# Geroge Will, meet pot, kettle. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 8, 2003, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geroge-will-meet-pot-kettle/217752 "2003-12-08T19:42:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bucky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Bucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bucky)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2003, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geroge-will-meet-pot-kettle/217752/1 "2003-12-08T19:42:32Z")
Yesterday, George Will claimed that Howard Dean wasn’t truly an intellectual, calling him “The Dean of shallow thinking.” [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A40185-2003Dec5.html](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A40185-2003Dec5.html) Well, maybe it just takes one to know one. Will gets a reputatin for being smarter than he is because he uses a fairly large vocabulary. The fact that he often uses it in a less-than-communicative way should actually be held against him, but maybe he gets to look smart in comparsion to some of the right’s other pundits. George, Georgie, we know that you want us to think you’re smart, but you’re not. Your columns have become extremely predicatable partisan sniping. Republicans are ALWAYS right with you and DEMOCRATS are always wrong. This is not intelligence. This is a trained monkey with a thesaurus! ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2003, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geroge-will-meet-pot-kettle/217752/2 "2003-12-08T20:16:12Z")
Title Vaugely relevant link Non-sequitur post “It takes one to know one” Not worthy of The Straight Dope. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2003, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geroge-will-meet-pot-kettle/217752/3 "2003-12-08T20:51:12Z")
Title: descriptive of content Link: supports the assertion Post: supports the OP’s opinion of Will’s lack of intellectualism “TOTKO”: matches Will’s level of juvenile behaviour Your response: not worthy of the Straight Dope ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2003, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geroge-will-meet-pot-kettle/217752/4 "2003-12-08T21:20:54Z")
**Post: supports the OP’s opinion of Will’s lack of intellectualism** AKA “begging the question” My opinion suports my opinion. **"TOTKO": matches Will’s level of juvenile behaviour** Unsupported assertion ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/13edae/32.png) [@Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Cheatem_Undhow)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2003, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geroge-will-meet-pot-kettle/217752/5 "2003-12-08T21:36:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bucky \* > **George, Georgie, we know that you want us to think you’re smart, but you’re not. Your columns have become extremely predicatable partisan sniping. Republicans are ALWAYS right with you and DEMOCRATS are always wrong.** This is flatly wrong. For example, Will was a leading critic of the California recall initiative (even before Arnie threw his hat in the ring). That was a Republican-led effort. Ergo, your premise is false. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2003, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geroge-will-meet-pot-kettle/217752/6 "2003-12-08T21:38:11Z")
Actually, the OP doesn’t even make an effort to refute the argument Will makes in the link provided. Instead, an _ad hominem_ attaqck is offered as evidence. I guess we need to give the OP credit for not posting this in GD… ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2003, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geroge-will-meet-pot-kettle/217752/7 "2003-12-08T21:40:57Z")
And he has also knocked W’s big budgets. He is a rigid conservative, and knocks pubs whenever they depart from the true faith. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2003, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geroge-will-meet-pot-kettle/217752/8 "2003-12-08T22:50:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by furt \* > \*\*And he has also knocked W’s big budgets. He is a rigid conservative, and knocks pubs whenever they depart from the true faith. \*\* True. I think the OP should read the Dec 8th column in Newsweek. It’s a great summary of what Will thinks is wrong with the Republicans today. And he uses lots of big words, too! ---
**Author:** ![Gamaliel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b487fb/32.png) [@Gamaliel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gamaliel)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2003, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geroge-will-meet-pot-kettle/217752/9 "2003-12-08T23:38:31Z")
Wasn’t Will one of the pundits claiming that Dubya didn’t need to be smart to be president, he just needed to hire smart people? ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2003, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geroge-will-meet-pot-kettle/217752/10 "2003-12-09T03:16:09Z")
I’ve felt for many years that Will was way overrated. Erudite, no doubt. But an actual thinker, regardless of where he winds up? Nope. He’s the sort of guy I’m glad to see arguing for the other side, because most days it really isn’t that hard to knock down his arguments. There’s no shortage of posters here who could wipe the floor with Will. ---
**Author:** ![Denis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5e9695/32.png) [@Denis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Denis)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2003, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geroge-will-meet-pot-kettle/217752/11 "2003-12-09T03:55:16Z")
Anyone elese here ever look at a picture of Will and think he looks terminally constipated? Just asking. ---
**Author:** ![Bucky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Bucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bucky)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2003, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geroge-will-meet-pot-kettle/217752/12 "2003-12-12T01:44:22Z")
I sit partially corrected. I don’t get Newsweek, so I will have to take John Mace’s word for it that he is critical of Bush. I have yet to see him utter a good word for a Democrat. I found myself beginning to dislike Mr. Will and his reputation for being an intelllectual, undeserved in my opinion, when he began writing about baseball. I’m not trying to pit Will as the epitome of all evil. But the man gets more credit for original thought and depth than he deserves. Maybe he’s getting a lot of mileage out of his geeky look/persona? One might also look at [http://www.fair.org/media0-beat/010308](http://www.fair.org/media0-beat/010308) for an example of his blind spot in not knowing how he is violating any integrity he should have as a journalist. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/13edae/32.png) [@Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Cheatem_Undhow)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2003, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geroge-will-meet-pot-kettle/217752/13 "2003-12-12T03:19:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bucky \* > \*\*I have yet to see him utter a good word for a Democrat. \*\* Frankly, Will rarely has a good word for _anybody_ (outside of baseball, anyway). He’s a critic first and foremost. But if you want an example of him praising a Democrat, look up virtually any of his columns where the late Daniel Patrick Moynihan is mentioned. Will _adored_ Moynihan, so much so that when Moynihan announced his retirement from the Senate, Will mused that his seat should be covered with black crepe and left empty, as no one – not Hillary Clinton, not Rudy Giuliani, certainly not Rick Lazio – could fill Moynihan’s considerable shoes. Your link doesn’t work, BTW.