March 18, 2011

"Exclusive Interview With Jim Shankman, the Man Behind the Ann Althouse Threat."

Dan Riehl did an interview!

ADDED:
... Shankman said he believes in what he called the “law of privilege.” As best as I could interpret it, it meant that if the majority of Madison residents were progressive and didn’t want an Ann Althouse in their midst, then they are somehow entitled to make it unpleasant enough for her to live there, so that she’ll leave.

153 comments:

Paddy O said...

Beer at Meadehouse? That sounds like a very interesting idea. Would you, either or both of you, consider the offer?

almost entirely off-topic, but relevant: I hate scrolling twitter feeds. Bigmedia and biggovernment do it, and that's why I very, very rarely get through any article linked to those sites. Makes for very distracting reading, especially if someone can't turn it off.

Kevin said...

Beer at Meadehouse? That sounds like a very interesting idea. Would you, either or both of you, consider the offer?

Having a beer with someone who is trying to extort money from you is always a good idea!

Tyrone Slothrop said...

In every respect Jim Shankman is the loser we suspected him to be.

kent said...

Shankman is currently unemployed, [...] and says he most often works as a dishwasher when employed. [...] Finally,as regards Ann Althouse, Shankman said he believes in what he called the “law of privilege.” As best as I could interpret it, it meant that if the majority of Madison residents were progressive and didn’t want an Ann Althouse in their midst, then they are somehow entitled to make it unpleasant enough for her to live there, so that she’ll leave.

"This is what a waste of human skin cells looks like."

PatHMV said...

Sounds like a very typical stoner loser, who doesn't really want to work but still wants things given to him so he can live free and easy and think deep thoughts under mind-altering substances with no worries, man.

Joe said...

(The Crypto Jew)





Shankman would buy the beer, IF you spotted him the beer money…He’d pay you back after his next cheque comes in.

vbspurs said...

He also believes Fox has been instrumental in elevating Althouse’s reporting, thought not always with attribution. “I see these stories on her blog, first, ” said Shankman, then later he sees them on Fox News, claimed Shankman.

Let the "Ann Althouse is really Roger Ailes" meme begin!

That is the stupidest thing I have ever heard, not to mention, paranoid. You couldn't make this stuff up even with a Rowling-like imagination.

Cheers,
Victoria

bagoh20 said...

He is right about the residents of Madison being able to create a persona non grata, but I doubt it would be the persona he imagines that would get non-gratiated.

Phil 314 said...

A good piece. I would have liked Mr. Riehl to have temporarily set aside his opinions (interspersed in the piece) but overall a great job. Dare I say it"humanizes" Mr. Shankman, doesn't make him more appealing but certainly fleshes in a lot of the details.

And I finally understand why in this particular case no one on the left felt an obligation to disown his words and actions.

Scott M said...

Finally,as regards Ann Althouse, Shankman said he believes in what he called the “law of privilege.” As best as I could interpret it, it meant that if the majority of Madison residents were progressive and didn’t want an Ann Althouse in their midst, then they are somehow entitled to make it unpleasant enough for her to live there, so that she’ll leave.

Hmm. I leave the interwebz for a much needed current events break for a couple of weeks and all hell breaks loose. Good to see the extended Althouse community circle the commentariate wagons on this one. The guy is truly a scumbag of the highest degree.

I suppose it didn't occur to Riehl, in light of Shankman's "law of privilege", that the poor boy is aping the KKK's philosophy here.

Drew said...

... Shankman said he believes in what he called the “law of privilege.” As best as I could interpret it, it meant that if the majority of Madison residents were progressive and didn’t want an Ann Althouse in their midst, then they are somehow entitled to make it unpleasant enough for her to live there, so that she’ll leave.

More proof of the failure of higher education to actually, y'know, educate.

vbspurs said...

Tyrone Slothrop wrote:

In every respect Jim Shankman is the loser we suspected him to be.

Hold on there, skippy. I took Mr Shankman to be at least a busboy, not a dishwasher.

DADvocate said...

law of privilege

Lefties' term for mob rule.

Or, the privileged get to run whomever they wish out of town. Ann was right, they are the oppressors.

Anonymous said...

OK, so his passions got the best of him and he felt empowered by what he thought was the anonymity of the internet.

That's my take.

Oh, and that he's been done wrong by an elementary education system that left his brain as mush.

Drew said...

Sounds like a very typical stoner loser, who doesn't really want to work but still wants things given to him so he can live free and easy and think deep thoughts under mind-altering substances with no worries, man.

"Noodles is a dictatorship!"

Paddy O said...

"a good idea!"

Whether or not it's a good idea, it'd be good blog performance art.

Ernesto Ariel Suárez said...

He sounds confused, all over the place ideologically because perhaps he is trying to portray himself as a "moderate". But, is he?

wv: pulis

G Joubert said...

Other than wanting him to stay away from Meadhouse, why waste another thought on this loser?

Michael said...

I cringe to think this guy is a product of the Wisconsin public schools. Or any public schools for that matter. As far as life goes this guy is completely fucked.

Paddy O said...

"I took Mr Shankman to be at least a busboy, not a dishwasher."

An occasional dishwasher at that.

At the same time, I think washing dishes has been on that list of jobs that "Americans won't do," so at least Shankman is fighting the liberal line on that front.

Scott M said...

Did it not occur to Riehl, regarding the "law of privilege" to challenge this waste of a human that his assertion is lockstep with the KKK's philosophy? Seems like rhetorical low-hanging fruit.

Ernesto Ariel Suárez said...

Michael, but he is, and there are too many of those out there, sadly.

wv: mullymod ("turned me into a what??)

jerryofva said...

This guy may be a loser but so was Jared Lochner. I believe Professor Althouse needs to take this seriously. Shankman may not be a threat but there are others who will put a target on her back. When the legislature gets around to passing conceal and carry she and Meade need to go get trained and licensed. Someone is going to take their shot and they better be prepared.

This isn't funny.

Peano said...

Told you so: Sound and fury signifying nothing.

test said...

Why wouldn't he think that? Lefties have acted on this principle for 50 years. Why are there so few conservatives in academia, the charity - NGO industry, or government? Because the left doesn't want them around, and anywhere they are numerous enough to matter they purge. The personal is political.

Bob_R said...

Lots of people all over the world have the "law of privilege." If the majority of the residents don't like blacks, whites, Jews, Christians, gays, etc., they are "entitled" to chase them away.

vbspurs said...

Ernie, perhaps this quote from Dan's post reveals the answer if Mr Shankman is a moderate or not:

. While denying he is a socialist, or Marxist, Shankman labeled his economic ideology “distributionist.

DISTRIBUTIONIST.

This reminded me of a certain exchange between a plumber and a politician seeking high office. Maybe you remember it, too.

"It's not that I want to punish your success. I just want to make sure that everybody who is behind you, that they've got a chance at success, too… My attitude is that if the economy’s good for folks from the bottom up, it’s gonna be good for everybody. If you’ve got a plumbing business, you’re gonna be better off [...] if you’ve got a whole bunch of customers who can afford to hire you, and right now everybody’s so pinched that business is bad for everybody and I think when you spread the wealth around, it’s good for everybody."

Let's repeat: When you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody.

Especially unemployed dishwashers.

Cheers,
Victoria

raf said...

...who doesn't really want to work but still wants things given to him so he can live free and easy and think deep thoughts...

Sounds like some professors I used to know, way back when. Except (perhaps) for the mind-altering substances references.

(No offense intended to any actual professors reading here. OBVIOUSLY, this does not apply to you, right?)

Jill said...

I think it is interesting to note that on Mr. Shankman's Facebook page (with its new pseudonym) he lists his TV tastes. One of them is Al Jazeera(English). Now, this may be for shock value or it may be a pointer to the true state of mind of this "gentleman". I think that the threats should be taken seriously and there should be consideration of prosecuting. I would hate to pass this off as harmless and ignore a valid threat to the safety of Ann and Mead (not to mention the other individuals who frequent the same haunts they do that might be collateral damage).

Ernesto Ariel Suárez said...

Haha, Vics, good call. I think that he has applied that principle to a T: trying to distribute what he does not have: intelligence, principles, a clue, balls, etc...

wv: jawals (*rawr*?)

Scott M said...

anywhere they are numerous enough to matter they purge

Matter, meet Crux.

WV - "conan" I doubt we would hear any lamentations of women should Shankman crushed and/or driven before us. At least no women sans herpes simplix 10.

G Joubert said...

This guy may be a loser but so was Jared Lochner. I believe Professor Althouse needs to take this seriously...This isn't funny.

I agree, but add to that he is in no way worth stretching his 15 minutes of fame any further.

Kirby Olson said...

I always thought tolerance for diversity was the liberal mantra.

Carol_Herman said...

Okay. Jim Shankman got interviewed. And, as other pointed out, here, his name showed up on his first rant.

You know "We The People" means we all have sovereignty. No king or queen. No need to abide by the religion of the king or queen. WE have sovereignty. And, also ONLY ONE VOTE.

There are no "broad powers" where one individual can write an email to someone threatening harm. Let alone this Jim Shankman NUT who thinks he speaks for many.

Oh, will he be coming by to throw baseball bats into your yard? I don't think so.

Still, I want to ask "when is a threat not a threat, but you can still get arrested for threatening to do harm to someone else?"

Michelle Dulak Thomson said...

Victoria,

When Chesterton and Belloc coined the term "distributionism," that isn't, er, quite what they meant.

wv: pight. You are in a pight when you run short of l's.

vbspurs said...

These threads are beginning to depress me. Many of us (myself chief amongst them) are making sweeping declarations about our political opponents that fly dangerously close to slander.

Let's be honest for a moment and tell ourselves most people are not as vile as Mr Shankman's writings.

That the nice union folks far outweigh the union thugs in number.

That conservatives want a system that works, and don't care what pigment a person who makes it work, has.

That moderates rule the day, on all sides.

The problem with Mr Shankman and people like him, is that he finds moderation odious, since it's a stumbling block to social and political change.

It's not surprising, therefore, that he directed his screed at a former Jesse Jackson and current Barack Obama voter like Ann Althouse, who also married a more conservative man in her second nuptials, and who attracts conservatives to her blog by virtue of her moderate tone.

Sure, he may think she's more conservative than he is, but in the real world, that means little -- and he wants it to mean MUCH. It frustrates him and people like him, that for the greater populace, Ann Althouse is lauded and laudable and not them.

That is the problem here, as I see it.

Cheers,
Victoria

Joe said...

(The Crypto Jew)


I always thought tolerance for diversity was the liberal mantra.


That refers to skin colour, and choice of sexual partners, NOT political ideologies.

Unknown said...

"law of privilege" = lynch mob.

I have to agree with jerryofva. Keep your dear bodyguard close, Madame.

I also believe we've seen the face of Alpha Liberal and/or J/Jeremy. Sounds like their kind of garbage.

vbspurs said...
Tyrone Slothrop wrote:

In every respect Jim Shankman is the loser we suspected him to be.

Hold on there, skippy. I took Mr Shankman to be at least a busboy, not a dishwasher.


Beg to differ, mum. Any dumb machine made by Kenmore has it all over him.

Dark Eden said...

So are we now absolutely positively sure that he is not a Conservative Moby trying to make the left look bad? Just thought I'd check the excuseometer for shifting memes.

Drew said...

"law of privilege" = lynch mob.

Quite succinctly put.

Lucius said...

@Michelle: Yeah, I just cringed when this "Distributionist" thing comes up, and the interviewer relates it (whether going from Shankman's prompts or not, I can't tell) to Catholic social theory.

I always use the term "Distributism" to refer to the Belloc/Chesterton school, but for all I know people within that tradition are calling themselves 'distributionists' too?

But in any event, this Shankman (and isn't that a great, Ayn Randian sort of name for this guy?) is totally incoherent in his misappropriating This and That to suit his whims. Completely scatterbrained.

I just hope he doesn't serve to malign Belloc and Chesterton in the process-- though I'm fine with tarring Obama on this one . . .

cold pizza said...

“I see these stories on her blog, first, ” said Shankman, then later he sees them on Fox News, claimed Shankman."

So, he reads AA and he watches Fox News (the "Megyn Kelly's eyes" vortex, probably).

I, too, am stunned, STUNNED, to see events MeadHouse covering also showing up on major news sites, talk radio shows (hey, RUSH!) and all those flavorful blogs from loony left to rabid right.

All hail the ever powerful reach of the new Meadia empire! I, for one, welcome our new flip camera overlords. -cp

wv: colobsko: a Polish Peter Falk.

vbspurs said...

Edutcher wrote:

"law of privilege" = lynch mob.

Exactly. And that's an incredibly stupid thing for anyone to believe in, even a wannabe syndico-anarchist like Mr Shankman.

Our country was specifically founded on the basis that it is a federal constitutional REPUBLIC not a democracy, because our Founding Fathers knew that democracies are basically mob rule.

In a world where he has no privilege, Mr Shankman seeks to find those with more privilege, hoping some of it will rub off on him.

This is the modus operandi of fascists and their petit bourgeoisie supporters everywhere.

Jonah Goldberg's Liberal Fascism has come true.

Tibore said...

"The problem with Mr Shankman and people like him, is that he finds moderation odious, since it's a stumbling block to social and political change.

It's not surprising, therefore, that he directed his screed at a former Jesse Jackson and current Barack Obama voter like Ann Althouse, who also married a more conservative man in her second nuptials, and who attracts conservatives to her blog by virtue of her moderate tone.

Sure, he may think she's more conservative than he is, but in the real world, that means little -- and he wants it to mean MUCH. It frustrates him and people like him, that for the greater populace, Ann Althouse is lauded and laudable and not them."


Amen, Victoria. Spot on.

richard mcenroe said...

"Let the "Ann Althouse is really Roger Ailes" meme begin!"

Gosh,Miss Lane, isn't it strange how you never see them together?"

richard mcenroe said...

Read the interview.

Holy crap have brainy drifters gone downhill since the Merry Pranksters days...

vbspurs said...

@Michelle: Yeah, I just cringed when this "Distributionist" thing comes up, and the interviewer relates it (whether going from Shankman's prompts or not, I can't tell) to Catholic social theory.

Remember, Lucius, his mother is a Dean at a Catholic college, Benedictine. It's not much of a stretch to imagine he was influenced by "Catholic Liberation theology" from her.

Cedarford said...

Pushing 30, occasionally employed as a dishwasher? Parents grad degree professionals?
Something is really "off" with the guy.
Perhaps some mental capacity problem, behavioral issues. Or the guy somehow drifted 10 years as a cool slacker and woke up to realize society, even liberal society - marginalizes unskilled 30 year old slackers.

If it is the latter, Jim Shankman is realizing downward mobility. The people that thought him cool at 22 with all the right toys and politics are now 30+ and working careers and as much as they give lip service to low or no income people..liberals have their own caste and class system that is set up by credentials and income level, not by what causes someone is active in.

The place Shackman wanted, thought was his due in society, was, unknown to him, a moving bus. And as he was slacking off or unable to build a career skills base from personal problems - that moving bus has moved on and a desperate 30 year old only has a loud and strident voice left..which is what he thinks is his only tool left to wider recognition and relevancy.

Pastafarian said...

Yikes.

Now I consider this guy a genuine danger. Make sure your alarms are set at night, and in all seriousness, get yourself a nice little S&W revolver.

This guy has nothing to lose.

He and I do have one thing in common: I washed dishes, too. All summer, when I was 11 and 12, for $1 per hour. It's a damned dirty, dangerous, demeaning job. Those half-eaten scraps, the big industrial-grade garbage disposal spitting bits back in my face, the scalding steam that would billow out of the dishwasher every time I'd open the door (and I'd open it a dozen times an hour); walking out into the floor to get a tub of dishes in my wet apron, and looking up and seeing friends from school -- good times, good times.

And it took me hundreds of hours of labor to save up for the coveted Chess Challenger 7, and its mighty 8 bit, 4 megahertz processor.

vbspurs said...

Thanks, Tibore! There are so many good comments here, that if I were to comment on all, I'd dominate the threads more than I am now.

I'm off to get ready to go out, by your leaves. See you later. :)

wv: seris (shorthand for "Save Ferris")

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Leftwing proggie communists are thugs.

kent said...

Pushing 30, occasionally employed as a dishwasher?

Don't laugh. In South Carolina, a skill set like that qualifies you to run as the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate.

richard mcenroe said...

"More proof of the failure of higher education to actually, y'know, educate."

Actually, considering the efforts of OU to throw a GOP senate candidate's CHILDREN out of its Ph.D program, or "speech codes" all across our colleges, or the efforts to force military veterans out of studying for their masters' degrees at many schools, I think it's teaching them exactly what it means to.

By the way, the LAUSD is now using a new reading curriculum called "Flow Reading" that has rewritten the Constitution for its students. The Preamble now reads "...life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, affordable housing and healthcare."

I only wish I was kidding about that.

Cedarford said...

vbspurs said...
@Michelle: Yeah, I just cringed when this "Distributionist" thing comes up, and the interviewer relates it (whether going from Shankman's prompts or not, I can't tell) to Catholic social theory.

Remember, Lucius, his mother is a Dean at a Catholic college, Benedictine. It's not much of a stretch to imagine he was influenced by "Catholic Liberation theology" from her.

===============
Guy looks Jewish, embraces progressive Jewish causes. Typical post-communist modernist boilerplate.
Has a girlfriend with a last name of Naussbaum. Much of his screed was not Christian liberation stuff , but denouncing all Christians a la Sandra Berhard.

Maybe his mommy was a shiksa. Generating a different set of alienations. Jared Loghner had a mildly Christian dad, and a mildly Jewish mother..

I wouldn't though, fixate on Shankmans non-Jewish mom anymore than people should see Loghners Jewish mom or Obama's white one as the "key" to anything.

wildswan said...

I sent this to some of the places on Shanklin's threat list.

"Jim Shanklin has posted a message online in which he states that your employees will engage in a pattern of harassment and intimidation against Professor Althouse, a lawyer, of the University of Wisconsin at Madison when she visits your place of business unless she pays $5,000 to an organization of Mr. Shanklin's choice and repudiates her political views. He also states that he and his friends patronize your place of business and will attempt to intimidate Professor Althouse should she visit there. (see attachment). You may wish to discuss this with your legal department and your Madison manager."

Greg Hlatky said...

[T]hey are somehow entitled to make it unpleasant enough for her to live there, so that she’ll leave.

"Don't let the sun set on your head in this town, Meadehouse."

Anonymous said...

Pink Floyd:

Tired of lying in the sunshine staying home to watch the rain.
You are young and life is long and there is time to kill today.
And then one day you find ten years have got behind you.
No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun.

AllenS said...

“I see these stories on her blog, first, ” said Shankman

The big question: what name does he use when he commenters here?

Also, you two use caution. This guy is a loser. The kind of person that wants to go out big.

Simon said...

I found this interesting: "He was most particularly offended … that Tea Party-aligned individuals purportedly removed a 'Solidarity' T-shirt from a capitol statue of Hans Christian Heg," writing in his letter “You don’t fucking touch Hans Christian. Ever.” Well, if you don't fucking touch Hans Christian, ever, how do you suppose the T-shirt got on him in the first place?

Anonymous said...

I always thought tolerance for diversity was the liberal mantra.

Liberals are tolerant of everything except for disagreement with any of their political ideas.

This notion that liberals are entitled to live in segregated enclaves where they never have to face another person who might be a Republican, or might disagree with them in any way...

Well, it's very popular in Woodstock, too.

richard mcenroe said...

Hey, has anyone heard from Jay Retread since he accused Ann of writing the thread herself?

Joe said...

(The Crypto Jew)


The big question: what name does he use when he commenters here?


“Jeremy?” “J”-probably not “J” Jay has a website, no one visits or reads, but a website, so actually “J” is a step beyond Mr. Shankman….You’ve been here longer than me, “America’s Politico?”

Amartel said...

In his online rant, Shankman repeatedly calls Althouse a "freeloader" when in fact he is the freeloader, and advocates a system of government that would perpetuate and privilege that status by any means necessary.

This is a typical example of the law of lazy lefty projection: Whatever a leftbot says about you derives exclusively from love of and fascination with himself, and the consequent need to assign his more er unpleasant notions to someone else. Examples: racist, fascist, militant, etc.
(Leftbot can't be bothered to actually think about YOU, after all. YOU do not appear on Leftbot's map of Things That Matter.)

The Crack Emcee said...

If the majority of San Francisco residents were progressive and didn’t want an Crack Emcee in their midst, then they are somehow entitled to make it unpleasant enough for her to live there, so that she’ll leave.

Mission Accomplished.

Simon said...

I also like that he's uneducated and self-important enough that he disclaims being a Marxist before describing what is essentially Marxism as his self-styled ideology. He seems to be one of these "precious snowflake" types who believe that they don't really fit into either party or under any established banner, who don't want to label themselves, because they just think about things and come to their own idiosyncratic conclusions, something that usually says less about the idiosyncrasy of their conclusions than it does about their knowledge of political history. Everything is new to the man who knows nothing of the past.

kent said...

Jay Retread [...] accused Ann of writing the thread herself?

"I am wondering if Ann and Meade wrote this screed."

What a great guy!

Pastafarian said...

AllenS said: "The big question: what name does he use when he commenters here?"

I hadn't thought of that.

I wonder if he is a commenter. He comes across as a half-wit in the interview; most half-wits, I think, are scared away from this comments section, on both the left and right.

And most liberal commenters here are actually pretty sharp. He's surely not AlphaLib, or garage, or Ritzy Brassiere...

J.

I'd bet money on it -- the "J" that had the jack-of-diamonds avatar (now something else), who peppers his comments with bizarre anti-Mormon bile (?!) and l33t pwnage crap. That one.

TML said...

This guy is Jim Anchower's bad brother.

http://www.theonion.com/articles/jim-anchower-and-zoos-dont-mix,16538/

William said...

As slackers go, he sets new depths for underachievement. Pressing thirty and a dilletante dishwasher.....I suppose he looks upon his confusion and alienation as a form of idealism, as a way of opting out of the system. I wonder how long he can keep deluding himself. Apparently with a good vocabulary and education and the right family connections, you can keep up the pretense for quite a while......His screed seems more than a little disturbed. His life is full of free form resentments and diffuse angers which he is trying to make sense of. He is politicizing his mental illness.....He's not the kind of guy I would want obsessing about me. Someone who loves him should get him help.

kent said...

J.

I'd bet money on it


Seconded. The excruciatingly (and unfailingly) sub-literate content of his postings makes for a perfect match with Shankman's moronic maunderings.

Anonymous said...

So this poor dude self-reportedly sits around watching FOX News, arousing himself to a constant state of agitation over its reporting.

Sad.

I recommend more porn sites for this man immediately.

Anonymous said...

Why would you want to sit down over a beer with someone who has pretty much promised to spit in your drink?

Pastafarian said...

J will even occasionally threaten violence -- at least I think he does, it's difficult to process what he types into English, at times.

kent said...

Someone who loves him should get him help.

One imagines that his right hand can only do so much, ultimately.

Martin L. Shoemaker said...

No offense to Mr. Riehl, but I'd hardly call that an interview. It's long on background, facts, and analysis, but short on Mr. Shankman in his own words.

I suspect those words would make Mr. Shankman look worse, not better (especially based on the writing "skills" evidenced in his screed); but I don't like it when the MSM publishes such a non-interview, so I can't excuse Mr. Riehl for doing the same.

Carol_Herman said...

Glenn Reynolds not only links, here, he fleshes out a link with Dan Reihl who interviewed Jim Shankman last night over the phone.

You know this story has really fleshed out. Started with the posting of the threat. Then, in the comments section, someone opened the "PDF" and found the originator's name.

Thank you so much for this blog!

No police were involved in any of these discoveries.

This is "just" the Internet. And, boy, is it ever interesting, watching this story evolve. And,also reading bunches of opinions that showed up.

In our world of FREE SPEECH, more FREE SPEECH is always better! Let alone, Ann and Meade covered this story in Madison, Wisconsin, using nothing more than their own digital cameras. Bringing us all right into the center of the developments.

Anonymous said...

Jim Anchower is perfect! Brilliant call!

harkin said...

As much as this lefty windbag 'distributionist' exemplifies all the nutbags who make the WI protestors look like the dereanged stooges that they are, this is not an interview but one side reporting on a phone conversation. I was dissappointed that I was not able to judge his own words as I was in his surreal anti-Althouse manifesto.

Sprezzatura said...

Shouldn't:

"... Shankman said he believes in what he called the “law of privilege.”"

be rewritten as:

"... Shankman (union thug) said he believes in what he called the “law of privilege.”"

You know, to be consistent w/ the original post dedicated to this union thug.




" Shankman emphatically and repeatedly claims “Obama is the worst president in history.”
Asked about his politics, Shankman expressed no great regard for Democrats or union bosses and sees them as forces, combined with moderate Republicans, who pose a serious threat to America’s future"


So if not unions, who inspired this "union thug's" nut-advocacy?

"In terms of political advocacy, Shankman actually praised both Sarah Palin and Andrew Breitbart and was clearly excited to find that I was writing a piece for Big Government. “It’s great what they are doing with news and video from events and such.” However, Shankman was clearly only speaking to Palin’s and Breitbart’s roles as advocates for that in which they believe, saying he wishes there were more on the Left doing the same things, as it’s so effective. “It’s time to learn what you believe in and advocate for it,” said Shankman."


Ha ha. It seems that the only nut Palin has (inadvertently) directed to nuttinness is a lib. I don't think that fits the script. Will libs link this lib nut to Palin?

My guess: no.

Unknown said...

Shankman sees himself playing Brooks to Ann's Sumner; it's the Uncle Saul thing to do.

He should be so lucky. Ann is the better man.

Moose said...

Class warfare!! That's what we need!

Thanks Citizen Shankman!

Pastafarian said...

Carol -- I don't know if more speech is always better. I don't think we should go around publishing these losers' addresses in the comments, for example.

I don't think anything good can come from that, only bad.

EnigmatiCore said...

Bob,

"If the majority of the residents don't like blacks, whites, Jews, Christians, gays, etc., they are "entitled" to chase them away."

When you phrase it that way, the depravity becomes obvious, doesn't it?

However, we all need to reserve the right to use this tactic against gingers. And mimes.

And especially ginger mimes. *shudder*

Anonymous said...

You people who are so dissatisfied with the interview:

1. Quit your fucking whining.

2. Call the dude yourself.

3. Tape the conversation or take very good notes.

4. Open a free Blogger blog.

5. Transcribe your conversation on said blog.

6. Watch the hits roll in.

7. Maintain your non-whining in the future by getting off your ass and doing stuff.

I offer this service as your life coach free of charge. However, it's always gratifying to get a thank you note.

Pastafarian said...

pb&j said: "Will libs link this lib nut to Palin? My guess: no."

That's sort of a contradiction, isn't it? Isn't that what you just tried to do there, in that very comment?

Oh, that's right. You're a lifelong conservative.

MisterBuddwing said...

I don't think it's whining to say that Dan Riehl would have done better, journalistically speaking, to have included more direct quotes than paraphrasing so much. (Did Riehl include a transcript? I couldn't find a link.)

WV: polysi

kent said...

So if not unions, who inspired this "union thug's" nut-advocacy?

From Shankman's very own Facebook page:

EMPLOYMENT HISTORY: AFL-CIO (Volunteer); WEAC (Volunteer)

Causes in which the sub-moron Shankman believes so ardently, in short, that he doesn't even require that they pay him for laboring diligently on their behalf.

FAVORITE QUOTATION: "The most important of all are workingmen's unions, for these virtually include all the rest."

Frenzied, flailing attempt at hastily rewriting this douchebag's history and motivations: FAIL.

I mean... cripes, it wasn't even a good try.

Mike H. said...

Did his mother give him permission to take her ideas outside and play with them?

Anonymous said...

It most certainly is whining. You got a phone and a computer just like Dan Riehl. Hop to.

MisterBuddwing said...

It most certainly is whining

Oh, quit whining. You'd give an equal break to some leftist blogger who freely paraphrases a right-winger?

WV: ockante

Anonymous said...

He's such a gifted writer.

Perhaps if he had himself declared a "Cowboy Poet"...

WV: "bomeme": an often-repeated Bohemian belief.

MadisonMan said...

Can I just say that as a Madison resident I do want you in our midst?

Mr. Shankman, the kind of narrow-minded doofus who lives on the East Side, is a prime example of why I live on the West Side.

Martin L. Shoemaker said...

Pay me what Dan Riehl's getting paid, and I'll do Dan Riehl's job.

Until then, I'm not Dan Riehl, I'm part of Dan Riehl's audience. And as part of Dan Riehl's audience, I have every right to say: that wasn't an interview, it was analysis.

Not that it was bad analysis, mind you; but when I'm promised an interview with Mr. Shankman, I expect to read what Mr. Shankman thinks, not what Dan Riehl thinks Mr. Shankman thinks.

MadisonMan said...

(you = Ann Althouse).

Sorry if that wasn't clear.

EnigmatiCore said...

Victoria:

"That the nice union folks far outweigh the union thugs in number."

I think this goes without saying. It is true of any number of 'groups', no?

The issue is that the nice ones are not doing enough to police their own and as such are, rightfully in my opinion, raising suspicions that they actually are not quite as nice as they seem.

Pastafarian said...

EnigmatiCore said: "However, we all need to reserve the right to use this tactic against gingers."

What is up with the anti-gingerism? Ann Margaret, Amy Adams, Nicole Kidman, lyssalovelyredhead. Hell, I thought that even that petulant little liberal ginger with the boots was cute.

I'm Full of Soup said...

Haha OT but I just heard the unpaid Huffpo writers are on strike!

Maybe Jim Shankman, a part-time dishwasher, will go on strike too.

kent said...

What is up with the anti-gingerism?

The preferred technical term is "Daywalkers."

EnigmatiCore said...

http://www.southparkstudios.com/full-episodes/s09e11-ginger-kids

paul a'barge said...

Shankman needs to go to jail.

If the Wisconsin police and the US Dept of Justice were not totally corrupt and in the pockets of the Progressives, Shankman would be in a cell right now.

harkin said...

Seven Machos: stick to rah-rahing for our side. If you don't know what an interview is, best keep to yourself your whining about those of us who do. The greatest harm done to the conservative cause is when liberals pounce on something misprepresented by the right, no matter how small. Now Riehl (who I like v much) missed a golden opportunity to further expose this unemployed dishwasher and restaurant go-er's desire to seize other people's wealth and give him a taste without giving the moonbats an easy critique of how he casts the conversation.

Sorry chump but it ain't an interview.

Revenant said...

Unless I missed a link, this isn't an interview -- this is a summary of an interview. I'm disappointed.

I hate it when reporters summarize what people said instead of quoting it. Even well-intentioned people can misinterpret.

michaele said...

William's observation, "His screed seems more than a little disturbed. His life is full of free form resentments and diffuse angers which he is trying to make sense of. He is politicizing his mental illness....." was very perceptive. I had a brother-in-law who was very similar to Shankman. He roiled in resentments and just couldn't let them go. As he got older, his lack of productivity became his way of life. No amount of family intervention could help him. He finally committed suicide and his demons were put to rest.

virgil xenophon said...

William & Cedarford@10:40 knock it out of the park. There is a too little known/appreciated film that spotlights EXACTLY this sociocultural phenomenon of downward lefty idealistic mobility entitled: "SLC PUNK" (Salt Lake City) Google it and then rent it. Hilarious--funny as hell, and has more explanatory power in its entertaining way than 10,000 monographs by an army of sociologists/anthropologists.

vbspurs said...

Cedarford wrote:

Guy looks Jewish,

Oh, my but aren't you a quick one, Cedarford! Already met the guy and got close enough to measure his honker and ask him to drop his pants to check the circumcision scar.

Jesus wept donuts.

Pastafarian said...

michaele said: "I had a brother-in-law who was very similar to Shankman."

As statistically unlikely as it sounds, it seems as though nearly everyone has one idiot brother-in-law.

vbspurs said...

Oh, BTW, the girlfriend's Ogden-Nussbaum, right? Maybe her mommy was a schiksa, too.

Beware those meshugana half-breeds, Cedarford!

Anonymous said...

These free hot donuts you bring to my house aren't as good as I like. I think I am going to sit on my ass and complain about how I have had better donuts. This despite the fact that I have all the ingredients and machinery to make donuts right here in my kitchen.

vbspurs said...

Pastafarian wrote:

As statistically unlikely as it sounds, it seems as though nearly everyone has one idiot brother-in-law.

Something to look forward to, I guess.

BTW, has anyone mentioned how prescient Beth was in her post yesterday? She described Shankman and Pals down to their B.O..

Edit before posting: With her permission (as yet unsought!), here it is.

"This sounds so much like the stuff I read on blog posts and in manifestos from the current crop of "anarchists" that have found their way down to New Orleans and are squatting in the lower 9th ward, panhandling from people who barely have enough to feed themselves.

The "occupy" repetition is right out of their language; you can find the same kind of rhetoric with a little googling of the more dogmatic phrasing. These folks came onto our campus and "occupied" a building during a peaceful student gathering protesting tuition increases. Most of the "occupy!" crowd weren't enrolled here. They glommed onto a local walking group's Mardi Gras parade and ended up in a melee with the cops, after walking on people's cars and tagging homes - but it's all just property man, so why be so uncool, right?

There's a bit of a sense of humor (the baseballs in the yard line is funny, it is) but that doesn't mean they're not seriously trying to intimidate Althouse and Meade. I hope Mr. Shankman receives a visit from the authorities soon and is made to explain his "demands."

I do doubt this writer represents the folkshe claims to, the townies, union workers, and so on. The one thing I've noted that wannabee anarchists tend to share is an utter lack of a core. They co-opt other people's issues and try to hang their anarchic philosophy thereon. I may be wrong, of course. But it wouldn't surprise me.

3/17/11 4:27 PM"

vbspurs said...

Kent quoted from Shankman's CV:

EMPLOYMENT HISTORY: AFL-CIO (Volunteer); WEAC (Volunteer)

Believe it or not, this raises my estimation of those two organisations. At least they weren't dumb enough to actually HIRE the man.

wv: dexter (no comment)

kent said...

Ace has your back as well, Professor:

Threats Made Against Ann Althouse; Dan Riehl Interviews The Skel Making The Threats

EXCERPT: "That's why I think that Ann Althouse is being singled out by some lefties for threats. She's done original reporting, offered legal opinions contrary to the left's narrative, and contributed in important ways to the real narrative of lawless, violence-minded supporters of the unions. (Interesting, a lot of these people don't even belong to a union because they're either student radicals or unemployed radicals. They're just the black-bandana anarchist left looking for people to hurt.)

"Therefore, Althouse needs to be terrorized, not just to scare her off, but to scare off the next person who takes a line not approved by the Party.

"This could happen to you. Shame if you wound up harassed and looking over your shoulder every time you were on a public street."


Read the whole thing.

vbspurs said...

EnigmatiCore wrote (hey, there!):

The issue is that the nice ones are not doing enough to police their own and as such are, rightfully in my opinion, raising suspicions that they actually are not quite as nice as they seem.

Yeah, it's true most groups (NAMBLA and Co excepting, obviously) are made up of worthies, and not scum, and your point is absolutely correct -- Outrageous Lefty misbehaviour gets a pass from moderate Lefties, and THAT is what is being pointed out here by us all.

But I still think some things need to be said, especially as the Althouse commentariat leans Right. I wouldn't feel comfortable being on a blog, if my side was constantly getting ripped by people whose opinion I normally value.

madAsHell said...

The cognitive dissonance is deafening, but he's a hero in his own mind.

He probably blames the war on "that lying S.O.B. Johnson" after he hits his girl friend.

vbspurs said...

Kent quoted Ace:

She's done original reporting,

She and Meade, both -- just by turning a flip-cam on and letting it capture what normally would never be exposed by media.

The Meadehouse m.o. reminds me of Geert Wilders' documentary, Fitna.

There is no voice over, merely quotes from the Qu'ran and interviews of Muslims, which most civilised persons, if they have moderation, would recoil against.

In other words, he let their words speak without any editorial conclusions.

There is nothing worse, nothing, than having someone throw up your own reprehensible behaviour in your face.

This is what detractors like Shankman hate about Althouse.

Cheers,
Victoria

Dust Bunny Queen said...

When the legislature gets around to passing conceal and carry she and Meade need to go get trained and licensed.

Why wait, when open carry is legal?

Wisconsin is seriously fucked up.

I thought California was bad.

Martin L. Shoemaker said...

One guy points out that the free doughnuts are, in fact, bagels. Tasty bagels, but not doughnuts.

Another guy points out that the first guy could make his own doughnuts. In some unfathomable way, that shows he's more clever than the first guy.

But it still doesn't turn the bagels into doughnuts.

spunky said...

The issue is that the nice ones are not doing enough to police their own and as such are, rightfully in my opinion, raising suspicions that they actually are not quite as nice as they seem.

You know, it sure is interesting how often this seems to come up over the last few years. Leftists, Muslims, (public) union members, to name a few... who's next?

It's almost as if a number of people and groups have got themselves situated real nice while everyone else was not paying attention. And they're going to do whatever is necessary to keep their "situation" intact. And if a few of the more extreme elements get a bit too, um, public? - hey, just denounce their actions... means, ends, sometimes a few eggs get broken making an omelet, right?

EnigmatiCore said...

Hey there Victoria!

Great example with NAMBLA. Oddly, the gingers in that group are the nicest. All goes to the adage about the exceptions proving the rule, or the rules in this case.

Leland said...

Not that I'd suggest leaving because of this guy, but I'm sure you'd always be welcome in Austin. It's weird, so you'll find plenty to blog about there, as you have in the past.

Mr. D said...

My only complaint is that Riehl's piece wasn't titled "Interview with the Vampire."

Also, TML's comparison of Shankman with Jim Anchower is spot-on.

Wince said...

A four line poem for Jim Shankman...

...by John Wayne.

gloogle said...

Jim Shankman. My God, what a fuckwit...

Unknown said...

My favorite:

"Shankman is currently unemployed, claims to not be a member of a union and says he most often works as a dishwasher when employed."

"Shankman also claims to be one of approximately ten individuals who have recently started a new movement they hope to grow, ”Labor Party USA.”"

Labor Party USA founded by an unemployed dishwasher. That's a movement I can admire, yesirree.

Phil 314 said...

Guy looks Jewish, embraces progressive Jewish causes. Typical post-communist modernist boilerplate......(blah, blah, blah)

Just as the sun rises in the East so Cederford...

kent said...

Labor Party USA founded by an unemployed dishwasher.

"Today, Noodles... Tomorrow, the WORLD -- !!!"

virgil xenophon said...

vbspurs@12:08/

Yes, I meant to complement Beth on that post but got side-tracked. Being a New Orleanian myself I whole-heartedly second her observations..

vbspurs said...

Kent wrote:

"Today, Noodles... Tomorrow, the WORLD -- !!!"

Did you click on the video? Check out Shankman's fellow radicals. Screencapped, for ya.

vbspurs said...

These radicalised kids from Madison, man...to paraphrase Norma Shearer in "The Women":

They are more typical than I'd dared hope.

kent said...

Did you click on the video?

You kidding? I've shared that sucker via e-mail with so many others, these past few weeks -- EVERY. LAST. ONE. of whom, without exception, responding with the appropriate open mockery and hootings of derision -- he may well end up being more famous than the "Friday" girl. ;)

test said...

[The one thing I've noted that wannabee anarchists tend to share is an utter lack of a core.]

Alhouse insiders refer to the null set as "HD's Base".

Kirby Olson said...

Shankman sounds like the new Jared Loughner.

Shank means "knife" in prison parlance, I believe.

I hope the police open a file on him and don't allow him to purchase a gun at least.

Is the first amendment only for a few?

kent said...

They are more typical than I'd dared hope.

"You've got to remember that these are just simple farmers. These are people of the land. The common clay of the new West. You know... morons."
-- BLAZING SADDLES

vbspurs said...

Oh, Kent, you're two for two with me, wow. Great video (bubblegummish song, yet, I like it -- shame about the cyberbullying, though).

The poor kid in the middle of that screencap? He's Ben from a radicalised collective in X, Wisconsin. Didn't catch the town's name.

What are the chances, I mean really WHAT ARE THE CHANCES, he and Shankman know each other?

BEK477 said...

Ann,
The 'Law of Priviledge' sounds like a french academic's conceit. Or, a really poorly designed cocktail. Ann, you must summon 'les infants' to the battlements. Defend us from the aristocracy of the progressives.

If his meme stands, I suppose then that capitalistic, pro-conservative, GOP voters can drive the progessives from Madison with their consciences clear of any guilty feelings.

Cedarford said...

3:14 said...
Guy looks Jewish, embraces progressive Jewish causes. Typical post-communist modernist boilerplate......(blah, blah, blah)

Just as the sun rises in the East so Cederford...

===============
Said in response to vbspurs trying to tie it all in to Shankman's mother being a Dean at a Benedictine school and Christian Liberation Theology.

To which I responded I sorta doubt the Christian influence on the guy, given his name, looks, GF's name, his po-mo Jewish progressive boilerplate cant.

He is likely a progressive, from a Jewish background. Who expressed some anti-Christian bigotry in his rant at Meadhouse. That's about the limit of that relevancy. But use of "Christian!" as an insult is on the upswing , as is the association of Christian! with some nefarious figures like Tim McVeigh, pederast priests, in the Gay/Left/progressive Jewish view.

And when Journolist, some academic at Columbia, and West Side Manhattan elites talk about "bitter people in Flyover Country clinging to their guns and religion and needing to be instructed out of their ignorance..." We sort of know (1)who the people are that seek to do the "instructing and teaching of the ignorant", (2)who the ignorant are, (3)and what Faith the ignorant cling to.

Martin L. Shoemaker said...

Pretty much every search hit for "Law of Privilege" leads to a discussion of either general privileges or specific privileges like attorney-client privilege, and then the laws and limits relating to those privileges.

I think Mr. Shankman probably heard the term, completely misunderstood it, and adopted it to mean whatever privilege he wants to arrogate to himself.

Scott M said...

I think Mr. Shankman probably heard the term, completely misunderstood it, and adopted it to mean whatever privilege he wants to arrogate to himself.

Judging by the 30-year-old and his accomplishments to date, you've most likely encapsulated his life in the most elegant terms possible.

Palladian said...

"I wouldn't feel comfortable being on a blog, if my side was constantly getting ripped by people whose opinion I normally value."

Try being a gay person here when a "gay marriage" or "Don't Ask Don't Tell" thread gets posted...

Beth said...

Howdy, Victoria! I wanted to echo your 10:24 a.m. comment - and scrolled down to find you quoting me. Ha! I'm enjoying the metaphor of us being an echo chamber - anyone who's aware of our political differences would get a kick out of that.

roesch-voltaire said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Beth said...

Thanks, Virgil. You know what of I speak, I'm sure.

roesch-voltaire said...

Spent most of spring break hiking in Utah, Byrce Canyon, Zion Park, so had not time for blogs/ news except for news from Japan and therefore missed the Shankman "threat'. I would not make too many generalizations about Madison based on this guy-Jewish or not. Several of my neighbors are pro-Walker and social conservatives and they kept watch on our house while we were gone, just as the gay couple,one does work for a union, next door did. As long as folks work and help take care of the neighborhood they are welcome-- I think even ShoutingThomas would find the neighborhood comfortable and could share a beer with the household of survivalist who live down the block.

Jeremy said...

An interview via Andrew Breitbart?

What, Glenn Beck, Hannity and the fat man busy?

Duh.

Anonymous said...

"Martin L. Shoemaker said...

Pretty much every search hit for "Law of Privilege" leads to a discussion of either general privileges or specific privileges like attorney-client privilege, and then the laws and limits relating to those privileges.

I think Mr. Shankman probably heard the term, completely misunderstood it, and adopted it to mean whatever privilege he wants to arroga.."

He probably mixed it up with his 'life of privilege'. No visible means of support except his Mommie Dearest and the people of WI.

Ernesto Ariel Suárez said...

Beth! Haven't seen you in ages. I hope everything is great with you!

wv: stonrons (In Cuba, it would be a home run with stone, in English...yes, you can grasp that. Can't you?)

Phil 314 said...

C-ford;
re your response.

Put down the shovel.

Almost Ali said...

...I expect to read what Mr. Shankman thinks, not what Dan Riehl thinks Mr. Shankman thinks.

And, if Dan Riehl thinks Mr Shankman thinks, he has another think coming.

section9 said...

Let the memeing begin:

ALTHOUSE:

KOCH TOOL!!!!

There, I wrote it.

Now where's my fucking check, Soros?

DADvocate said...

This sounds like a descriptor of Shankman: "Grandiose Type: Predominately grandiose delusions. Patient believes that he has a special identity, knowledge, power, self-worth, talent or relationship to someone famous or to God."

With some of this thrown in: "Persecutory Type: Predominately persecutory delusions. Patient believes he is being cheated, drugged, followed, plotted against, slandered or somehow mistreated. The person may repeatedly attempt to obtain justice by appealing to courts and other government agencies. Rarely, violence may be resorted to in retaliation for imagined persecution."

The guy has a problem.

Big Mike said...

Shankman said he believes in what he called the “law of privilege.” As best as I could interpret it, it meant that if the majority of Madison residents were progressive and didn’t want an Ann Althouse in their midst, then they are somehow entitled to make it unpleasant enough for her to live there ...

Scott_M (10:03) positively nailed it. If Althouse can be driven out of Madison then why do we think it's wrong to drive Blacks and latinos out of neighborhoods elsewhere? We know the latter is wrong, but the former must also be wrong or the latter must be right.

(Garage, AlphaLiberal (a beta, if not gamma, in every other respect), and FLS are racing to their keyboards to try to distinguish between the two cases, but it's easy to predict that their arguments will boil down to "Blacks and latinos vote Democrat and Althouse doesn't sound like she voted Democrat in 2010.")

David said...

It's an old European tradition. England and Spain, for example, deported all Jews. That was not effective enough for the Germans.

sarainitaly said...

I finally read that long letter....dude! That guy is frickin insane. Going now to read the interview.

Sorry you have to deal with these nutjobs.

Unknown said...

As a former dishwasher, I just want to say this guy is not one of us.

He might once have been, though. Run someone through that machine a few times too many, and it's terrible what a broken shadow of a human may remain.

We only strap the most annoying of our co-workers to the racks, you understand.