How to Become a High-Profile Conservative Pundit

4Jun/1123

How to Become a High-Profile Conservative Pundit

As most people who've read anything I've written (God bless all five of you) know, I am an auto racing aficionado. Later on this evening, the NASCAR Nationwide Series will be visiting Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois. The race is drawing a tad more attention than the usual event in this series, which is something of a minor league companion to NASCAR's top series the Sprint Cup. Why? Well, this driver will be in it:

Why, yes, that is Danica Patrick.

If you think religion and/or politics are points of contention, mention Danica's name among auto racing fans and you will be immediately embroiled in a debate making anything taking place on Capitol Hill look like a tea social. Her fans and defenders will fight to the death on behalf of the argument that she is a talented driver who uses her looks to get attention as opposed to the foundation of her career, while her detractors insist she is at best overrated and far more likely a talentless hack who gets by solely on her own curves as opposed to any she takes on any given race track. I happen to be in the former group, believing that while she may not be a great driver, she's a very good one and a far sight better than for which she is often given credit.

Nevertheless, the debate remains. Is Danica where she is because of the body of work that is her racing career, or her body period? As even her most ardent supporters (including yours truly) note, the latter certainly hasn't hurt.

Taking this into the realm of politics, one Tina Korbe has been added to the full-time front page roster at HotAir. I'm sure it's solely due to her skill with the written word:

Tina Korbe

Having read some of her articles at the Heritage Foundation, it's safe to observe that Ms. Korbe's noting how she worked on the school paper while attending the University of Arkansas is a tad redundant, as she has yet to shed being hidebound by the rulebook to which collegiate journalists adhere. Her writing is technically impeccable while possessing all the color and passion of dry shaving cream. So why does she now write for HotAir? Possibilities abound:

Salem Communications wants an actual female on staff as opposed to Allahpundit alone, who pretty much but not exactly fills the role;
Commenters will be less likely to shred anything she writes because she's a hot girl;
Eye candy.

One cannot fault Ms. Korbe for her looks; she is as she was made. However, an injection of truth is required. If she was Ugly Betty, would she have the job she now holds? Or her previous one at the Heritage Foundation?

Basically, if you want to be a high-profile conservative pundit these days, you'd better be a looker. Cases in point:

Dana Loesch

Mary Katherine Ham

Hannah Giles

S.E. Cupp

There are others, but you get the idea.

It's not that any of the above are talentless. They're not. This duly noted, again the question must be raised: if they were average or below average looking, would any of them get the time of day let alone air time on television and online?

Also, for a group of people famous for their ability to assemble in a circular firing squad whenever someone looks at someone else cross-eyed, conservatives online are loath to so much as breathe a word of complaint or criticism against attractive conservative women's commentary. Whether this is due to chivalry or hoping to score a date is a matter of conjecture. One suspects it is the latter, although here once again an illustration from NASCAR applies:

They're not going out with you either.

It'd be nice if the powers that be in conservative media, all of whom happen to be men, would admit the painfully obvious truth. Given the opportunity, over anyone and everyone else they will pick the sweet young thing. Every. Single. Time. Just like guys the world over should they be given the chance.

Easy on the eyes, to be sure. However, is it genuinely serving the best interests of the cause to put curves ahead of lines, as in lines of type containing invaluable information? Are we picking the best people, or the best profile?

I enjoy looking at pretty women as much as any guy, although doing so when Mrs. Dude is in the vicinity is not advisable. But when it's time to set daydreams aside and get to work, looks are dead last on the priority list. And we have a lot of work to do getting this country back on course. With this in mind, guys, we need to use the head atop our necks as opposed to the one we'd like to put... you know.

Jerry Wilson

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Comments (23) Trackbacks (7) ( subscribe to comments on this post )

jefferson101
June 4th, 2011 - 18:51

It could be remarked.

The only “hawt” conservative women that I’m down with so far are Megan Kelley, Ann Coulter, or Laura Ingraham. They’ve exhibited a brain in a hawt body.

NTTAWWT, but overall? I want the brain, not the body. If they are nice to look at, that doesn’t hurt my feelings, but it could be noted that if all I’m looking for is “nice to look at”, there are a million of those out there, and I can probably find them in whatever state of dress suits me that day.

The rest of them only impress me to the level that they make good sense, and a few of the names you already listed have already totally lost me. They may be cute, but I’ve had a couple of “cute” puppies that ate the whole house and bit everyone in sight for a solid year.

“Cute” is a good start, but it’s only a start. In the case of the puppies, which were totally un-trainable, I wound up having to put them away.

Since I can’t do that with women when they get stupid and eat furniture and mess up the carpets, I tend to be a lot more selective. I’ve been married for 37 years. At this point, what they look like really doesn’t mean much to me.

;-)

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Dan Collins
June 4th, 2011 - 19:02

I suggest readers send Jerry any photos of others that they’d like to see in this column, because I’m not sure he’s made his point.

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- Jerry Wilson
  June 4th, 2011 - 19:05
  
  Does anyone know if Christina Hendricks is a conservative?
  
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  - Meep
    June 4th, 2011 - 19:07
    
    Does anybody really care?
    
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    - Jerry Wilson
      June 4th, 2011 - 19:09
      
      Does anyone really know what time it is?
      
      (Boy, am I showing my age.)
      
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    - Meep
      June 4th, 2011 - 20:58
      
      Well, according to Einstein… not really.
      
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- Dan Collins
  June 4th, 2011 - 19:16
  
  But on the other hand, we have plenty of weird-looking dudes, like Frum and Krauthammer, so maybe there’s hope for us yet.
  
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  - Jerry Wilson
    June 4th, 2011 - 19:18
    
    Can “they” have Frum? I’ll chip in for the postage. As to Krauthammer, he’s so often brilliant, but he’s way off on Palin.
    
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    - jefferson101
      June 4th, 2011 - 23:19
      
      I’m with Dr. Pournelle on Frum. He’s been “The Egregious Frum” to me since about 2002.
      
      And one for the horse he rode in on, too. “Conservative”, my Azz……
      
      If I disagree with him, I figure I’m right, most always.
      
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Meep
June 4th, 2011 - 19:19

Anyway, I’m not going to feel your pain, because I’ve always been a dumpy, flat-chested woman … and now I’m over the hill. So put on yor big boy pants, you whiny bitch.

That said, I’m happy my homegirl MKH is doing well. And I think S.E. Cupp is great. And while Ann Coulter has the unfortunate “horse face”, she’s not that bad-looking, and Michelle Malkin, of course, is appealing [would you find her a physical threat? Naw. But I have scared the shit out of some guys.... and evidently punch much harder than I thought. Uh... just ignore that.]

Anyway, just finished listening to McCullough’s John Adams on CD, and nothing wrong with pretty women with strong opinions.

My point: Shut up. We all like pretty stuff to look at, and S.E. Cupp and MKH have substance. [no idea about Giles, she's young]

And finally: Sarah Palin. My only issue with her is her hair. WTF is it with that “bump” shit? And I don’t like the dye job. But that’s a matter of personal taste.

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- Jerry Wilson
  June 4th, 2011 - 19:47
  
  Damn, you’re harsh.
  
  I wasn’t born tall, dark and handsome. Whatever I’ve gained in the workplace, whichever workplace it might be, I’ve earned by being good at what I do. Period. Yes, I’ve been passed over for promotions and such in favor of someone better looking, but it hardly eats at me. That’s the way things work, and there’s no sense being upset over things that will not change. Still, every once in a while you have to go “oh, come on now.”
  
  As I said in the post, I’m not labeling anyone pictured in it as unqualified. I am saying that they owe at least some of their success to their looks, especially career advancement.
  
  And you are not going to convince me that Tina Korbe is more deserving of a prime spot at HotAir than a Stacy McCain. Because she’s not.
  
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  - Meep
    June 4th, 2011 - 20:58
    
    Oh for crying out loud. Nut up.
    
    You want a harsh reality? Women age much worse than most men do. That’s why so many women dye their hair, do Botox, etc. These women, whatever advantage they have from their natural assets, have precious little time to take full advantage of it compared to attractive men.
    
    Part of Sarah Palin’s effectiveness (and Paul Ryan’s for that matter) come from their relative physical attractiveness. People like looking at pretty stuff. Fact of nature.
    
    I really was thinking of making this a separate post, but I don’t have the energy.
    
    I like listening to Rush Limbaugh and Mark Levin. But neither really come across that great on TV, in my opinion. Rush has a fabulous radio voice. There are people who are better thinkers, but guess what? Rush is more effective. Likewise, I do not much like Sean Hannity, but evidently he’s effective in a certain way…. and he’s better-looking than Rush.
    
    None of this explains Henry Waxman, by the way.
    
    The fact of the matter is, when an embassy was sent to the French, while Jefferson was more fluent in French, and Adams was more legally learned, Benjamin Franklin was the United States’ most effective emissary. He had crappy French, and wasn’t all that up on political philosophy — but he was an international superstar.
    
    So I’m saying, quit whining that the criteria that you’d like to be the measuring sticks aren’t the real measuring sticks.
    
    I run into this a lot in the actuarial profession, because a lot of my compatriots are numbers people who did well in school and don’t realize that business isn’t the same as school.
    
    Well, persuasion isn’t all about picking the best words. It also has to do with an appealing image or a nice voice. As well as other things that didn’t show up on your school report card.
    
    Let’s not turn into lefties here.
    
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    - Jerry Wilson
      June 4th, 2011 - 22:32
      
      Meep, are you going for the obtuse award? I’m beginning to run out of ways of saying I’m noting the way things are, not complaining about them.
      
      And I’m sorry you never won the Cindy Crawford look-alike award.
      
      As to whether women age worse than men, I know quite a few cases where the exact opposite is true.
      
      Finally, Meep, I deal with actuaries every day where I work (insurance provider). I am quite familiar with how should I ask one of them the time, they’ll spend the next fifteen minutes describing the theory of relativity. Incorrectly.
      
      It’s good to see some things remain constant in professions.
      
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- Bob Reed
  June 4th, 2011 - 23:54
  
  Veritas, Amiga…
  
  But, you know, lay off my girl Sarah :)
  
  What do you mean by, “bump shirt”? Just curious…
  
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Robert Stacy McCain
June 4th, 2011 - 19:30

Jerry has, one way or another, put his finger on some important points about politics in the TV age: The success of the message is often dependent on the telegenicity of the messenger.

Telegenicity is not coterminous with “good-looking,” of course. Being good at talking about politics on TV is a skill, and is a lot harder than it looks. The ability to speak in complete sentences without ever saying “ummm,” “errrr,” “you know,” etc., requires a lot more concentration than you might imagine, if you’ve never had to do it while staring into a camera. (I have done a few TV appearances, couldn’t stand the way I looked on TV, and thereafter swore off any ambition to be a TV pundit.)

So being good on TV requires more than just good looks, but there is obviously a reason why Sean Hannity hosts his own primetime TV show and why, say, Neal Boortz does not.

Does this warp our perspective? Is it possible that certain viewpoints reach a wider audience and are more persuasive because they are espoused by popular, attractive people? Yes. But if so, this is entirely our own fault. It is our own superficiality, and not good-looking people, who are to blame.

The advantages enjoyed by good-looking people are one of those basic unfairnesses in life that no agenda of “social justice” can amend or ameliorate. This is why I sneer at those who claim victimhood because of “racism,” “sexism,” “homophobia,” etc.

Hell, you want to try being ugly for while? Talk about “discrimination”!

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SDN
June 4th, 2011 - 19:38

“In the case of the puppies, which were totally un-trainable, I wound up having to put them away.”

jefferson101, I’ve had dogs for a number of years, and know several people who train puppies for Southeastern Guide Dogs. I prefer to take dogs from shelters, most of whom have been abused. From that background, “totally untrainable” does not exist. Not everyone is capable of owning dogs, and you are apparently one of them. If you can’t train dogs, and won’t spend the money to get someone to work with them and you, then for God’s sake, DON’T ADOPT ANY MORE.

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- jefferson101
  June 5th, 2011 - 19:56
  
  Okay. I done informed Miss Samantha that she has to leave, because I’ve been told by someone on the Internet that I shouldn’t own dogs because I had no idea of how to deal with them. She gave me the same look she usually does when I get over her head, and showed no inclination to leave. I put her out and told her to go and be free of her oppressor, but she came back and demanded to be let back in about five minutes later.
  
  I’m glad that you have never had a retarded or brain-damaged dog, but I have run onto a couple over the years. They both were in residence when I had a full time household, since my wife wasn’t working. And my wife is even more of an animal person than I am.
  
  Today, it might be a bit different, but when those situations happened? I had a one-income household, and no, I couldn’t afford doggy interventions. Sorry, but there it is. When I can’t turn my back on them because they eat furniture/kid’s clothing/my clothing/paneling/carpets, or whatever, they won’t housebreak, and the only result of cage training is that they howl incessantly until released?
  
  After a couple of years of that stuff, I gave up on them. If I ever find another one like that, I’ll send it to you, if you are volunteering!
  
  As noted, I have a Boxer drooling on my foot right now. She likes to stay in contact with me, if she can, and I let her when it’s not a problem. She’s my BFF. But she learned not to mess in the carpet and not to eat the furniture, or bite the grandsons, and suchlike. She also knows a good many other nice tricks and behaviors, but as noted, she, like the other dozen or so successful dogs I’ve owned, did learn.
  
  I’ve got a graveyard out back, where seven loving and loyal dogs are interred. They lived their lives out with us, and when they passed on, they are kept here. They mostly have markers. My wife is the one who insists that they must be interred here at home. (I worry what she’s going to try to do with me, if I predecease her.)
  
  Don’t get carried away here. I’ll claim to be as much of a “Dog Person” as most anyone is, but some of them, like some people, you just can’t reach.
  
  Sad, but there it is.
  
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Susan
June 4th, 2011 - 19:40

You guys get all fun, we ladies are stuck with smugly-ugly Krauthammer, the uptight bow-tie Will, the frumpy-marmy Frum and I don’t what is Rove. Are there any high-profile single Conservative men or is that a fairy-tale dream that will never come true?

I guess Mark Steyn is about a close as we’ll get to hot- though he isn’t around enough to sustain usand he’s married. Then again, there’s Mark Levin who his outstanding passion, he too is married

Todd Palin is awesome hot in every way possible, he’s with Sarah so it’s hand and eyes off; I respect their marriage too much just to please myself

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- Meep
  June 4th, 2011 - 21:00
  
  1. Breitbart is kind of cute, I think.
  
  2. And yeah, Todd Palin is hot, but I think my husband looks like a wilder version of him (woo woo)
  
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Dan Collins
June 4th, 2011 - 21:24

Everyone likes to look at women. Men’s magazines are full of pictures of women, women’s magazines are full of pictures of women. That’s because we look like road kill, but Weiner was just trying to score one for the brotherhood.

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jefferson101
June 4th, 2011 - 23:34

Holy Moley, Rocky!

If appreciating good looking women makes women get crazy, we of the male faction are not going to survive.

I think we all best stay with monogamy, so as to avoid getting the distaff contingent irritated. Even old Turgid Tony has managed to get us all on the list of dung, because he did something that I, at least, would never do.

Are some of the women around here being totally sexist, or am I just imagining it? (N.B. I’m going with the imagination thing, but it’s hard to tell that from some of the commentary.)

I’m a mature adult. I may disagree with you, and I may ask questions, but I don’t get crazy with anyone but my wife, thank you very much! I’ve had 39 years of practice at behaving myself, and I’m not about to do anything that would offend her at this point.

Be that as it may…..I’m not nearly stupid enough to do anything that could be traced back to me, even if I were going to go out and be a total idiot.

‘Course, that’s an argument that chases it’s own tail. I wouldn’t, so I won’t, and such being the case……

I know a lot of people who are fools that way. But I’ve yet to see a divergence by gender. The proximate question to ask would be, what makes women encourage men to do stupid stuff like that.

You know they sometimes will, (Some of them, at least…) So what calls some of you to tell them to bring it on? Most guys I know don’t get stupid all by themselves. They get encouraged.

It’s still stupid, but the stupid crosses gender lines, mostly. I don’t even want to discuss the times the stupid doesn’t. Bleech!

And that’s the name of that tune.

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Bob Reed
June 4th, 2011 - 23:51

Danica Patrick? Dana Loesch? Tina Korbe? Hannah Giles? Regardless of profession, I find myself saying, Meh…It is an opinion, which, we all have; just like other body parts.

I tend to agree with Meep, and want more substance; like MKH, SE Cupp, and Megyn Kelly, for instance.

And I say that as someone who’s success throughout life has been based, in part, on my personal attractiveness and charism; but that’s not to say I haven’t also been graced by God with ability, diligence, and excelled at what I have done.

I personally believe that there is a certain element of society, perhaps a majority, that will always be taken by someone attractive. But these will be limited to non-essential positions, regardless of how materially rewarding these may be. Because the fact is, essential duties will almost always be performed by those in the pool of the most competent individuals, regardless of their looks; simply because those tasks are so essential…

As a final note, the reason my gravitar isn’t a photo of myself has nothing to do with vanity, but is part of a more important promise I made to my wife to protect our collective anonymity, owing to the nature of her milieu as a NYC D.A., and not because I’m lacking in any confidence to “put it out there”.

Because if nothing else, you should realize, that Tomcat drivers, even use-ta-bees like myself, live by the maxim that it is better to expire than to look bad :)

My Regards

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Cathy York
June 5th, 2011 - 00:09

I never really thought about this issue before you raised it, Jerry, and now that I have given it some attention, I agree that the women conservative pundits are young and quite attractive. The only exception I can come up with who’s under the age of 50 is Phyllis Schlafly.

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