Back to Fundamentals

Damn. Paul at Powerline really kicks my ass at explaining why the Obama speech in Cairo didn’t draw any objectionable moral equivalences. In order to sharpen my game, I’ll now pull an all-nighter drilling on fundamentals and scrimmaging at the secret blogger training gym that Andrew Sullivan maintains in his basement. I got my start there sweeping floors, back when Glenn Reynolds managed the place, and Robert Stacy McCain and Daniel Larison would heave a 50 pound medicine ball at one another for hours on end, both of them too stubborn to drink water first. RSM hated that Ross Douthat got big so fast—he always falsely attributed it to his fancy Gatorade.

My big break came after Megan McArdle, sneaking in through the backdoor to avoid a barrage of criticism from Freddie, saw aerobic room DVD librarian Peter Suderman and I sparring in the training ring, using the same iconic gloves that Sullivan and Reynolds used during the Bush era heavyweight grudge match that sent them their separate ways as surely as Ali and Frazier.

Peter and I must have been showing off some fine footwork, because both of us wound up invited to guest blog at Asymmetrical Information without even having to pass the html flashcard skills test required of full members (though we were required to meet with Jim Manzi, who calculates the most efficient training regimen for each blogger — Yglesias would spell perfectly today if he’d only stuck with the program instead of jumping early to the show). I’d tell you about how I met Reihan for the first time, but I bet he’d rather recount the history of his own rise. Besides, I’ve got to get over there before Ezra Klein, who hogs the damn free weights forever. See you tomorrow.