Positive Liberty

I think mixed metaphors are the bee’s pajamas. Matt Taibbi amusingly crowned Thomas Friedman the leader of seriously mixed metaphors. If you enjoy this English language quirk, Friedman is your savant. He simply grabs metaphors by the horns, and runs with them.

I didn’t watch much of it, but I’m told that Barack Obama had his own rocket surgery moment last night. Obama said that John McCain thought that he (Obama) was, “green behind the ears.”

I love that! Does that mean he spends his time thinking about environmental issues, or that he’s good at gardening? You really have to dig in your feet to figure that one out.

But Obama is largely style, and mixed metaphor is a big part of his substance.

Obama: “This is the moment when we must defeat terror and dry up the well of extremism that supports it.” As David Frum points out, “When you try to use a well to support something, that thing tumbles 30 or 40 feet below ground and lands with a splash.”

Hardball delenda est.