GETTY IMAGES/UPPERCUT
BEST
SUMMER
EVER
HUFFINGTON
05.26.13
L
to imagine that Russia’s is called,
“Нет рубашку Путина Сезон,”
which translates roughly to, “No
shirt Putin season,” in recognition
of the fact that Vladimir Putin will
always be doing something, topless,
during that period of time.
The Wikipedia also says that “in
many languages, the name for the
silly season references cucumbers.”
That is something I am not going
to touch. I trust, however, that I’ve
made my point. Which is, “you
should get a jump on the silly season spirit by padding out your column with Wikipedia trivia.”
Even though last August was
not slow, it certainly lived up to its
reputation for silliness. It was last
August that Dick Morris said he’d
seen “the real numbers,” and that
Romney was headed for a landslide.
Conservatives called for Romney
advisor Andrea Saul to be fired
for mentioning that her boss had
racked up some impressive achievements as governor of Massachusetts. Todd Akin made his famous
“legitimate rape” gaffe, pissing away
an election in which he might have
otherwise contended. The month
closed out with the sight of Clint
Eastwood, babbling incomprehensibly at a chair, on national television.
LINKINS: LOOKING FORWARD IN ANGST
LIFESTYLE
TRAVEL
August isn’t just when figures
in the news go to their dumb
place. The media sort of descends
into a fugue state as well.
Last August, the Weekly Standard, taking leave of their senses,
started a countdown clock, counting down the minutes until President Obama was going to replace
Joe Biden with Hillary Clinton on
the Democratic ticket, because
that was sure to happen. (That
clock is still up, ticking restlessly
into the future.) Days later, some
idiot managed to trick a lot of
people into believing that Paul
Krugman was on Google Plus, promoting the economic benefits of
earthquakes. Google Plus!
Elsewhere, pundits used their
perches in August to make risible
complaints about the American
people. Sheryl Gay Stolberg contended that the American people
As Congress
empties its
seats to go
on vacation,
the media
malfunctions.