Elisberg Industries
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Products
    • Books
    • Movies
  • About Elisberg Industries
    • Our Corporate Board
    • Information Overstock
    • Elisberg Industries Entertainment Information
    • Elisberg Statistical Center of American Research
    • Consultancy Service
  • Contact
    • How to Find Us
  • Kudos
  • Good Things to Know
    • The BOB Page
    • Sites You Might Actually Like
Decent Quality Since 1847

Running on Empty

2/4/2015

0 Comments

 
We're only three months past the mid-term elections, far too early for any candidates to even announce for the presidency, and already three Republicans have started to self-destruct.  Four, if you count Mitt Romney.  How else do you describe telling friends you're interested in running and then just days later pulling out?

First we had Mike Huckabee (R-AK) having a meltdown over Beyonce (which, of course, is the kind of leadership we want from our president -- it worked so well for Dan Quayle berating the fictional Murphy Brown, didn't it....?), and then just days later he started getting the vapors again about people actually swearing in a newsroom and worse, when the women-folk do it, because it makes them just so trashy, so thank the Lord that no Southern belles would ever do such a thing, kind sir...

The next time the Mr. Huckabee is interviewed on his book tour, I hope the first question someone asks him is, "What era are you living in?"  To be clear, I don't like swearing.  But I grasp the concept that others do.  And that that includes women in the South, most of whom don't always drink mint juleps.  I also get the sense that if Mike Huckabee was still a preacher and lectured his flock this way, he soon wouldn't have a flock.

That hissing sound you hear is more air being let out of Mike Huckabee's presidential hopes than a closetful of footballs in a New England Patriot's equipment room.

And now we have Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ) and Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) falling over one another to see who can be more irresponsible by telling parents they shouldn't get their children vaccinated for the measles.

I know that many conservatives these days aren't crazy about science, but one would have hoped that they'd draw the line at protecting children.  And would understand that vaccinations are not even about just protecting your child, but also keeping disease from spreading, in order to protect other children and to actually eradicate the disease.

(It would also be nice if they understood that the one, single study that suggested a connection between vaccinations and autism -- which bizarrely only had 12 subjects, which is fewer people than you need to have a baseball game -- has been SO discredited that a) most of the co-authors of it have withdrawn their names, b) the magazine it was published in has since retracted it, and c) the main doctor who headed the study has had his license revoked in England.  Really.  Honest.  In fact, going further, it turns out that the study was largely funded by a law firm who was -- are you ready? -- planning to sue vaccine manufacturers, and a journalistic investigation into the study ended up calling it an "elaborate fraud," based on questionable practices by that lead doctor.  You can read about it here in the article from CNN.)

And based on this study and a basketful of rumors that would have a hard time getting published in the Drudge Report, there is Chris Christie in England -- on his I Want to Look Presidential with Foreign Affairs Experience Tour -- telling parents that it's their choice whether or not to get their children vaccinated.  Clarifications by his staff, later, after all the outraged reaction made headlines, don't count for much when you've already shown your (at best) pandering and (at worst) irresponsibility and ignorance.  It was noteworthy that the very next day, when meeting with the Lord of the Exchequer, with microphones and cameras set up outside for his comments after, that upon leaving, Mr. Christie instead took a quick left-turn, avoided the mikes, cameras and reporters and went strolling off alone with his wife.  Which apparently is the very reason Mr. Christie went to England in the first place, to avoid the press.  Either that or it's what Chris Christie believes is "looking presidential on foreign soil."

It does help define a person that he'll bully and berate reporters when he's in control, but run away when things aren't go so good. 

What it doesn't help is a presidential campaign that you don't want to be seen as self-destructing through your own words..

But though Gov. Christie has taken most of the heat for his anti-vaccination comments, I actually thought Rand Paul's were not only worse, but significantly worse.  That's because he went out of his way to specifically draw a connection between measles vaccines and "stories I've heard" about "profound mental disorders."

Keep in mind this is almost exactly the same kind of agitated fake charge that finally blew up Michele Bachmann's presidential campaign.   Even Rush Limbaugh took her to task for that.
 
Being told "stories" is without any meaning -- and spreading them as substantive is irresponsible for a United States Senator and for someone hoping to be President of the United States, let alone a doctor (albeit an unlicensed ophthalmologist, not an immunologist or physician).  Medical evidence is what counts.  Not rumors spread in the comments section of WeHateVaccines.com.  And as far as I'm aware, there are no real, scientific reports that show a connection between the measles vaccine and autism.

And then almost topping himself, the very next day Rand Paul pulled another of his typical Rand Paul Stunts (tm) whereby he released a statement insisting that he didn't say exactly what he said.  It's cowardly and craven, and the sort of response you'd expect from a four-year-old when caught with crumbs on their face and falling out of their mouth and insisting they never took a cookie.

There's no question that all these fine folk will continue on the candidate path.  On the path to self-destruction doesn't mean you've reached your final kablooey destination yet, nor does it preclude elimination in the GOP, at least until we start to get to the debates and one's opponents smell blood and start reminding people.  (Notice how quickly other presumed-candidates leaped in with their "Of course we should vaccinate children" answers, some to unasked questions.  But when you're in a party that at its core wants to deny science and factual evidence and support of the needy and social benefits (that starts with Love Thy Neighbor and Do Unto Others) while proclaiming infallible divine guidance and instead is almost required to follow the dictates of the far-extreme base to get enough support to be a Viable Candidate, the one thing you can be sure of is that there will be more self-destruction in the year ahead.

After all, the road to the presidency is full of Gotcha questions.  Like "What newspapers do you read?" and "Should we vaccinate our children?"  And "Do you think people swear at work?"

All people make mistakes.  Some turn it into an obligation.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    Picture
    Elisberg Industries gets a commission if you click here before shopping on Amazon.
    Picture
    Follow @relisberg

    Author

    Robert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. 

    Elisberg is a two-time recipient of the Lucille Ball Award for comedy screenwriting. He's written for film, TV, the stage, and two best-selling novels, is a regular columnist for the Writers Guild of America and was for
    the Huffington Post.  Among his other writing, he has a long-time column on technology (which he sometimes understands), and co-wrote a book on world travel.  As a lyricist, he is a member of ASCAP, and has contributed to numerous publications.



    Picture
           Feedspot Badge of Honor

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013

    Categories

    All
    Animals
    Audio
    Audio Land
    Books
    Busienss
    Business
    Chicago
    Consumer Product
    Education
    Email Interview
    Entertainment
    Environment
    Fine Art
    Food
    From The Management
    Health
    History
    Huffery
    Humor
    International
    Internet
    Journalism
    Law
    Los Angeles
    Media
    Morning News Round Up
    Movies
    Music
    Musical
    Personal
    Photograph
    Piano Puzzler
    Politics
    Popular Culture
    Profiles
    Quote Of The Day
    Radio
    Religion
    Restaurants
    Science
    Sports
    Technology
    Tech Tip
    Theater
    The Writers Workbench
    Tidbits
    Travel
    Tv
    Twitter
    Video
    Videology
    Well Worth Reading
    Words-o-wisdom
    Writing

    RSS Feed

© Copyright Robert J. Elisberg 2023
Contact Us    About EI    Chicago Cubs
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Products
    • Books
    • Movies
  • About Elisberg Industries
    • Our Corporate Board
    • Information Overstock
    • Elisberg Industries Entertainment Information
    • Elisberg Statistical Center of American Research
    • Consultancy Service
  • Contact
    • How to Find Us
  • Kudos
  • Good Things to Know
    • The BOB Page
    • Sites You Might Actually Like