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We All Agree that Mark Penn Sucks Wet Farts From Dead Pigeons, but....
Josh just noted that Mark Penn is lobbying for the Columbian trade deal, which Clinton and Obama both oppose.
Regardless of which candidate you support, I think that we can all agree that Mark Penn is a complete pratt. (Here is where I pat myself on the back, because I've been hating on him since June 2007).
My question is who hates Penn more, Obama or Hillary supporters?
I think that Hillary supporters have more cause, as he's been wrong on everything while sucking up millions of dollars in fees, but Obama supporters have got to hate him too, because he is the most aggressively scorched earth guy out there.
So, what do you think?
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Comments (16)
Well, for a Clinton supporter to hate Mark Penn it would mean questioning her judgment on him. Of course, it's entirely possible to do that and still think she's a better candidate, but it does make it less likely that they're going to be inclined to go hating on him.
April 4, 2008 10:55 AM | Reply | Permalink
Ben, you got it exactly right for me. I HATE the man. I don't see anything redeeming about Penn. And it does make me question Hillary's judgment. However, one advisor does not break a candidate. And I think you know by now that I question Obama's judgment often.
Here's hoping that she'll use this as an excuse to fire Penn and this new interactive Hillary theme that returns to her earlier "conversation with America" sticks around. This is the Hillary I believe in.
April 4, 2008 11:15 AM | Reply | Permalink
Absolutely. I think if you don't think both candidates have made questionable decisions, then you're probably not paying attention and/or are blinded by loyalty. It's a matter of who you think have made better decisions overall and not just whether every decision made has been the correct one. Obviously, we come to different conclusions on that last one.
April 4, 2008 11:38 AM | Reply | Permalink
I think it's not so much whether someone makes a questionable decision, it's how they then deal with the consequences. Correcting any resulting problem/responding well to any resulting issue is, I would suggest, better than misdirection, dissembling (a genteel term for "outright lying"), or continuing to insist, in the face of all available evidence, that the decision was correct and the questioner's motives are suspect.
The hiring of Mark Penn, and his resulting effect on the Clinton campaign (as well as the effects of several other advisers, such as Wolfson and Ickes), appears to be part of the latter.
April 4, 2008 12:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
In the case that the questionable judgment becomes no longer questionable but just plain wrong you are correct. However, there is also the case where a questionable judgment is still simply questionable. I.e., I don't care for it, but others still think it's a good and/or pragmatic decision.
Then there are the decisions that I think are wrong but pragmatic (e.g., Clinton's and Obama's position on gay marriage).
April 4, 2008 1:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
"...I don't care for it, but others still think it's a good and/or pragmatic decision."
In that instance, I would suggest the problem is not with the decision taken. And follow with this question: How precisely accountable to you and you alone is the person who took that "questionable" decision?
Not trying to beat up on you here, just looking for some clarity...
April 4, 2008 1:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
He or she's accountable to me to the degree that my voice matters. I.e., it's not just me, but 300 million others, collectively, that a president is accountable to. We each have to make our own decisions on how well we think that person has/will executed his/her responsibilities in that regard.
Some of us, of course, pay more attention than others.
April 4, 2008 2:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
I don't like to make blanket statements but from now on, when asked whether I support a Democratic candidate I'm going to check to see if Penn is working for them. If he is, I might say no on the basis of that. It isn't worth the heartache.
April 4, 2008 10:56 AM | Reply | Permalink
destor, I'm just remembering a dream I had about you last night. You were all over the news, because it was revealed that your true identity was some very prominent public figure (though NOT Ric Flair). I can't remember who, and maybe in my dream it wasn't even clear. But it was big news that you had been participating on this website.
April 4, 2008 12:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
What the hell is a "pratt"?
April 4, 2008 11:11 AM | Reply | Permalink
Pratt, like tosser, wanker, tool, etc.
Stupid person generally. It may be a bit more of British than American English. It means fool.
April 4, 2008 11:42 AM | Reply | Permalink
I think the humans should be the group to hate Mark Penn the most, because when the alien overlords come, and debate whether to eat us or keep us as pets, they will look at Penn and decide to eat us.
April 4, 2008 11:40 AM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah, but they won't eat Penn. He'd have to taste nastier than possum.*
(*No actual opossums we harmed in the making of this comparison.**)
(**No actual originality was used in the making of this wisecrack.)
April 4, 2008 12:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
Post of the day!!!!
April 4, 2008 1:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
I believe Ben meant "prattler", although one Could be a "prattling prat", but who wants that?
prat
–noun Slang. the buttocks.
[Origin: 1560–70; orig. uncert.]
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
prat·tle
–verb (used without object) 1. to talk in a foolish or simple-minded way; chatter; babble.
–verb (used with object) 2. to utter by chattering or babbling.
–noun 3. the act of prattling.
4. chatter; babble: the prattle of children.
5. a babbling sound: the prattle of water rushing over stones.
[Origin: 1525–35;
—Related forms
prattler, noun
prat·tling·ly, adverb
—Synonyms 1. gab, jabber, gabble, blab.
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
April 4, 2008 11:47 AM | Reply | Permalink
Just for the record, it was Matthew and not me who used the word pratt here. (Not that there's anything wrong with that.)
April 4, 2008 12:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
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