Hullabaloo

Friday, September 17, 2010

 
Triumph Of The Wingnut

by digby

Can you say hubris?



Word to Palin voting wingnuts: if you voted Republican in 2008 you don't get to say "we" voted for Obama. (Particularly when you make videos that show you're either only 16 years old or you've been watching waaay too many gladiator movies.) The people who made this video didn't vote for the Democrats and their claim to having ever given them a chance is a lie.

Hubris is the deadliest political character flaw. Republicans aren't the only ones who have it of course. But they have it in spades:

Nov. 3 [1998] election night ... Republicans lose five House seats despite Gingrich's earlier predictions they would gain more than 20.

Even that night, Gingrich's senior political director, Joe Gaylord, expresses confidence--which ultimately will be exposed as overconfidence--that "we would gain seats, it was only a matter of how many we gain."

As the night progresses, smiles disappear from Gingrich's "war room," and multiple shots capture the speaker, mouth widened in disbelief. Later, he tells Pack he was "genuinely confused."

Gingrich goes on camera to accept his share of the blame, but even in the walk to the interview room, he tries to cast the losses in the best possible light, explaining to his advisors that most GOP incumbents were victorious.

I'm not saying that's going to happen again. And the premature "Mission Accomplished" is always fun. But puerile arrogance is rarely a smart strategy. You just don't know what those crazy voters might do.

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digby 9/17/2010 11:00:00 AM |