Expert Failure

Eli Lake and I talk about the VP debate, the future of newspapers and the financial crisis on bloggingheads. Here's our discussion of something I've been thinking a lot about: the complete and total bankruptcy of the Establishment and the failure of all the mediating elites that we outsource decision-making to.

Comments (17)

1. The McDonald's in Sedona, Arizona is the only one in the world with turquoise arches. They are not yellow because the city thought they would mesh poorly with the surrounding red rocks.

   THAT is elitism!

   Posted by frosty zoom at 10/07/2008 @ 09:41am

2. "Have not the Lords of Creation [men in power in Washington] clearly proved their incapacity to govern. I wonder if black men and women could do worse." Elizabeth Cady Stanton writing to a friend, ca 1861.

   Posted by bcazden at 10/07/2008 @ 10:18am

3. THAT is elitism!

   Posted by frosty zoom at 10/07/2008 @ 09:41am

   Actually Frosty, its called city planning. Sedona really didn't want a McDonalds in their beautiful little mecca. I don't blame them. However, it would be discriminatory for them to just say.......no McDonalds allowed in town......so they made rules that gave them the ability to deny gaudy structures in town. Unfortunately.......McD's went ahead and decided that their trademark was negotiable because of the almighty dollar......and Sedona was forced to accept a blight on their beautiful hamlet because McD's played by the town's rules.

   Posted by jpolston at 10/07/2008 @ 10:54am

4. oh, i'm just playing THE game.

   mcdonald's is wrong on so many levels.

   hell, they don't even sell six-packs.

   Posted by frosty zoom at 10/07/2008 @ 10:59am

5. I understand Frosty......I was just making a point that there are places on Earth that are so beautiful that a McDonalds just doesn't belong. Sedona happens to be one of them. Unfortunately, like so many of the other most beautiful places in America, only rich assholes like McCain can afford to live there now.

   Posted by jpolston at 10/07/2008 @ 12:18pm

6. so they made rules that gave them the ability to deny gaudy structures in town.Posted by jpolston at 10/07/2008 @ 10:54am

   Has an enterprising individual started a tour bus operation through residential neighborhoods yet?

   Posted by Sorelish at 10/07/2008 @ 12:31pm

7. "There is no safety for honest men but by believing all possible evil of evil men." --Edmund Burke

   Posted by freiheit1 at 10/07/2008 @ 7:38pm

8. Why do you rob banks, Willy?

   Mr. Sutton-"Because that's where the money is".

   Posted by Sorelish at 10/07/2008 @ 8:01pm

9. These elites don't see our interests as their responsibilty.

   Being reasonable, well informed, assiduoulsy nurtured, solidly financed, they take excellent care of their own interests.

   Don't expect or demand otherwise.

   When you do, you offer them every opportunity to pick your pocket yet again.

   Posted by sloper at 10/08/2008 @ 04:40am

10. When it comes to the capacity for dirty deeds done dirt cheap, they're the alpha silverbacks.

    Ayn Rand Alpha = smart, hard working narcissistic, sociopathic. Well, that's a decent hypothesis to test.

    Posted by winyahn at 10/08/2008 @ 11:05pm

11. Great stuff Chris. The question I have been asking is "Where do we now turn for competence?"

    The main thesis of Reagan could be boiled down to: government is incompetent, so shrink government and buttress the competent in the private sector. Wall St. - more or less left to their own devices for this past decade - has now conclusively been revealed as a bastion of incompetence.

    So now where to?

    Perhaps the breakdown in the narrative that says competence exists at all will be one of the major outcomes of the W years (i.e. an across the board lowering of expectations.)

    Posted by ChrisCeppi at 10/09/2008 @ 10:37am

12. The recent stock market sell-off is fear based. Due to the urgency of the situation; Obama should make one of his "I'm acting as if I'm already president" speeches. The sell-off is global, the rest of the world totally loves Obama. The majority of this country loves Obama. Obama could turn the market around in one day. The right would be pissed and everyone else vindicated. We can't wait until January, at least what we're lead to believe.

    Posted by bleedingheart at 10/09/2008 @ 11:31pm

13. Frankly there's something to be said for inaction (aside from what the Buddha taught). As in, if we hadn't acted in Iraq, hadn't acted to repealed Glass-Steagal --

    That used to be one of the key tenets of conservatism -- you know, being prudent and actually conserving shit.

    The hard part is knowing when to act and when not to. Looking back, I see that one mistake we all made was not hopping a plane to Florida on Nov 4 2000. We could have acted to prevent a lot of this if we'd been there to kick the crap out of that Brooks Brothers mob --

    Posted by RocketJ at 10/10/2008 @ 6:07pm

14. Frankly there's something to be said for inaction (aside from what the Buddha taught). As in, if we hadn't acted in Iraq, hadn't acted to repealed Glass-Steagal --

    That used to be one of the key tenets of conservatism -- you know, being prudent and actually conserving shit.

    The hard part is knowing when to act and when not to. Looking back, I see that one mistake we all made was not hopping a plane to Florida on Nov 4 2000. We could have acted to prevent a lot of this if we'd been there to kick the crap out of that Brooks Brothers mob --

    Posted by RocketJ at 10/10/2008 @ 6:07pm

15. Frankly there's something to be said for inaction (aside from what the Buddha taught). As in, if we hadn't acted in Iraq, hadn't acted to repealed Glass-Steagal --

    That used to be one of the key tenets of conservatism -- you know, being prudent and actually conserving sh*t.

    The hard part is knowing when to act and when not to. Looking back, I see that one mistake we all made was not hopping a plane to Florida on Nov 4 2000. We could have acted to prevent a lot of this if we'd been there to kick the crap out of that Brooks Brothers mob --

    Posted by RocketJ at 10/10/2008 @ 6:09pm

16. Frankly there's something to be said for inaction (aside from what the Buddha taught). As in, if we hadn't acted in Iraq, hadn't acted to repealed Glass-Steagal --

    That used to be one of the key tenets of conservatism -- you know, being prudent and actually conserving sh*t.

    The hard part is knowing when to act and when not to. Looking back, I see that one mistake we all made was not hopping a plane to Florida on Nov 4 2000. We could have acted to prevent a lot of this if we'd been there to kick the crap out of that Brooks Brothers mob --

    Posted by RocketJ at 10/10/2008 @ 6:13pm

17. Frankly there's something to be said for inaction (aside from what the Buddha taught). As in, if we hadn't acted in Iraq, hadn't acted to repealed Glass-Steagal --

    That used to be one of the key tenets of conservatism -- you know, being prudent and actually conserving sh*t.

    The hard part is knowing when to act and when not to. Looking back, I see that one mistake we all made was not hopping a plane to Florida on Nov 4 2000. We could have acted to prevent a lot of this if we'd been there to kick the "see are a pea" out of that Brooks Brothers mob --

    Posted by RocketJ at 10/10/2008 @ 6:14pm