Presented in it’s entirety, without comment. Because really, what can I say that isn’t encapsulated by the very existence of the following post. From John Aravosis’ AMERICAblog [all links and emphasis in the original]:
by John in DC – 9/01/2005 01:12:00 PM
From Gawker, moments ago:
According to Drudge, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has recently enjoyed a little Broadway entertainment. And Page Six reports that she’s also working on her backhand with Monica Seles. So the Gulf Coast has gone all Mad Max, women are being raped in the Superdome, and Rice is enjoying a brief vacation in New York. We wish we were surprised.
What does surprise us: Just moments ago at the Ferragamo on 5th Avenue, Condoleeza Rice was seen spending several thousands of dollars on some nice, new shoes (we’ve confirmed this, so her new heels will surely get coverage from the WaPo’s Robin Givhan). A fellow shopper, unable to fathom the absurdity of Rice’s timing, went up to the Secretary and reportedly shouted, “How dare you shop for shoes while thousands are dying and homeless!†Never one to have her fashion choices questioned, Rice had security PHYSICALLY REMOVE the woman.
Angry Lady, whoever you are, we love you. You are a true American.
For anyone who still doesn’t get it, let’s talk for a moment about why this story matters.
The president, finally, has decided that the hurricane is a problem. He claims yesterday at 5pm, finally, that he’s going to be devoting his entire administration to saving the lives of the people currently dying in this growing national disaster. And what does a top member of his cabinet do? She goes to a Broadway comedy and today is buying multi-thousand-dollar shoes on 5th Avenue at the same time CNN is showing dead grandmothers in wheelchairs abandoned on the streets of New Orleans.
This is more than just a cheap shot at Condi. What in the blazes is this woman doing at a Broadway show in the middle of a national emergency? This is akin to going to a Broadway show in the middle of September 11. Don’t we expect the Secretary of State to work past 5pm on a day an entire American city is being wiped off the face of the planet? And shouldn’t she be doing something else today than shopping at filthy rich stores on 5th Avenue? Could she be – oh, I don’t know – working with foreign leaders, like the Mexicans, to see what immediate assistance they can offer to the neighbor?
New Orleans is ceasing to exist. What in God’s name is Bush doing letting his secretary of state go on vacation in the middle of this?
Message: “I don’t care.”
****
update: Okay, so I changed my mind about commenting. Chalk it up to the HYPOCRISY. Because here’s the thing: to the everlasting astonishment of many of us on the right, this is precisely the kind of story the activist base of the left actually (and erroneously) finds helpful.
The irony being, of course, that anecdotes like this please only that base, and even then, only that section of that base that is itself incapable of honest self-reflection, loud fringe dwellers whose delusions are based on a massive case of near terminal projection. To the rest of the country, however—including, I suspect, many Democrats—the very triumphalism evident in the tone of Aravosis and his partisan Gotcha Ghouls suggests just how little this tragedy means to them, apart from their ability to use it as a club against the current Administration in a time of crisis.
That they seriously believe anyone believes them when pretend to express outrage is a testament to just how deluded they are—and to just how stupid they believe the average American to be.
Sure, we often glory in sanctimony in this country, and we routinely try to show just how much we care in order to establish our own compassionate bona fides. But that’s nothing more than cheap grace, so why not?
Still, when we’re alone with ourselves, we know, deep down, what’s right and what’s wrong—and there is virtually no one save those who’ve completely surrendered to partisan hatred who will, in the end, find anything wrong with the Secretary of State shopping for shoes.
And those trying to make political hay out of it will be the worse for having done so.
****
more, from Wonkette; and, as Hubris points out, the Atrios / Eschaton folks are going forward with Eschacon this weekend—ensuring that Philadelphia will be forced to endure a gathering of concentrated hatred not seen on earth since ‘73, when the young Regan MacNeil was forced by a demon to masturbate violently with a crucifix.
…Though to be fair, the Duncan Black groupies making the trip are not the Secretary of State of the United States. Not because they couldn’t handle the job, mind you—just that, well, it’s hard to run our diplomatic corp from the corner booth at Starbucks.
I had just sat down with a nice bowl of pasta and some wine when I read this and threw up the first bite when I read this and realized my own selfishness.
HOW CAN I EAT WHEN PEOPLE ARE STARVING!!!!!!
And my comfortable chair, what am I thinking? I have decided to spend the rest of this disaster fasting in my bathtub, so as to achieve solidarity with the oppressed freedom fighters in Neo Orleans.
I wish I could go with Condi.
I’ll help John out on this one by adding another couple of things. After donating to The Red Cross and Soldiers Angels, I bought a book at Amazon.com and went to Home Depot to buy a new water filter.
I guess it was just callous of me. Call me a chickenresecuer if you must since I wasn’t in New Orleans in person to bring food or water to those stranded there.
As I mentioned in a previous thread, the Democrats are acting like children. And like noisy children interrupting adults concentrating on important adult things, they need sit down and shut up or get their asses spanked.
Might make a smidgen of sense if Louisiana were a foreign country. Because that’s what the Secretary of State’s job is, if I’m not mistaken.
I will, though, reserve final judgment on Shoe-gate until Manolo weighs in, of course.
While Condi was keeping the economy going John was doing an unfair hatchet job on a government official not tasked with aiding in or the planning of the clean up in New Orleans. You tell me who is being the more helpful.
Even Ana Marie Hottie at Wonkette didn’t buy this one.
Does this also mean that the Atrios/Eschaton folks don’t care since they’re apparently going forward with their party in Philly this weekend?
What an amazing line of “reasoning.”
Then again, the commenters at Washington Monthly are accusing Bush of intentional genocide, among other offenses, so it could be worse.
It gets worse. Last night Mike Johanns, Secretary of Agriculture, saw the movie “40 Year Old Virgin”. How can a top member of Bush’s cabinet enjoy the comedic stylings of Steve Carrell at a time like this?
(Presumably “Fellow Shopper/True American/Angry Lady” wasn’t shopping herself at a time like that. Going into shoe stores on 5th Avenue is merely part of her mourning process.)
I haven’t been able to reach Ms. Rice for comment, but I’m pretty sure she’d be surprised that anyone was letting her go on vacation.
Nice condescension toward a grown woman, there.
This is news…..that is, if you cross out Secretary of State and insert something like….. Mayor of New Orleans or Governor of Louisiana or Mayor of Biloxi or……you get the idea.
Those mean little people on the port side are self destructing.
It’s quite entertaining.
Did she get a dress to match?
Turing word: Times, as in the New York Paper that will soon print this story.
Kidding, of course.
Broadway???…Broadway???…
That’s exactly why we want to produce this play. To show the world the true BusHitler, the BusHitler you loved, the HBusitler you knew, the BusHitler with a song in his heart.
Will the dancing BusHitlers please wait in the wings? We are only seeing singing BusHitlers.
TW: Hear. All I needed to…
Nobody tell John, but since I’ve all ready given to the charity of my choice and said a silent prayer for the suffering, I’m going to go work in my garden. I may even get in a nice work out when I’m finished. DAMN ME, DAMN ME TO HELL!!!
Anybody check lately to see where Dick Cheney was? You know that cold hearted rich Halliburton bastard probably even ate dinner last night…might have even put the torpedo to use with Lynn.
We need a report on his activities and probably the Bush twins too. Heartless damn Rethuglicans!!
Personally, I’m just delighted by the fact that the heroes of the modern left are pie-throwing Berkeley slackers and self-righteous 5th Avenue socialites. Forget Martin Luther King, forget Atticus Finch, forget Franklin Roosevelt–the noblest leftist of our day is not the one who actually liberates the masses or feeds them, but merely the one who can look at their suffering and then scream ‘Not In My Name!’ the loudest.
I just canceled my 15-year subscription to the NYT because of their ridiculously over the top editorials on how Bush is doing such a terrible job handling this crisis (“worst speech ever” blah blah blah). The subscription operator (!) actually ARGUED with me about my decision. He was trying to tell me how it was FACT that Bush really has been on vacation more than any other President. After a while of this, I thought what the hell am I a doing having an argument with a frigging phone ‘tron?! and ended the conversation. I wonder is his reaction an indication of a serious subscription problem at NYT?
Today is my daughter’s 10th birthday. Out of solidarity toward our friends in New Orleans, we had her party on the roof. We drank water from the toilet, opened her presents, peed all over them, then threw them into the yard, which I’ve been soaking with the sprinkler all day.
I had a similar incident to the one involving Ms. Rice today. I was in the grocery store, I saw a woman in the cake aisle, and I shouted “how dare you shop for cake while thousands are dying and homeless!” And it wasn’t just because she took the last can of Betty Crocker whipped milk chocolate frosting.
I ran into Walgreen’s in Dallas today. Stole drugs and appliances and shot two people. Don’t say I’m not in soldarity with the victims in NO!
Why hasn’t anyone interviewed Carrie Bradshaw about this?
The juxtaposition between Bush cronies and Manolo-purchasing would make her empty little head explode in much the same way as the TNT supplied by Halliburton in no-bid contract would explode an innocent brown-skinned person.
Maybe she was there to loot in solidarity with the New Orleans survivors
Apparantly the Secretary of State has the ability to shop and still do her job.
Not being a Ghoul, but “belies” means the opposite of the way in which you used it. You want to affirm how little this means to the Paragons Of Leftish Virtue, not deny it.
Common mistake.
I’ll go now.
Well it was a matter of time that the true callousness of this administration was exposed… I mean, it is Bushitlers fault, did he not alter the atmospheric weather patterns by sending troops to Iraq? And how dare anyone in his administration go on with life while the south is in dissaray. The most interesting fact about this story is how unrelentless the left is on spewing their hate for BUsh.. I guess the electoral process does not fit into their interpretation of Democracy… How fitting this story is to expose the true agenda or nature of the moonbats…..
Thanks, Ian. Common mistake when you’re composing quickly and making changes on the fly, but not one I should be making.
After dinner I’ll have my wife beat me a few times with a wet copy of Strunk and White.
I’m half tempted to go to Eschacon on the DayPass plan.
But the $25 pays for two nights of family camping.
My plan is to spend at least half the day waist deep in some sort of water.
The people at Gawker surely realize what a tough ticket “Spamalot” is.
When I read today’s NYT editorial blasting Bush, I wish I had a subscription to cancel. It doesn’t matter what he does or doesn’t do anymore – criticism and ridicule are all the Dems, the Left, and the MSM can do when it comes to the President.
We could look at them as comic relief, something to laugh at, given that we need it, but some of them actually have political power and influence.
And based on the performances of Blanco and Nagin, that should concern us.
Philadelphia will be forced to endure a gathering of concentrated hatred not seen on earth since ‘73, when the young Regan MacNeil was forced by a demon to masturbate violently with a crucifix.
Was Spiro in Philly that week?
SB: europe
Hmmm…
What’s really scary is ol’ SB might even be right.
Synchronicity can be a bitch.
SB: through
That Aravosis is a complete fool. I sure wish you’d either mock the everloving shit out of him, or preferably, not link him at all. Let him talk to his little party all by himself. He’s pointless to the rest of America, a farce.
I can’t remember a time on my blog when the moonbats have so SERIOUSLY TICKED ME OFF!!! I can usually handle their smug drooling idiotic remarks, but today…today….I just couldn’t anymore. To take this tragedy EVEN BEFORE WE ARE THROUGH it and make it all political is just disgusting and sick to me.
ARRGGHHHH!!!!!
Jeff: On ThoughtsOnline I suggested that the left has no room to complain about Bush’s response, or Condi buying shoes, for that matter, unless the liberals are all loading up their SUVs, private jets and their hybrids and going down to New Orleans to help rescue people and rebuild the city.
I figure that’s a line of thinking the left is well familiar with…
I don’t see anyone on the right complaining that the Democrat mayor of New Orleans or the Democrat Governor of Louisiana should have planned for this emergency better, or aren’t handling the aftermath well.
Why are all the offers of foreign aid waiting for the US to ask them for it? Is it so they can get something from us in return? I don’t remember the US waiting to be asked before responding to other natural disasters.
PeterArgus: Congratulations. I stopped the Times five years ago. Read something else, the Sun, the WSJ, use the web for your news.
You’ll rest easier knowing your money is not going into that horrid reporting and opining.
Cheers.
PS: what’s the Sec. of State got to do with New Orleans?…..oh, sorry…..I forgot….the left has all gone insane…nevermind.
Oh … OH, I just thought of something.
Remember back in 2001 when in the aftermath of the terror attacks, people were saying “Please come to New York, spend some money, see the sights, that will be the best help you can offer”.
And here Condi is, contributing to the New York shoe industry as well as taking part in a long tourist tradition by seeing a Broadway show.
Because of the hypocrisy.
Hey B Moe,
I’m going to have to call you a pussy on this one, because I went you a couple better. I grabbed a 2-day-old dead deer off the highway on my way home, threw it in the tub full of cold water, sat in the tub with it holding a “Help me please” sign and took the biggest shit of my life.
Who feels for the people of NO now beeeyotch?
I am sickened and appalled that my old friends at Eschaton are going to show such callous disregard for the suffering of others by going ahead with their revival of Jonestown! The Musical this weekend.
Frist, motherfuckers.
And be sure to run the other way if you see any large gatherings of Legionnaires in your hotel lobby, you degenerate vegan chomskyites.
Evidently I just realized that if John Kerry had been elected to office, the Enterprise would have been able to deflect the hurricane with the application of its phaser banks. And then transported the affected people to safety with its transporter beams.
Any lesser performance by the Bush administration shows the folly of the Red states.
turing word “group”; as in, I’ve never seen a larger group of mental retards.
Hey, wait a second here! Does anyone on the left who doesn’t have the gumption to drop whatever they are doing with their life and head on down to the areas where relief workers are needed have any standing to criticise others?
Why, they are just a bunch of CHICKENRELIEFEFFORTCRITICIZERS!
Another thing, unnamed sources (which is what I prefer to call what other people say are “voices in my head”) have verified that Secretary Rice went to see Sam Shepard’s “The God of Hell.” Surely the left sees the value in that!
Maybe this was covered above, I can’t really be sure, but I thought Regan and Father Karras lived in Georgetown rather than Philly. As a Balmer boy, I thought you would’ve had this seared, seared into your memory.
OT—I think NOLA is now using the term “Citizen Journalist” in a serious manner. Just thought you’d want to know.
Not that I meant to imply you aren’t serious about it’s usage.
Oh, and doesn’t anyone give a damn about Natalee anymore? Even Greta seems to have abandoned her.
Charles, I’m afraid Natalee’s all washed up.
Turing word: yes. As in, yes, I should be ashamed of myself.
If Bushitler is trying to commit genocide against those poor black people, then rapists in the Superdome are are attempting to foil his evil plan.
Dirty, stinking rapists, that is. You know, ones that haven’t had a bath or brushed either tooth in (at least) four days?
I’m sure that the left will be rooting for these upstanding (so to speak) citizens.
TW: choice; Some people had a choice four days ago and picked the wrong one.
Charles —
Yes, Regan and Chris were in Georgetown at the time of her possession. However, that is immaterial, as I note that Philadelphia will bear witness to the greatest concentration of hatred THE WORLD has seen since that awful stretch back in the early 70s.
Just used it as a point of reference.
To be fair, we came close again in ‘84, when Gozer and co. took over that creepy highrise before manifesting himself as the Stay Puft marshmallow man.
I thought you looked like the Keymaster.
Funny story, the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man scared the living shit out of my five year old when I left him watch Ghost Busters with me the other night. Bad dreams, sleeping between the missus and I, the whole nine yards. Over a giant marshmallow shaped like a french sailor.
Well, it was funny to me. Once the irritation of the kid cramping my bedroom style wore off, of course.
DAMNIT!!!
I wanted to be the one to use ”Frist, motherfucker!”
It would make an excellent tag line for his presidential campaign commercials for ‘08.
I don’t know Jeff, I spent my high school years in Philly and I don’t think the leftists are capable of spilling more hatred out of their mouths than Philly fans at an Eagles game on Sunday.
If the Cowboys are in town, it isn’t even a contest.
Granted, that’s not saying much with the bar so low.
Yeah, you’re probably right. I got sucked in by all the glorious HYPERBOLE flying around the media the last few days.
My bad.
Yeah, the left is over the top. But nobody pays attention to them anymore, so they feel they have to be over the top.
Now, are you going to criticize the people on the right who are saying everyone in New Orleans deserved this because they are sinners?
You mean the religious fundies? They’re on both the left AND the right, even though the newspapers forget to tell you that most times. Like our friend Reverend Phelps, for instance.
But yes, of course, such sentiments are asinine. And I criticized them already—yesterday, in fact, when it was Robert Kennedy Jr making them in homage to Pat Robertson.
I found this little gem in the comments:
Dennis Hastert has tipped the GOP’s real feelings about this whole tragedy… He says it would be a waste of money to rebuild the Big Easy. New Orleans is the only solid Democratic Bastion in the deep south, now, the GOP elites see that they use the hurricane to “handle” this problem. Why would they want to rebuild a city that doesn’t vote for them *ever*? The only thing that surprises me is that Denny lost his discipline and let his comment slip out….
To borrow a phrase: Good God!! How do you intelligently debate a group who believes that the GOP really wants New Orleans to disappear because it votes Democrat?
TW: foot, as in rampant foot-in-mouth disease on the left…
TV (Harry)
Your commentary is the best I have read, so far.
Aside from our past differences, I enjoy reading this blog because of your incredible writing ability.
Thanks, Malachy.
okay, and now i’m going to slap franklin graham. hannity is talking to him about samaritan’s purse, and he uses the opertunity to talk about how this is all because we’ve taken God out of the schools! blech.
Well, it’s a start.
I’d like to see a contest between some of the more prominent conservative leaning websites and the moonbat cough left leaning websites to raise money for hurricane relief. LGF vs. Kos would be amusing and would raise money for a good cause- though I guess thats not really fair- LGF folks seem to have jobs and how much money can the kosites afford to donate from their starbucks paycheck.
TW : “Ill’ – In all seriousness, the lett makes me ill – I wonder how many of them have actually made a donation?
*Now, are you going to criticize the people on the right who are saying everyone in New Orleans deserved this because they are sinners?8
Yep, growing up in the Bible belt, I’m used to this, unfortunately. The problem is, there’s some biblical precedence for this (mostly OT stuff) so I see where it comes from. Many of these prominent religious conservative comnmentators do not think before they open their mouths. Even if you believe that, in the middle of the tragedy is not even remotely the time to be preaching it to the masses.
Now if you want to blame the local democrats in New Orleans (who have run the show for as long as I can remember) for their piss poor preparation for a big storm that has been predicted for years, go right ahead, I won’t stop you.
lol TW : Church. Perfect.
As Greg Gutfeld would put it, “What about the PEANUTS!!!???!?!”
To my friends on the left: how did we blow this again?
The embarrassing about being on the left is the inability of one’s colleagues to publicly say something reasonable and critical without getting all frothy.
What Rice did was more than a little tacky, but only because of her public role. Appearances matter, and Rice probably should have waited to avoid the appearance of callousness. Of course, with Gawker screaming like a child, she gets the shoes AND the f’ing moral high ground. Well done, guys.
Now we can go back to mobilizing against Roberts so that we can make his appointment near unanimous. That’ll show ‘em.
Don’t worry, Inspector, the Democrats still have Chapel Hill, N.C.
http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/0,1518,372425,00.html
This is an interesting article from Germany of all places. Just goes to show you that not everyone has their head firmly implanted up their a$$.
I wrote a note to der Spiegel thanking them for publishing such an un-German opinion.
DC
“ensuring that Philadelphia will be forced to endure a gathering of concentrated hatred not seen on earth since ‘73”
I was going to say you’ve obviously never been to an Eagles game, but TF6S beat me to it. Bob Uecker was too kind in his assessment of Philly fans.
You’ll be happy to know that EschaCon was a great success, there was no “virulence or hatred” that I noticed (but maybe I lack your apparently Ghandi-like sensibilities), and we were able to raise money for hurricane relief efforts via an impromptu raffle.
“Hatred” and “frothing” are in the eye of the beholder, though. I think your post is snarky, vicious, and haughtily dismissive of a very legitimate criticism of a public official’s demeanor in a time of national crisis. But that’s politics. It’s not softball, etc.
We’re not “groupies,” BTW. When your commenters put together a conference in order to meet each other in person and then invite you, I hope you have a great time. It’s a good thing, bwana.
Thanks for sharing! And enjoy your EschaCon commemorative Zima coozies, groupie!
That’s very witty. Here’s more wit: you’re an asshole! But I never believed you were serious about your snivelling about how mean the “Left” is to the preznit anyway.
Must say I’m a bit disappointed with that response. I should have thought one of the seminars at EschaCon would’ve been on more creative names to call wingnuts.
Or maybe you just skipped that one in favor of “What To Do When You See a Bush / Cheney Bumper Sticker on a Volvo: Piercing the Dilemma of Material Cognitive Dissonance.”
Man. What asshole scheduled those two for the same time, eh?
You’re trying to hard with that snark. Makes you sound like an asshole.
It’s “too” hard, Thers.
As in, “I hope you didn’t get too hard meeting Duncan Black, stunningly dressed in black cape and jeans.”
Oooh, spelling flame. Wow. Gay slur. Clever. Oh my goodness that is just so cutting and witty oh please Jebus help me from your amusing insults you must be the terror of your home room.
Always looking for outside help, eh? Maybe FEMA will save you if “Jebus” ain’t available.
Or you could just take matters into your own hands and stop commenting. But then, we conservatives are all for personal responsibility &tc…
Good Night, Asshole. Good Night wingnut, jumping over the moon…
Probably want me and the rest of the tax payers to subsidize the trip…
you’re damn skippy we do, jeff. it’s about time you kicked a cow pie into the pasture!
I get the last word, nyah nyah.