May 20, 2008

His Master's Voice


Playing table tennis on this blog is fun. So let me make a comment on Mark's recent comment on Hardball.

It is indeed "excruciatingly painful" to watch. But that is because we are viewing it as fellow human beings. Watching a person being humiliated in public is painful, even when he deserves it.

But watch it again as a potential employer reading a cover letter for a cv. If you are looking for a hack to hire, Kevin James's Hardball performance should definitely loosen your wallet.

He came on the show to defend Bush and take a swipe at Obama. He defended what Bush said about Obama. He defended Bush making that attack in Israel which is probably a line of argument he didn't expect. He attacked both Obama and Clinton. He never gave a single inch of ground to the "enemy." He was told to his face that he was a "blank slate." It was proven to his face that he had no clue what he is talking about and he was humiliated before an audience of millions. And he still did not give ground, did not apologize, did not show the faintest sign of recognition or shame. When the host clarified the distinction between talk and action, instead of examining his shoes, he grabbed the distinction like a pro and inverted it, accusing Clinton of talking instead of doing, and being responsible for 9/11.

Kevin James is a bit too youngish, a bit too exuberant, but he will learn to show more "gravitas." His ignorance will be corrected by a few generic history books. He will eventually be able to distinguish Normandy from Anbar Province on a map. These things are easily learned. The important thing is that he possesses the character of a good hack--loyalty, tenacity, intelligence, and shamelessness.

"The face of the age is the face of a dog." I will bet Kevin James is destined to be a 7 figures hack. We will see him again on TV, in think tanks, in government. Chris Matthew's final judgement on him, after replaying the interview, was "But he‘s a good guy. And we‘re going to have him back."

Yes we will!

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