Low self-esteem involves imagining the worst that other people can think about you.
That means they’re living upstairs in the rent-free room.
Roger Ebert, elliptically referring to this fantastic profile of him
Day: February 18, 2010
Are you an American who was earning less in 2007 than in 2000? The document has nothing to say to you.
Did you lose your home or job or savings in the crisis of 2008-2009? Blank to you.
Are you worried about the loss of your health insurance – or how you will pay for nursing care for your aged parents – or what 20% youth unemployment will mean for your newly graduated child’s life chances? Not our department.
Do you wonder whether we are winning or losing the war on terror? Do you want an explanation for why it took so long for a conservative administration to react to military disaster? No answers here.
Do you generally agree with conservatives – but wonder whether there is room in the conservative world for nonwhites, or the disabled, or the secular-minded, or the gay? The statement does not say “no,” but it does not say “yes” either.
What about the environment? Economic competition from China? The moral implications of the biotech revolution? Illegal immigration? Educational standards? Well – what about them?
The document answers one question and one question only. If you agree that Barack Obama is engaged in a deliberate and relentless attack on the American constitutional order, well be assured: the conservative establishment is on your side. But if you think those worries are a hysterical distraction from the country’s actual problems? To you, the conservative world says: go away. We have nothing to offer you.
David Frum, a Conservative I Can Believe In, discussing this
nonsensical Mt. Vernon Statement
nonsensical Mt. Vernon Statement
[What often goes unmentioned is] the extent to which the deficit hysterics are also deficit peacocks. They’re full of bombast, and eager to shoot down anything that might reduce unemployment. But when it comes to serious proposals to bring the long-run fiscal outlook under control — which means, above all, doing something about health care costs — all we get is the sound of crickets chirping.
Lemkin 