November 23, 2016

This NYT article — "How Conservative Sites Turn Celebrity Despair on Its Head" — seems as though it might be fun for Trump's non-haters.

This is by Amanda Hess. It's a promising topic. But let's dig into it. Here's the set-up:
While the angry tweets, therapeutic Instagram testimonials and fiery speeches may comfort their fans, these left-leaning celebrities are also inadvertently energizing the opposition. 
Energizing. There's that word. It came up in that big NYT interview with Donald Trump. The executive editor of the NYT, Dean Baquet, asserted that Trump had "energized" the people who attended that "alt-right convention in Washington this weekend" and asked Trump if he feels that he's "said things that energized them in particular." Trump accepted the word and simply said "I don’t want to energize the group.... and if they are energized I want to look into it and find out why."

But I'm thinking "energize" is a word that's having its day as an expression that works to create a sense that one person is responsible for what someone else does. A said X and B did Y. You couldn't say A caused Y, but you might say A energized B. It's vague, but it might feel incisive. And it's a way to tangle A up in demands to denounce B or explain why A didn't lead to Y. I'm going to keep my eye on this word. It might lull people into believing things are more connected and people are less autonomous than they really are.

Now, back to Amanda Hess, who took care to put "inadvertently" before her "energizing." The celebs are trying to reach people who, they assume, feel the way they do. But others can see it too, and they expose themselves to mockery. Rich, privileged folks can look pretty silly making a spectacle of their despair over the results of an election.
Conservative news outlets — most notably Breitbart News Network, the right-wing populist enclave — are perfecting the art of sapping Democratic stars’ name recognition and repurposing their words and actions into pro-Trump material....
And it's not just Breitbart, it's also "nimble, often nameless online aggregators who quickly churn through popular culture and throw the most evocative stories to their readers, often without much commentary." Well, yeah, I know how that works. That's what much of the best of blogging does. But I say very short commentary can be great. Twitter is a testament to the fun of bouncing off of some news story.

Hess seems most interested in Breitbart (presumably because Breitbart connects to Steve Bannon and that gets us to Trump). Hess calls attention to a Breitbart piece — which seized upon a Dunham Instagram — "'Grieving' Lena Dunham Seeks Answers in Arizona Wilderness After Trump Win."

Hess endeavors to make this ridicule of Dunham seem ominous. Considering Bannon's closeness to Trump, "calling attention to Ms. Dunham’s Jewish faith feels like a bone thrown to the site’s white nationalist readers." Okay, let's go to the Breitbart article and see that bone in person:
In a separate post on Wednesday, Dunham said she had spent days “grieving” over the “loss of our country and the woman who inspired us,” comparing her experience to that of the “shivah,” a Jewish mourning ritual.
The NYT article doesn't give a link to the Breitbart article. I got that for you myself. I think it's a safe bet that the vast majority of NYT readers assumed that Breitbart gratuitously inserted a reminder that that Dunham is Jewish, but the article doesn't even say Dunham is Jewish. It just quotes an Instagram of hers describing her grieving over the election in terms of a Jewish ritual. You don't even have to be Jewish to decide to talk about 7 days as a good period of mourning after which you "emerge from darkness" and "create light." Making fun of Dunham's treating an election loss like a death in the family is pretty far from anti-Semitism, but see how it's close enough to energize an accusation of energizing?

Another Breitbart piece highlighted in Hess's article is “‘Depressed’ Robert De Niro: Trump Election Makes Me ‘Feel Like I Did After 9/11.’” Lefty celebrities are serving up darkly hilarious bilge that doesn't even need rewriting to be funny. If I'd noticed that one, I'd have just used the quote and identified the author. It wouldn't have needed any commentary at all. Just showing it to you would have been enough to carry the message that I thought it was terrible and terribly funny.

And Hess knows that:
The real ideological action is undertaken by the audience, whose members read between the lines of these culture pieces and then scribble in the margins. 
Scribble in the margins. That's you, dear commenters. So, say what you will. I'm energizing you. And believe me, I have been attacked repeatedly — even by some of my own colleagues — for the things you say in the forum I've created.

115 comments:

eric said...

Guilt by association is popular all of a sudden.

Let's see if we can jump on the badwagon.

Was the nice, France slaughter energized by the Koran?

Was the killing of 49 homosexuals in Florida energized by the Koran?

Was the killing of thousands of people in New York City on 9/11 energized by the Koran?

This is fun!

TrespassersW said...

Wasn't there a carpenter turned itinerant preacher who said something about specks and logs.

Oh, wait... He was a Jew.

rhhardin said...

They're trying to forbid low-hanging fruit now.

Meade said...

To be fair, you have several colleagues who love your blog.

rhhardin said...

Guilt by commutation and guilt by distribution are never deplored.

Big Mike said...

Energized!!! That's me, by golly! Now where's my pink bunny suit, dark sunglasses, and big drum! Yeah. Energized.

Michael K said...

The NY Times keeps trying to make Bannon anti-Semetic which is a bit like saying Netanyahu is anti-Israel.

The secular Jews of the NY Times do not understand the role of Jared Kushner in this revolution.

Forbes does and I wonder why the Times doesn't get it ?

rhhardin said...

Hey, Rush's kids books are banned in Wisconsin school, Rush says, quoting some news story.

It's inappropriate material.

Marshall, Wisconsin.

MAJMike said...

LibCong tears are sweeter than honey.

Bill Peschel said...

How dare we deplorables hold lefties accountable for what they say?

I must be reminded, "Free speech for me but not for thee!"

Somebody chastise me!

traditionalguy said...

The writer has a point. The energy released by Trump breaking the 24 years of Bush/Clinton/Bush
Power over minds of Americans of all Stripes is palpable

To the long repressed it feels like waking up to freedom restored. To the fellow travelers of repression, it feels like waking up to wilderness with no direction home.

And Wisconsin tipped the election into liberty fraternity and equality . Well done to Walker , Priebus and Althouse.!

gspencer said...

So the left has now latched onto the "fake news" principle as the reason to explain why they're seeing their loss of influence. It couldn't possibly be that the people are getting factual input and making their own conclusions.

Even Merkel has signed on. The Muslim invasion of Germany is fake!

If people are getting information that's not in alignment with all-government-is-good-and-big-government-is- better world view, then that news is ipso facto fake news.

The war on the Truth is being ratcheted up higher and higher.

buwaya said...

You certainly do interesting work on contriversial matters.
This is rather rare, among people in a real-life responsible position. The professional risks, from such as your colleagues, or bosses/institutions, can be high.

A certain armor is required, such as tenure. And as we have seen in many cases, even that isn't proof against risks; I know some academics in senior positions extremely unwilling to publicly buck the politically determined consensus on public policies in their field even if their personal views are opposed.

The lack of free speech among the technocrats is crippling.

Meade said...

"They're trying to forbid low-hanging fruit now."

While cherry-picking their own nose for news.

mccullough said...

Lol. Applying "energize" to the Koran should shut down this nonsense.

Laslo Spatula said...

"And believe me, I have been attacked repeatedly — even by some of my own colleagues — for the things you say in the forum I've created."

I have often wondered about that.

Also wondered if I was an offender to these people. I figure a lot of people probably don't like me; a hunch borne out by the occasional comment diagnosing my mental illness and requesting my banishment, say.

If so, my sincere thanks to Althouse for letting me comment in my way without censoring.

Regardless, my sincere thanks to Althouse for the free speech she inspires.

I am Laslo.

Roughcoat said...

Regardless, my sincere thanks to Althouse for the free speech she inspires.

Mine, too.

mccullough said...

Althouse definitely energizes free speech.

traditionalguy said...

KellyAnne Conway is energizing me. Her wardrobe seems unlimited. I bet the Conways built
A room addition to their home to be her walk in closet, twice.

Anonymous said...

I'm not surprised that Althouse's colleagues hold her responsible for what her commenters say. She provides the forum and throws out enough rightist red meat for them to chew on daily.

damikesc said...

Why is it "bad" for conservatives to mock the absurd melancholy of Leftists? It's not like Breitbart made up the tweets.

damikesc said...

I'm not surprised that Althouse's colleagues hold her responsible for what her commenters say.

So BLM IS responsible for the deaths of police. Good to know.

Brando said...

There's something to it--I have to admit just seeing some smug crap spewed by a celebrity (for me, notably Dunham or Paltrow) just makes me want to be on whatever side they're opposed to. Not all lefty celebrities are that way--but some just have a sense of mindless superiority and a complete ignorance of the people they're criticizing that makes you just repelled by them.

I think if I was running a candidate for election, I'd try and get Lena Dunham to publicly criticize the candidate.

Unknown said...

I am not at all surprised that Ann gets flack sometimes from her colleagues over this site. Leftist law profs are a singularly biased lot. I think it is telling that as far as I know only Ann of all the law school faculty has expressed any reservations about her schools current attacks on free speech.

Back in 2000 we were able to tease my con law prof with a "Sore Loserman" sign after the election. I'd never dare that now at most law schools. They are too "tolerant " to allow dissent from progressive orthodoxy.

tcrosse said...

As for the fashion designers who declare they won't dress Melania Trump: Were any of them asked to ? Probably not.
In fact, I would trot out my Dad's response to Pop Culture figures who opine on politics:
'Who asked you ?'

damikesc said...

As for the fashion designers who declare they won't dress Melania Trump: Were any of them asked to ? Probably not.
In fact, I would trot out my Dad's response to Pop Culture figures who opine on politics:
'Who asked you ?'


I just wonder what their views on florists having to make bouquets for gay weddings (because finding a gay florist, I have to assume, is damned near impossible) or bakers having to make cakes for weddings are.

walter said...

Oh yes..Lena's faith runs deep. (gag)
"The NYT article doesn't give a link to the Breitbart article."
All the news that's fit to print, even if unsubstantiated.
It's almost as if that subscription begging mea culpa was insincere....

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Mocking wealthy ivory-tower leftist Marxist-Fascist celebrities --is good for your health.

Like vitamins.

Paddy O said...

Not a lefty celebrity moment, but the most over-dramatic response to Trump supporters I saw on Twitter: I love that passage where Jesus is sweating blood and a middle class white Christian tells him not to worry because God's in control.

Because Trump winning is just like being crucified.

Gahrie said...

And believe me, I have been attacked repeatedly — even by some of my own colleagues — for the things you say in the forum I've created.

But only from the Left...right?

rhhardin said...

To be fair, it's not only the NYT and WaPo sending daily emails about last day of sale subscription offers. Daily Northern Tool is announcing the last day of the pre-black-friday sale.

Gahrie said...

I'm not surprised that Althouse's colleagues hold her responsible for what her commenters say

And we're not surprised about that...you're a Lefty, it's what you do and who you are.

Bay Area Guy said...

Hah -- it's fun to see the NYTimes twist and turn and writhe trying to figure basic stuff out.

Lena Dunham, and a few other prominent or popular actors, use their "platform" to push their political agenda, which is almost always standard, cookie cutter, left wing tripe. However, it does persuade a few of their supporters, true.

But, now in the Age of the Internet, a few courageous right-wing bloggers pull a ju-jitsu move by exposing these Hollywood Nincompoops, blunting their message, and generating a greater opposition.

The New York Times to the rescue! Please shut up, Lena! You may be helping Trump -- and Bannon is still a racist!

rhhardin said...

Lena Dunham, and a few other prominent or popular actors, use their "platform" to push their political agenda

This is breast-shaming.

mezzrow said...

Most modern media leads us along in their narrative like that bearded guy on the Chevy ads leads those slack-jawed consumer avatars in their TV ads to nod in agreement that the new Malibu is the equal of any 7-series BMW ever born.

Am I the only guy who wants to take a Malibu tire iron to that guy's shins? That's how the NYT makes me feel most of the time.

(I hope no local Madison dealerships blame you for my personal outburst, Ann.)

Larry J said...

Seen on InstaPundit:

Progressives on 9/12: ‘Just because some Islamics are terrorists, doesn’t mean all Islamics are terrorists! It’s not okay to just walk up and assault them!’

Progressives on 11/9: ‘Some Trump supporters are Nazis so Trump and all his supporters are NAZIS! Just walk up and assault them!’

JSD said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Achilles said...

Unknown said...
I'm not surprised that Althouse's colleagues hold her responsible for what her commenters say. She provides the forum and throws out enough rightist red meat for them to chew on daily.

Who knew Althouse was part of the FAKE NEWS! Go find a mirror Inga your makeup is running and your fascism is showing through loud and clear.

Will you people stop or will we have to stop you?


JSD said...

A Texas judge killed the new Obama overtime rules today. This rule was Obama at his worst. Giving away free shit that never belonged to him, in the never ending Marxist class struggle. Doubling the salary threshold, would have decimated small businesses in America. These rules had no impact on Wall Street or Silicon Valley, and probably helped by quashing small start-ups from competing. We had one client who was in disbelief when I explained the rules. “Why does Obama hate small business so much?” was all he said.

November has been a great month. I feel especially energized today.

Sebastian said...

"I have been attacked repeatedly — even by some of my own colleagues — for the things you say in the forum I've created." But also praised for the uncommon insight and wit displayed on this blog, and the fearless speaking of truth to power, and --. Right? Right? Please, please tell me you and we pass muster, some of the time, in the eyes of the anointed.

Patrick Henry was right! said...

Once again, Professor, you need new colleagues if your current ones are attacking you for postings made by us, your commentariat.

Hope you find retirement ideologically liberating.

Maybe a move to SC or Alabama might help.

Achilles said...

Basil said...
Once again, Professor, you need new colleagues if your current ones are attacking you for postings made by us, your commentariat.

Hope you find retirement ideologically liberating.

Maybe a move to SC or Alabama might help.


Remember Althouse is ideologically left. A lot of us are more to the left than the current zeitgeist would project us to be.

We are not fighting over ideology now. We are fighting over basic freedom. The left is losing on the merits so it is going after the basic tenets that are undermining it. This is driving some leftists away from their ideological companions.

Mick said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

"A Texas judge killed the new Obama overtime rules today. This rule was Obama at his worst. Giving away free shit that never belonged to him, in the never ending Marxist class struggle. Doubling the salary threshold, would have decimated small businesses in America. These rules had no impact on Wall Street or Silicon Valley, and probably helped by quashing small start-ups from competing. We had one client who was in disbelief when I explained the rules. “Why does Obama hate small business so much?” was all he said."

So, it's ok to keep the working poor, poor, by calling them "salaried". How much more anti poor worker can rightists get? Lower the minimum wage and really keep the poor under your thumb, eh? You don't realize that the working poor are then eligible for "free stuff" like food stamps and health care because they earn so little money? You don't think your tax money pays for these freebies? What a bunch of morons you people are. This is probably why Althouse's colleagues criticize her for her commenters commentary.

Mick said...

The "Fake News" meme promulgated by the MSM and governments comes at a time when on line investigation of #PIZZAGATE is exploding. "PIZZAGATE" refers to a massive pedophile ring participated in by powerful government figures that was exposed by the Podesta Wikileaks. One business at the center of this investigation, "Comet Ping Pong" is owned by the homosexual partner of David Brooks (Media Matters). International Symbols of pedophilia are displayed (or were-- they were taken down when this investigation exploded) in the businesses and on the menus.
The "protests" and "fake news" efforts now underway are done to distract from the "Pizzagate" online investigation. "Pizza", "Hotdog", "ping pong" are used in the emails in weird ways and are known euphemisms for child sex.
Incidently there was another Wikileaks email that shows Posdesta talking about "wet works" on the night before Scalia was found dead. "Wet works" is a known euphemism for "government assassination".

Watch this and enter the rabbit hole. The owner of Comet Ping Ping (Brock's lover) Instagram account is Bizarre, and features many sex and child references. His very name means "child lover".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiLNkIiyKuU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OO9CIWSih94

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvdRPWL_tU8

It curdles your blood. Fake News? This cannot be all a coincidence.

gerry said...

Meade: While cherry-picking their own nose for news.

That is so evil and so funny for so many reasons.

Anonymous said...

http://www.politico.com/tipsheets/morning-shift/2016/11/texas-judge-blocks-overtime-rule-217548

"TEXAS JUDGE BLOCKS OVERTIME RULE: The overtime rule is most likely dead after a Texas judge issued a preliminary injunction Tuesday delaying its implementation, which was to start Dec. 1. Judge Amos Mazzant of the Eastern District of Texas hinted strongly in his decision that the delay is a prelude to striking down the rule. “The State Plaintiffs have shown a likelihood of success on the merits,” he wrote, “because the Final Rule exceeds the Department’s authority.” In issuing the rule, he wrote, the Labor department "ignores Congress’s intent by raising the minimum salary threshold such that it supplants the duties test … if Congress intended the salary requirement to supplant the duties test, then Congress, and not the Department, should make that change.” And so on.

“We strongly disagree with the decision by the court,” the Labor Department said in a written statement, “which has the effect of delaying a fair day’s pay for a long day’s work … We are currently considering all of our legal options.” But those legal options aren’t terribly promising. If DOL files an appeal, it will go to the conservative Fifth Circuit, where the chances of success are remote. And who’s to say the Trump Labor Department will even want to appeal? Trump was already on record saying he would like to exempt small businesses from the rule, and the Republican House was getting ready to break early for the holidays, in large part so it could squelch the rule under the Congressional Review Act (a mechanism linked to the length of the legislative calendar). Now such elaborate maneuverings seem unnecessary."

Wilbur said...

Mick, you said "David Brooks". Did you mean David Brock?

Etienne said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
HoodlumDoodlum said...

Unknown said...So, it's ok to keep the working poor, poor, by calling them "salaried". How much more anti poor worker can rightists get? Lower the minimum wage and really keep the poor under your thumb, eh? You don't realize that the working poor are then eligible for "free stuff" like food stamps and health care because they earn so little money? You don't think your tax money pays for these freebies? What a bunch of morons you people are. This is probably why Althouse's colleagues criticize her for her commenters commentary.

Hey, numbnuts, you realize there is a law in question here, right? Like, you get that this is a judge making a (temporary) ruling on a point of law, yeah? Does the law matter at all to you, genius? Should we not have lawyers and judges and a system to review laws at all? Some ruling doesn't go the way you want it to--in terms of outcome, of course, since you HAVE NOT MENTIONED THE ACTUAL LAW OR THE POINT OF CONTENTION AT ALL--and your reaction is to call your political opponents morons?

Here, I'll help you out: what is the legal objection to this new rule, and what is the judge looking into? I'd bet $5 you don't know right now, not without looking. In your defense the Media isn't too interested in saying, either--the NPR blurb was something like "a judge in Texas put a nationwide halt on an Obama regulatory change that helps poor people" as though it was some sort of improper personal action by some rogue dude in a robe. That's stupid...but then maybe stupid is what you're after, Unknown.

walter said...

""I have been attacked repeatedly — even by some of my own colleagues"
Seems worthy of a separate post..explore some of the critiques ;)

gerry said...

Oh, and Laslo, I am sure most Althouse denizens love you.

Michael K said...

What a bunch of morons you people are. This is probably why Althouse's colleagues criticize her for her commenters commentary.

Inga, you crack me up. There is a place where leftists don't even know they are off the table and falling.

You remind me of the coyote chasing the road runner. You always miss and don't even see it.

Anonymous said...

No fucking kidding there is a law involved. Why would one even need to mention it? It's obvious. Too lazy to look up the points of contention yourself? Lazy.

MaxedOutMama said...

I think the "energizing the opposition" re the celebrities is pure nonsense. It's not changing anything about the opposition, except for giving the opposition a good laugh. They are really objecting to the ridicule - because they feel it reflects on their cause. But the human being not willing to be laughed about in a good cause is a human being with bad priorities.

This is taking identity politics to a new low - the idea that their side must be clearly seen to be always righteous, always lofty, always erudite, always RESPECT-inspiring - that's neither practical nor adult. This is just a gray-haired version of high school fashion, when everyone wants to wear the type of clothing the "Kool Kids" wore last week. When enough of the dorks get that item/brand of clothing, all of a sudden the in-crowd is apt to decide it's not cool any more.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

And there is Michael K, who keeps talking to someone who lives in his poor senile head.

Saint Croix said...

Does she know that "celebrity despair" is funny?

It's true we like celebrities. That's why they're celebrities! But we also hate celebrities. We love when bad shit happens to celebrities. I think most of the celebrity magazines don't actually celebrate celebrities. Usually it's celebrity divorces and celebrity drug rehab and celebrity adultery and bad, bad, bad celebrities.

When the New York Times starts running "celebrity despair" headlines, they are one step removed from People magazine. Oh, let's read about celebrity despair! Next stop, celebrity rehab. Good work, NYT!

Clyde said...

Ms. Dunham's trek through the Arizona desert had her listening to the rocks for advice, something not particularly in the Jewish tradition. I heard that the rocks were telling her that she should go on a diet.

Anonymous said...

For the dummies here who need spoon feeding.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2016/11/22/judge-blocks-new-overtime-rule/94309346/

On Tuesday a federal judge blocked an Obama administration initiative to extend overtime pay to more than 4 million workers. USA TODAY

A federal judge on Tuesday blocked a new rule making millions more Americans eligible for overtime pay, indefinitely pushing back the Dec. 1 effective date while he weighs a challenge to the requirement.

The decision by U.S. District Judge Amos Mazzant in the Eastern District of Texas to grant a preliminary injunction affects an estimated 4.2 million workers who were to be newly eligible for time-and-a-half wages for each hour they put in beyond 40 a week.

The rule, released by the Labor Department in May, would nearly double the threshold at which executive, administrative and professional employees are exempt from overtime to $47,476 from $23,660.

Twenty-one states challenged the overtime expansion, arguing that Congress never intended to set any salary threshold for the exemptions or to allow the threshold to be raised every three years, as the Labor Department’s rule specifies.

“This is a victory for small business owners and should give them some breathing room until the case can be properly adjudicated,” said Juanita Duggan, CEO of the National Federation of Independent Business, which is separately challenging the requirement.

Small business and other trade groups have argued the overtime rule would swell labor costs and force employers to demote managers to hourly employees, hurting morale, among other hassles.

But Christine Owens, head of the National Employment Law Project, a worker advocacy group, said, “Unfortunately, for the time being, workers will continue to work longer hours for less pay thanks to this obstructionist litigation."

Labor Department officials and worker advocacy groups said the rule would help ensure managers and administrative employees are fairly paid for the extra hours they log and narrow a growing divide between wealthy and low- to middle income households.

In recent months, thousands of restaurants, retailers and other businesses have reshuffled their staffs to accommodate the regulation. Some raised employee salaries to the new threshold to avoid the overtime costs. Others were expected to convert salaried employees to hourly workers, in some cases cutting their base pay to offset the overtime expense."

Mick said...

Wilbur said...
Mick, you said "David Brooks". Did you mean David Brock?

Yes

Mick said...

PIZZAGATE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUyHRC8ltR4

johns said...

Unknown said
"So, it's ok to keep the working poor, poor, by calling them "salaried". How much more anti poor worker can rightists get?"

Yes, let's not be anti poor worker. I know. We should let the smartest guy ever, a guy who can slow the rising of the oceans and heal the planet, let him decide how much employees should be paid in Wisconsin and Kansas and New York and Washington and Wheeeeeeeeee!! Because employers don't know how much they can afford to pay. I'm not as smart as THE ONE, but I think everyone should have a salary of, maybe, $80,000 for sure. More in NYC, I know. Local cost of living would take some adjustments. But we could have a salary czar. Krugman could do that. He knows Everything!!

Achilles said...

Inga is weapons grade stupid. Lets go through this...

Unknown said...

So, it's ok to keep the working poor, poor, by calling them "salaried". How much more anti poor worker can rightists get? Lower the minimum wage and really keep the poor under your thumb, eh?

I have had employees. When we closed a business because we weren't making enough money they all found out what the real minimum wage was.

You don't realize that the working poor are then eligible for "free stuff" like food stamps and health care because they earn so little money? You don't think your tax money pays for these freebies? What a bunch of morons you people are. This is probably why Althouse's colleagues criticize her for her commenters commentary.

You are incredibly ignorant. If the employer cannot make money hiring people they don't hire people. We have to make money. We make money by producing things other people want. We have to make more money than our costs and expenses. If you raise costs like labor companies go out of business.

Most people when they start working for a company are not very valuable to that company. They are inefficient and unproductive. As time goes on and they gain experience and skills they are more valuable.

Bottom line is if we pay someone $9 an hour to work for use we need to make $18 an hour off what they produce. Labor is not our only cost and there are other things we need to pay for. If we pay them $15 an hour we have to make $30 off of what they produce. As it stands now in Washington State if you pay someone $12 an hour it costs us about $20 an hour to employ them due to taxes and regulations. That means we need to make $40 of what they produce in an hour.

I know this seems simple when you read it but Inga and her ilk are too stupid to even grasp the basics of economics. I am not going to bother how this affects the aggregate economy. Having the government set pay levels is the height of stupidity.

eric said...

Blogger Unknown said...
I'm not surprised that Althouse's colleagues hold her responsible for what her commenters say. She provides the forum and throws out enough rightist red meat for them to chew on daily.


Steve Bannon provides a forum for the alt right. Some of the alt right are racist. Therefore Steve Bannon is racist.

Ann Althouse provides a forum for the alt right. Some of the alt right are racist. Therefore Ann Althouse is a racist.

Anonymous said...

http://www.rawstory.com/2016/11/polling-firm-ceo-20-million-trump-voters-will-lose-time-and-half-overtime-pay-under-gop-plan/

"Millions of Americans who voted for Donald Trump are expected to lose overtime pay rights soon after he is sworn in as president.

Tom Bonier, CEO of the polling firm Targetsmart, pointed out on Monday that “almost 20,000,000 Trump voters would lose time and a half overtime” under a Republican plan to reverse regulations put in place by President Barack Obama."

Trump voters cut off their own noses to spite their faces. Dumbasses.

Michael K said...

If nothing else, Trump has shown a lot of us just how dumb the Hillary voter is.

I suspected it from prior experience but even I have been surprised and amused.

They don't understand economics but that is a given. Jared Kushner and Trump have developed a new campaign method that impresses even Hillary supporter

“Jared understood the online world in a way the traditional media folks didn’t. He managed to assemble a presidential campaign on a shoestring using new technology and won. That’s a big deal,” says Schmidt, the Google billionaire. “Remember all those articles about how they had no money, no people, organizational structure? Well, they won, and Jared ran it.”

Brando said...

"Ann Althouse provides a forum for the alt right. Some of the alt right are racist. Therefore Ann Althouse is a racist."

Dammit, I knew if I commented here I'd become racist! I must cleanse myself by commenting on DailyKos instead (gets bombarded with ads for "cash 4 gold"). Confounded again!

Rick said...

Remember when people used to protect the left by claiming campus crybullies were irrelevant to the broader culture and so those focused on them were the extremists? Now those same people are defending actors and school Superintendents who claim to believe they and/or their students aren't going to be "protected".

Seems like those campus lunatics aren't so much a fringe as a vanguard.

Anonymous said...

Achilles, the epitome of an alt right Trump voter.

Michael K said...

That is Eric Schmidt, the Google co-founder who ran Obama's data program with his people.

Rick said...

Tom Bonier, CEO of the polling firm Targetsmart, pointed out on Monday that “almost 20,000,000 Trump voters would lose time and a half overtime” under a Republican plan to reverse regulations put in place by President Barack Obama."

But 325 million Americans will gain lower prices.

Fernandinande said...

"'Grieving' Lena Dunham Seeks Answers in Arizona Wilderness After Trump Win."

Arizona Wilderness says
"Tacos and a lime IPA, a great pairing for a lovely day. #azwbeer #tacotuesday
More details at http://azwbeer.com"

Brando said...

"But 325 million Americans will gain lower prices. "

Not just that but more flexible hiring rules (i.e., not requiring overtime pay by law) allows more hiring overall. The more rigid and burdensome we make hiring, the less of it there'll be.

Look at your nearby CVS, how there is one cashier now and several kiosks where you're supposed to check out and pay for your stuff. The more burdensome you make hiring clerks, the more of that you're going to see. Maybe it's not so bad to use the kiosks, but that's fewer people with jobs.

Fernandinande said...

Regardless, my sincere thanks to Althouse for the free speech she inspires.

+2.

JAORE said...

"So BLM IS responsible for the deaths of police."

Of course not, BLM simply energized the killing of the police.

JSD said...

How does doubling the salary threshold help poor people when it curtails hiring and reduces hours? This was going to have very negative consequences. I could understand gradual increases over a period of time. I could also understand some allowances for geographical locations. But stipulating $47,000, effective immediately, regardless if you are in New York City or New Braunfels Texas demonstrates Obama’s true ignorance of business and economics.

robother said...

As that famous Trumpster avant la lettre, Conan, posited about the good life:
"To crush your enemies, to see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of their women."

Rick said...

That is good. That is good.

Bilwick said...

Usually Lena Dunham is identified on the Breitbart site as "Rape hoaxer Lena Dunham." Unfairly, I'm sure.

sane_voter said...

What does Trump have to do with this ruling?

Quaestor said...

Achilles, the epitome of an alt right Trump voter.

Abby Someone doesn't understand the word epitome.

WisRich said...

Unknown said...
Tom Bonier, CEO of the polling firm Targetsmart, pointed out on Monday that “almost 20,000,000 Trump voters would lose time and a half overtime” under a Republican plan to reverse regulations put in place by President Barack Obama."

Trump voters cut off their own noses to spite their faces. Dumbasses.


I'd say check your assumptions. Maybe those are smarter than you think.

damikesc said...

So, it's ok to keep the working poor, poor, by calling them "salaried".

Better that then unfettered immigration. That has really hurt the working poor.

Darrell said...

Why isn't the NYT out of business yet?

Drago said...

Unknown: "So, it's ok to keep the working poor, poor, by calling them "salaried"."

Just call it "workplace violence".

That phrase is a convenient catch-all for the left and it comes fully lefty-moron pre-approved.

Bay Area Guy said...

"Alt-right" is the new bogeyman of Left.

Alt Right is Milo Yannapoulis, a funny, gay, conservative,dude who goes to college campuses on the "Dangerous Faggot" Tour and makes the kids scramble to their safe spaces.

Yeah, he's a real dangerous threat to humanity, allright, a real Heinrich Himmler or Bull Connor (sarcasm off)

Drago said...

WisRich: "I'd say check your assumptions. Maybe those are smarter than you think"

No way!

I'd recommend (and fervently hope) that Unknown lefty and all his/her pals continue to "energize" this type of thinking on the left.

Jupiter said...

Darrell said...
"Why isn't the NYT out of business yet?"

Carlos Slim doesn't want the NYT out of business. Yet.

Drago said...

Bay Area Guy: ""Alt-right" is the new bogeyman of Left.
Alt Right is Milo Yannapoulis, a funny, gay, conservative,dude who goes to college campuses on the "Dangerous Faggot" Tour and makes the kids scramble to their safe spaces."

This is the beauty of the lefts overreach. It exposes everything they really represent.

It's perfect.

CWJ said...

Unknown quoted -

"Tom Bonier, CEO of the polling firm Targetsmart, pointed out on Monday that 'almost 20,000,000 Trump voters would lose time and a half overtime” under a Republican plan to reverse regulations put in place by President Barack Obama.'"

"would lose" "put in place" They hadn't gone into effect yet. You can't lose what you don't have. What good king Barack has decreed, let no one review, much less reverse.

Laslo Spatula said...

Althouse is garnering the word 'energize.'

I am Laslo.

Fernandinande said...

Unknown said...
How much more anti poor worker can rightists get?


"If I ever get real rich, I hope I'm not real mean to poor people, like I am now."

Dude1394 said...

As people start to tell the sjw to go fly a kite, they will dig deeper and try to connect folks to others and try to amp up the outrage.

wildswan said...

"Celeb despair" is a new "Banned in Boston." "Banned in Boston" used to be a way of selling books. Banned books got publicity and sales boost. "Celeb despair", it seems, uses celebrity name recognition on right wing media to promote a popular new line of stories about celebrities being ridiculous over President-elect Trump's victory. Lena Dunham in the "Arizona wilderness" 200 yards beyond the spa parking lot, talking to rocks, sobbing out her despair. I haven't read the story on what the rocks finally said so that's still to come. Or there's a good one about a Brooklyn health food store in which the sound system suddenly began to play "Sweet Home Alabama" and the shoppers froze with horror like Mr. Kurtz hearing distant drums from the heart of darkness.

Question: If someone in that Brooklyn store put on a Trump hat, could they expect a safety pinner to protect them? Or if someone wore a Trump hat in a college which flying the flag at half mast over the election, could the Trump supporter claim shelter as a despised minority in a college safe space?

I admit, it's still pass the popcorn time for me in post election America. I can show you the exact spot I was sitting in when I concluded at very dark AM that Hillary did not have anymore shoeboxes full of votes to cheat with and I slowly drank a toast to Trump.

Michael K said...

"demonstrates Obama’s true ignorance of business and economics."

I'm not sure there is anything capable of showing the full depths of that ignorance, The smarmy superiority adds to it.

David said...

I am energized by laughter, so it works for me.

Anonymous said...

It looks like the NYT edited the online article. There is now a link to the Breitbart article and the Dunham paragraph now says this:

"The image Ms. Dunham posted to Instagram of a restorative trip to Sedona, Ariz., may have played as soothingly aspirational for an audience concentrated with young, coastal women, but to Breitbart’s demo, under the headline “‘Grieving’ Lena Dunham Seeks Answers in Arizona Wilderness After Trump Win,” it looks like a damning shot of a celebrity who decided to jet into a red state for a quirky vacation retreat."

Althouse is causing NYT edits!

Lewis Wetzel said...

If you are a Lefty, what has to hurt the most is the Sanders Sellout. Turns out that he had no intention of winning, he just wanted to gripe. He had some sort of back room deal going with the Clinton campaign.
And it was all for nothing.

SukieTawdry said...

I'm beginning to think "Lena Dunham" is a fake person along the lines of Tony Clifton.

Michael said...

unknown

The overtime for salaried employees has not gone into effect. And won't The pollster hilariously culls out Trump voters perhaps using some of his fabulous predictive and analytical skills . LOL.

Have a look at some of Tom Bonier's other predictions. I just did and I have almost stopped laughing.

Thanks so much for posting that. First rate stupid.

gadfly said...

From Politico: "How White Nationalists Learned To Love Donald Trump"

“You have an absolute obligation to vote for Donald Trump, and to vote against Cruz and Rubio,” [David] Duke said. “If you vote for Ted Cruz, you are acting in a traitorous way to our people. You are betraying our people. Period.” He cautioned that he didn’t agree with everything Trump said, but argued, “Trump is the only chance we really have right now to make a dent, plus Trump is waking up our people and energizing our people across America.”

On February 28, in a now-infamous incident, CNN’s Jake Tapper asked Trump to comment about Duke’s endorsement.

“I don’t know anything about what you’re even talking about with white supremacy or white supremacists,” Trump said in response to persistent questioning. He insisted he couldn’t even disavow the Ku Klux Klan without doing more research.

For the rest of primary season, controversies about Trump’s race-baiting remarks didn’t stop him from rising in the polls and racking up convention delegates, and so white nationalists continued to respond at a fairly regular pace to what they agreed were dog whistles. In a now-familiar pattern, Trump’s fellow Republicans in the Republican National Committee and Congress chastised the campaign for one remark after another, but few withdrew their support.

Donald J. Trump on Thursday [10/13/16] accused Hillary Clinton of guiding a “global power structure” that has rigged the economy against the working class, language that some suggested echoed anti-Semitic themes.

The headline on the VNN [Vanguard News Network] Forum that night? “Trump Just Forced the Lying Press to Admit the Kikes Run the World.”

robother said...

Steve Bannon is "providing platforms for" and "energizing" the Alt-Right. Bad Company indeed for a President-Elect:

Alt-Right now, baby, its Alt-Right now
Alt-Right now, baby, its Alt-Right now.

Michael said...

gadfly

Trump as anti-semite is so wrong, so stupid, tiresome actually. If the accusers knew one single thing about business, the real estate business, the real estate business in NY, the daughter of the President elect, or the names of any of Trump's longtime supporters, partners or employees the accuser would know that it is a slander and a lazy and stupid one.

There are estimated to be 6,000 members of the KKK nationally. This is the big bad force that scares you?

Here are the important data points for you to consider going forward: Trump won. The Senate is in the hands of Republicans (Oh, and quite a lot a Democrat Senate seats are up for grabs in 2 years), the House is in the hands of Republicans, most States are governed by Republicans, and the Supreme Court is likely to get another one or two or three new members in the next four years. And don't forget, even under the bed there with the KKK bearing down on you, racist, islamaphobe, homophobe, etc have worn to thin to be held in the hand. Or the mind.

Ann Althouse said...

"Althouse is causing NYT edits!"

What you're missing is that the material about Dunham is in 2 places. The part you're quoting, which was always like that, and this, quite a bit further down:

"With that in mind, an article calling attention to Ms. Dunham’s Jewish faith feels like a bone thrown to the site’s white nationalist readers."

That's still there.

Michael said...

Schadenfreude is a base emotion, but who can forbear to drink in the sweet hipster tears of the past two weeks?

Anonymous said...

@Ann Althouse 4:48

Ahh, it is. My apologies. I had hoped for better from the New York Times.

tim in vermont said...

I am getting a little tired of the lamentations of their women, myself.

Michael said...

Michael

As the great man said, it would take a heart of stone not to laugh

Bad Lieutenant said...

Dunham is Jewish? If true, then on behalf of my people,

D'oh!!!

But I request confirmation. Dunham is a pretty waspy name.

richardsson said...

I'm more amazed then energized. There seems to be no limit to the narcissism of these people, and yet there seems to be a kind of peer group pressure to conform. Also, the more active a celebrity gets in politics, the more likely they are becoming a "has beens." Add to all that the empty threat to leave the country if their candidate doesn't win and what you have is what the English would call a bunch of silly bastards. So if they're threatening to leave the country, to quote a famous Rock lyric, I say, "...Hey Hey Hey....Goodbye!"

Seeing Red said...

Wow, I know I've been out of the labor market for awhile, but when did working poor translate into professional, executive and administrative positions?

Chris N said...

If you care and empathasize with the suffering of others, for you have suffered, and rally against all the knowable and identifiable bad in the world (racism, sexism, greed, selfishness, closed minded nationalism, excessive or evil capitalism etc.) you are being virtuous in making the world a better place. You have empirical evidence, and data, You have solidarity and (S)cience on your side.

You have this KNOWLEDGE and your actions and feelings are justified.

Why would anyone disagree? Can't they see? Why do they resist?

They might even be evil.

*Sigh*

HT said...

And as the stories spread, Coler makes money from the ads on his websites. He wouldn't give exact figures, but he says stories about other fake news proprietors making between $10,000 and $30,000 a month apply to him. Coler fits into a pattern of other faux news sites that make good money, especially by targeting Trump supporters.


http://wamu.org/news/16/11/23/npr_finds_the_head_of_a_covert_fake_news_operation_in_the_suburbs

jaed said...

darkly hilarious bilge

I just want to mention that this is an excellent phrase, widely applicable to many things, and therefore it probably should become an Althouse blog tag.