We’ve expressed our weariness with Peggy Noonan’s schoolmarminess from time to time. I think that happyfeet has done so most often and most forcefully, in the comments. But Gleen’s reaction to one of Peggy’s “simply will not do” reflections is truly bonkers:
John Edwards is not reasonable. . . . .[W]e can’t have a president who spent two minutes on YouTube staring in a mirror and poofing his hair. Really, we just can’t.
So Peggy Noonan is a “grown-up.” She goes on ABC News and MSNBC and writes for the Wall St. Journal in order to opine and is widely respected by our media elite as a mature political commentator. She knows that “the next American president will very likely face another big bad thing, a terrible day, or days.” America therefore needs a President with “knowledge, judgment, a prudent understanding of the world.”John Edwards, however, is disqualified, because four years ago, he was caught red-handed brushing his hair before a television appearance — “poofing,” in Noonan’s words, which isn’t really a word at all, but rather, a British epithet for a male homosexual — “Slang: Disparaging and Offensive” — a synonym for “faggot.” Noonan is making the same point Ann Coulter made: Edwards can’t possibly be President because he’s a faggot. And to make her “grown-up” case for this, she cites one of our national media’s most talked-about political stories of both 2004 and again in 2007: Edwards’ brushing of his hair.What a stupid and vapid woman this is, but respected and admired by our media class because she fits right in with them — endlessly impressed by her own sophistication, maturity and insight while drooling out platitudes one never hears except in seventh-grade cafeterias and on our political talk shows. As always, this isn’t worth noting because the adolescent stupidity on display here is unique to Noonan, but precisely because it isn’t. This is how our national elections are decided: by people like her, spewing things like this.
Leave aside the little hissy snittiness of this for the moment.  Here’s an example of the manner in which Noonan was using the word:
Leave-in Conditioners
For those people who need some extra control, have extremely dry or fly-away hair, or have extremely thick hair that tends to poof up after drying, leave-in conditioners are fantastic! They are light weight so they do not make your hair greasy and they rinse out easily when you do your next shampoo.
Which is nothing more than an Americanization of the verb, “to pouf.” In fact, etymologically Gleen has it exactly backwards, since the application of the expression to certain gay men expresses a certain rococo flamboyance of endlessly iterated style, not necessarily attached to anything of substance. It is therefore perfectly apt to say, for example, that Gleen’s literary style is “poufy.” I’m sorry if that offends him, but it’s true.Some poufy things:pantaloonsbouffantAngelina Jolie’s lipspompadourDavid Bowie (bisexual)the Artist Formerly Known as Prince (hetero)frou-frouYorkshire puddingSilky PonyGleen’s prose style
Beautiful Ladies!
Poof
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, searchLook up Poof inWiktionary, the free dictionary.The term poof can be used in several ways:
- as a British English term for a large footstool or ottoman, see pouffe.
- as a pejorative English term for a gay man, shortened form of ‘poofter’. See also British slang, faggot (epithet).
- as a term for an act of disappearance or appearance.
- as a term for something fluffy.
- as in Pursuing Opportunities Outside the Firm
- In Arrested Development, it is the name of a magazine for magicians that Gob subscribes to.
- as a Western Canadian slang term for flatulence.
- as an American slang term for female flatulence.
- as a horrible player in a MMORPG.[citation needed]
- as in the head of a dandelion, light and airy, with little substance.
- as the action of smoking marijuana.
- the sound or act of flatulence; a fart
- as a term for a women’s hairstyle
 
Are you obsessed with me?!
The Whiffenpoof SongTo the tables down at Mory’s,To the place where Louis dwells,To the dear old Temple BarWe love so well,
Sing the Whiffenpoofs assembledWith their glasses raised on high,And the magic of their singing casts its spell.
Yes, the magic of their singingOf the songs we love so well:”Shall I, Wasting” and “Mavourneen” and the rest.
We will serenade our LouisWhile life and voice shall lastThen we’ll pass and be forgotten with the rest.
We are poor little lambsWho have lost our way.Baa! Baa! Baa!We are little black sheepWho have gone astray.Baa! Baa! Baa!
Gentlemen songsters off on a spreeDamned from here to eternityGod have mercy on such as we.Baa! Baa! Baa!ÂÂ
One thing for sure Peggy never does is spew.
BECAUSE OF THE
TRUTHINESSPOOFINESS!!!!1!!!Boylan needs to smack that boy down again. That last major bitch slap apparently didn’t wake him up, although it sure got him excited.
Are the Gleens paid to crank out this tendentious flapdoodle?
“What a stupid and vapid woman this is, but respected and admired by our media class because she fits right in with them  endlessly impressed by her own sophistication,”
The Fetzer Valve on my irony meter popped off, flew across the room, and knocked a coat rack over into the fireplace and POOF er PUFF er WHOOSH, the whole house is flaming er on fire.
BECAUSE OF TEH GHEY !!!!!!!!!!!!
Good Allah. Is there nothing that heem and Sully cannot bring back around to where they choose to put their cocks?
I have to thank this Glen guy for giving me some more gay words. “Shirtlifter” that’s a classic!!
And right below his evidence that “poof” is the most derogatory of all gay feelings-hurters, there are scads of ads for “Poof Chairs”.
A special chair for a poof? Pillows that 4 out of 5 dentists recommend?
does eating cheesy poofs make you a cocksucker?
No, but it makes you a poophage.
Peggy Noonan? Ahhh. A sad story. A woman who’s intelligence has been lost behind her love of the sound of her own voice.
But Gleen? Yup. Just a pup (speaking of loving the sound of one’s own voice). Noonan is pretty smarmy, but at least she attempts reason, whereas, Gleen..?
Fugedaboudit!
Why do we give him air to breathe? His sole function in life is to convert oxygen into CO2. Isn’t that a no-no on the left?
Note to
faggot – The list of reasons that Edwards should never be President is sooooooo long that his poofer-iness does not even crack the Top 20.The best response to Gleen’s hissyfit would be to post the pouf video. I dare say it stands on its own as proof that John Edwards is indeed a faggot.
oops … but you get the point, poofers.
It’s here:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=2AE847UXu3Q
Plus, the Brit slang word referred to is actually “Poofter” which is more or less the equivilant of the American use of “Fag”… An effeminate gay man. “Poof” has been used for many years in America as a verb meaning to fluff up… Someone is just being a little too paranoid in spotting gay references everyplace they look.
Personal opinions of Noonan aside – I would never trust a man who could “poof” his hair like that. Call me sexist, but any man that spends (much) more time at personal grooming than me is suspect. Not of gayness (although that is a possibility)- but of a lack of manliness.
alpuccino – What is a Felcher Valve?
Hey, is this Glen guy a faggot?
You know, I remember some of the defenses of this girl, was “Look, everybody who goes on TV gets make up and work done on them”. Which I accept. However, watch the film…that man REALLY knows his way around a hair brush.
John who?
Way to run with the word he uses and not his intent. Peggy Noonan thinks John Edwards should not be president. Most people on this board, including me, don’t support Mr. Edwards. But, as JD eloquently said above, the reasons to loathe Sen. Edwards for most people run plenty long and, to Gleen’s point, have absolutely NOTHING to do with his hair.
It is, in fact, a stupid reason to choose to vote for or against someone. Having nice hair or having no hair is not a qualification for the presidency. Mrs. Noonan is being hopelessly trite, shallow, and stupid if she thinks we should choose a President in that manner and in that way she is like much of the media and their inability to tell me anything of substance about ANYBODY.
I get it already, press chumps: Guiliani plans on winning South Carolina and Florida and then cleaning up in the Northeast; Mike Huckabee is surging, McCain is polling better, Hillary is not liked, Obama may beat her in New Hampshire and Iowa, blah, blah, blah
But to hear anything about tax policy or their ideas re: governance I have to dig deep. Way beyond what these superficial dolts are telling me day after day.
In the end, I think Gleen has a point here. A man’s hair care regimen is not a qualification or disqualification for the presidency. Focusing on the word he accuses Noonan of using in a way she might not have, does not invalidate Greenwald’s point
wow, you definitely showed him
LEAVE PEGGY ALONE!!!
I’m not saying that he didn’t have a point. I’m saying that by being a pinheaded grievance monger, he beclowned himself.
What a stupid and vapid woman this is is also by the way a sexist construction. I know this for sure cause I use the stupid woman thing sometimes and it’s always gratuitous to put in the woman part but I do it anyway.
Wow. Some people are really focused on being offended.
He can stuff his offense right up his gerbil cave.
As if that hadn’t already crossed his mind.
Dan =
I am compiling a PW dictionary, and you have once again made the cut.
“Beclowned”?
Not quite as good as “Splodeydopes” (my all time favorite so far), but endearing, none-the-less.
My only question is: do I put it under “B”, or do I put it under “G” (for Gleen)? I would hate to give Gleen proprietorship, but he HAS worked awfully hard for it…
Also stuff his offense right up his gerbil cave has subtle anti-gay overtones and also could be read as being rather cavalier with respect to the dignity of small animals.
TLD:
Beclowned.
Put it under B, though. There are lots of other worthy candidates.
Not true. If a candidate who held positions I agreed with on every issue turned out to wash his hair with the brains of infants, I’d reconsider my positions.
Rachael Lucas is always good for the perfectly insulting neologism:
dicksneeze, loonwaffle, cocknose, asshelmet.
Good thing Peggy didn’t use the word “niggardly” or “noose” in her column.
Also note that GiGi designates Peggy as “stupid and vapid” … not that she has written some things over the very very long course of her career that he disagrees with, but he dismisses her as utterly worthless because he disagrees with her (and in this instance, does a beautiful Emily Latilla rant).
It was a stupid and vapid night. Suddenly, a poof rang out.
You know what, I think his vanity, as displayed in that video, gives us clues to his character. The person he is. Perhaps it is simply that his self-preening routine supports the other opinions of him, that I find it – and his hair -relevant in an off-the-cuff manner.
If I were to list why i shudder to imagine Edwards as our president, the hair-thing would be pretty far down on the list. But, it’s still funny to bring it up. Gleens is an idiot for acting as if this were the only, or the major (or even a minor) issue Rethuglians have against him. Perhaps we should send him a list? He is “disqualified” for a long, and large, variety of reasons.
This is GREAT stuff!
Glenn writes a column about how the media pays attention to vapid nonsense in judging candidates. His example is Peggy Noonan attacking John Edward’s masculinity (although everyone’s been doing this, including PW) – which is true regardless of the specific verbiage . What’s worth taking from this? His use of the verb to poof, or pouf, or whatever.
Ignoring the meaning of a column about superficial analysis with superficial analysis. That’s rich….
He in effect accuses Noonan of homophobia.
He’s an ass.
Deal with it.
Per al’s observation at #5, it’s not just ironic in the extreme, it’s also thinly veiled jealousy:
This is how our national elections are decided: by people like her, spewing things like this.
You can still see the ghosts of the pixels he deleted: …when they should be decided by people like me, spewing things like this.
And steve — it’s quite possible to agree that the man has a point, while also observing that he’s pretty well neutralized himself by latching on to stupid and unrelated points. Gleens remain the world’s most powerful example of the power of a good editor.
tbenzinger or whatever is kind of right, but misses the point. One of glenn’s point was that Noonan was being homophobic by using poofy. Glenn is a fucktard but most certainly not a faggot. a poofter to be sure.
Huckabee is in real trouble, according to the press you can’t win a surge.
Teh Gleens was getting pretty good mileage for a little bit there, two faggots per paragraph.
Uh Dan, I’d rather not deal with Glenn’s ass
Wow. What an elaborate post.
Uh, Dan what was that you said about “little hissy snittiness”?
Shirt-lifter and gerbil cave are insta-classics.
I said that I was putting it aside, Kyle. It’s called “irony.”
I am not sure we want to know what alpuccino’s Felcher Valve does.
“He in effect accuses Noonan of homophobia.”
Yeah? So?
All these people on the right call Edwards a fag at every chance they get, then cry foul when someone points it out. At least stand up for what you say and don’t hide behind endless implication and insinuation.
Everybody on the left accuses Noonan and Coulter of being fag-hags, and Rethugs of being closeted fags, and they don’t see the dissonance. Let’s come back to the issue, steve: what does she mean by the verb, “to poof”? It’s not as though she called him a fluffer. Would you rather she called him a fluffer?
Nobody on the right calls Edwards a fag. They call him a pretty boy. None of us thinks that fags generally get campaign groupies knocked up, for one thing.
As far as Gleen goes, he’s just acting like a shrill little quean when he carries on like this, and I don’t care how un-PC my characterization is. It’s accurate.
OK, Edwards is a faggot. A total pansy. A serious sissy, who hides behind his dying wife’s skirts. What’s your point?
Well, shit Dan, guess I should have read my talking points!
“OK, Edwards is a faggot. A total pansy. A serious sissy, who hides behind his dying wife’s skirts. What’s your point?”
Don’t say it and deny you’re saying it, as Dan’s either doing or condoning. At least you’re honest!
Comment by steve on 12/28 @ 12:18 pm #
So what’s your point?
“Everybody on the left accuses Noonan and Coulter of being fag-hags, and Rethugs of being closeted fags, and they don’t see the dissonance. Let’s come back to the issue, steve: what does she mean by the verb, “to poofâ€Â? It’s not as though she called him a fluffer. Would you rather she called him a fluffer?”
The race to the bottom. “But you guys said!”. Just becasue it’s the the argument that comprises 80% of the political blogosphere doesn’t mean it’s not inane.
“Nobody on the right calls Edwards a fag. They call him a pretty boy. None of us thinks that fags generally get campaign groupies knocked up, for one thing.”
Such a crock. No one needs to be LITERALLY calling him gay for this to be true. Calling someone a fag to imply they’re a sissy is a pretty standard practice. Maybe you never played sports (or maybe you’re feigning ignorance of all popular culture), it happens all of the time. You’re not fooling anyone.
“As far as Gleen goes, he’s just acting like a shrill little quean when he carries on like this, and I don’t care how un-PC my characterization is. It’s accurate.”
I don’t care either. But the bottom line here is that saying someone’s not fit to be president becasue they comb their hair too much, and are therefor a sissy, is vapid, and something you et al. do (I know, I know – you’re justified because the left does it.). It’s a vapid level of analysis. THAT is the point that you’re obscuring with this red herring talk of pouf vs. poof, sissy vs. faggot and “little queens”.
That the
Two hissy snits in one day. I think I’m gonna have to just go get my iPod out of the car and listen to Gloria Estefan really loud until you guys settle. It’s just too much.
The Silky Pony’s stint in front of the mirror is symptomatic of the guy’s basic unseriousness.
He’s a joke, an ambulance chasing shyster, and that he is running for President, and is taken seriously in some quarters, reflects very poorly on the Democratic party.
Remember President Regan, “I didn’t leave the Democratic party, the Democratic party left me.”
For the record, isn’t preening your hair for longer than about 4 seconds superficial and vapid? At what point in the grooming process do you move on from grooming to posing?
For most straight guys, Edwards goes beyond making himself presentable, he’s making himself adorable. Noonan, by tackling this, is going to be facile by definition. But I don’t want a guy who cares if he is adorable. Without having anything to do with sucking cock, it’s just ghey.
For the record.. as a registered Rethuglian.. While I DO believe John Edwards comes off as an effeminate pretty boy, a sissy, a nancy-boy, a pansy, a dandy and , yes, a fag, I DO NOT particularly believe he is homosexual…
The above isnt why I wont vote for him.. His girlish ways simply amuse me… The fact that he’s a sleazy, slick, ambulance chasing, liberal Prog lawyer is much less amusing..
“The Silky Pony’s stint in front of the mirror is symptomatic of the guy’s basic unseriousness.”
How? This is what i mean. This is an idiotic argument. It’s actually not even an argument.
“He’s a joke, an ambulance chasing shyster, and that he is running for President, and is taken seriously in some quarters, reflects very poorly on the Democratic party.”
And of the current candidates who doesn’t in your estimation?
What BS.
You’re cute when you’re flustered, steve.
Gleen’s larger point is always valid, right? I’m the victim here! I have the right to be heard! I am better than [insert name of conservative here]!
Bite me. He’s being a whiny bitch, and people’s intentions do count. Even straight people’s. Even conservative people’s.
O! the drama!
Coming out of the DARK, I finally see the light now, and it’s shining on me
SEETHELIGHTSEETHELIGHT
Poof. There, I said it. Poof. Poof. Poofpoofpoofpoofpoofpoof!
And I don’t care whose feelings I hurt.
You see, men can be too masculine, and if they are, they’re overcompensating and really must have tiny little dick issues. But if they’re too vain (your scarf, it was apricot) it’s just homophobia to say so!
Color me unimpressed by this sort of non-think. Edwards has done some stuff that I find troubling. Combing his hair isn’t one of the things I’m troubled by becasue it’s stupid and doesn’t mean a thing.
You make me feel so good… Knew you would yeah!
And color me unimpressed with your argument. Gleen’s right about Noonan’s frivolous, dare I say glib? accusation. He’s a compleat wanker when it comes to the poof thing, which he made the centerpiece of his little tirade.
In other words, he’s the otiose narwhal of political punditry, if you catch my drift.
Dan says I need to calm down, then puts up those 3 posts. That’s funny.
The bottom line is, you refuse to address my point. It’s just ironic considering what Glenn’s column was about, that’s all. It’s funny. You want to straw man me into the politicaly correct position by making it seem like I object to the gay stuff. But I’m not biting and you’re getting pissed. I get it.
The point is that your level of analysis here – and in most other places – is vapid. It’s name calling with little else. Sometimes it’s funny, at least. And that’s why this point upsets you. You can easily substitute PEggy Noonan with Dan Collins, and it works fine. If I were you, I would just steer clear of article where the topic is vapid political analysis. It’s your glass house.
steve, it’s just sad the way that you refuse to address the point of my metacommentary, which is that Gleen’s an egregious ass who will twist anything to serve his pathetic rhetorical purposes. You’ve come over here to stick up for him, I get it. He’s not worth it. You might as well be Mona.
Also, I didn’t say you needed to calm down, and this is my idea of fun.
The Breck Girl screamed. In the harbor, a sail appeared on the Teleprompter.
“The bottom line is, you refuse to address my point.”
correction – this did address my point:
“Gleen’s right about Noonan’s frivolous, dare I say glib?”
But you are in the same place as her. Like I said: if you’re going for comedy, sometimes you hit the mark, but there is no depth of analysis in your typical posts. So I found your objection funny. Kudos for stopping the straw manning.
Maybe Karl’s the depth guy now at PW? No worries – I was a class clown and I turned out fine….
“Comment by steve on 12/28 @ 1:00 pm #
Dan says I need to calm down, then puts up those 3 posts. That’s funny.
The bottom line is, you refuse to address my point.”
What point?
Go re-read my post. There was never any straw manning.
“Comment by steve on 12/28 @ 12:42 pm #
“The Silky Pony’s stint in front of the mirror is symptomatic of the guy’s basic unseriousness.â€Â
How? This is what i mean. This is an idiotic argument. It’s actually not even an argument.”
You miss a lot, don’t you, steve?
BTW, you still are the class clown. But you can turn the page back a day or two and read Karl on Gleen. I suggest you do.
Color me unimpressed by this sort of non-think. Edwards has done some stuff that I find troubling. Combing his hair isn’t one of the things I’m troubled by becasue it’s stupid and doesn’t mean a thing.
So, being vainglorious doesn’t reflect, at all, upon one’s character? Sorry, but it does mean something. Another chink in his armor. But, most of all – it’s just funny. I mean, REALLY FUCKING funny.
And, not to get all facty- but the complete quote from the article is as follows:
So, serious (grown-up) blurb followed by a throw-away laugh line. And Gleen was able to gleen an entire article (including THREE updates regarding the epistemology of “poofing”) out of it. BRAVA!
Oops, what that gay slam?
#
Comment by N. O’Brain on 12/28 @ 1:10 pm #
“Comment by steve on 12/28 @ 12:42 pm #
“The Silky Pony’s stint in front of the mirror is symptomatic of the guy’s basic unseriousness.â€Â
How? This is what i mean. This is an idiotic argument. It’s actually not even an argument.â€Â
You miss a lot, don’t you, steve?
Unless steve is impressed by the………………………………….Fonz.
It all makes sense now.
This is hilarious. It’s becoming Poofgate.
Fonz’s thing was that he never actually had to comb his hair cause he was cool like that if I remember right. That was in the opening credits anyway at least early on I think. Now I see him for the homophobic bastard he was and it makes me feel sad.
“This is an idiotic argument. It’s actually not even an argument.”
Yes it is.
I don’t think it’ll be possible to draw a line under this before we get JD’s take. And also other poufy things are International Delight Limited Edition Pumpkin Pie Spice Coffee Creamer and La Maison Catalytic Fragrance Lamps that let you enjoy the beauty of a decorative “art” piece while enjoying the “art” of perfuming your environment.
Nooo… actually, what happens is people on the right point out that Edwards is a pretty face and an empty shirt. Sometimes they point to his record-breaking primping for the camera as a humorous example.
Then the left comes along and declares that noticing that is an accusation of homosexuality — another of those cases where the left can discern meaning that, oddly, no one else is aware of, and which the speaker never intended.
Excepting Ann Coulter, I’m unaware of anyone who’s actually called Edwards gay. Of course, you no doubt consider her the official spokesman of anyone who ever voted Republican. Me, I consider her a shrill hag who spews crap just for the attention.
A lot like Gleen, in other words.
All I have to say is that when it comes to Glenn Greenwald and poofery, it takes one to know one.
Oh, it’s “metacommentary”. I didn’t realize….
And you did straw man me by trying to humorously elude to my posts as being about the gay slurs when you knew that I wasn’t refering to depth )or lack thereof). This is your #1 tactic: say everything quasi-seriously and you can back out of anything inane or hypocritical by saying it was a joke. Clearly there are time when you’re just trying to be funny – and I do mean it when I say you often succeed. Using humor as an arguing tactic in this way is a little puss, but I do come back here mainly for some of the funny stuff. IOW: I guess I need to take the good with the bad.
Should say:
“I was refering to depth (or lack thereof). ”
It’s like I’m Michael J Fox typing here….
I can’t believe I read the whole thing. With a refresh, mind you. Um, Steve…. ah forget it.
I understand the history here, and that taunting GiGi is at least as entertaining as the Elizabethan pastime of bear-baiting, but still . . . attention whores don’t mind so much that we pay them critical attention, as long as we pay attention in some way.
If we could muster the will to just ignore it, it might wither and die – or, at least, go away dejected and forelorn. The worst that could happen is it soars to ever-new heights of folly in a desperate attempt to regain the lost attention.
steve, by necessity any treatment of a Gleenswald piece must focus on vapid stupidity. Otherwise, there is nothing to write.
Maybe La Noonan was trying to be flip or funny with the mirror comment? And we are reading it as serious policial analysis because the idea of a flip or funny Noonan is bizarre? Back in 2004 I said I couldn’t stomach the idea of Howard Dean because – well, one, he’s Howard Dean – and two, his head looks like a thumb, and the President of the United States can’t be thumb-head. Really, he just can’t. Maybe she meant it like that?
And maybe Glenn Greenwald would find a veiled homophobic slur in “Good morning” if uttered by a Republican?
“I was a class clown and I turned out fine….”
Comment by steve on 12/28 @ 1:06 pm
Your fight song wasn’t Gregorian chant, by any chance, was it?
Steve. You know you’re seriously arguing about a vapid piece, about a vapid piece, about an empty suit. And you’re still not seeing the comedy here? Oh. Man. I so want the cubical next to you.
I think, steve, that the original point is more that it takes a very special guy to suddenly on the odd Friday slap Peggy upside the head for talking about Edwards and his hair poofing. I’m not saying that she’s been plaintively begging for a good slap upside the head for ages now. It’s just that if you were of a mind to find fault with her it’s a kind of target-rich environment and maybe the target you pick says a lot more about you than it does about her if you don’t choose wisely.
Comment by happyfeet on 12/28 @ 10:26 am #
“What a stupid and vapid woman this is is also by the way a sexist construction. I know this for sure cause I use the stupid woman thing sometimes and it’s always gratuitous to put in the woman part but I do it anyway.”
You didn’t even mention the old 19th century thing about women getting ‘the vapors’ re: being vapid… It very much is a sexist insult… related to the old ‘women are naturally prone to being hysterical’ meme.
I suppose, though, that if every candidate were forced to wear identical mullet wigs, you know, either Billy Ray Cyrus (Achy Breaky Limited Edition) or Garth from Wayne’s World, then we’d get down to the real issues.
If we could muster the will to just ignore it, it might wither and die – or, at least, go away dejected and forelorn. The worst that could happen is it soars to ever-new heights of folly in a desperate attempt to regain the lost attention.
Oh Jim, we can’t even ignore the talking telephone polls unless Major John isn’t here to chide us …
isn’t=is
I hate telephone polls. Especially the talking ones.
*sigh*
In Arrested Development, [Poof!] it is the name of a magazine for magicians that Gob subscribes to.
Heh.
Steve’s got a point. Somewhere.
I’m not sure what it is but he’s going to keep posting here, for what purpose we’ll probably never know, and we’ll be dragged along by it, kind of like Lemiwinks, tethered and forced to go spelunking in Gleen’s nether regions.
In Britain, if someone asks if they can bum a fag, it means that they want to apply their buttocks to teh Gleen.
Really, it does.
I think Steve is saying that it seems kinda unfair that Hillary never has to deal with veiled accusations that she likes penis, but then her whole campaign is about setting double standards aside while Edwards has built his campaign around a Two Americas theme that explores and magnifies them. It’s a thoughtful critique, really.
Please tell me there aren’t barns all over Brazil advertising that tourist attraction the way barns in the South advertise Rock City.
I have to say that I really have no idea what Steve’s point is. Except that maybe he thinks Gleens is kinda cute.
“Hillary never has to deal with veiled accusations that she likes penis,”
I think Fred Thompson brushed up against this subject when he said “When you think about who you want for president, think about your president sitting across the table with some of these world leaders and ask yourself if you want someone who is going to stand his ground and tell it like it is, or someone who’s had a cock in her mouth.”
I may be paraphrasing
Rule 1: NO POOFTAHS!
Al, that made me laugh but I was immediately plunged into a quandary of whether it was funny funny or “a little puss” funny… Where did steve go?
When John “I’m for the common man” Edwards is president, will everybody live in modest 28,000 sq. ft. cabins, foreclose on mortgages of poor people in New Orleans, invest in hedge funds, and pay $400 to get their hair styled so they can spend time poofing it in front of the mirror? Personally, I’d rather have the cash than the haircut, but I’m not sure that will be an option in John Edwards America given his mandatory approach to healthcare. I don’t see how his personal vanity, expenditures and contradictions relative to what he pitches can fail to be relevant in the election. What is Steve’s point?
Moderator: Can I see a show of hands – who thinks steve had a point?
Thompson: I don’t do hand jobs.
Steve’s point is that I’m unfair to Gleen when I seize on something stupid he’s said and hold it aloft for mockery.
“I have to say that I really have no idea what Steve’s point is. Except that maybe he thinks Gleens is kinda cute.”
Actually, I’ve fucked him.
But that’s besides the point as well….
Look, if you can’t understand my point, you probably didn’t even read the original column. It’s terribly obvious. But most of you are in “Reflexively Tell Everyone Who’s Not a Republican They’re Wrong About Everything mode, so you’re all unable to have a basic conversation, ask for clarification, etc. At least Dan’s defense is somewhat coherent.
Now you’re just being hurtful.
This is all the prouf we need that Gleen is beyond parody.
happy,
My MIL gave me one of those Kohls 3-ball, battery-operated, light-up, vibrating massagers for Christmas. It says “try me” on the top with an arrow pointing to the “on” button. She’s a notoriously early shopper, so all I can think of is that gizmo sitting in her house telling her to “try me” for 5 weeks.
Now it’s in my house. Kind of a “Tell Tale Heart” meets “Thelma and Louise” meets “Cocoon” vibe.
steve’s opinion of funny holds no sway with me.
“Steve’s point is that I’m unfair to Gleen when I seize on something stupid he’s said and hold it aloft for mockery.”
See – I go givin’ ya credit and then you say that..
Glenn has a great point about the superficiality of media coverage using Noonan as an example, so Collins criticizes Glenn in an even more superficial manner by ignoring the whole subject he’s writing about and pointing to his use of the word poofey. It’s ironic. Get it?
Probably not…
Steve, did you look at the film? I mean, come on. And yeah, I can make a snap judgement like that on something so trivial because I’m a kick ass salesman. I KNOW.
“Actually, I’ve fucked him.”
Man, you are a crude whore.
I made sweet, sweet love to him.
See the difference?
Sorry Swede. That was a little vulgar. But there was nothing sweet about it…
“steve’s opinion of funny holds no sway with me.”
please paccino. I’ve read your material, and it’s strictly hack.
“But most of you are in “Reflexively Tell Everyone Who’s Not a Republican They’re Wrong About Everything mode, so you’re all unable to have a basic conversation, ask for clarification, etc.”
Steve?
My Pretty Pony poofs his hair in front of the mirror. For a long time. Like a girl. But he’s not a girl, Steve. He’s a man. Or purported to be. And we think that’s funny. If you don’t, too bad. You’ll just have to find a way to go on. Be strong, Steve. You can do it.
“please paccino. I’ve read your material, and it’s strictly hack.”
Nothing. I feel nothing.
“please paccino. I’ve read your material, and it’s strictly hack.”
Please.
Al, your stuff is hack, all right. BUDDY HACKETT!!
Look, if you can’t understand my point, you probably didn’t even read the original column. It’s terribly obvious. But most of you are in “Reflexively Tell Everyone Who’s Not a Republican They’re Wrong About Everything mode, so you’re all unable to have a basic conversation, ask for clarification, etc.
I’ll admit … I tried to read Gleen’s piece, but I ended up skimming because he really bores the piss out of me. I don’t think I’ve ever been able to read anything he’s read completely. But, I did read the Noonan piece … and noticed right away that she actually DID make a real point regarding her opinions of Edwards before her throw-away laugh line. Then Gleen made a whole article about the joke, pretending that was all she said. As if it were her only point regarding Edwards.
How about I start cherry picking through liberal blogs and articles to find their low-brow level of discourse? How long would I have to look?
No, I think it’s funny too – I just don’t pretend that I can somehow divine his fitness to be president from some out-take that he didn’t know was being recorded. Is he a little vain? Probably. Find me someone running for president who isn’t full of themselves.
It’s a shallow analysis, ipso facto. If this were Mitt Romney, and crooks and liars were running with it, y’all would cry foul. And Mitt really IS a pussy, form all accounts. But that wouldn’t stop me from voting for him for president, becasue our leaders don’t physically tussle to settle things anymore. Usually.
And from what I understand, Edwards was pretty good football player and would probably kick all of your asses. Now THAT is a ridiculous side point, but it’s also probably true.
Somewhat related is the comment by John Fund in the WSJ Opinion Journal that “Charlie Wilson’s War” could not happen today.
http://opinionjournal.com/taste/?id=110011051
John mentions the lack of principle over partisanship that motivated Democrat Charlie Wilson, but he neglects to mention that lack of bipartisanship is not the only way in which today’s Dems lack the ability to act… there’s also the problem that there aren’t any more Charlie Wilsons in the Democratic Party!!
Well,just because John Edwards has a history of stealing half smoked cigars,it doesn’t make him a butt pirate.
“I tried to read Gleen’s piece, but I ended up skimming because he really bores the piss out of me. I don’t think I’ve ever been able to read anything he’s read completely.”
This makes perfect sense to me. You, like most politicos, are a hopelessly partisan ‘rooter’ and ‘fan’ and refuse to play devil’s advocate with yourself when new ideas that your ‘team’ doesn’t endorse are presented to you. It’s actually beyond me how anyone could admit something like this but have no problem commenting on the person’s ideas. It’s refreshingly honest, I’ll give you that.
“Al, your stuff is hack, all right. BUDDY HACKETT!!”
Do not impugn that name in this way please.
And that was hackery
Erm, whatever Steve. Perhaps, just try this out, I think Gleens is not an interesting or insightful writer? Perhaps I think he’s a totally biased hack. I got to the part about Poofy being a fag word, and I tuned out. I’m perfectly willing to listen to a liberal provided that they have a point and are interesting. Gleens is such a partisian writer that I have a hard time reading.
But, that’s really amazing- how you can so SEE INTO MY SOUL from my admission that I skimmed the article. You should take that show on the road.
Now, I’ll gonna go wait by the phone for my “team” to call me and tell me my next move.
steve, but on the other hand, Glenn does say what I say he says, whereas his links often don’t say what he claims they do, and his asseverations are quite often whimsical as well.
No, steve. I have the same problem, and I’ll gladly read an interesting writer with whom i disagree. But Gleen isn’t interesting. He’s mind numbingly tedious and full of shit more often than not. Spending 5000 words on a load of crap does not decrapify the load. It only makes me sleepy.
still nothing
No soul reading, no BS – if you’re going to criticize someone’s argument, you oughtta understand that argument. It’s that simple.
I understand the argument he was attempting to make, I just thought it was bullshit. I don’t think Noonan called him a fag, she said:
John Edwards is not reasonable. All the Democrats would raise taxes as president, but Mr. Edwards’s populism is the worst of both worlds, both intemperate and insincere. Also we can’t have a president who spent two minutes on YouTube staring in a mirror and poofing his hair. Really, we just can’t.
Funny line. NOT SERIOUS DISCOURSE. You’d have to be an idiot to think the second half of her paragraph was anything but a joke. And, it would prolly take me about ten minutes to find something very similar in an article writen by a liberal commentator.
Al – those are pretty cool – I used one for real on Christmas for my neck – just wedged it between the back of my neck and the couch and watched a movie and it helped a lot. I think what is going on here really is that people with similar levels of obsessiveness with respect to their personal poofiness quotient are sort of falling out into their respective camps. I don’t think it’s partisan at all. No one actually confuses Edwards with a presidential candidate is why.
dan…
Y’all tried to point out links where he misrepresented things, and it was a little nutty. You sold it as all these lies he told, but I didn’t see it. There were a few sloppy things – and I’ve pointed out things that I thought were wrong or unfair of Glenn. I’m far from being in perfect agreement with him.
That said, you guys emotionally hate him and ‘liberals’, and it really is to a point where you have trouble reasoning straight. I know I always point this out, but the left isn’t any better.
The sock-puppetry I’ll give ya. And it’s disappointing, that’s for sure.
I done shaved my head over the holidays just so you know.
Yeah, it is.
Do you understand that argument? I do, and it’s ridiculous.
And the facts that led you to this conclusion are what, exactly?
“but Mr. Edwards’s populism is the worst of both worlds, both intemperate and insincere”
OK – and instead of explain WHY it’s intemperate and insincere, or what evidence she has, she calls him a girly man. And this notion that girly man and fag are in different zip codes is a copout. If that’s not shallow, what is?
That last quote is pretty funny from a guy who just said: “No soul reading, no BS…”
“And the facts that led you to this conclusion are what, exactly?”
Just the way you guys address all of these issues. No listening, no considering. Lot’s of name calling and venting.
I mean, I don’t care, Hate all ya like. But it is what it is.
That last quote is pretty funny from a guy who just said: “No soul reading, no BS…â€Â
Which quote?
I don’t hate Gleens – I don’t even know him. I just don’t care for his writing and have never -ever- found anything he’s written to be insightful. Certainly the other side has better?
Being partisian is fine, as long as you don’t pretend that YOU are not, while everyone else is.
I think running a vanity campaign for president as the life is slowly ebbing out of your wife while your few surviving children look on in abject horror is kind of shallow.
I don’t hate Gleen. I despise him because I’ve been on the receiving end of one of his dishonest intentional misreadings of something I wrote, and because I’ve received the hate emails from his little legion of dissembling, Gleen-talking-points-spewing fans. That was probably two years ago and in the meantime, I’ve seen him do the same damn thing over and over again – intentionally misread, misconstrue, misquote or flat out lie about what somebody said, and then descend into ad hominem attack.
Just because he says snotty things about people whose politics you disagree with, doesn’t make him original, intelligent, or correct. Or even entertaining, except to people who both subscribe to your politics, and appreciate snotty personal attacks that come pretty close to being libelous.
Now that I think about it, it’s the MO of the whole Townhouse group, and I don’t like any of them. What they do is the opposite of ‘politics’ or even ‘partisan politics,’ it’s simply political war room talking point assaults reduced to the level of high school lunchroom vindictive gossip.
Hey, if that’s what you want to stick up for Steve, fine. Be my guest. But if you’re an honorable person it behooves you to know you’re sticking up for some people who act like total jerks. Even if Gleen had a point to make, the way he acts pretty much guarantees he isn’t going to win any converts to your cause. (And yes, a fair number of righty bloggers are similarly peevish and small, I don’t like them a lot of the time either.)
“Being partisian is fine, as long as you don’t pretend that YOU are not, while everyone else is.”
Clearly I lean left, though I don’t on all things. That’s not the point.
There are always a few people who actually listen to what other people say. And then there are most people who reflexively spout dogma. I don’t believe political affiliation predicts which one fo those a person is.
She didn’t call him a girl-man. She reminded the readers of the video (which everyone saw.) If you read the Noonan piece, you would know that it was a round-up of all the candidates with a short blurbs. If I remember correctly, she devoted a smaller amount to Edwards. Because, honestly, who thinks he has a chance? It wasn’t a hard-hitting piece, yet Gleens didn’t have a problem with the shallowness of the entire article. The positive and negative blurbs about everyone else was ok. It certainly wasn’t the time and place for her to explain, in depth, why she thinks Edwards is a bad option.
Once again Steve derails the discussion… in exactly the direction Greenwald intended. Are socks involved?
There is a quality all of us (or so I think) want in a President. It’s hard to describe, compounded of seriousness or gravitas and a sort of outward-looking focus on things that indicates at least interest in national and/or world affairs beyond the specifically personal.
I, myself, have not seen that John Edwards possesses that quality in any discernible degree; it is my chief objection to him — he seems in all senses a narcissistic lightweight who would be not so much out of his depth as out of his shallows in dealing with, say, Sarkozy. If Huckabee is the right’s Jimmy Carter (a fair observation, I think) then Edwards is the Left’s Quayle, or, rather, the Press’s version of Dan Quayle, with nice hair rather than verbal malapropism. His obsession with his appearance is simply one of many pointers in that direction.
So here we have a nationally-known columnist making that same point in more forceful detail, including some much more substantive instances of the same criticism. As part of that essay she employs a rhetorical tactic so old you can find it in Plato — lighten up a bit occasionally; it makes the burden on the reader less. The specific figure she uses is Edwards’s fixation on his own hair, and as part of that she (consciously or no) uses a word which (forgive me, guys, it’s true) connotes homosexuality of the narcissistic, lightweight sort that even other homosexuals make jokes about. Just watch the Comedy Channel sometime.
Enter Greenwald(s), for whom anointment by the Democratic Party is akin (or superior) to beatification. Edwards is a Democrat; therefore no criticism is reasonable, or even seriously possible. When such exists it is necessary to deflect it, and (as is their habit) Glen(s) accomplishes that by ignoring context. By taking as the primary matter a glancing, oblique reference to the oldest and most enduring stereotype of the male homosexual extant — that of the mincing, lithping ponce — the discussion is pushed away from any consideration of the substantive criticisms, and instead focuses on the (equally narcissistic and self-congratulatory) “homophobia”.
And it works, with a substantial push from steve. The whole function of a troll is to redirect the discussion into nonproductive channels, and that steve has accomplished. Congratulations!
Regards,
Ric
Greenwald’s article is totally gay.
“Being partisian is fine, as long as you don’t pretend that YOU are not, while everyone else is.â€Â
Clearly I lean left, though I don’t on all things. That’s not the point.
I was referring to what I have read of Gleens. It is that quality in his writing that I can’t stand.
Carin, you’re just going to agree with Noonan becasue she’s a conservative and you don’t like Glenn or liberals. Ya know how I know?
“She didn’t call him a girl-man.”
This is ridiculous. You’re going to go by the letter of the law (she never used the words “girly man”!) and ignore the obvious implication being made here. When you say a guy spends too much time doing his hair, you’re calling him a girly man. Come on now.
The truth is, it doesn’t really matter what she says. If the comment is attacking a liberal, you’re going to defend it with this same sort of BS. You’ve made that quite obvious.
This is what I mean. Ric calls me a troll. A troll is someone who disagrees now. Very liberal definition for a conservative guy.
it’s inane
I don’t like liberals? Project much? I don’t think you have any idea how I feel about liberals.
It was HIM in the video. She reminded us of the video. Of his excessive vanity (which is the lesson I take from it.) I don’t think he’s gay. I think he’s vain. So, I guess I missed Noonan’s point, huh?
Damn. Someone better tell the team leader to be more detailed when they give me the marching orders next time.
And, I don’t always agree with Noonan. Even though we’re both conservatives. So, wrong again.
Bombast and fustian, my good man! Bombast and fustian!
I don’t think Ric is inane. And I think steve may even be sincere in an Aspergersy suffocatingly left-brained way but I think it’s really churlish of him not to realize that Peggy finally got off a line with a bit of zip to it and that’s something we can all of us celebrate, together. As Americans.
But, he IS a girly-man.
And while I laud him for his former football prowess, steve, I don’t think I, or anybody for that matter, would have to worry that Edwards “would probably kick all of your asses”. I would only have to mess up his hair. Game over.
Fight smarter, steve, not harder.
Given the entirety of Ric’s comment, that’s a pretty funny thing coming from a guy who just said:
Heal thyself, steve.
I bet he shaves his chest too.
But, he IS a girly-man.
I got a test- any woman who could look at that video and say “Sure, I’d hit it” is partisian.
Hey, I played football, I’ve climbed mountains, I’ve banged filipino hookers in the 80’s. I’d kick his ass.
I’d hit it.
With a boat oar.
“I’ve banged filipino hookers in the 80’s.”
Hey Now…..
catch y’all later
“Hey, I played football, I’ve climbed mountains, I’ve banged filipino hookers in the 80’s. I’d kick his ass.”
Dad?
Look, Edwards does have pretty hair. I don’t know why y’all are hatin’ on him.
He is a trial lawyer tool is why and also he doesn’t have pretty hair he demands pretty hair. There’s a difference.
Or he wants pretty hair, which is just as bad. I don’t know what steve is all up in arms about, anyway. He signs on with Gleen’s faulty analysis, proceeds to miss the point for 160 comments, and then leaves just when the hookers arrive.
There might be more important things in the world than pretty hair, is all I’m saying.
Because I prefer messy hair on men. Men’s hair should either be so short it doesn’t mess, or should have that messy look.
That’s it now, isn’t it. I hate Edwards BECAUSE of his hair. Ironic, no?
I just want to congratulate Dan on his Insta-lanche.
Of course, following this post with the puppy-blender couldn’t have hurt…
/green-eyed monster
Look, the only way Princess could overcome that video is if he started wearing an eye patch and greeted everybody “what’s up, bitches?”.
Just between us some days I kinda want pretty hair too.
Defending a guy who is defending a guy who pretty much single handedly raised everybodies health insurance premiums, is wacky.
“John Edwards is not reasonable. . . . .[W]e can’t have a president who spent two minutes on YouTube staring in a mirror and poofing his hair. Really, we just can’t.”
It occurs to me to wonder how long Greenwald spends in front of a mirror himself. At last count — and I suspect he’s not done yet! — Greenwald had devoted 1235 words to Noonan’s poofery. Alas, Noonan’s actual comment was apparently 22 words too long to include in its entirety. In the spirit of strategic ellipses, I note this admission from Greenwald, himself: “Finally, for those questioning why I’m not writing about Benazir Bhutto’s death….none of this is susceptible to facile, instantaneous analysis[.]”
His real preference seems to be interpretating text without quoting it at all :
Even if Greenwald groupies actually followed his links, they, like Glenn, would probably still miss the irony in what Noonan did have to say about Giuliani:
Not desirable!? Giuliani is obviously not man enough for Peggy either! She dismisses the poor unattractive fellow with an assessment that would fit into the Edward’s elision with two words to spare.
I am sooo (sic) of all this name-calling. Can’t we all just get along? I mean honestly people, to inthinuate that John Edwards is a faggot is thimply over the line. Like my mother used to say, people who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones. And besides, sticks and stones can break my bones but words can never hurt me. Now go watch the video boys and admit it; he’s such a hottie. He’s so cute I’d like to snake him myself!
Ya learn something new every day. Today I learned the meaning of “feltcher”. To quote the littlest Dinosaur “that’s disgusting!
happyfeet – that coffee thing was funny.
I quit paying attention to steve when he said alpuccino was not funny. That was the mostest stupiderest thing I have heard.
And, the gleens are a lying dishonest turd burglar. Noonan is bad enough on her own. There is no reason to take a throw away line and write 1500 words about it as though it was the thesis, unless you are a lying poofter. Or a shirtlifter.
David Bowie, bisexual? I thought that was all a con he later copped to, saying it was all for the image. Angie Bowie’s story about Bowie + Mick Jagger, totally fabricated, as admitted later. Plus he’s been married to Iman for forever and they’ve got multiple kids. I’d say he’s as bi as Tila Tequila.
Poof is an onomatopoeia for a puffy explosion.
Carin, we should talk. #1 clippers around the sides and back and trimmed short enough on top to be mistaken for a Marine or a cop on occasion.
And just to turn things away from the whole “poof” controversy, I think I’ll go old skool PW and shout…TRIBBING!!!1one!1!
Haven’t seen any of that around here in a long time.
Shades of those who point to Rush Limbaugh and claim it proves “the media” are biased in favor of conservatives. Steve, Peggy Noonan is commentary, not coverage.
Allow me to factor in the implications of your position: If a pundit is so mind-numbingly boring to read that to do so is impossible without brain damage, we’re not permitted to criticize him at all.
Sorry, MeGehee, but the very fact you are bored by Gleen(s)writings invalidates any opinion you may have and reflects your overwhelming partisanship because people like steve can SEE INTO YOUR VERY PARTISAN CONSERVATIVE SOUL!!!
I’m wrapping myself in foil to KEEP HIM OUT!
Go Doggies, Go Doggies, Go Doggies, Go Doggies.
I hate commies, love capitalism/materialism.
Happy New Years
No BJTexs! It’s a trap! that’s just going to amplify the signal.
So if I use the word “fag” I’m calling someone a cigarette?
I don’t believe for a second Ms. Noonan meant to call John Edwards gay. She was attempting to describe how he was primping and “poofing” his hair for two minutes in that YouTube video.
It really is as simple as that.
Right. He would be our first metrosexual president is all. That’s not something to let pass uncommented upon.
[…]  The gift that keeps on giving. Posted by Dan Collins @ 10:33 pm | Trackback Share […]
docweasel – Bravo !
that’s brilliant – nice job
Peggy wrote a light column, not deep anlaysis, covering the range of candidates. In the process she gave a very light mention of a light-weight candidate who preened like a heavy-weight lumberjack.
Heh.
The Gleen puff-up his feathers like an excitable chicken before as it prepares to leap into the sky to soar amongst the clouds.
That he didn’t get off the ground is not due to his being light-headed, right?
Heh.
“No soul reading, no BS – if you’re going to criticize someone’s argument, you oughtta understand that argument. It’s that simple.”
Ah. I see, it teh NUANCE.
No, steveie, we do understand Gleen(s).
And he’s crap.
That’s the part you don’t get.
who is he trying to convince?
i mean, probably 80% of his readership were contemporary with the era in which girls did this to their hair every morning…
http://images.classmates.com/pho103/F/C/F/A//FCFA5B405EC2C20188C5A671E4EDAA8F.jpg
and the nomenclature was only and ever to “poof”.
is this fool ever honest in his commentary?
Greenwald should be well familiar with the word, considering it’s the sound his credibility made long, long ago.
Huckapoof!
Just cause I wanted to say that is why.
Use the space/i>, steve.
[…] one might be a stretch. At post-time the blogosphere had yet to get a ruling on this pattern from master linguist — and sock-puppeteer — Ellers McEllerson. Posted by Karl @ 6:10 pm | […]
[…] far, so good. A puff (or pouf or poof) piece is generally wretched, though it performs the wretched task of humanizing a politician. Just […]
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