Today Chairman Thomas was brilliant on Meet the Press. But somehow his conversation reminded me of this scene from Bull Durham
CRASH: It’s time you started working on your interviews.
NUKE: What do I gotta do?
CRASH: Learn your cliches. Study them. Know them. They’re your friends.
Crash hands Nuke a small pad and pen.
CRASH: Write this down. (beat) “We gotta play ‘em one day at a time.”
NUKE: Boring.
CRASH: Of course. That’s the point. (beat) “I’m just happy to be here and
hope I can help the ballclub.”
NUKE: Jesus.
CRASH: Write, write–"I just wanta give It my best shot and, Good Lord willing, things’ll work out.”
NUKE STARTS WRITING them down.
NUKE: “…Good Lord willing, things’ll work out.”
We all know that the folks in the press aren't the smartest. And if they think that Chairman Thomas is opposed to social security reform, they are not only stupid but they're asleep.
Here's his explanation on Meet the Press this morning
MR. RUSSERT: Let me ask you about a comment you made at the National Journal Forum and give you a chance to talk about it. "I look forward to those discussions [on Social Security reform] and not continual beating of what will soon be a dead horse of their proposal, and I look forward to that."
Many thought you were suggesting the president's proposal had become a dead horse.
REP. THOMAS: No. The phrase for that, as you well know, is dead on arrival. I didn't say it was dead on arrival. What I said was I hope we didn't have our friends on the other side of the aisle attacking the president's proposal once it's introduced, because once it's introduced, it becomes part of the legislative process. Suggest changes or suggest substitutions, but don't continue the arguments against the president's plan because it's now part of the legislative process. That would be beating a dead horse.
Some of these young journalists, I'm concerned. Had I said, Tim, "You're barking up the wrong tree," they may have accused me of being anti-environmentalist. So I've got to watch the old phrases that used to mean something when you say them. The point is we should deal with the legislative process and the president's proposal will then be part of the legislative process. Let's debate the legislative process, not the president's proposal.
Others are musical blogging the social insecurity debate ...
Dick McDonald at the Right Scale says It's Not the Wrong Time or the Wrong Place
What If? Imagines Me and You, She Does, She thinks about it every night, it's only right
Just One Minute guesses some things never change when you're Riding A Dead Horse
It's Alright With Me
(Cole Porter 1953)
It's the wrong time and the wrong place
Though your face is charming, it's the wrong face
It's not her face, but such a charming face
And it's alright with me
It's the wrong song with the wrong style
Though your smile is lovely, it's the wrong smile
It's not her smile, but such a lovely smile
That it's alright with me
You can't know how happy I am we met
I'm strangely attracted to you
There's someone I'm trying so hard to forget
Don't you wanna forget someone too
It's the wrong game with the wrong chips
Though your lips are tempting, they're the wrong lips
They're not her lips, but they're such tempting lips
That it's all right with me
It's the wrong time and the wrong place
Though your face is charming, it's the wrong face
It's not her face, but such a charming face
And it's alright with me
It's the wrong song with the wrong style
Though your smile is lovely, it's the wrong smile
It's not her smile, but a lovely smile
And it's alright with me
You can not know how happy I am we met
I'm strangely attracted to you
There's someone I'm trying so hard to forget
Don't you wanna forget someone too
It's the wrong game and the wrong chips
Though your lips are tempting, it's the wrong lips
They're not her lips, but they're such tempting lips
And it's all right with me
And it's all right, it's all right
It's all right with me
It's all right with me
It's the wrong time and the wrong place
Though your lips are charming, it's the wrong face
It's not her face but a charming face
And it's alright with me
Happy Together
The Turtles
Imagine me and you I do
I think about you day and night
It's only right
To think about the girl you love
And hold her tight
So happy together
If I should call you up invest a dime
And you say you belong to me
And ease my mind
Imagine how the world could be
So very fine
So happy together
I can see me lovin' nobody but you
For all my life
When you're with me baby the skies'll be blue
For all my life
Me and you and you and me
No matter how they toss the dice
It had to be
The only one for me is you
And you for me
So happy together
I can see me lovin' nobody but you
For all my life
Song: Dead Horse
Artist: Guns N' Roses
Sick of this life
Not that you'd care
I'm not the only one with
whom these feelings I share
Nobody understands, quite why we're here
We're searchin' for answers
That never appear
But maybe if I looked real hard I'd
I'd see your tryin' too
To understand this life,
That we're all goin' through
(Then when she said she was gonna like
wreck my car...I didn't know what to do)
Sometimes I feel like I'm beatin' a dead horse
An I don't know why you'd be bringin' me down
I'd like to think that our love's
worth a tad more
It may sound funny but you'd think by now
I'd be smilin'
I guess some things never change
Never change
I met an old cowboy
I saw the look in his eyes
Somethin' tells me he's been here before
'Cause experience makes you wise
I was only a small child
When the thought first came to me
That I'm a son of a gun and the gun of a son
That brought back the devil in me
Sometimes I feel like I'm beatin' a dead horse
An I don't know why you'd be bringin' me down
I'd like to think that our love's
worth a tad more
It may sound funny but you'd think by now
I'd be smilin'
I guess some things never change
Never change
I ain't quite what you'd call an old soul
Still wet behind the ears
I been around this track a couple o' times
But now the dust is startin' to clear
Oh yeah!!!
Sometimes I feel like I'm beatin' a dead horse
An I don't know why you'd be bringin' me down
I'd like to think that our love's
worth a tad more
It may sound funny but you'd think by now
I'd be smilin'
Ooh yeah, I'd be smilin'
No way I'd be smilin'
Ooh smilin'
Sick of this life
Not that you'd care
I'm not the only one
With whom these feelings I share
