Meta-wankery

I know this is National Bash Richard Cohen Week, but let's not lose sight of the fact that there are many other wankers in the sea. And if you have a hankering for flounder, you can't go wrong dropping your hook in Hugh Hewittless's intellectual puddle. Behold this epic bit of up-is-downism:

(quoting AP)

Angry conservatives are driving the approval ratings of President Bush and the GOP-led Congress to dismal new lows, according to an AP-Ipsos poll that underscores why Republicans fear an Election Day massacre.

Six months out, the intensity of opposition to Bush and Congress has risen sharply, along with the percentage of Americans who believe the nation is on the wrong track.

The AP-Ipsos poll also suggests that Democratic voters are far more motivated than Republicans. Elections in the middle of a president's term traditionally favor the party whose core supporters are the most energized.

Dark times for those with an ankle tied to these Republican boat anchors, yes?

Not in the World According to Hugh:

There are undeniable signs of GOP renewal, in Senate races in Minnesota, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Ohio, Washington State, Montana and Missouri --and perhaps next week in Florida-- as well as great candidates for governor in Blackwell in Ohio and Swann in Pennsyvlania. As Michael Barone has argued, the GOP voters just seem to keep turning out, despite their grumbling.

Bill Kristol has argued that 9/11 may have changed American politics far more than we know, and I suspect the president's poll numbers --to the extent they are accurate-- reflect not dismay with the war, but dismay with the Administration's occasional appearance of placing priority on other than the war. Telling the American people that there is no substitute for victory in Iraq and firmness with Iran even to the point of confrontation is exactly the reassurance that serious people need. The president has been doing this for months, but he and his Adminsitration have beeen helped in recent weeks by the appearnce of the left's venom and its effects on the Democratic leadership. The party is truly unhinged, and a voite for any Democrat will be a vote for defeat, and not just in Iraq.

Ah, yes, Hugh. By all means. Let's focus on the stunning success in Iraq. I'm sure those 29% of Americans who have not yet joined the reality-based community are just the vanguard of a stunning turnaround.

There just does not seem to An approval rating of 31%? Hot diggety dog -- we've got those pesky Democrats right where we want them!

MSM is, once again, about three months behind the curve. The prospects of the GOP Painting the Map Red have increased dramatically in just the past month.

Now it might come as a shock to you that there is a book by that very name, and that it was written by ... quelle surprise, Hugh Hewitt! (Amazon rank: 10,423. Greenwald's: 245.) So it is no wonder he is flogging that phrase, though red paint does not seem to be translating into a green palm.

There is simply no possible set of facts that would lead the Hugh Hewitts of the world to let go of the belief that there will be a surfeit of ponies around the next corner ... or perhaps the one after that.

Never mind that they've already turned more corners than a champion Rubik's cuber does in a lifetime. Never mind that they have been wrong every friggin' time.

To paraphrase the (mis)quote from Vince Lombardi, hope isn't just a plan. It's the only plan.