Outta my mouth!

So I was all set to put up a post about this embarrassing exchange between Chris Matthews and Texas state senator Kirk Watson.
The upshot of it was going to be that contrary to various comments I've seen here and there (and there), the real story of Watson's inability to name any of Obama's legislative accomplishments is about Watson, not Obama.

This guy belly-flopping on the question (and make no mistake: it was a real, flat-out, from the 10 meter platform, doesn't penetrate more than an inch below the water, rib-cracking, skin-breaking belly-flop) doesn't mean Obama doesn't have legislative accomplishments. It doesn't even really mean this guy doesn't know Obama's legislative accomplishments. All it means is that he was the wrong guy, in the wrong frame of mind, on the wrong show, at the wrong time. That's the charitable interpretation. The less charitable interpretation is that the man is a buffoon.

Either way, it says nothing about whether Obama actually accomplished anything in the US Senate or in the Illinois State Senate. And that works both ways-it doesn't point out a lack of accomplishment or the presence of accomplishment. At worst, it points out a poor choice of surrogate by the Obama campaign.

I'm sure the post I had in mind would have been sharp enough and that you would have enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed thinking it up. But now I don't have to write that post at all, because Hilzoy at Obsidian Wings wrote it for me. With polished prose and everything! The major difference between my embryonic post and her full-term one is that hers is well researched and actually has links to bills Obama sponsored in the US Senate. Not even from his website either, but legitimate links to government databases!

Go read the whole thing.