JONATHAN CHAIT APRIL 14, 2011
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Cicadas burrow underground and then emerge at all together in 13- or 17-year cycles in massive waves. The strategy is known as "predator satiation." The cicadas are tasty meals for birds, they move very slowly, and they can't fight, but by emerging all at once there are simply so many of them they can't be eaten simultaneously.
I thought of that when I glanced at today's Wall Street Journal editorial page. It's like the Journal, which is itself my favorite target, held a convention of my favorite targets. You have Karl Rove, in a characteristic act of displaced self-hatred, lambasting President Obama for being divisive and political. You have a Journal editorial making the same point. You have Donald Luskin, last seen calling me a "lying scumbag," defending Ayn Rand against her unnamed critics. You have inequality-denier Alan Reynolds arguing that returning the top tax rate to Clinton-era levels will not increase tax revenues. And then, to throw me for a weird loop, you have classic blog favorite Peter Wehner making a worthy condemnation of the Birthers.
I can't consume all of them. It's even creating such sensory overload I feel to paralyze to consume any of them. They may all end up just flitting around in the air, reproducing and molting their exoskeletons.
7 comments
"They may all end up just flitting around in the air, reproducing and molting their exoskeletons." Eeewwww.
- tmmats
April 14, 2011 at 10:24am
The trick is to eat them before they surface.
- Nusholtz
April 14, 2011 at 10:46am
I guess you gotta know when to hold them, know when to fold them. Know when to take them seriously, and know when they're just ranting. And the day after Obama has given a "line in the sand" speech is NOT the day to take them all seriously. OF COURSE they're all going to be ranting. I may just turn off the radio for a few days to let it all settle.
- AllanL5
April 14, 2011 at 10:50am
Mention Karl Rove and "reproducing" again in the same blog and I swear I will cancel my subscription.
- Tristan
April 14, 2011 at 11:01am
Why don't the WSJ editorial page editors just bronze this page and use it as a template? They could repeat it daily for five years and no one would notice the difference.
- liberalref
April 14, 2011 at 11:28am
What's Wehner's condemnation of the Birthers doing with the rest of the items. I thought that was something we wanted to encourage.
- sighthnd
April 14, 2011 at 11:51am
Well, the Birthers want to encourage Birtherism, but that species of nuttiness is a bit beyond the pale of even the WSJ editorial page editors.
- liberalref
April 14, 2011 at 12:30pm