I am pleased to announce that I have joined the Daily Standard as a regular contributor to their pages. My first column, "It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Left", reviews Hillary Clinton's Aspen speech in which she compared George Bush to Alfred E. Neuman. I posted briefly on this earlier this week, and my new column takes a closer look at the factual misrepresentations that Hillary made, and the lack of accountability given to them by the media:

HILLARY CLINTON made headlines earlier this week when she compared President George W. Bush to Mad magazine's Alfred E. Neuman, the gap-toothed, freckle-faced mascot whose signature statement is "What, me worry?" As political put-downs go, this hardly ranks as the most egregious, even in the modern era of politics. Fellow Democratic Senator Harry Reid called Bush both a liar and a loser earlier this year, and later only grudgingly offered to retract the latter. The American left, exemplified by MoveOn.org, has compared Bush to Adolf Hitler--unfavorably. Howard Dean has spent his entire term as Democratic party chairman issuing insults to and about Republicans, explicitly declaring that they have never done an honest day's work in their lives and that the GOP is entirely comprised of unfriendly white Christians. Even as an insult to Bush's physical looks, Sen. Clinton's comparison pales to the usual references to chimpanzees that the Left has beaten to death.

Still, the Mad magazine comparison is significant and revealing. I grew up reading Mad, with its iconoclastic attitude and broad-based satirical outlook. The magazine existed in part to challenge authority and to skewer the self-righteous. Year ago, "authority" meant the establishment, mostly conservative, and the magazine's barbs were aimed more at stodgy Republicans than free-wheeling liberals and Democrats. But Mad also regularly scored points against the excesses of the counterculture, too.

Big thanks to King Banaian, the Official Economist of the Northern Alliance. He confirmed my original analysis when I simply couldn't believe that anyone could spout this big of a whopper and not get called on it. (Oh, yeah -- and thanks to my Aunt Judy, who bought me a Mad Magazine subscription when I was nine years old, over the mild objections of my mother. Told you it wouldn't warp my mind.)

Speaking

This gives me an opportunity to also announce that Premiere Speakers has now added me to their roster of national lecturers. This is a stellar organization representing many fine speakers -- take a look around the website to see the others, like Zell Miller, Sean Hannity, and many fine public figures. We are still finalizing promotional materials, but other than the headshot, I believe they're ready to start booking appearances. If you would like to have me speak at a function, please be sure to contact Premiere! (If you would like to see my appearance at the Heritage Foundation, you can see it through a Real Player stream here.)

UPDATE and BUMP TO TOP: Thanks for all the support -- it's much appreciated.

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» He's one of them now. from What Attitude Problem?
Ed Morriessy makes his debut at The Daily Standard as a columnist with this excellent takedown of Hillary's comparison of President George W. Bush to Mad magazine's Alfred E. Neuman -- an initially scurrilous [considering the source] yet strangely admi... [Read More]

Tracked on July 13, 2005 7:35 AM

» Journalist: To Be Or Not To Be That Is The Question (part 1) from Snugg Harbor
Going over the blogroll today, I stopped at Captain's Quarters. Due to his tireless efforts in accurately "reporting" on any given topic piquing his interest, and while wearing his "pundit hat", stating his case clearly and concisely, leavening it with... [Read More]

Tracked on July 13, 2005 7:44 PM

» Journalism: To Be Or Not To Be (part 2) from Snugg Harbor
While the folks on the American Heritage Foundation panel, (and thanks to Captain Ed for providing a link to the video of this) debated whether or not journalists and bloggers were friends or something less' an important point, and one... [Read More]

Tracked on July 13, 2005 8:01 PM