Tom Coburn, Private Dick
So what can Mad Doctor Tom Coburn possibly do to top his theatrics at the John Roberts confirmation hearings?
Once you've been caught doing crossword puzzles during the hearing to select only the 17th chief justice in U.S. history, once you've broken down sobbing about hate-filled politics (this from a true contender for the most hate-filled senator on Capitol Hill), what can you do to be even nuttier?
Why, tout your psychic abilities, of course.
As Doctor Tom told Roberts (thanks to Dustbury for this gem):
"... I will tell you that I am very pleased, both in my observational capabilities as a physician to know that your answers have been honest and forthright as I watch the rest of your body respond to the stress that you're under ..."
Let's test our psychic abilities: Within two years, we predict Doctor Tom will be in a padded cell, popping crickets into his mouth like popcorn shrimp. You heard it here first, folks.
posted by Chase McInerney @ 12:42 PM
6 comments
6 Comments:
Just a note for full context: Bill Clinton is an avid Sunday NYT crossword enthusiast and used to fill them out at national security meetings, which is somewhat equivalent to elaborate doodling to keep the mind engaged (nothing wrong with either activity).
It used to be a point of pride that Clinton could fill it out in 10-20 minutes, and it was taken as a clear demonstration of his whole-brain smarts.
So why all of a sudden is filling out a crossword puzzle amid a group of self-important bloviating Senators (in both parties) up for castigation?
Well, I'll tell you why, Red Dirt...
1. Where is your proof that Clinton did so?
2. The reason we have proof that Coburn did so is because he chose to do it on nationally televised confirmation hearings, which, in addition to being a tad disrespectful, just seems to be a stupid lapse of judgment.
3. It is not so much the crossword puzzle that is the weirdness -- it is that he would be disconnected enough from the proceedings to do that and then turn around and feign sobbing.
4. We can only assume that Coburn himself from something worth castigating about it, since he denied he was doing crossword puzzles.
5. Why are you defending Tom Coburn? Regardless of whether it is worth castigation, why would you come to the defense of an extremist homophobe, anti-Semite and all-around loon? Is anyone worth defending if there's an R beside their name? Apparently so.
Yikes... I didn't mean to fly off on a tirade. But c'mon, it's friggin' Tom Coburn. I will say, though, that his point about the feds needing to sacrifice for the post-hurricane reconstruction is a point well-made.
Which only goes to prove that, yes, a chimpanzee COULD write Shakespearean plays if given enough time.
1. I wasn't defending Coburn, and you know it. That's a weak straw man, since I was focused fully on the matter of whether it is appropriate to fill out a crossword puzzle at a confirmation hearing, regardless of the individual doing it. If it was "not so much the matter of the crossword puzzle" then why bring it up?
And as we're about to see -- in this particular instance, the partisan blinders belong solely to you. Because...
2. You want proof?
***From a TIME 1998 article about Clinton:
"It's an almost scary mind, that of a multitasking wizard who plays hearts while he talks on the phone with a head of state, who sits through a dense briefing on chemical weapons intently doing a crossword puzzle, only to take reporters' questions hours later and repeat whole sections of the briefing word for word."
Does that strike anyone, in Chase's words, as "a stupid lapse in judgement?" I don't think it is, because filling out crosswords has proven to be efficacious in preventing Alzheimer's, but under Chase's framing of the issues, it certainly would qualify as such.
***From a Newsweek 1994 article about Clinton and the invasion of Haiti:
"Though Carter did not know it, the American invasion of Haiti was scheduled to begin a minute after midnight. Carter asked for, and received, a three-hour extension from Clinton. In the White House at 1 p.m., Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. John Shalikashvili told the president that if the 82d Airborne was to drop into Haiti that night, it had to start loading its gear into planes. "Pack'em," the president said. Clinton's aides were impressed with his cool. Neither they nor the president realized that by sticking to the invasion schedule, Clinton was boxing himself into a corner. A few minutes after he told the Pentagon to get ready, Clinton received a fax of a proposed peace agreement worked out by Carter and the generals. It was full of holes. Cedras and Co. agreed to leave power, but only after they had been given amnesty for their crimes. Christopher and Clinton insisted on a departure deadline. Furiously, Talbott typed out a modified agreement, inserting a departure date of Oct. 15. At his desk, President Clinton tried to divert himself with The New York Times crossword puzzle. The grandfather clock in the Oval Office kept ticking, past the 3 p.m. deadline."
***And there's this 1999 article from the New York Daily News...
DOES W. HAVE THE SMARTS? THE JOB'S NOT JUST ABOUT OUR LEADER'S IQ, STUPID
"Among fellow pols, Bush generally is viewed as a candidate of above-average intellect and even better political instincts. But even his partisans - not to mention the candidate himself - don't pretend he's an egghead, and he's certainly no Seminar Man, like Bill Clinton, who has been known in meetings to opine on complex matters of national security while simultaneously tackling the Sunday Times crossword puzzle."
***Another link: http://www.crosswordtournament.com/articles/041901.htm
***From a TIME 1991 article about Clinton (http://time-proxy.yaga.com/time/archive/preview/0,10987,974539,00.html)......
"He is passionate about crossword puzzles..."
***In the book, "Crossword: One Man's Journey into America's Crossword Obsession" the writer notes Clinton's obsesssion with the puzzles.
***Here's a link to a press briefing in which McCurry describes the "scary" speed at which Clinton can fill one out... http://www.clintonfoundation.org/legacy/081898-press-briefing-by-mccurry-in-gaggle.htm
***Another in which the president himself jokes about crosswords with a reporter... http://www.clintonfoundation.org/legacy/121296-remarks-by-president-at-drug-policy-council-meeting-beginning.htm
***Here's a link to a transcript from a Jann Wenner Rolling Stone interview in which Wenner notes that Clinton is filling out a crossword puzzle on Air Force One when the editor comes in for an interview... http://www.mindfully.org/Reform/Bill-Clinton-Rolling-Stone.htm
Not to make a federal case out of it or anything, but since you did, I felt I had to file some sort of amicus curae on my own behalf.
3. Since you were aware of the Clinton-crossword connection before you wrote your original entry, I'm honestly confused about why you would still include the reference and then pound me for "defending Tom Coburn" when I brought it up.
4. So again I ask a question that was never answered: If Bill Clinton was known to fill out crosswords all the time -- including during national security briefings -- and if it was noted in major media ALL THE TIME as seemingly no big deal (other than as a proof of Clinton's smarts) what's the big deal with Tom Coburn doing so while Biden, Feinstein, Specter or Ted Kennedy bloviate?
Ouch, indeed.
Actually, I'm with Red Dirt on this. Sen. Coburn is a good Christian man. The liberal press loves to chase him because he dares to speak the truth. This is a Christian Nation with a capital C whether you want to admit it or not!
Coburn sure tries to get a lot of mileage out of being a doctor. As a physician from Oklahoma, I find him an absolute embarrassment. He gives a black eye to the rest of us.
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