After several years of interviewing politicians, writers, artists, and activists, I’ve learned that there are people who are only astute or witty in person, and people who are only astute or witty in print. There are very few people who are both. One of them is Jim Geraghty.
Geraghty is a regular contributor to National Review with his must-read daily Morning Jolt email. His blog has gone through various editions, including The Kerry Spot (in 2004), TKS, The Hillary Spot (in 2007), and now The Campaign Spot at National Review. He is also an author Vote to Kill: How September 11 Ushered in an Era of Republican Leadership AND Weed Agency: A comical tale of federal bureaucracy without limitswhich will be released next year.
Geraghty is a regular visitor Cam and company on NRA News, among others. Host Cam Edwards said: “Jim Geraghty is one of the smartest guys I know. Always insightful, often witty and worth reading every day.” Jim Geraghty is one of the smartest guys I know. Always insightful, often witty and worth reading every day. Jim Geraghty is one of the smartest guys I know. Always insightful, often witty and worth reading every day. Jim Geraghty is one of the smartest guys I know. Always insightful, often witty and worth reading every day. Jim Geraghty is one of the smartest guys I know. Always insightful, often witty and worth reading every day.
1. What one thing would you do as President “just because you could”?
Make July 5th a national holiday and make sure no one has to go to work the morning after July 4th. Oh, and it’s my birthday too.
If I had to give a more earnest answer, I would say: eliminate income tax withholding and make everyone pay taxes once in April.
2. Tell me about your favorite teacher and his influence on your life.
Mrs. DePaola for high school history. In these classes, we liked to engage in discussions about current events or politics, and although I think she would be a little horrified to see me rise in the ranks of a huge right-wing conspiracy, she always encouraged me to be interested in politics and the world beyond the walls of our high school. Our senator at the time, Bill Bradley, hosted a program for high school students, a one-day event where he discussed current events. She and the other teachers chose me for their senior year, and I think I was the only person in the class interested.
3. If you could make money from anything other than your current job, what would it be?
My novel will be published by Crown Forum at Random House next June, and I really hope it will create more opportunities to write fiction in the future. I would like a job where I could travel abroad… but at my own pace.
I drew cartoons for IntellectualCapital.com and Policy.com. I wish there were enough hours in the day.
4. Tell me about a public or private moment when you thought, “This is what Elvis felt like every day.”
In 2004, a few months after writing The Kerry Spot, NR hosted a party at Kate O’Bierne’s house. The guests included several really eminent personalities – authors of presidential speeches, publicists, authors – people whom I had previously only seen on TV screens. This took place in the middle of the whole Dan Rather counterfeit notes scandal.
My boss, Rich Lowry, stands up and thanks everyone, goes through the NR authors, introduces me, and mentions my nickname “Pajama Been Bloggin’ of the Pajamahadeen” – and all the massive names in the room cheered and applauded. I was just blown away that these people knew who I was and liked what I did.
As time goes on, I enjoy being on stage more and more. When your comments get people nodding and people laughing at your jokes
5. What is your current non-news guilty pleasure TV show?
I feel really disconnected from TV choices these days. My all-time favorites have always been weird cult favorites: Twin Peaks, Max Headroom, Firefly, the British version of Coupling. I consider “How I Met Your Mother” to be my go-to show for laughs and laughs, and thanks to syndication, it seems to be on at all hours of the night. Maybe he already has his own channel.
6. What is the best gift you received as a child?
When I was about…maybe nine or ten years aged and my brother was five or six years aged, our parents gave us a GI Joe toy aircraft carrier “USS Flagg” for Christmas. It cost over a hundred dollars in mid-80s money and we never imagined we would actually get it. It was seven feet long and took up part of the living room for a week before it had to be moved upstairs to our playroom. I think we played with it non-stop for about two weeks.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4c/USSFlagg.jpg
7. What is the best gift you have ever given?
I think the engagement ring I gave my wife was quite spectacular.
8. What advice did your mother or father give you? Did you take it?
I think they gave me less specific advice than attitudes and probably taught by example. My father was and is very determined, my mother was and is very patient.
9. Who would be on the perfect “Red Eye” panel?
Cam Edwards, Marshall Manson and I were a regular drinking crew for several years before our various trips abroad. We considered creating a show called “McLaughlin’s Group at the Bar” that would fit well with the unpredictable energy and wild humor of “Red Eye.”
10. What was the best book you read this summer?
I’ll dig out and mention a few. Brad Thor’s “The Hidden Order” was almost as good as his brilliantly predictable, fast-moving “The Blacklist.” I like James Rollins’ series; they are as close to a modern-day Indiana-Jones as anyone today. I read Adam Carolla’s autobiography “Not Taco Bell Material” while on the NR cruise and enjoyed it more than I expected – a very unexpected story about growing up, difficult work and responsibility, while still having the image of an immature, non-colored, eternal teenager.
11. What would you like to convey in tomorrow’s headline?
STATES REVEAL COMPUTER ERRORS, TEN MILLION ROMNEY VOTES NOT COUNTED IN FOUR STATES, FLORIDA, OHIO, VIRGINIA, NEW HAMPSHIRE
OBAMA, BIDEN ORDER RESIGNATION TOMORROW; ROMNEY, RYAN PREPARE TO TAKE YOUR OATH
MARKETS INCREASE 900 POINTS IN OVERNIGHT TRADING
PRE-SALE OF GERAGHTY’S BOOK A RECORD HIT
Sports, C1: GENO SMITH PREVIOUS FAVORITE NFL SECONDARY OF THE YEAR
12. Tell me about the moment you decided to enter the political arena.
There wasn’t a single moment, but moving from the now-defunct State News Service to National Review meant I could express my views much more openly in my writing. I freelanced for National Review for two years while at States News Service, and these NRO stories had to be softer and gentler than I wanted them to be.
Many media critics confuse the terms “objective” and “fair.” I’m not objective, and almost no one who writes about politics is truly objective. Objectivity means that you either have no opinions about the issues or people you write about, or you are so adept at separating your point of view from others that your views and values never influence what you write about or the way you write about it. what you write about these issues or people. Many reporters believe they are objective when they simply are not. They insist that their reporting is sincere with readers, but they refuse to be sincere about their opinions.
I’m not objective, but I try to be sincere, or at least sincere.
