Nov 24th, 2008 at 10:57 am
Gotta Finish The Book
Uh oh! Via Jason Zengerle and Mike Allen:
George STEPHANOPOULOS, on GMA, re the president-elect and the economy: “He’s already doing more than any incoming president has ever done this quickly … One Obama adviser told me what they’d like is a combination of ‘Team of Rivals’ and ‘The Best and the Brightest,’ which was the David Halberstam book about the incumbent Kennedy administration.
Maybe Obama ought to talk that idea over with Halberstam. I don’t recall that book as having had a happy ending.
UPDATE: I’d forgotten, but Halberstam passed away last year.
33 Responses to “Gotta Finish The Book”
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November 24th, 2008 at 11:01 am
Halberstam died in an auto accident earlier this year.
November 24th, 2008 at 11:01 am
You mean because Robert S. McNamara set us up for a protracted war without the tools to win, because of Bay of Pigs and other blunders, or because JFK got shot?
November 24th, 2008 at 11:03 am
It was made into that movie, Beach Party Vietnam, with a soundtrack by a very young group of musicians called The Dead Milkmen.
November 24th, 2008 at 11:04 am
Halberstam was killed in a car accident a while ago.
November 24th, 2008 at 11:04 am
Henry beat me to it. Halberstam is dead. But maybe it’s possible to talk with him, assuming Obama wants to consult with Nancy Reagan about having seances in the White House.
November 24th, 2008 at 11:04 am
Uh, the operative word here is “combination.” As in, avoiding the hubristic instincts of the best and the brightest by making them persuade policy rivals before embarking on Vietnam-like endeavors.
November 24th, 2008 at 11:08 am
Yglesias FTW
November 24th, 2008 at 11:09 am
Maybe Matt Y oughta finish his course on logical syllogisms…
November 24th, 2008 at 11:15 am
Blackink, you beat me to the Nancy Reagan joke. I’ll get you next time.
November 24th, 2008 at 11:16 am
You mean because Robert S. McNamara set us up for a protracted war without the tools to win, because of Bay of Pigs and other blunders, or because JFK got shot?
Halberstam’s book is about how Kennedy and Johnson got America into Vietnam.
November 24th, 2008 at 11:21 am
The Best of Rivals? A Team of the Brightest?
November 24th, 2008 at 11:23 am
The more and more these books get incessantly mentioned in every Obama story the more I become convinced that our media betters haven’t actually read them. Just read the title, then skimmed the dust jacket description, then set the book down and declared themselves enlightened.
November 24th, 2008 at 11:28 am
Maybe Obama ought to talk that idea over with Halberstam. I don’t recall that book as having had a happy ending.
So he doesn’t get shot like JFK? Is “Best & Brightest” a book-form precursor to “The Ring?”
November 24th, 2008 at 11:34 am
The obvious problems with the post aside, it’s a good point. Kennedy’s cabinet is a terrible model, and yet it’s the only one that Obama could conceivably emulate.
November 24th, 2008 at 11:37 am
Good work here Matt. An egregious error that isn’t a typo; you’re breaking new ground.
November 24th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
Hey, much credit for posting an update!
November 24th, 2008 at 12:09 pm
Folks, one of the reasons that Obama’s Nancy Reagan joke fell flat was that she wasn’t the first lady who had held seances in the White House. It was actually the first lady who will soon become our Secretary of freaking State.
November 24th, 2008 at 12:29 pm
Eric-
Wrong–you’re echoing right wingnut propaganda. What Clinton did was the equivalent of asking herself “What would Eleanor do.”
Right–Nancy Reagan relied on astrology, IIRC.
November 24th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
Hillary didn’t have seances where she summoned the shade of Eleanor Roosevelt, no. She engaged in dialogue in her mind with a second voice, which she labeled as that of Eleanor Roosevelt.
What’s a worse trait in an individual in a position of authority–superstition or schizophrenia?
November 24th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
This is like Mike Singletary calling Bill Walsh recently.
November 24th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
I think we can assume that the blunder here does not come from the “Obama adviser” but from George “Do you love America more than Rev. Wright?” Stephanapolous, who seems to be the one who added the reference.
The Obama adviser was probably just trying to say that they want a “team of rivals” but also the best and the brightest, in the non-ironic (i.e. non-Halberstam) sense of the term.
As Matt’s suggestion that Obama should “talk” to Halberstam proves, it’s usually the pundits/awesome liberal bloggers who are sloppy with details, and rarely the insanely on-message Obama team.
November 24th, 2008 at 2:34 pm
She engaged in dialogue in her mind with a second voice, which she labeled as that of Eleanor Roosevelt.
What’s a worse trait in an individual in a position of authority–superstition or schizophrenia?
So, when my wife or I have it out with the imaginary other before we’ve gotten home to face the real deal, we’re nuts?
If Eleanor’s voice is coming into Hillary’s head unbidden, she’s got a problem. Otherwise, who cares how she organizes her intellectual exercises?
November 24th, 2008 at 4:34 pm
>One Obama adviser told me what they’d like is a combination of ‘Team of Rivals’ and ‘The Best and the Brightest,’
That’s no advisor.
That’s GS channeling a hollywood agent.
Matthew sed,
>The more and more these books get incessantly mentioned in every Obama story the more I become convinced that our media betters haven’t actually read them.
I second Matthew’s assessment. TB&TB is 700+ pages. I only read it through once myself. I stalled at about 20 pages in the second time, earlier this year.
By the whole point of TB&TB is that common sense and reality trump arrogant trust in one’s own academic brilliance (Hello Mssrs. Paulson & Bernake.)
I’d recommend the Obama team invest the 95 minutes to watch Errol Morris’ Fog of War, instead. The one lesson I took away from this film is not one of the eleven numbered lessons, but the one which should be in the forefront of every politician’s mind: “Never answer the question that is asked of you. Answer the question that you wish had been asked of you.”
November 24th, 2008 at 5:13 pm
Oh, wait a second; GS meant this book: Star Trek: Starfleet Academy: The Best and the Brightest.
I know other fanboys will be disappointed, but I would be glad to see Will Wheaton (Wesley Crusher) on the Obama team.
November 24th, 2008 at 5:15 pm
Apologies.
Yes, If I was a real fan I would have caught myself before I put that second letter “l” in Mr. Wheaton’s Christian name.
November 24th, 2008 at 5:31 pm
Matt, you are amusing when you blog before you think (hazards of blogging I know). Your mistake concerning Halberstam reminds me of the time when you wanted to string up Bob Novak by his thumbs for hitting a cyclist, only to find out later he had a brain seizure which caused his accident. Whoops!
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