Thursday, July 12, 2007

How to Write Good Useless Articles

Slate's other, sane and tolerable, political blogger has an article up about Bush and Baseball. I recommend it.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

I found the article rather snide. There is a difference between disapproving of something that someone is doing, and out right hating them. Besides, the democratically run Congress has a worse approval rating than Bush does, and that's not because they've failed to override anything that Bush has mucked up, it's because America has come to realize how corrupt and inefficient our government has really become, regardless of which side of the aisle you sit on.

yoggoth said...

The whole article was half-sarcastic.

As for the government, it's always been corrupt and inefficient, but few presidents have been as inept and hurtful as this one. Congress has low approval rates because they have failed to do anything to reign in the administration's actions.

Little Earl said...

Read more Slate, ninquelote. This one was mild. The author was just trying to be amusing. His tone was sort of a "Here's a situation no one can really do anything about, so let's try to laugh about it (and the Bonds home run chase while we're at it) via this ridiculous metaphor." Frankly I (mildly) enjoyed it.

As far as Congress vs. Bush, I agree with Yoggoth. Looking at our current government within the context of American history, Congress may be bad right now, but it isn't really any worse than it ever was. Bush, on the other hand, is a special brand of cookie I'd say.

Anonymous said...

On a different day the comments for this particular blog entry may have gone on for pages, with each of us going back and forth with our examples, statistics, and maybe even a graph or two. Sadly though, it's just not worth the effort.

Little Earl once told me, after a long discussion on a controversial political subject also touched upon in the pages of this blog, that the whole conversation was a complete failure, and frankly a waste of time, because he was not able to convince me to change my view.

That said, LE, if you considered this a mild article, why on Earth would I want to read more Slate articles?

Come on Yaggoth; I know you read stuff all over the internet. There's got to be something more middle of the road out there than let's hate Bush some more.

yoggoth said...

But according to those poll results hating Bush now IS middle of the road!!

Anonymous said...

I knew you were going to say that. Popular doesn't mean middle of the road.

yoggoth said...

Huh? I thought that's exactly what middle of the road meant.

1. Pursuing a course of action midway between extremes, especially following a course in politics that is neither liberal nor conservative.
2. (Abbr. MOR) Of, relating to, or being a type of entertainment, especially popular music, that appeals to a wide audience.

It is not extreme to dislike Bush. In fact, many staunch Republicans I know wish that he were out of office. Support for President Bush is now an extreme position in American politics.

The educated consensus is that Bush is not a very bright man and he put too much trust in a few people working under him. These people mismanaged the war in Iraq from the start and doomed us to failure before we'd even begun. Bush's final attempt at a positive legacy, immigration reform, has recently failed as well. This was due to disagreements within his own party. I can't think of one positive thing to come out of his second term.

Anonymous said...

Aren't we a feisty one today.

I was simply trying to say that there are thousands of stories, articles, and other things going on in the US and the world, and you guys are mesmerized with Bush. It's your blog, man. Talk about something that actually affects your life.

yoggoth said...

Oh please, we post 1 political thing a month. If my step-mom has to go to Iraq because of Bush it very definitely will affect my life. Now try to deny that Rupert Murdoch looks exactly like the emperor. Try it!!!

Anonymous said...

I'm not going to deny that Murdoch bares a definite resemblance to the Emperor, but since I am about the only conservatively minded friend you have, I feel it is my duty to bust your chops.

What I meant about more things that affect your life was I want you to write the article, not just point to an article that is already written. I hear you're a decent writer; show us

As for going to Iraq, don't ask me to feel sympathy for the troops. I don't remember there being a draft. Mrs. Ninquelote and I just went to a military wedding; those guys were nuts. All they wanted to do was get back there. There was a guy there that had had both of his legs blown off in an attack, and all he kept talking about was how it was the least he could have given doing what he believed in.