Hardball

Your Humble Blogger hopes that none of y'all Gentle Readers have been wasting any valuable blog-reading time on the buffoon Chris Matthews and his worthless interviews with the Democratic presidential candidates. I happened to see his recent interview with Carol Mosely Braun, during which I found out very little about her potential to lead the country. What really caught my eye, however, was the following exchange:

MATTHEWS: Let’s to go your favorite philosopher.
BRAUN: Descartes.
MATTHEWS: OK. Favorite musician.

I mean, if you actually wanted to know a persons favorite philosopher, enough to ask them that instead of some policy related question (I mean, the whole interview was only about 40 minutes, not counting commercials and intro/outro stuff, and half of that was devoted to students asking questions, so the buffoon Chris Matthews had very limited time to actually find out anything), you might want to follow up? Particularly when the answer is surprising and frankly implausible?

I mean, who would have guessed that anything about René Descartes would appeal to Carol Mosely Braun? When I think of Descartes, I think of ruthless logic, cold rationality, and absolutely brutal refusal to believe in anything unproven. When I think of Carol Mosely Braun, I think of inspirational politics, with an emphasis on the community and the vulnerable within it. If, in fact, the Ambassador does find inspiration in Descartes, and didn't just say a name of a philosopher, playing the game that the buffoon Chris Matthews set up without investing it with any meaning at all, the response is revelatory. Well, at least surprising. If I had to guess Ambassador Braun's favorite philosopher, I would probably have guessed John Rawls. If I had to guess an Enlightenment philosopher, I would have gone with Mill, I suppose, and if it had to be a Frenchman, I would have gone with Montesquieu before Descartes.

(Digression: I feel awkward referring to Ambassador Braun by the one of the lesser of the titles she's held, but my understanding is that the tradition is that anyone who has held the post technically should be referred to with the title, while the title Senator should only be used to refer to sitting Senators. Of course, I refer to Howard Dean, who is no longer an officeholder, by the last office he held. I don't know, but it does seem awkward. End digression.)

For those who are keeping track, John Kerry told the buffoon Chris Matthews that his favorite philosopher was Yogi Berra, John Edwards refused to answer (saying philosophy was a closed book to him), Dick Gephardt said Martin Luther King, Jr., and Al Sharpton (himself a bit of a buffoon) said Paul Tillich, which was the only answer that showed that a candidate had read any philosophy at all.

OK, I'm a nut, I'm a curmudgeon, I'm one of the fifteen people in this country who thinks that reading and discussing philosophy helps people become better thinkers, and applies that to presidential candidates. It's just me ranting. But if the buffoon Chris Matthews doesn't take the question seriously, the topic seriously, or the answer seriously, then why did he ask? Just to make me cross?

Redintegro Iraq,
-Vardibidian.