Cool, I caught the funny stuff at the beginning. But as PK and I are just now watching A New Hope, I gotta say, the robots are better, and their wit drier, in a galaxy far far away.
Re 13: It stroikes me that the hilarious meta-discussion wouldn't have been funny at all if it was just audio. The other segments would be duller too? Maybe? In any case they'd vastly different. It's interesting to think about how that works.
Okay, I'm watching this for the first time now, and I have a couple observations on the actual content of this program:
1. First, I'm happy to say Kaus isn't annoying on camera at all, as opposed to his blog (where he becomes unreadable with his cutesy-irritating "talking to himself" shtick, gratuitous exclamation points, etc.) Contentwise, he's as stupid as usual, cutely contrarian for the sake of being cutely contrarian.
2. Second, Ogged initially described this as "two partisans" arguing with each other. Who's the partisan here? Kaus is ostensibly a Democrat and is pro-torture (in this context) and leans anti-immigration (in this context). Wright I don't know well enough to classify, but he's opposite Kaus enough to either call him an unconventional Republican or an un-Kaussian Democrat.
3. Question: Who came up with the "Cheney is taking the braver stand" line first, Gelernter or Kaus? Only one of them wins the Pundit Points!
4. Kaus still thinks that you can take a hardline anti-immigration stand and be a viable presidential candidate (if you've been reading Kausfiles at all, this is the drum he's been beating for nearly a year on how the Democrats should beat the Republicans - by dumping any chance of winning the Latino vote). So: is he just stupid, is he just playing the "Kraziest Pundit" game, or does he get regular envelopes of cash from the RNC?
5. It's easy for Kaus to say "we turned to Nixon in '68, not to Kennedy" when Kennedy got killed in the middle of the election, you dumbass.
6. I saw David Lynch speak on transcendental meditation a couple weeks ago along with a former candidate for the Natural Law Party. Pretty wack-ass.
When I went to bed at 2 am after finishing grading, Mr. B. refused to let me turn off the light until I watched this link--which made me laugh out loud more than once. If they can retain their senses of humor, I think the thing might end up being really worth watching after all!
I liked the post's original title better.
Posted by slolernr | Link to this comment | 11-14-05 9:33 PM
Also? I'm with Wright. They're in serious trouble.
Posted by slolernr | Link to this comment | 11-14-05 9:35 PM
:-)
I didn't want to seem pissy.
Posted by ogged | Link to this comment | 11-14-05 9:35 PM
"There's a fine line between being robotic and having a dry wit."
Too true. What was the original title?
Posted by ben wolfson | Link to this comment | 11-14-05 9:36 PM
I think it was "Second Rate My Ass. You Know It Hurt."
Posted by ogged | Link to this comment | 11-14-05 9:39 PM
Shoulda kept it.
Posted by ben wolfson | Link to this comment | 11-14-05 9:41 PM
That is the most awesome link ever. I can't tell what's meta and what's earnest.
Posted by Becks | Link to this comment | 11-14-05 9:49 PM
Alright, I'll look. But seriously, ogged - is Kaus your dad or something?
Posted by SomeCallMeTim | Link to this comment | 11-14-05 9:52 PM
OK - I was entirely wrong. Please forgive me. Kaus r0xr! (But still evil.) Wierd and deeply troubling.
Posted by SomeCallMeTim | Link to this comment | 11-14-05 9:56 PM
Ok wow. That's awesome.
Posted by Matt F | Link to this comment | 11-14-05 9:58 PM
Cool, I caught the funny stuff at the beginning. But as PK and I are just now watching A New Hope, I gotta say, the robots are better, and their wit drier, in a galaxy far far away.
Posted by Mr. B | Link to this comment | 11-14-05 9:59 PM
So, is Nonzero a new blog or something?
Posted by eb | Link to this comment | 11-14-05 10:22 PM
Is there any reason that bloggingheads isn't purely audio? What do they think they're adding with the video?
Posted by washerdreyer | Link to this comment | 11-14-05 10:25 PM
"Not a mainstream magazine, or even a prominent blog."
There's a good motto.
Posted by apostropher | Link to this comment | 11-14-05 10:28 PM
This is hilarious. I agree with 7. So awesome.
Posted by silvana | Link to this comment | 11-14-05 10:51 PM
Also, "when you're failing miserably, you have no idea that you're failing miserably."
Priceless.
Posted by silvana | Link to this comment | 11-14-05 10:54 PM
Kaus reminds me of Adam Corolla. About as charismatic,
Posted by Michael | Link to this comment | 11-14-05 11:37 PM
and?
Posted by ben wolfson | Link to this comment | 11-14-05 11:38 PM
I was thinking at the very beinning of the clip, without knowing who Wright is, that he would win because he had more books behind him.
Posted by Michael | Link to this comment | 11-14-05 11:39 PM
, s/b .
Posted by Michael | Link to this comment | 11-14-05 11:39 PM
My impressions: respect for kaus, up; respect for wright, down significantly.
Posted by cw | Link to this comment | 11-15-05 12:15 AM
Mickey Kaus disagreed with John McCain. Therefore Mickey Kaus is a g-hero. Therefore Mickey Kaus is not, as suspected, Ogged, but apostropher.
Posted by washerdreyer | Link to this comment | 11-15-05 12:25 AM
Wright was funnier. Are you talking about the "serious" discussion; I didn't watch that.
Posted by David Weman | Link to this comment | 11-15-05 12:26 AM
I was responding to 23.
Re 13: It stroikes me that the hilarious meta-discussion wouldn't have been funny at all if it was just audio. The other segments would be duller too? Maybe? In any case they'd vastly different. It's interesting to think about how that works.
Posted by David Weman | Link to this comment | 11-15-05 12:31 AM
I was responding to 23.
In 23?
Posted by apostropher | Link to this comment | 11-15-05 12:39 AM
Sorry.
Posted by David Weman | Link to this comment | 11-15-05 1:46 AM
Okay, I'm watching this for the first time now, and I have a couple observations on the actual content of this program:
1. First, I'm happy to say Kaus isn't annoying on camera at all, as opposed to his blog (where he becomes unreadable with his cutesy-irritating "talking to himself" shtick, gratuitous exclamation points, etc.) Contentwise, he's as stupid as usual, cutely contrarian for the sake of being cutely contrarian.
2. Second, Ogged initially described this as "two partisans" arguing with each other. Who's the partisan here? Kaus is ostensibly a Democrat and is pro-torture (in this context) and leans anti-immigration (in this context). Wright I don't know well enough to classify, but he's opposite Kaus enough to either call him an unconventional Republican or an un-Kaussian Democrat.
3. Question: Who came up with the "Cheney is taking the braver stand" line first, Gelernter or Kaus? Only one of them wins the Pundit Points!
4. Kaus still thinks that you can take a hardline anti-immigration stand and be a viable presidential candidate (if you've been reading Kausfiles at all, this is the drum he's been beating for nearly a year on how the Democrats should beat the Republicans - by dumping any chance of winning the Latino vote). So: is he just stupid, is he just playing the "Kraziest Pundit" game, or does he get regular envelopes of cash from the RNC?
5. It's easy for Kaus to say "we turned to Nixon in '68, not to Kennedy" when Kennedy got killed in the middle of the election, you dumbass.
6. I saw David Lynch speak on transcendental meditation a couple weeks ago along with a former candidate for the Natural Law Party. Pretty wack-ass.
7. They're both pretty funny.
Posted by Isle of Toads | Link to this comment | 11-15-05 7:38 AM
is he just stupid
No, but he has an endless supply of stupid opinions.
Kaus isn't annoying on camera
Except for the fact that he doesn't close his mouth when he isn't speaking, which somehow lends a simian quality to his screen presence.
Posted by apostropher | Link to this comment | 11-15-05 8:15 AM
Oooooooh, THAT Robert Wright. The one who tried to trick Dan Dennett into endorsing some pseudo-Gaia theist idea of his. Yeah, I don't like that guy.
Posted by tom | Link to this comment | 11-15-05 9:03 AM
When I went to bed at 2 am after finishing grading, Mr. B. refused to let me turn off the light until I watched this link--which made me laugh out loud more than once. If they can retain their senses of humor, I think the thing might end up being really worth watching after all!
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