The Silly Season In Politics

The term "silly season" is a lot older than I thought, reaching back into the 1800s. It refers to late summer, when governments go on massive taxpayer-funded vacations all over the world. Silly trivia: the "silly season" is known, for reasons obscure, as "cucumber season" in many other languages (you just can't make this stuff up).

Here in America, of course, we take our silly pretty seriously. August, in recent political history, was when the infamous "swift boat" ads ran, which contributed to the destruction of John Kerry's campaign for president. Kerry contributed to this as well, mostly by staying on vacation and not responding to the attacks, which (in retrospect) looks pretty... well... silly.

But this year's season could produce a bumper crop of silly. The silly, it seems, is just bustin' out all over. And it's only the beginning of August, when our elected representatives all take off work for five weeks. Who knows how silly things are going to be by the end of the month?

From the Democratic side of silly, William Jefferson, former House member, was just convicted of bribery. That's not very silly, but he will be remembered for a very silly act -- stashing $90,000 in his freezer. Sentencing will happen later, so this silliness isn't quite over yet. At least he lost his re-election bid, so we won't have to witness the silliness of a sitting member of Congress being hauled off to the pokey.

On the Republican side, the silliness is coming so fast and thick, it's hard to even keep up with the feverish pace. News stories which appeared today alone include a Republican former U.N. ambassador claiming that former president Bill Clinton talking North Korea into releasing two Americans is somehow the moral equivalent of ignoring the annexation of the Sudetenland. The Republican National Committee, facing an onslaught of calls from an ad run about health care reform, is apparently redirecting callers to the Democratic National Committee. Wow, there's a bright idea to grow your party! Direct callers to the other party! As the guy in the Guinness ad would say: "Brilliant!"

In other Republican silly news, a fake Barack Obama birth certificate from Kenya has surfaced, but that hasn't stopped mainstream Republican Party officials from embracing the "birther" movement. Here's a hint, guys: if you want to look less silly, you need to denounce those with views most of the public finds silly. But, I forgot, up-is-down and black-is-white are the marching orders of the day in GOP-Land. I'm still trying to figure out the logic behind trying to call the cash-for-clunkers program a "failure" -- because it is just too wildly popular. Republican senators apparently thought twice about this one, and will allow an extension to pass before the program runs out of cash -- probably because there are a lot (and I mean a lot) of car dealers who not only vote Republican, but also donate large sums of money to Republican politicians, and they probably had a few choice words to say about this silly tactic.

But the icing on this silly cake, for me at least, was Arthur Laffer (of discredited "Laffer Curve" silliness), on CNN this morning:

"If you like the Post Office and the Department of Motor Vehicles and you think they're run well, just wait till you see Medicare, Medicaid and health care done by the government."

Um... Ooooh-Kay. We certainly wouldn't want government to get its filthy paws on our Medicare and Medicaid! Because that would be just... silly!

Sigh. I need a vacation.

 

[Program Note: This column is taking a vacation for the next week or so. This Friday, instead of our usual Friday Talking Points column, we will be running a special report on President Obama's second hundred days in office, which I was able to write in advance. Repeat columns from the past few months will run on ChrisWeigant.com early next week, and this column will resume normal broadcasting starting next Friday. Thanks for your understanding, and if you'd like to get in on some silliness yourselves in the meantime, check out this hilarious page, where you can make your own fake Kenyan birth certificate. Fun for the whole family! Who knows, one of you may be president some day... sillier things have happened!]

 

Chris Weigant blogs at: ChrisWeigant.com

 

 

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Comments

[SparkyDash]

A much deserved respite to you Chris. Your posts have been just what the doctor ordered on many a day...Fridays especially. We need you fresh...we need you back, pencil sharpened, taking no prisoners.

Too dramatic?

Take care big guy ;-)

[Mildmannered]

Another example of "silly season" is Palin's comment today that Obama's "Death Panel" Could Kill My Down Syndrome Baby.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/08/07/palin-obamas-death-panel_n_254399.html

[SparkyDash]

Yup...you just can't make this stuff up. lol

[Rescisco]

Enjoy your vacation! But I bet the "silly" will catch up with you. There are some things you just can't get away from it seems.

[Chris Weigant - Huffpost Blogger]

Rescisco -

You're probably right! Silly is as silly does. Or something like that....

:-)

-CW

[Mildmannered]

"Shut up, just shut up. You had me at 'silly' ".

[WryAwry]

The headline -- "Silly Season" -- drew this reader right in, if only for the opportunity to comment
that today, here and now, on HuffPo, there does not appear to be a single, solitary reference to
the here-to-fore Champion of Silly,

SARAH PALIN!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you, thank you, thank you, oh, great Power of the Universe!!
Please, please, please, let this day be a harbinger of the rest of time!!

[Chris Weigant - Huffpost Blogger]

WryAwry -

Thank you for noticing this severe lack of Palin news. I will mention her in tomorrow's column to make up for this shameful non-coverage. Heh. But, I promise, I won't put her in the headline, how's that?

:-)

-CW

[Mildmannered]

the post office and the DMV, truth be told, are pretty well run

[DougDeWitt]

I've read Arthur Laffer's theory of the Health Care Wedge, and although I don't know that I fully agree with his politics, his claim that the high price of health care, several multiples of the actual cost per patient of that health care, is the result of multiple classes of patients receiving care, the costs of which are being shifted to insurance companies and the uninsured IS ACCURATE.

Having been a consultant in the industry, I have been witness to the increasing prices, and am fully aware of the root cause, having advised facilities and provider groups how to keep the doors open in such an environment.

The fix: pretty easy, really. The coverages that now pay less than the per-patient cost of providing health care services, Medicare, Medicaid, HMO's and PPO's payment methodologies must provide reimbursement high enough to cover costs. This will end shifting of costs to those with insurance, or who are unfortunate enough to need health care, and have the gun at their head to sign an agreement to pay the bill, no matter what.

[Karencnj]

Just because the media did a poor job covering the Democratic Presidental campaign in 2004 did not mean Senator Kerry took off the month of August. He and Edwards took a bus/train tour with large rallies along the way starting the day after his excellent convention speech.

The only "vacation" was a few hours that he windsurfed as a photo opportunity during the Republican convention. It is traditional that the opposing campaign lays low during the others convention. Kerry spent the rest of the day in debate preparation.

The fact is the media allowed the SBVT a huge amount of free time and they gave them credibility that the ads alone did not convey. The media also did not cover John Kerry when he defended his record before the Firefighters Union. That defense took about 2 minutes - but was given very little air time. The fact of the matter is that the Navy records backed Kerry and within a day of their book coming out, the Kerry campaign gave the media a 36 page document proving lies in it.

I know this is designed as a humerous column, but it seems completely unfair for you to further attack Kerry, who did not deserve the way he was treated here.

[Chris Weigant - Huffpost Blogger]

Karencnj -

I re-read the bit, and you're right I was probably a bit hard on Kerry (admittedly, it was a cheap shot). I should have pointed out the silliness of the SBVT a lot stronger, too. How silly of me to have missed this!

But the only other example I had from very recent memory was the Reverend Wright media circus from last year (which I think happened right around August), which I did not find silly at all, for a lot of reasons.

-CW

[Karencnj]

I found the SBVT as completely unfunny as you found the Reverend Wright issue and unlike with right they had some succes.

Had the country reacted as if these claims with as ridiculous as they were - as they were completely at variance with the official record and the accounts of the people actually on his boat - and were funded by people closely connected to Bush, there might have been some humor at the sheer preposterousness. But, this is not what happened.

Your comment shows that the Republicans succeeded, not just in diminishing Kerry's real status as a war hero, but his reputation as a serious, hard working man with a life time of accomplishment. In reality it was Bush, who vacationed often - even if just gathering brush. It was Bush who had no real accomplishment in his first 40 years. Yet, the images propigated in 2004, cause you to, without any malice, paint an unusually hardworking, serious, committed man, as vacationing for a month when he was his party's nominee for President??

Senator Kerry ran a high road, dignified campaign for President. The 2008 platform on many issues - especially environment and alternative energy and how to deal with nonstate terrorists were taken nearly verbatim from Kerry's run. In addition, both Obama and Clinton had Iraq plans based on the Kerry/Feingold plan. The cost of running and nearly winning the Presidency should not be to have your reputation damaged unfairly and to have that called silly.

[LizM]

But, the silly season is when we need you most. Oh, well...have a fantastic vacation! :-)

[Chris Weigant - Huffpost Blogger]

LizM -

:-)

-CW