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Ta-Nehisi Coates

Ta-Nehisi Coates - Ta-Nehisi Coates is a senior editor for The Atlantic, where he writes about culture, politics, and social issues for TheAtlantic.com and the magazine. He is the author of the memoir The Beautiful Struggle. More

Born in 1975, the product of two beautiful parents. Raised in West Baltimore—not quite The Wire, but sometimes ill all the same. Studied at the Mecca for some years in the mid-’90s. Emerged with a purpose, if not a degree. Slowly migrated up the East Coast with a baby and my beloved, until I reached the shores of Harlem. Wrote some stuff along the way.

More incoherence

By Ta-Nehisi Coates
Sep 30 2008, 6:09 PM ET Comment

Good God. Watch this clip. Let's leave aside the fact that at eight, she almost certainly had no idea who Joe Biden was, the attack is little more than a half-ass passive aggressive jab on Joe Biden's age. Lemme get this straight: 1.) We know seniors vote. 2.) We know John McCain is older than Joe Biden. 3.) We know John McCain really needs seniors to be for him. 4.) We know young people are for Obama. So I ask, how does this attack make sense? Moreover, in the interview, she doesn't even deliver it effectively. It's basically a bad attack delivered at the wrong target.

Seriously, I don't get this. An attack on Biden as a "Washington insider" and Palin as the "outside reformer" would makes sense. Instead they seem to have gone with, "Well we can't attack Obama for inexperience anymore, so we'll attack Joe Biden for being too old, and hope that no one notices that our guy is even older." Who are these people? Seriously, who is scripting this? Are her handlers fools? Are these the people we are supposed to be scared of? Are you serious?

Sarah: You are not a pit-bull, you are weak-sauce incarnate. These men who are coming for you are not playing. I know it looks like they're sweethearts, but they do not come to dance. If you're going to take a swing at them, take a fucking swing. You're going to have to come harder than this.

UPDATE: Oh my god. I'm watching a live broadcast online. Katie just asked her what newspapers and magazines and books she's read. I bullshit you not. She couldn't name a single one--not one.

UPDATES #2: She was best on social issues. She made a decent case for being pro-life, and came off pretty soft on homosexuality. Of course her calling it a "choice" bugged me. But I'm not the audience.



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