Though he was limited to 800 words, our own commenter Aldo had his piece defending Sarah Palin published in the online edition of the LAT’s opinion page:
[…] much has been made of [Governor Palin’s] supporters’ protectiveness, such as the recent complaint that Republicans are indulging in the type of grievance politics that they have traditionally opposed. “Why can’t she be questioned?” goes the refrain. Obscured by the word “questioned” is the loaded subject of what, exactly, Palin’s supporters are pushing back against. To describe in concrete terms the unnerving frenzy of hatred from the left-wing blogosphere and talk radio would be to make it obvious that the excesses of her defenders pale beside the excesses of her attackers. […]
While ugliness can be found in the blogosphere across the political spectrum, the left-wing and right-wing blogs have evolved in different ways stylistically. Whether because of the left-wing blogosphere’s younger demographic, its pent-up frustration after eight years under President Bush or the emphasis the left puts on movement-building over deliberation, left-wing blog commenters tend to use an angrier rhetoric that occasionally devolves into the Internet equivalent of a mob riot. The anti-Palin blog-swarm was so sudden and so intense that it has influenced the dynamic of this election, and it was arguably a significant cultural phenomenon in its own right. There was no excuse for the mainstream media to ignore it. Worse, some of its most egregious lies managed to percolate up into the mainstream media. For example, on Sept. 9, Maureen Dowd wrote a column in the New York Times (comparing Palin to Eliza Doolittle) in which she asked, “Does she really think Adam, Eve, Satan and the dinosaurs mingled on the Earth 5,000 years ago?” The reference was straight out of a viral e-mail in which someone had taken a hoary left-wing Internet line mocking Christians and appended Palin’s name to it. So much for journalists’ fabled skepticism. To criticize the way Palin’s supporters are circling their wagons around her without providing this context is unfair.
Dowd’s sneering reference to Palin’s Christianity is an example of a second major theme of anti-Palin criticism. Almost as soon as the smoke cleared from the World Trade Center attacks, Democrats and the media began complaining that the Bush administration was using the fear of terrorism to gin up political support. Well, Roe vs. Wade was decided in 1973, and 35 years later, Democrats are still telling voters that reproductive rights are so vulnerable that we cannot risk electing a Christian, even to be vice president. Aside from the fact that there is no realistic scenario under which Palin could roll back reproductive rights, this fear-mongering ignores the fact that Palin’s political identity is pragmatic, not religious. For example, despite the media portrayal of her as a socially conservative policymaker, Palin vetoed a bill to block Alaska from giving public-employee benefits, such as health insurance, to same-sex couples.
I am a frequent commenter on a few right-wing, libertarian-oriented blogs. In the wake of Palin’s selection, these blogs have been visited by unfamiliar commenters who have attempted to pose as members of our ideological community in order to spread anti-Palin talking points, a practice known as “astro-turfing.” The visitors often attempt to establish their libertarian bona fides by repeatedly declaring their devout Christianity, citing Bible verses and couching their criticisms of Palin in “Archie Bunker” language. They stand out like sore thumbs on these urbane, secular blogs, but they reveal the cartoonish image of Republicans and libertarians that is current on the left. Meanwhile, on left-wing blogs, the criticisms of Palin often echo the criticisms that were leveled at Paula Jones, focusing on her hairstyle and small-town roots.
Back in 2006, cultural critic Camille Paglia told an interviewer from Salon.com that “I think the center of the Republican Party really is small-businessmen and very practical people who correctly see that it’s job creation and wealth creation that sustain an economy — not government intervention and government control, that suffocating nanny-state mentality.” I believe that Paglia’s conception is still accurate, and the left would do better on election day if they discarded their stereotypes of those of us on the right as religious fanatics and Archie Bunkers.
Ah, to dream a little dream!
Sadly, though Aldo makes the correct diagnosis, he knows that it is a diagnosis whose very pointedness is given power by the fact that it has no hope of being heeded by those toward which it is (ostensibly) aimed. In fact, rhetorically speaking, it is akin to Larisa Amerikkkasmashakova’s Huffpo piece, where she tried to pass of as a “lament” the call for revolution she couched in an affectation of sadness and exasperation — a dodge, really, to provide plausible deniability, but a rather obvious dodge, nevertheless.
None of which is meant to equate the two pieces in any way other than to point out similar rhetorical devices employed in the service of each. In Aldo’s case, however, the implied wish for left-liberals to reexamine the caricatures they’ve created from conservatism has the merit of at least pointing to something that is true: that the media, as is its self-interested wont, has described, framed, and subsequently cartooned a phenomena that they themselves are responsible for creating in the first place, having left out of their reporting both their own culpability and the proximate cause for phenomenon they describe; whereas in the case of Larisa Andweshallcrushthetraitorsmakova, she proceeds from a series of lies, fantasies, and misuses of data in order to conclude, wistfully, that, alas!, we may be forced into a government overthrow, having exhausted every other means of trying to help the country find its way (these means being, of course, elections — which haven’t proven reliable in reaching the “right” ends).
Both pieces, it seems to me, are critiques of the contemporary mainstream media, and its being both lazy and beholden to a particularly ideological position. However, over the two, only Aldo’s seems conscious of that critique — for which it should be duly congratulated.
Oh Aldo.
This is simple identity politics, only it is IQ-based, rather than racebased or genderbased.
Team McCain is using IQ-baiting to prevent the electorate from finding out just how non-existant Palin’s qualls are.
And possibly that she is a Pentecostal Endtimes Millenialist as well as a Creationist, based on her church attendance at a Pentecostal Church of more than 20 years.
Sound familiar?
Needed: Calming pie.
Regards,
Ric
You mean this is a secular, urbane blog? Seems like some of us get called evil xtians most every day (course I are one). Calls for a Martha Stewart Chronicles post doesn’t it?
aldo –
Well done! And well said, too.
Yes, I am evil xtian. Nishi, you are still 13 lines of code.
I suspect when someone determines what Sarah Palin’s IQ actually is, Kate will be mortified.
For about twelve nanoseconds. Then she’ll go back to shrieking about Sarah’s height.
I’m pretty sure that simply disagreeing with Certain People gets you cast as a narrow-minded, bigoted, Jesus-weeper. It’s as if their minds are too small to comprehend that theirs is not the only valid opinion.
Congrats Aldo, not everyone can be that categorically and ineluctably wingered.
Tormented! Haunted! By the cartooning ways of the media!
Aldo’s a bigtime bull rider in a scapegoat rodeo, ohnoes!
“stereotypes of those of us on the right as religious fanatics and Archie Bunkers”
But Aldo…individuals of sufficient IQ simply leave the tribe and become elites. Like Dr. Francis Collins and Dr. Ken Miller.
Religion is self-esteem for people that don’t make the IQ gradient to become elites.
It doesn’t concern you that an Endtimes Millenialist (which Palin may very well be) is a poor choice as custodian of the codes that activate our nuclear arsenal?
We don’t know her.
And we are not going to get to, she wont talk to the press.
She doesnt have to, she is a demagogue.
I admit, in the beginning I made fun.
Palin is a joke candidate to me.
But I am appalled that so many of her supporters seem to feel an entitlement, and enough profound bitterness and envy that she might actually be elected.
I think that is genuinely dangerous for America.
On the one hand, the leftist caricature of conservatives is aggravating.
On the other, it’s their greatest weakness. Because they can’t begin to understand their enemy, they waste their time railing against phantoms. They simply can’t process the concept of a secular conservatism based on sincerely held principles.
Which is really just a shorter Aldo. Great article!
We got a couple examples of that great weakness right here in this thread.
Comment by thor on 9/23 @ 10:47 am #
Comment by quellcrist falconer on 9/23 @ 10:48 am #
Please ignore the talking telephone poles.
Thank you.
@10
What they also don’t understand is that we are able to understand them quite well. Unfortunately, we don’t seem to be able to put that to good use in the grand scheme of things. It might be because appeals to emotions are so much more compact than appeals to reason.
The nakajima Kate is rolling into a screaming IQ bait kamikaze dive a little early today, isn’t she/it?
Two thumbs up, aldo.
Comment by slackjawedyokel on 9/23 @ 11:01 am #
Please ignore the talking telephone pole.
Thank you.
Sadly, though Aldo makes the correct diagnosis, he knows that it is a diagnosis whose very pointedness is given power by the fact that it has no hope of being heeded by those toward which it is (ostensibly) aimed.
This is something that Ace commented on. He said that you can give every left wing blog poster, commenter or troll all of the best political advice. Advice that would help them make their case to people outside of their group. Advice that would normally be damaging for you to give to an opponent and you know it will not matter because they will never take that advice, they will categorically ignore it. I think this is tied to this:
…the media, as is its self-interested wont, has described, framed, and subsequently cartooned a phenomena that they themselves are responsible for creating in the first place,…
They have created this cartoon version of “conservatives”, originally just to mock them; however I think that many left wing blog posters, commenters, and trolls have come to believe that this caricature that they have created is the real thing. I have heard that ‘perception is reality’, but I have a hard time believing that – simply claiming a cross-town bus is a cute wittle fuzzy bunny doesn’t make it safe to step into the street. Simply speaking – the further your perception deviates from objective reality, the less effective you are, and the liklier you are to be frustrated and angry that you are not getting the results that your perceptions tell you you should get. (Bending down to pet the cute fuzzy bunny and getting smacked in the kisser by a bus would tend to make you angry – provided you survive the encounter.)
So I think that the anger seen against Gov. Palin can be partially explained by a perception of reality that is a few orders of magnitude out of line from objective reality, and until the perception comes closer in, the anger and frustration will remain.
#2 Ric:
There ain’t a calming pie big enough for the lot we got here.
http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20070122
What they also don’t understand is that we are able to understand them quite well.
Well, I sure don’t understand nishi, but there’s that pesky IQ gradient working against me.
I think most of us understand non-nishi lefties because we either a) Used to be one, or b) Understand and share their basic emotional impulses without being ruled by them.
These are the people who fret over the hypothetical prospect of Sarah Palin in the Oval Office, but are blind to the daily, demonstrated idiocy of having Nancy Pelosi two heartbeats from the Presidency.
We all have that “problem”. The gradient doesn’t run the way she thinks, though.
We’re not blind to the non-hypothetical heartbeat of our current idiot President, and, ya see, that makes a difference.
And there’s the “idiot” thing, again, applied to someone who is demonstrably not an idiot.
Both pieces…are critiques of the contemporary mainstream media… only Aldo’s seems conscious of that critique  for which it should be duly congratulated.
You have to wonder if the loss of self-objectivity directly tracks the strength of a disintegrating moral compass.
lol
i usta be a conservative.
ima hereditary republican actually, guns, dogs and pony club.
the theocons and teh Stupid have driven me out of the republican party.
that and the Republican War on Science, GW’s Great White Bwana Manifest Destiny of Democracy Crapology, Creationism, ESCR vetoes, and moronic yeomanfarmers.
#23 Rob Crawford:
Perceived reality as opposed to objective reality, and then frustration and anger when the results do not meet perceived expectations.
Good on ya aldo and thanks for speaking up.
If Jonathan Haidt is correct, the failure to understand the right by the left is not a failure of reason, but a deficit of consonant emotion. The misunderstanding thus emotionally obtained is then rationalized ex post facto, resulting no doubt in much of the obvious silliness we encounter every day. As a deficit however (think Biden’s urging the wheelchair bound fellow the other day to “stand up and be recognized”), it may not be a simple thing to repair, as I imagine Professor Haidt has been learning (much to his chagrin) as the campaign goes on.
A prime example is the comment before yours. Quite a list of imaginary boogiemen, that.
I’m surprised at that. She is completely transparent.
There is a concept in modern programming circles called reflection. Hard to describe, but basically “reflection is the process by which a computer program can observe and modify its own structure and behavior. The programming paradigm driven by reflection is called reflective programming.” – Wiki
This is something we do fairly regularly on the right, but the left seems incapable of grasping the concept.
PW’s biggest retard-bobber wails “a duuuuey!”
I suspect wailing Mikey is as blue in the face as he is in the balls. Prepare the catafalque, Jesus freaks!
ima hereditary republican actually, guns, dogs and pony club.
Astroturf!!
A lot of this really is that weird Democrat thing where they compulsively need to frame their imminent defeat preemptively. But also I think this compulsion comes from there being so little space between them and the NPRs and the MSNBCs and the Newsweeks. It’s like this blog a lot. I write it here and then I see it up there. It’s very easy. When your framings can get put into the New York Times the day after you contrive them it’s easy to get sloppy like when kids know for sure mommy will tack their fingerpaintings on the fridge and give them a cookie no matter how garish they are.
Look….Palin is a joke candidate.
That is why the SNL skits flow so effortlessly and are so funnie.
Some people are kinda angry that McCain cynically choose a demagogue for VP, and is cloistering her from the Big Bad Media.
Can’t say as I blame them.
#32 Jeffersonian:
That is an example of the ‘concerned christian conservative commenter’ that Ace was talking about a few days ago. A variation of astroturf, and not a successful tactic when the audience already knows who you are.
Great article, Aldo.
mgl, you nailed it – we can understand them but master our impulses. It is absolutely amazing to me that so many of my liberal friends are completely unable to fathom how I might have voted for George W. Bush, even to the point of them saying to me, “I never knew that someone could be smart and vote Republican.” Their surprise, and my disgust, is endless.
Pony club?!
And the right is cartoonish.
they bring it on themselves.
Palin/Jindal 2012!!!
the endtimes speakin-in-tongues demonic-exorcism ticket!
just think about the Saturday Night Live material inherent in that.
Hunter Hill
A graduate.
If Jonathan Haidt is correct, the failure to understand the right by the left is not a failure of reason, but a deficit of consonant emotion.
I’m not sure about Haidt’s analysis, though I think he’s certainly on to something.
I think the problem is more a developmental one, perhaps related to the modern-day extension of adolescence until well into what used to be called middle age. It’s natural for the young to be outraged at unfairness and injustice, and desire to remake the world anew.
Everything seems so simple: the poor should be made wealthier, the sick should be healed, and if science doesn’t have all the answers to society’s problems now, it’s just a matter of time. Only the stupid or the evil could oppose such a transparently moral agenda. The media naturally inclines to this type of narrative, due both to the professionally inculcated neotenism of journalists and the fact that the leftist perspective makes for much (much!) more satisfying stories.
Look — Obama is a joke candidate. The entire thing was a joke. He was intended to just put up a little struggle against Hillary’s nomination, then maybe get the veep slot on her ticket. Then things went too far.
That’s why the jokes about him flow so easily. I mean, the guy’s never faced a competitive election in his life. His biggest achievement is writing two autobiographies at an age when even the greatest of people haven’t considered even writing one.
He’s a joke. Hell, he even nominated a bigger joke for his veep.
Baracky seems to foster a lot of bigotry. Dirty Christians and their filthy Jesus. I think he does this on purpose cause he likes to be top of mind when the conversation turns to victimyness. He feels a lot comfortable in that discussion, so the more of it the better I guess.
Sister Palin won’t answer questions from the hungry media.
Because the media is like a 8-month-old with sharp teeth!!!eleventy!1!1!1!!
Thank you for the post Jeff, and thanks to all my friends here for the supportive comments. I am busy at work at the moment, but when I get a free moment I hope to comment further.
‘Grats, Aldo. If you got paid, good job.
Except —
You’d think, but it’s not so, as far as we know. Though the Obama-shouters at non-political sites skew young, they’re not the nutroots’s commentators.
During the last election, some study came out showing that the average Kos reader, for example (it’s the example I remember; the survey was broader), was an “upper middle class” late-boomer. People were surprised. I don’t know why. Those types have not only an identifying ideology but a special tone — childish, yes, but not young. And it hasn’t changed, as if there’s been a youth influx.
(Simple metric: Can you, without getting yelled out of the place, commment that you had to stop watching a linked video clip because you were afraid that by the end of it you’d be “gayed to death?” If not, you’re surrounded by old fucks.)
The rightist aged-yuppie voice (regardless of its source; some kids have it) isn’t common, except at finance-centric economists’ blogs, academic-philosophical sites, and genetic-intelligence hives — a coincidence, I’m sure. The rest of that demographic’s non-leftists seem to be at Althouse’s (and places with a similar poster/commenter power dynamic, e.g., email-quoters like NRO and Instapundit), suckin’ up.
The leftosphere’s youth is “spectacular,” as the even older leftists used to say. They need to believe in it to function as they do. But we don’t.
#33 haps:
You could say that NPR and MSNBC, etc. enable this behavior through their reporting bias. If a person accepts that what those two outlets report is very close to objective reality, then that person is going to be very frustrated when the expected results do not occur.
Of course that person then suffers a second failure, one that JimK at #30 brought up, and that is a failure of reflection. That failure happens when the person doesn’t question their perception of events, but instead absolves their perception of any skewing and then starts to look for various conspiracies (Diebold, Rove, Soros, whatever) to explain the results. In fact, that person will immediately leap at the conspiracy theory first without even questioning their own perceptions of the prior events.
Gimme a Big Moose Call for Palin!!! Mooooooooo oof oof moo!
Sister Palin won’t answer questions from the hungry media.
She already did, and we saw what a hatchet job ABC made of it. Is there some reason one should talk with a gaggle of people that loathe you and will twist what you say into something you do not believe?
Some people are kinda angry that McCain cynically choose a demagogue for VP
Nishi, Palin has focused like a laser on energy independence and governmental reform. It is the left and the media who are making hay out of her personal religious beliefs. Palin has not created a political identity as a culture warrior, but that identity has been projected onto her by people like you.
“Worse, some of its most egregious lies managed to percolate up into the mainstream media. For example, on Sept. 9, Maureen Dowd wrote a column in the New York Times (comparing Palin to Eliza Doolittle) in which she asked, “Does she really think Adam, Eve, Satan and the dinosaurs mingled on the Earth 5,000 years ago?â€Â
and that is not a lie.
According to all available data, Palin is a Creationist.
So she does believe that.
Can anyone who can write proper English explain how belonging to a “pony club” is the mark of a “hereditary” Republican? It’s senseless — unless you’re operating from the stereotypes that seem to be the primary source of information the left has about the right.
Most Republicans I know would have been mucking out the stables at the “pony club”, not members.
I guess that’s what he accomplished with his bitter clingy remark. He carved out a safe bigoty sandbox for his Baracky people and his media to play in. It’s just like Europeans and Jews, so he doesn’t get any points for being clever. It’s still a neat trick though.
I think most of us understand non-nishi lefties because we either a) Used to be one, or b) Understand and share their basic emotional impulses without being ruled by them.
I’m a solid (b) in that regard. By all rights, I should be one of them, but I was fortunate enough to recognize years ago that my intellectual gifts were just one among many: that there were plenty of people in the world who were in some ways as dumb as a bag of hammers, but they had extraordinarily well-developed virtues such as compassion, empathy, decency, kindness, and selflessness  qualities that Their Betters sneer at 24/7 because they neither possess nor appreciate them.
Oh, and I’ll just throw this out: John McCain? 131 IQ.
We know nothing about her.
Reporting is not allowed.
Oh, and kudos, Aldo. Well said and well thought-out.
lol
Pony Club
O wad some Pow’r the giftie gie us
To see oursels as others see us!
It wad frae mony a blunder free us,
An’ foolish notion!
We know nothing about her.
So what you’ve been telling us about her has just been pulled out of your ass, Nish?
> In the wake of Palin’s selection, these blogs have been visited by unfamiliar commenters who have attempted to pose as members of our ideological community in order to spread anti-Palin talking points, a practice known as “astro-turfing.â€Â
No, that’s “moby-ing”. Astro-turfing is fake grass roots organizations as in “American Hunters for Firearms Safety, a grass roots organization of old time hunters, today denounced the NRA’s extremist tactics wrt arming babies.” Their first appearance is usually in a MSM report coincident with some political event. It’s almost like there’s collusion.
McCain is an elite, he comes from one of the top career military families in this country.
He is simply exploiting the yeomanfarmers to get elected.
Most Republicans I know would have been mucking out the stables at the “pony clubâ€Â, not members.
I don’t even want to contemplate what Nish was doing in the stables.
in Palin’s current photo-op at the UN, no reporters are allowed.
the risk of her saying something dumb is simply too high.
Being a member of the elite != being an elitist.
I know, it’s hard to comprehend for someone of limited intelligence. But focus, and you might manage it.
Refusing to believe anyone would ride a pony because they’re too short.
ok SarahW
Life is mostly froth and bubble
two things stand alone
kindness in anothers trouble
courage in your own.
and no lying.
The fuck would you know except what’s belched in your hear by Fox News?
I think I’ll continue to give priority to the words of Alaskans who say Sister Palin is nothing but a dizzy, lying culture warrior versus those of a detached hack wanna-be.
It is like a leaky pipe that you can never plug.
I knew what aldo meant. It was a big damn deal when the Los Angeles Times thought Bush was doing that sort of thing in Iraq. When Baracky’s little people and his media break out their beginners fun-with-psy-ops kit to play the home game though it’s pretty much up to aldo if it’s going to get covered by them at all.
Aldo, Palin has no political identity.
She is beautyqueen/journo major that stumbled into a political career in a state of 670,000 population.
Oh, you have the video tape of Palin saying she believes in all those elements?
Liar.
Ah, another thread slowly ruined by people trying to reason with Kate.
We know nothing about her.
Reporting is not allowed.
Kate, from the time that Obama announced Biden as his running mate until this morning the LAT had only run one vetting piece on Biden. It described how “Regular Joe” liked to putter in his garden. This morning they ran a second Biden article, which was also a non-substantive puff piece. (Read it if you don’t believe me). They run anti-Palin news and opinion every day. The claim that Palin has somehow not been scrutinized is surreal.
i get thor. well, as much as anyone “gets” thor.
tell me of kate though.
is there some sort of Greenwaldian sock puppet thread:
Kate=Nishi=Quellcrist Falconer.
that they are parodies of a certain Village Voice leftism is their choice and right; their politics are their own.
the 7th grade nature of it all is weird though. Do they really think like this? I guess.
I mean, this is a right of center site, granted, but there is plenty of Bush criticism here–I border on open contempt myself–and no shortage of McCain skepticism is to be had as well.
dont get the whole “flame the right at PW vibe”, you know? Id think Ace of Spades, or Hot Air would be better hunting for the partisan pissing match they seem to desperately need.
Everybody at PW seems to know we are voting for fallible, all too human candidates in a complex time. No saints for us, just a shared belief that no matter how dumb the GOP gets, a candidate from the structural left is far worse.
Ruined! How about a big booyah booohooo, soldier.
Remind me how much we’re paying you.
We dare not worship The One, so must be smited.
and im sure she’s nice person. ;)
but she is completely undefined politically.
What do we know about her?
She has governed Alasaka “for all of two minutes” according to Dr. Krauthammer.
A lot of the rightside intelligentsia are simply appalled at her choice.
see The American Scene, Ponneru, Will, Brooks, Douthat.
She is certainly a Creationist.
And based on over 20 years of attendance at a Penecostal Church that espouses Endtimes theology and speaking in tongues and faith healing, she may be a Pentecostal Endtimes Millenialist.
How would we know?
The press is not allowed to ask her anything.
Plus what has anyone got against scones. You know what makes good scones…science.
And a kitchen storage vacuum. (compression and instant hydration).
I once got into a discussion with my wife over Adult Swim on Cartoon Network. The shows seem designed to tap into the post-adolescent powerless angst. Lots of marxism and anti-corporate rants for people who buy into the Ayers mentality because they’ve been told they’re so smart and why are they working at Burger King when they can discuss Kant and Derrida?
I complained that the writers of the show were buffing their po-mo, anti-capitalist street cred by biting the hand that feeds, complaining about selling out while sucking down that paycheck. She pointed out that it’s possible that they were very smart, and were just siphoning money away from people who consider themselves too smart to be suckers.
Every time I see an Aqua Teen Hunger Force t-shirt, I think of that conversation.
But not Venture Brothers; that show is hilarious.
Perhaps the media has just caught on to the idea that flattery is the easiest way to talk suckers out of their money. “Oh, Mr. Obama, you’re so smart and kind and nice and won’t you please subsidize our dying industry so we can keep telling you how great you are?”
“What does it feel like to win?”
Who hasn’t been scrutinized very well is Baracky. That would be racist and it might alienate Core Readers and also Core Viewers. They would scurry to cable and the Internet cause for real journalism is a lot repugnant to them I think.
Well, Nish, we know Sarah Palin ain’t neva been called a nigga!
My wife makes scones with love. But that’s because she’s a conservative and fears teh science.
But Aldo, Palin knews is all speculation.
Biden has been in the news for 30 years.
Obama since 2004 at least.
Palin is being defined by the media since she will not define herself.
So quit whining.
Fold ’em or show ’em.
Adult Swim is mostly pitched to people who are in their pot-smoking wind-down part of their day. Lots of fast food and phone sex ads. It’s a niche.
Wha?!
No, I think Hadlowe had it right. Especially the part about the Venture Bros.
to hilarious effect, I might add. “Stand up, Chuck! Let everybody see you!”
Every time the voters rejected Joey Biden for higher office, all the media dutifully reported it. They know how to write this story in the dark I think.
Should make Nov. 6th a walk in the park for them, then.
And the last season much too short. Also, they showed the episodes out of order.
Thor —
Keeping taking shots at Major John like that and I promise I will look you up in Florida. After you buy me a beer, and I get done giving you the ass kicking you have coming, we can be friends again. But no Celine, please. We can talk Delillo or Eco or Pynchon or Brautigan or Robbins. Or even Updike’s Roger’s Version, which I believe to be terribly underappreciated.
Oh, love is the presentation and the irish butter.
Adult Swim Core Viewers = potheads. If you’re not M18-24 you’re not what they’re trying to sell to their advertisers. Go watch VH-1 or USA or ESPN or something and if you want to be saleable.
Nov. 7: Joey Biden opens on the Strip.
oh. and is there but it’s not supposed to be
It can be like “here, catch a hot scone!” or you can put em on a plate.
And also you should get a tattoo I think is where that was going.
Oh, certainly. I’d never buy anything that’s advertised there.
But I gotta watch Venture Bros. Dr. Orpheus is my favorite.
#18 Mikey NTH: Perhaps a different technique is called for.
Regards,
Ric
By the way, everytime Kate starts up with her IQ bidness, just point her here.
That was an excellent post, Jeff.
It did quiet him down, Ric.
Biden has been in the news for 30 years.
C’mon Kate. Do you think Joe Sixpack knows any more about the Senator from Connecticut than he knows about the Governor of Alaska? They are both being defined for us by the media right now: Palin negatively, and Biden positively.
SThe move from state Governor to Vice President is a natural political progression. In fact, our last Democratic President jumped from the Governorship of a small rural state (Arkansas) directly into the top job. More recently, John Edwards was selected to be Kerry’s Vice Presidential running-mate after only serving a partial senate term. He didn’t have any foreign policy OR executive experience, yet no one in the MSM made an issue out of his lack of qualifications.
I would, Jeff, but it won’t work. Kate’s far too blind for any introspection. Best just to let her lither on by herself.
Should be “blither on”
Aldo, Biden’s Senator from Delaware, of course he IS from Scranton :)
“lither” about describes it, though. Nicely evokes blither, slither, litter, and lather.
That movie Slither was good.
oh, Jeff i have no objections to that.
Biological basis for all behavior.
Here’s some thing i wrote a long time ago, when i first came here!
Ghost Theory
We are hardwired for belief in teh supernatural.
But in the less intelligent, it is expressed as religion.
STFU, nishit.
Aldo,
like i said, show ’em or fold ’em.
if Palin wants to define herself, she has to give interviews and take questions from the presscorp.
Otherwise the media will define her.
Sure, she had a rough start, and perhaps an unfair one.
I still reguard her candidacy as a joke, myself.
But if she wants to be taken seriously as a contender she will have to talk to media.
The longer she waits the meaner they will get.
Falconer,
I think it would worry me if she was suddenly inspired by the Holy Spirit, and started to speak in tongues in the middle of a G7 meeting or something.
Putin might launch a preemptive strike.
STFU, nishidiot.
Conservatives are naturally cartoonish.
Palin is easy to mock.
witness SNL.
I’d have a ton more respect for her if she had told the tabloids to fuck off over Bristol in the beginning.
All this duckin and hidin while she crams is not imbuing me with faith in either her ability to lead or to hold press conferences.
The sharks are smelling blood in the water as it is.
McCain/Palin Media Avoidance Watch
McCain says she is ready,
She says she is ready.
But she doesnt act ready.
Endless repetition of the same crap is not convincing.
If the well-paid soldier is man enough to run with the “fuck you, nishi, you slut” crowd then he’s man enough to handle some of the same his direction. Troubling is the hypocrite employed to uphold American ideals such as freedom of speech yet who himself implores others to stifle and demean the voice of Americans. Nishi is an American by last count. Tell me if and where I’m wrong.
I also enjoyed it when he held himself out for respect for serving his country in the capacity of corporate lawyer! Employed by a big Swiss insurance giant! That truly touched me. Me thinks he could’ve benefited from attending a class in Constitutional Law from a certain former senior lecturer at the University of Chicago.
SNL is teh proof!!! Tivo it!!11! You don’t believe me they’re owned by the same people who own MSNBC. Credibilitah!!!
Funnier still — SNL’s apparently running skits fed to them by a candidate.
So, sure, they’re neutral observers. Uh-huh.
SNL is teh last wurd in hi-IQ-gradient satir, hf. lololol@funnee Palin-voice lady w/gun!
What’s the deal with the Irish butter? Instapundit raves about butter from New Zealand you can get from Amazon.com but what’s the big deal about foreign butter? Are the cows better or something?
Nope, SNL is not neutral.
They are interested in mockery and humor.
I think Obama is somewhat more difficult to mock, altho they try.
Palin and Hilary are enormously funnie.
A rich comedic vein to be mined.
You guys are making me want to go home and make scones.
Palin’s voice is very easy to mock.
to me she sounds like a Youper, in Michigan that is someone from the upper peninsula.
Dontcha kno.
;)
I think Obama is somewhat more difficult to mock, altho they try.
More difficult? You truly are fucking blind.
Scones are well worth the insulin spike, m-d.
Can anyone explain for me why the evident fact that the top and bottom parts of one party’s ticket are a mirror image of the experience levels of the other party’s ticket has evidently been ignored? The way I figure, Biden exp =(approx) McCain experience, and Obama exp =(approx) Palin experience. So, if Palin lacks experience to be VP, then doesn’t that make a strong case that Obama is way out of depth for Pres?
And Nishi, when did you get so bitter and angry such that you’ve turned to elitism and cling to your IQ?
They are more difficult to mock because they come from the “right” places, have the “right” viewpoints, and go to the “right” schools. Oh yeah and if you mock Obama your a racist to boot.
Palin could have been a serious contender in four years, with some exposure, elocution lessons, senate experience and training.
Right now she is joke.
A SNL joke.
McCain threw her away.
Well, not just for mocking Obama are you a racist. There’s so much more to your racism than Obama!
Baracky isn’t an SNL joke at all. He is the most special one. You better not be laughing at Baracky. Not on NBC no how. We Democrats here.
Thor aren’t you the one on here constantly typing either the n word or calling people redneck cunts?
Nish,
It’s funny you should say that, as that’s very much the impression I have of Obama.
BRD
NBC is a very subservient company. Bow and scrape, bow and scrape. Also they pay for shit mostly.
the caricatures they’ve created from conservatism
but they are not caricatures.
oh. I mean you don’t make very much working at NBC compared to the same jobs at other places.
MSNBC is the minor leagues of NBC. They were hoping Olbermann would get enough ratings to merit a spot in the starting lineup or maybe even a slot as a pinch hitter but alas he has too much hate. He also has a problem with right handed pitchers.
BRD O has held 12 press conferences in the past 25 days.
McCain and Palin have held none.
I think…given that Obama has been in the news for last 4 years pretty much, Palin should be giving a ton of press interviews to define herself.
Is she a lipsticked pitbull or a cowardly teacup poodle?
“But they really do like fried chicken and watermelon!!!” screamed the bigot.
pardon, none where either Palin or McCain took questions.
;)
I’m serious about the butter question, y’all. Now I NEED to know why Irish and New Zealand butter is better. Anyone? Anyone?
I don’t really think Obama has been in the press in any significant way for four years running. In fact, I can’t think of any Congressfolk or Governors who have. Four years ago, however, Kerry was very much in the news. Past that, I’m not sure what your getting at with using press conferences as a metric or what it really has to do with anything other than the fact he is campaigning. Now, perhaps, if Obama had a number of head-to-head appearances versus McCain, it might count for something, but thus far he seems unwilling or unable to debate a Republican.
Realistically falconer,
McCain has to be a longshot at this point, because the high risk that the US dollar is going to tank, as all that spending hits. The fallout from continuing economic crisis will benefit Dems.
It’s not impossible Republican strategists are resigned to that, and put up McCain as a throwaway contender – with Palin as the real interest – to prepare and test her for 2012.
Perceived reality as opposed to objective reality, and then frustration and anger when the results do not meet perceived expectations. And no effective introspection/reflection resulting in the blame placed squarely on conspiracies.
That seems to sum up the a lot of the left blogosphere.
Mr. Reynolds dabbles in butter lore.
Sister Palin is a circus trained big-top flying gerbil pilot.
It’s not impossible Republican strategists are resigned to that, and put up McCain as a throwaway contender – with Palin as the real interest – to prepare and test her for 2012.
Except for this is impossible. It doesn’t work like that.
Easy to have a press conference when the only questions you are asked are one of these three.
How did the President Bush administration contribute to the failing of the ___________?
How does it feel to be the first black candidate of either major party?
Did you see how mean John McCain’s TV ads are. Would you care to respond to them.
Seems to me if they veer of the script Obama either has to start hurredly eating his waffle or run away.
Happy,
The Democrats tend to deify their candidates, which is the reason that they so very seldom make a serious contender from anyone who has failed in a big way in previous elections. The Republicans, on the other hand, tend to reify their candidates, so being a visible or strong contender in a previous contest is seen as a plus, and why they tend to nominate people with previous presidential campaign experience.
BRD
Except for this is impossible. It doesn’t work like that.
OK McCain was voted. But Palin was chosen when the depth of the crisis was already understood by serious economists.
“#Comment by quellcrist falconer on 9/23 @ 11:33 am #
A graduate.”
Rider or ridee?
“#Comment by thor on 9/23 @ 11:53 am #
Ruined! How about a big booyah booohooo, soldier.
Remind me how much we’re paying you.”
Fuck you, you chickenjihaadi.
You’re not good enough to lick the sand from my sons combat boots.
“#Comment by mellow-drama on 9/23 @ 1:12 pm #
I’m serious about the butter question, y’all. Now I NEED to know why Irish and New Zealand butter is better. Anyone? Anyone?”
Higher fat content.
it is indeed fat content (about 10% more); also, a higher grade of cream to start with.
like most mass-produced American shit, ours is affordable, accessible and bland.
Irish butter is very good; French butter rules.
I think Obama is somewhat more difficult to mock…
http://cbs5.com/local/Olema.town.sign.2.822522.html
Thor,
If you’re too stupid to realize that Major John was bemoaning yet ANOTHER thread-jacking by the griefer and you, that’s your problem. He was NOT trying to remove her right to free speech.
I don’t know if nishi’s an American and don’t really care. Major John was bemoaning the fact that others in this forum continue to give nishi the attention she so desperately craves while allowing her to change the subject and ruin what is usually (without her and your idiocy) a very interesting forum. The good Major was probably hoping nishi would take her griefer attitude and leave but in no way did he express any idea that he hoped to remove her Constitutionally granted right to free speech.
The fact that you cannot see that says way more about you than it does about Major John. Now, go piss up a rope (be sure not to hang yourself with it) and let the adults talk.
<backs quietly out of the room, biting tongue>
oh. I just meant nobody spends this much money on throwaway. Palin I don’t think is necessarily being positioned on purpose. She was sorta obviously the key that fit the lock this time round. Cause of Baracky being all black and all and also how he bitchslapped Hillary like he did.
But mocking Obama has a huge ROI.
“ficht nicht mit der roketmench.”
#157 haps:
People do spend a lot of money on a throwaway. For example: Starbucks; or a good microbrew.
(In the latter case it is a concrete example of pissing your money away.)
Stop talking to the blog cockroaches.
MEHITABEL!!!
That’s true. Also, Resident Evil movies.
#162:
Ahh, that archie.
Got it wrong up thread, but still had fun with it, so thank you.
Actually, my treatment was right in the time frame of archie the cockroach. So I had that going for me.
Keep your knotty rope up your ass, mm’kay Mr. “Adult Talk.”
Nishi and myself don’t thread jack, we jack truth into your ass and that’s probably what has your panties knotted, but who can really say for sure in the Larry Craig era of conservatism.
Keep yer knotty rope up yer ass, mm’kay Mr. “Adult Talk. Shet mah mouth!†Nishowdy-doo an’ mahse’f don’t thread jack, we jack truth into yer ass an’ thet’s probably whut has yer panties knotted, but who kin pow’ful say fo’ sho’nuff in th’ Ezekiel Craig era of cornservatism, dawgone it.
She bein my gurl, here me! Sayrah Paylen lov’n on me rites now! Luck’be if’n I don’t finis up here on Sayrah and come’tar an beat on ya hed!!!
@ #164: Hence the lowercase “a”