘raising money’ for VoteVets. Mason later amended her statement, saying “It isn’t just that he took an advocacy position. … General Batiste took part in a commercial that’s being shown on television to raise money for veterans against the war.” But the VoteVets ad that Batiste appears is not a fundraising ad.

Reason #3: Batiste was taking part in the ‘partisan political process.’ In fact, Batiste consciously avoided engaging in partisanship. Newsweek reports, “Batiste says he remains a ‘diehard Republican’ and has no intention of wading directly into the presidential campaign. … He took part in the VoteVets.org campaign, he says, because it’s a ‘nonpartisan group.’”

Were CBS truly concerned about not allowing its consultants to engage in the partisan political process, it would not have a McCain presidential campaign aide currently on staff.

Related posts:

• CBS fires Gen. Batiste over VoteVets ad
• Major General John Batiste left the army in protest in order to speak out
• Something about Katie Couric, too

“My heart and my best intentions still tell me that’s true. But the facts and the evidence tell me it is not.”

“I now understand I was involved in a conversation with the president.”

Hat-tip Ellroon for the quote.

Well, you know, I would find it kind of surprising if he showed up here in the comments, which would be fine, but still surprising and worth noting, especially if he had been using some pseudonym and I’d been conversing with him for awhile and then, all of a sudden he goes, hey I’m the president, I’d be like, yeah, I now Understand I was involved in a conversation with the president, or maybe it was just a troll.

Jon Swift: “I had another point to make but it slipped my mind.”

Related post:

• I’m reassured, are you?

We all have one father and he does not want us to kill one another.

Look it up!

The preacher on that page reinterprets things in his own dark image, to invert plain meanings with deft commentary. Read with care. Judge every tree by the fruit thereof.

Rudolph Giuliani for president?

Click the pic.

Related post:

• No.

No, General Petraeus does not “go out there almost every day in an unarmed Humvee”

John McCain is delusional. Not that he actually believes his own bullshit. But that he expects us to buy it…

Hat-tip Monkeyfister.

Related post:

• John McCain for president?

Update: CNN’s John Roberts responds to John McCain,

Roberts: I checked with General Petraeus’ people overnight and they said he never goes out in anything less than an up armored Humvee.

Watch the interview, at C&L.

I’m reassured, are you?

NBC News (with hat-tip to Josh Marshall):

Williams: To put this question another way — if you didn’t review their performance during this process, then how can you be certain that they were fired for performance reasons?

Gonzales: I — I’ve given — I’ve given the answer to the question, Pete. I know — I know the reasons why I made the decision. Again, there’s nothing in the documents to support the allegation that there was anything improper here. And there is an internal — department review to answer that question, to reassure the — the American people that there was nothing improper that happened here.

Related post:

• Do his pants seem to be on fire?