June 22, 2018

"The last Jurassic World film grossed a massive $1.67 billion worldwide but was critically panned..."

"... with much of the conversation revolving around why Howard’s heroine spent the entire film running from dinosaurs in heels (in a hilariously petty 'fuck you' to critics, our first shot of Howard in Fallen Kingdom delivers a close-up of her heels and, when she arrives on the island, a close-up of her wearing appropriate boots)."

From "‘Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom’ Proves the Dinosaur Franchise Should Go Extinct" by Ira Madison (in The Daily Beast).

That passage reminds me of how the Trump administration is doing so well, though the media critics have panned it, and — when Melania Trump went to Texas after the floods of Tropical Storm Harvey, — how much of the conversation revolved around the stilettos she wore, and how— in this week's sequel trip to Texas — in a hilariously petty "fuck you" to critics, our first shot of Melania delivers a close-up of the back of her jacket that reads "I REALLY DON'T CARE..."

My more detailed and serious reaction to Melania's talkative jacket is here. All I mean to say in this new post is that there are some things that launch high over the heads of the critics, and the cries of disgust from the critics only energize the love that is felt by the people who love that stuff.

And here's Trump's reaction:


ADDED: "A Psychological Explanation for Kids’ Love of Dinosaurs" (NY Magazine):
Researchers don’t know exactly what sparks them — the majority of parents can’t pinpoint the moment or event that kicked off their kids’ interest — but almost a third of all children have [an "intense interest"] at some point, typically between the ages of 2 and 6... And while studies have shown that the most common intense interest is vehicles — planes, trains, and cars — the next most popular, by a wide margin, is dinosaurs....

“Maybe at home the interest was being reinforced, and the positive feedback loop was, ‘Johnny knows that’s a pterodactyl, Johnny’s a genius!’ When you’re getting praise over and over again for having information about a subject, you’re on a runaway train to Dinosaurland,” [therapist Elizabeth] Chatel says. “But then school begins and the positive feedback loops shift to, ‘Johnny played so well with others, Johnny shared his toys and made a friend.’”

135 comments:

mockturtle said...

Women running in high heels and falling is as old as cinema. It's a humorous meme. But, then, feminists have no sense of humor.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Marie Antoinette didn't care either.

Bay Area Guy said...

Totally on the mark. The critics are loud and numerous and used to caterwauling their opponents into submission.

No longer. Nobody cares what a NYT op-Ed columnist thinks. They are mostly brain-dead zombies stuck on "Hate-Trump" mode. The irony is that the critics are so ridiculous that have moved reasonable folks in the center towards Trump.

More pussy-hat-wearing protests!

Sydney said...

So Freeman Hunt was right about the jacket.

rehajm said...

Marie Antoinette didn't care either.

This is just stupid. A fantasy meme presented as a weak and desperate plea to curb undesired behavior.

It deserves only a hilariously petty Fuck You.

Hagar said...

The UnreasonableMan needs to read up on Marie Antoinette.
Voltaire(?) said Maria Theresa's daughter had more moxie than the entire Bourbon tribe put together, or words to that effect in French.

rehajm said...

Hollywood loves dinosaurs because RRRROOOOAAAR!!! easily translates into any language.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Easier to believe Trump’s tweet than the 17 different, contradictory, self-immolation explanations Inga proffered on this blog. What a shitshow of faux-concern wrapped in an evil desire to see Melania joining the anti-Trump resistance! There was so much spin in Inga’s attempts at wit that the gyro function on my phone broke.

Anonymous said...

"...hilariously petty 'fuck you' to critics..."

It's hilarious, but I think the phrase "hilariously petty" properly belongs to the critics who provoked the hilarious response.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

Do you tune in to the democrap party press to get your talking points?

Did you care about the kids in cages a few weeks ago? Why no? You never cared until your narrative pimping elitists told you to care? I see.

Carol said...

The meaning of Melania's message isn't really obvious on its face. In context it seems to refer more to the family separation brouhaha. But that's not right, either, because that's too callous. But if she needs hubby to explain, well...fail..

Bob Boyd said...

I think Melania, like her husband, is a lot smarter and more subtle than the high and mighty media mob gives her credit for.

Darrell said...

Dinosaurs at the border would be good for the country. Dinosaurs at 229 West 43rd Street in NYC would be good for the country.

robother said...

Cry me a river, Rachel. "Message: I care." Journalism is the new caring profession.

Peter Fonda cares so much he wants to see Barron Trump raped in a cage, so that Melania will learn to care.

Darrell said...

The actress insisted on wearing the heels. And she did most of her own stunts wearing the heels and never fell down. There is a YouTube video on the subject--something about strange demands by actors.

Fernandinande said...

running from dinosaurs in heels

How the dinosaurs got into groucho's heels we'll never know.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

Regarding the jacket....There, I just explained the whole thing to you.

If the Left wants to shred themselves raving about jackets, porn stars, and the integrity of Justin Trudeau’s eyebrows, why would you ever want to stop them? Masterful bit of trolling.

mockturtle said...

A Jurassic theme park in California--a new Disneyland--would solve a lot of the state's economic problems.

Mr. Groovington said...

Mike said...There was so much spin in Inga’s attempts at wit that the gyro function on my phone broke.

I respect Inga’s ability to draw ire here like no other commenter. ARM isn’t bright enough. Pee Pee angrily rambles on and on. Trumpit is a loon. Inga keeps her cool, keeps it brief, and has good aim. I fancy her, actually.

Ray said...

"the next most popular, by a wide margin, is dinosaurs...."

As Jordan Peterson might explain it, our nervous system is programed to recognized "snakes" before our brain can decipher what we are seeing. "Snakes" can be interpreted as "monsters", particularly, deadly reptiles. Almost all cultures have symbols of snakes, dragons, or deadly reptiles, in their metanarrative (i.e. religions). We are evolutionarily wired to recognize deadly reptiles.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Carol said...
The meaning of Melania's message isn't really obvious on its face. In context it seems to refer more to the family separation brouhaha. But that's not right, either, because that's too callous. But if she needs hubby to explain, well...fail..


Trump's tweet is the usual oblivious post hoc BS, but there is something deeply dysfunctional there. Melania was the only member of the oligarch's family with a positive public rating. To burn that for no good purpose suggests that things are running even less smoothly that appearances might suggest.

Hammond X. Gritzkofe said...

- the majority of parents can’t pinpoint the moment or event that kicked off their kids’ interest —

Barney could not be reached for comment.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

Put four guys of differing opinions in a room. If one of them is overly emotional, dare I say hysterical, in expressing his views, the other three instantly become simpatico, however much they disagree in substance. It’s Dude 101.

Fernandinande said...

Scientists call obsessions like Erin’s an “intense interest.”

Those scientists sure have a way with words! Just the other day scientists were calling an "obsession" a disturbing or compulsive unwanted preoccupation, so I'm glad they got that fixed!

particularly in a conceptual domain like dinosaurs,

Dinosaurs are a set of valid value meanings. Who knew?

The authorette of that terrible fake-headlined article seems to suffer from a form of "science envy".

Charlie said...

Fernandistein beat me too it: How hard could "running from dinosaurs in heels" really be?

Anne in Rockwall, TX said...

I often wonder if the depiction of dinosaurs as reptiles is correct. There have been competing theories for quite a while now.

Were they the precursors to birds? Cold blooded or warm blooded? Should we use amphibian DNA to fill in the missing sections?

I don't know the answers, but I enjoy the attention to the subject and the debates. I never got over my fascination with dinosaurs.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

ARM isn’t brighter than Inga? I would have to disagree with that. ARM’s downfall is that he’s more feminine in his thinking. At some point in her life Inga played the dozens regularly. She wasn’t sharp enough for killshots but she learned that crude persistence keeps you from losing.

Nonapod said...

Little kids like dinosaurs because they're big, powerful, and dangerous animals that are a little mysterious since they no longer exist. They evoke obvious power fantasies in boys and guardian/protector fantasies in girls. Basically one of the simple truths in life is that dinosaurs are cool.

Fernandinande said...

And while studies have shown that the most common intense interest is vehicles

As Jordan Peterson might explain it, our nervous system is programed to recognized "vehicles" before our brain can decipher what we are seeing. "Vehicles" can be interpreted as "monsters", particularly, "monster trucks". Almost all cultures have symbols of carts, chariots, bicycles, SUVs, in their metanarrative (i.e. religions). We are evolutionarily wired to recognize vehicles.

Infinite Monkeys said...

Carol said...
The meaning of Melania's message isn't really obvious on its face.


For not being obvious, there were a lot of comments here recognizing that it was trolling.

I've been resisting viewing people's reaction to this and to the president's tweets as an intelligence test, but it's obvious that these are things you either get or you don't. Maybe it's more like a test of the level of hate within the person reacting to the Trumps. Those who are consumed by hate can only see hate coming from them where everyone else gets the joke.

rehajm said...

but there is something deeply dysfunctional there

Whatever it is it sure isn't Trump's policies.

Ralph L said...

What I remember about dinosaurs as a child was the Sinclair station at the NYC World's Fair that made molded plastic ones while you watched. They were quite fragile.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

LOL

the ugly poorly crafted marionette and the porn star and joining forces.

Nonapod said...

Were they the precursors to birds? Cold blooded or warm blooded?

The current general scientific consensus is that they were warm blooded and the birds are dinosaurs.

Although a lot of creatures that laypeople generally lump into the dinosaur category are in fact reptiles. Specifically the winged pterosaurs (pterodactyls), the aquatic plesiosaurus, ichthyosaurs, and mosasaurs (in fact there are no known purely aquatic "dinosaurs").

Fernandinande said...

My favorite dead animal is the entelodont in heels, lacy black underwear and garter belt.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

Too bad her jacket didn't say Fuck CNN.

Roughcoat said...

Dinosaurs were a successful life form, existing on this planet for an incredibly time, millions and millions of years. Wow,think about that. But in all that time they did not evolve into sentient creatures, I mean human-level sentient. Why not? Are there theories for this? I wonder.

Anne in Rockwall, TX said...

Ralph L said...
What I remember about dinosaurs as a child was the Sinclair station at the NYC World's Fair that made molded plastic ones while you watched. They were quite fragile.

Oh my gosh Ralph! I got one of those. It was waxy and green and two hollow halves pressed together. The machine had a clear plastic bubble over the works so you could see the molds pushing together to make it. I loved that thing. And I promptly crushed it by hugging.

walter said...

I agree with Carol, in part with ARM (Melania is best when above it all) and disagree with Infinite Monkeys.
You can "get it" and still view it as dumb..without being a "hater".

mockturtle said...

The giant Masturdon was a short-lived species.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

Or Fuck TIME magazine

E M says..
...Like so much of the media coverage of this issue, Crying Girl actually represents the opposite of the assumptions blasted around by outlets like Time. We’ve experienced a deluge of misinformation and a complete lack of context over the past week or so from media outlets that are clearly more interested in an agenda than an informed debate. Yanela Varela Hernandez is the poster girl for media’s appetite for activism over truth. And they wonder why people continue to accuse them of peddling ‘fake news’?"

Anonymous said...

Annie C: "I don't know the answers, but I enjoy the attention to the subject and the debates. I never got over my fascination with dinosaurs."

Recently seen comment: "So sad...When you become a grownup, people stop asking you what your favorite dinosaur is. They don't even care..."

Know that feel bro.

Chuck said...

Althouse, you seem to want to believe in some higher meta-meaning to the jacket. You put up President Trump's Tweet, but not the preceding statement from East Wing Communications Director Stephanie Grisham; "It's a jacket. There was no hidden message. After today's important visit to Texas, I hope the media isn't going to choose to focus on her wardrobe."

Had she worn a plain khaki jacket, the media would certainly not have chose to focus on her wardrobe. But Melania chose differently. Maybe the Trump Tweet is correct. If so, Communications Director Stephanie Grisham is full of shit.

Again, I am not going to waste my time trying to figure out an explanation that is interesting, helpful to Trump or which otherwise demonstrates Trump's Master Persuader abilities. I don't want to guess, and I am not going to do any guesswork for Trump's benefit.

It just leaves me with a slightly sick feeling about the whole day and her entire trip to Texas. And more convinced than ever that Trump is not going to be able to get a really good deal on immigration. Because he can't even make a good deal for one day's news cycle.

Fernandinande said...

mockturtle said...
The giant Masturdon was a short-lived species.


"Paleontologists believe the intact skeleton could shed light on the bizarre fetishes of this pervert dinosaur."

Fernandinande said...

Annie C said...
It was waxy and green and two hollow halves pressed together.


Holy smokes, I was there and that sure sounds familiar. Yikes.

Anonymous said...

Annie C to Ralph L: "What I remember about dinosaurs as a child was the Sinclair station at the NYC World's Fair that made molded plastic ones while you watched. They were quite fragile."

Oh my gosh Ralph! I got one of those. It was waxy and green and two hollow halves pressed together. The machine had a clear plastic bubble over the works so you could see the molds pushing together to make it. I loved that thing. And I promptly crushed it by hugging.


Those little machines were still available at museums as late as the '80s. Maybe still are. Remember getting one for my nephew at one of those animatronic-dinosaurs exhibit.

Sinclair stations were still selling their little plastic dinosaurs in the late '80s, early '90s. Got some for toys, and gilded some to use as Christmas tree ornaments. (They've all disappeared with the years and many moves.)

Chuck said...

Bob Boyd said...
I think Melania, like her husband, is a lot smarter and more subtle than the high and mighty media mob gives her credit for.


So very subtle, in this case, that no one is sure what it all means.

I do understand quite well that Trump fans' unshakable presumption is that it is all just further proof of Trump's amazing communicative genius. Even without clear evidence to support it.

Which is nearly the definition of a "Cult of the Personality."

Nonapod said...

Roughcoat said...
Dinosaurs were a successful life form, existing on this planet for an incredibly time, millions and millions of years. Wow,think about that. But in all that time they did not evolve into sentient creatures, I mean human-level sentient. Why not? Are there theories for this? I wonder


Maybe evolving human level intelligence isn't some sort of inevitability for a successful group of animals. Human level intelligence may even be extremely rare for all we know. Then again maybe an advanced civilization of intelligent theropods did exists millions of years ago and all evidence of it was techtonically subducted long ago.

I remember a goofy episode of Star Trek Voyager that postulated whole idea called Distant Origin.

sodal_ye said...

The Cracker Emcee Rampant said...
ARM isn’t brighter than Inga? I would have to disagree with that. ARM’s downfall is that he’s more feminine in his thinking. At some point in her life Inga played the dozens regularly. She wasn’t sharp enough for killshots but she learned that crude persistence keeps you from losing.

I suppose I discount ARM because his writing comes across as limp. And when I read Inga, I'm anything but.

Anonymous said...

Chuck: Again, I am not going to waste my time trying to figure out an explanation that is interesting, helpful to Trump or which otherwise demonstrates Trump's Master Persuader abilities. I don't want to guess, and I am not going to do any guesswork for Trump's benefit.

"I am not going to do any guesswork for Trump's benefit."

Guess he'll just have to soldier on without you, Chuck.

It just leaves me with a slightly sick feeling about the whole day and her entire trip to Texas.

"Enough about Trump, let's talk about me. Not that I'm not going to talk about Trump, but only about Trump in that most important of contexts, the context of me."

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Too bad her jacket didn't say Fuck CNN.

Which reminds me, the crowd at Tuesday's Trump rally in Duluth spontaneously erupts into a robust chant of "CNN sucks!" over and over. It warms my heart to hear that cheer! I hope someone close to Jeff Zucker has captured it as their ringtone and further that it is turned up LOUD too.

Roughcoat said...

Nonapod:

Thanks. It's a fascinating subject and area of inquiry. What awes me is the reality of a planet that was teeming with life yet there was no consciousness anywhere. Or was there? Was there a planetary consciousness at work? Etc.

Seeing Red said...

Insty has an article that scientists want to turn chickens into dinosaurs. This will end well.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

"I do understand quite well that Trump fans' unshakable presumption is that it is all just further proof of Trump's amazing communicative genius. Even without clear evidence to support it"

Like winning the Presidency in the face of total opposition from the Establishment...

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Which is nearly the definition of a "Cult of the Personality."

Interesting and incoherent take, Chuckles. Did the slobbering admiration for Obama extending his middle finger to people he doesn't like excite you this much too? Boy that was a subtle and smart (and repetitive) move from the "communication genius" that was The Lightworker. And how can anyone claim a Trump "cult of personality" without pointing to any evidence?

Are people in the media framing Trump in photos to produce a "halo" around him? Did he claim the ability to stop the rise of the oceans? Are their staged fainting spells where Trump revives worshippers in the attendance? Is his wife saying that he will demand commitment from you, that he can redeem you? Did Trump quote Obama and say that "we are the ones we've been waiting for"? Are there children being forced to sing praises to him, songs that are repeated endlessly on all the major networks without irony? Did he win a NObel peace prize without even doing anything yet?

Where's the cult of Trump, in light of the overwhelming evidence of the Cult of Obama?

traditionalguy said...

Melania has learned to adopt the attitude of Londoners during the 1940 Blitz: Ha, ha , you missed me. Just wait until it is our turn to carpet bomb you.

Anonymous said...

Chuck: I do understand quite well that Trump fans' unshakable presumption is that it is all just further proof of Trump's amazing communicative genius. Even without clear evidence to support it.

Which is nearly the definition of a "Cult of the Personality."


It doesn't take a belief in some pol's amazing communicative genius, or even support or liking for him, to recognize a good troll when one sees it, and have a larf.

I guess one could in turn get all po-faced about it and anally analyze the all-explaining fundamentalist Cult of the CultofPersonality, but I'd rather just laugh at it.

Big Mike said...

Fake news? What fake news? You mean that little girl on the cover of Time who, it turns out, was not separated from her parents? That’s not really fake because shut up, you racist!

There was a day when Time editors and fact checkers would have caught the gaffe. Today, they’re too dumb to even recognize that they’ve committed a gaffe.

Fabi said...

"I do understand quite well that Trump fans' unshakable presumption is that it is all just further proof of Trump's amazing communicative genius. Even without clear evidence to support it."

He communicated himself right into the Oval Office. That's all the evidence a rational person would need to support it.

William said...

I wonder if dinosaurs taste like chicken. If so, this is something for KFC to look into. There could be economies of scale in raising a brontosaurus. Also it would be more humane to raise and kill just one brontosaurus than all those thousands of chickens. Preparing fried brontosaurus might have a negative environmental impact, however.

Anonymous said...

Mike: "And how can anyone claim a Trump "cult of personality" without pointing to any evidence?"

People aren't having angst-attacks about things I have scientifically verified to be strategically or tactically non-effective or counter-productive. Worse yet, some of them are laughing at things I have also scientifically verified to be obscure, inexplicable, and therefore *not funny*.

What more evidence do you need?

William said...

I didn't see the most recent Jurassic, but the last one was okay. Chris Pratt is likable and low key, but the real stars were, as always, the dinosaurs. As time goes by, their performances have become more subtle and nuanced. I will see this newest one. I think this might be the break out role for the raptors. The tyrannosaurus has gotten too much screen time in the past.

Big Mike said...

When my son was young the wife and I ran into a Washington-area paleontologist who, for a fee, would take a group of chaperoned kids out on a dig where they were guaranteed to find fossil shark teeth and other fossils. The kids will never forget their “dinosaur hunt” party!

Chuck said...

Mike said...
"Which is nearly the definition of a 'Cult of the Personality.'"

Interesting and incoherent take, Chuckles. Did the slobbering admiration for Obama extending his middle finger to people he doesn't like excite you this much too? Boy that was a subtle and smart (and repetitive) move from the "communication genius" that was The Lightworker. And how can anyone claim a Trump "cult of personality" without pointing to any evidence?

Are people in the media framing Trump in photos to produce a "halo" around him? Did he claim the ability to stop the rise of the oceans? Are their staged fainting spells where Trump revives worshippers in the attendance? Is his wife saying that he will demand commitment from you, that he can redeem you? Did Trump quote Obama and say that "we are the ones we've been waiting for"? Are there children being forced to sing praises to him, songs that are repeated endlessly on all the major networks without irony? Did he win a NObel peace prize without even doing anything yet?

Where's the cult of Trump, in light of the overwhelming evidence of the Cult of Obama?


Fuck off, Mike. Really; tell your Obama stories to somebody who cares or who cared about Obama. I never voted for him. Maybe Althouse wants to defend the Obama end of things, I don't know. She voted for Obama. I didn't, and I know that I don't care to engage in any defense of him.

But just imagine what Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity would be saying, if Michelle Obama had worn the same jacket when she made a visit to someplace like West Point or Annapolis or Joint Base Andrews or a police academy or ICE or the DEA. Their thick skulls would have exploded.

Mind you, I am not defending anything that Michelle Obama did or said. I've never written a kind word about her as far as I can recall. But I am grinding, on the stupid propaganda of the Trumpist Media World.

Big Mike said...

Again, I am not going to waste my time trying to figure out an explanation that is interesting, helpful to Trump or which otherwise demonstrates Trump's Master Persuader abilities.

Well, Hell, Chuck, you wouldn’t “waste your time” applauding something the man did if he cured cancer.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

So you cannot identify any actions consistent with a "Cult of Personality" around Trump? Thanks. I thought not.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Looking for facts Chuckie. Just the facts. Where's the celebration of Trump as lightworker? Where's the hagiography that every Dem president gets as routine? You got nothing except your empty assertions backed up by a discordant personality disorder. Same old LLR.

Unexpectedly!

narciso said...

Michelle got adoring press, mao consort had to threaten death to demand, not nearly the same thing

Fabi said...

"Trumpist Media World"

If "Department of Black People" Chuck didn't exist we'd have to invent him.

Infinite Monkeys said...

You can "get it" and still view it as dumb..without being a "hater".

That's not disagreeing with me. I said I've resisted thinking of it as an intelligence test. Many of Trump's trolling comments are "dumb" in the way that most internet trolling is.

I just can't figure out why some people don't get it - the ones who take everything he says literally. I know all of those people can't be that stupid, so the only other option I could think of was that they see hate because they feel hate. It's the same way liars think everyone is lying to them and thieves think everyone is out to steal from them. If you have a better explanation of why there are so many "OMG, did you hear what he said?" comments about Trump all of the time, I'm open to other ideas. (It's probably all political theater, but that's so tiresome. At least Trump is interesting and original. The reactions to him are too predictable.)

Chuck said...

Fabi said...
"Trumpist Media World"

If "Department of Black People" Chuck didn't exist we'd have to invent him.


My record on race is that (a) I've never been sued by the United States of American for racial discrimination in housing, and (b) I've never said that "I don't want black people counting my money. I want little guys in yarmulkes counting my money."

If a hypothetical Republican primary featured only Donald Trump and Dr. Ben Carson, I'd vote for Carson. Carson, in my view, was a really great doctor. Not, as Trump said, a merely "OK doctor."

Seeing Red said...

Trump has a plan to reorganize the USG.

That will be a fun thread!

Chuck said...

Mike said...
Looking for facts Chuckie. Just the facts. Where's the celebration of Trump as lightworker?...


Every weekday on the Excellence in Broadcasting network.

And every weeknight on the Fox News Channel after 7pm.

And at all hours, on the Althouse blog.

Fabi said...

I was a boatswain on the SS Sea Cuck and all I got was this humiliating monomania.

narciso said...

Yes and everywhere else without fail, it's the two minute hate or derision, everywhere else from tmz to time magazine. And there is scarcely a difference between the two.

walter said...

"while studies have shown that the most common intense interest is vehicles — planes, trains, and cars — the next most popular, by a wide margin, is dinosaurs.."
--
Methinks it plays into "monsters"..i.e. mastery/taming of them.
Primarily for girls, this becomes horse infatuation.

Anonymous said...

Mike: So you cannot identify any actions consistent with a "Cult of Personality" around Trump? Thanks. I thought not.

As I mentioned on a previous thread, these words and phrase are regularly recycled. There was a time before the election when the "Trump Cult of Personality" was greatly in vogue, always on the typing fingers of every lefty and NeverTrumper. Then it petered out. I guess because it wasn't having the magical effect they hoped it would have, and perhaps partly because the more astute of its wielders grasped that it was more likely to evoke Stalin than Hitler, which wasn't really the effect they were after.

Remember when they were all-in with "whataboutism"? It had a very brief circulation. I even recall a few lefties showing up here and trying that one on with a great flourish, only to skulk away in embarrassment when even they realized that brandishing the magic word "whataboutism", in the belief that it would render their enemies powerless to ever again point out their hypocrisies and bad faith, was really pretty damned retarded. (Like CultOfPersonality, it also had the unfortunate property of connoting commies rather than Nazis, which, you know...)

I have spotted here and there a few dogged if slow-on-the-uptake lefties still attempting to flog the elusive juju out of "whataboutism". But CultOfPersonality seems to have found a permanent place in the seasonal recycling order.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

There are some things that don’t launch over any heads at all because they aren’t meant to. Some things are exactly what they are and are as blatant as any in your face insult. There are those people who cultishly worship an unworthy someone, so much so that they constantly want to believe there is another reason for something ugly that that person has done, a better reason, a smarter reason, a kinder reason, but no, some things are just plain mean, hateful and in your face.

Anne in Rockwall, TX said...

walter said...
"while studies have shown that the most common intense interest is vehicles — planes, trains, and cars — the next most popular, by a wide margin, is dinosaurs.."
--
Methinks it plays into "monsters"..i.e. mastery/taming of them.
Primarily for girls, this becomes horse infatuation.

Wouldn't surprise me. I'm a horse nut as well.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

So you've got nothing. Every progressive with a Twitter account calls out Faux News and the LLRs have never liked Rush. What a fucking surprise. Chuck "unexpectedly" quotes Maddow and retard Todd again.

And it's false. These people do criticize Trump, but you don't hear it because you're watching MSNBC and not Fox. There is no widespread ADORATION of Trump. No cult. No praise. Just some favorable press, and that gets Chuckie's and Rachel's hackles up. Did you cry like her this week too, Chuck?

Unexpectedly.

Oh and what channel was the late great Charles K on when he called Trump a "rodeo clown"? Yes. Yes it was on Fox.

Unexpectedly.

Chuck said...

narciso said...
Yes and everywhere else without fail, it's the two minute hate or derision, everywhere else from tmz to time magazine. And there is scarcely a difference between the two.


Trump might be a little less isolated in the media landscape if he weren't such an asshole. He might've gotten more support, from the Wall Street Journal, from the Weekly Standard and National Review, etc.

Otherwise it is the same old/same old business of mainstream media being biased against Republicans. Dog bites man. It's a lot better to be able to fight that narrative with people of intellect, decency and honesty. Trump has made "deplorable" his literal mission statement.

Anonymous said...

Chuck:
Mike said...
"Looking for facts Chuckie. Just the facts. Where's the celebration of Trump as lightworker?..."


Every weekday on the Excellence in Broadcasting network.

And every weeknight on the Fox News Channel after 7pm.

And at all hours, on the Althouse blog.


So still no concrete examples. I'm open to persuasion, Chuck. I've never seen anyone on this blog do what you're claiming*, but I don't listen to Rush or watch tee-vee news, so maybe you're right about them. But in that case you ought to be able to present concrete examples, not just nebulous claims. Mike gave concrete examples of idiotic Obama culti-ness. And try to do better than "X doesn't disagree with or disapprove of Trump when I do."


*Hint: "GEOTUS" is a joke. "Lightworker" was not. I know you have difficulty with jokes, so hth.

Chuck said...


Oh and what channel was the late great Charles K on when he called Trump a "rodeo clown"? Yes. Yes it was on Fox.


Charles said that on "Special Report with Bret Baier." Before 7pm. Like I said. Not all of FNC is retarded. Just the most-Hannity parts.

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2015/07/06/krauthammer_on_trump_we_have_the_best_republican_field_in_35_years_and_were_talking_about_this_rodeo_clown.html

walter said...

John Kasich* and David Brooks 2020: "Bend Over now!"
* His dad worked for the post office, btw.

Fabi said...

"He might've gotten more support, from the Wall Street Journal, from the Weekly Standard and National Review, etc."

Too bad he didn't need those cucks to be elected president. That has to sting.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

Some signs you’re thinking like someone in a cult.

Opposing critical thinking
Isolating members and penalizing them for leaving
Seeking inappropriate loyalty to their leaders
Dishonoring the family unit

Yancey Ward said...

I thought the jacket was a deliberate provocation to stir the media into a hate fest. And it worked...."unexpectedly".

The media just don't get it- they are literally making themselves out as fools.

Fabi said...

"Opposing critical thinking"
(Global warming scam)
"Isolating members and penalizing them for leaving"
(How democrats treat blacks)
"Seeking inappropriate loyalty to their leaders"
(Movie stars pledging fealty to Obama)
"Dishonoring the family unit"
("The Great Society" destroyed families)

narciso said...

Now my perspective is my parents came legally, they had to wait between 5 and 11 years to get a visa, t hats what it's like in a communist country

Ann Althouse said...

Althouse, you seem to want to believe in some higher meta-meaning to the jacket. You put up President Trump's Tweet, but not the preceding statement from..."

I linked to yesterday's post and called it more detailed. Maybe read it before telling me I should have done something else. Jeez. So annoying!!

walter said...

narciso,
I continue to think the Repubs should put way more emphasis on the "fairness" of fully enforcing immigration so as to honor those around the world doing it the right way. The only faces the news shows are those at the border.
Do that..and highlight Mexico's irresponsibility/humanitarian fail...as well as the pathetic UN.

narciso said...

That may be true, how many on our side even know this in journalism, I wouldn't want to live in Mexico, at this time or probably in the last five years, 'the groom on the wedding cake' has made things immeasurably worse, in part because he was a hack elected with cartel money who then broke the agreement

Seeing Red said...

Opposing critical thinking
Isolating members and penalizing them for leaving
Seeking inappropriate loyalty to their leaders
Dishonoring the family unit

We were sick of the halo’d most transparent and scandal-free administration in history. And how can we forget the children singing Obama’s praises.

Look in the mirror.

Achilles said...

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...
Carol said...
The meaning of Melania's message isn't really obvious on its face. In context it seems to refer more to the family separation brouhaha. But that's not right, either, because that's too callous. But if she needs hubby to explain, well...fail..

Trump's tweet is the usual oblivious post hoc BS, but there is something deeply dysfunctional there. Melania was the only member of the oligarch's family with a positive public rating. To burn that for no good purpose suggests that things are running even less smoothly that appearances might suggest.


It is hard to believe someone could post something so fucking stupid.

Achilles said...

Chuck said...
Bob Boyd said...
I think Melania, like her husband, is a lot smarter and more subtle than the high and mighty media mob gives her credit for.


So very subtle, in this case, that no one is sure what it all means.

Pathetic.

Everyone knows exactly what she meant. There is no other rational interpretation.


But you leftist shitheads refuse to admit that:

1. She is smarter than you are.
2. She sees right through you.

Achilles said...

nga said...
Some signs you’re thinking like someone in a cult.

Opposing critical thinking
Isolating members and penalizing them for leaving
Seeking inappropriate loyalty to their leaders
Dishonoring the family unit



Says the amoral soulless idiot who just started caring about kids at the border a week ago because she was told to.

walter said...

Focus group testing has prompted a revision to the Kasich/Brooks campaign slogan.
It is..
"Bend over. Together."
Fortunately, the banners and buttons were not finalized.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Opposing critical thinking
When you have to modify an action with "critical" and you aren't providing medical care, you might be misusing language on purpose (i.e. see "critical theory"). In my experience progressives always oppose thinking in favor of emoting. That's what this week's media shitshow was all about, "B-b-but look at the crying children!" But DON'T think about when it started and why, and how bad it was under the lightworker.

Isolating members and penalizing them for leaving
Can't do better than Fabi in pointing out this is exactly what progressives do with their hive mind and twitter storms. When Roseanne hated Bush she was a goddess to the Left, when she mildly praised Trump and harshly criticized Hillary Roseanne suddenly became persona non grata in Hollywood. What example do you have of conservatives doing this?

Seeking inappropriate loyalty to their leaders
Nothing says "loyalty" like the president pronouncing you innocent before any investigation and having the FBI director and others calling you "President" before the election ever happens and then going super-soft in the interview to make sure you pass your "mid-year exam." Again, please provide an example of conservatives doing this.

Dishonoring the family unit
WTF are you even bleating about here?


Achilles said...

Time magazine cover girl was never separated from her mother.


Mom left husband and 3 other kids at home to sneak into the US.

Paid 6k dollars to a coyote.

Was never separated from her daughter.


Everything the left is talking about right now is a lie.

Seeing Red said...

Progs goals are to dishonor the family unit. Break it down and they’ve done a magnificent job.

Look in the mirror Inga.

Ralph L said...

kids out on a dig where they were guaranteed to find fossil shark teeth and other fossils.

We did this at a construction site in Charleston SC. Don't tell me now that there's no Santa.
It freaked me out that the ocean had been miles inland.
A few years later we helped at the site of one of the Civil War forts protecting DC on the ridge of Alexandria VA. Somewhere I've still got a box of colored glass bottle and china pieces. Thankfully, no one said they were probably from a privy.

Chuck said...

Seeing Red said...
Progs goals are to dishonor the family unit. Break it down and they’ve done a magnificent job.


Ivana Trump and Marla Maples could not be reached for comment.

Achilles said...

Chuck said...
Seeing Red said...
Progs goals are to dishonor the family unit. Break it down and they’ve done a magnificent job.


Ivana Trump and Marla Maples could not be reached for comment.

Says the guy who supported Bill and Hillary Clinton.

Chuck said...

Ann Althouse said...
Althouse, you seem to want to believe in some higher meta-meaning to the jacket. You put up President Trump's Tweet, but not the preceding statement from..."

I linked to yesterday's post and called it more detailed. Maybe read it before telling me I should have done something else. Jeez. So annoying!!


You're 100% right, Althouse. My apologies.

And yet, even in yesterday's post, you never came to grips with the bland inconsistency in Melania's spokesperson saying that there was no meaning to the jacket, and she wishes that everybody would just focus on the trip that day, and President Trump saying that the jacket was loaded with meeting on a topic entirely different from the First Lady's mission of the day.

You had nothing more than any of your commenters, which was, and I quote; "I assume..."

Bill Peschel said...

kids out on a dig where they were guaranteed to find fossil shark teeth and other fossils.

East of Hershey is a pit in a small state park where you can find trilobite fossils. I took the kids there years ago to hunt for them. Great days.

Let's see, after the Time magazine fiasco, today's Fake News from the media is the Associated Press report about the abuse of immigrant children in a Georgia care facility.

Now, the abuse was real and should be investigated. Trouble is, the AP reporters left out the fact that it occurred during the Obama administration. But they mentioned Trump four times in the story, giving the impression that he was responsible.

Then they did a stealth edit to insert Obama's name, but the damage was done, like the leftist ACLU official tweeting that "Trump administration officials should be held accountable" for something that happened during the Obama administration.

I worked on the newspaper copy desk for nearly 20 years. I've read a lot of news stories during that time, and I can tell you that the AP manipulates the news depending on who is in power. This is just the latest example.

Achilles said...

Chuck said...
Mike said...
Looking for facts Chuckie. Just the facts. Where's the celebration of Trump as lightworker?...


Every weekday on the Excellence in Broadcasting network.

And every weeknight on the Fox News Channel after 7pm.

And at all hours, on the Althouse blog.



It is weird.

A Republican is president and he is amazingly successful at pushing forward the policies his voters want.

And his voters support him.

Mystifying.

Meanwhile Chuck's favorite republican is betraying republican voters

Funny how there are a bunch of republican traitors and republican voters hate them.

Also mystifying.

walter said...

Well Bill..they certainly couldn't blame Bush..what with Laura's tears on board.

walter said...

Achilles said...Mom left husband and 3 other kids at home to sneak into the US.
--
If you look at that doc Inga posted regarding Shiloh facility, there was a boy who came up from Central America unaccompanied and due to suicide risk was in and out of psych ward, given meds etc..while awaiting to be reunited with his mother.
Maybe a similar story.
Public sentiment is seeming to realize parents kinda have a role in this mess.
Even Glen Beck is refraining from making a teddy bear run.

Achilles said...

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...
Marie Antoinette didn't care either.


Do you think ARM is stupid enough to believe he and the progressives would be the Jacobins?


Quaestor said...

Marie Antoinette didn't care either.

ARM, wannabe murderer. Unrepentant coward.

Anonymous said...

Chuck: Trump might be a little less isolated in the media landscape if he weren't such an asshole. He might've gotten more support, from the Wall Street Journal, from the Weekly Standard and National Review, etc.

Trump can (could have) gain(ed) the (hypothetical) support of the WSJ, the Weekly Standard, and National Review by losing the (real) votes of the people who put him in office.

That this fundamental feature of the electoral landscape *still* seems to elude your understanding is astonishing. Even to those who know and love our Chuckles and his devotion to cult of the GOPe.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

The number of unrepentant royalists in our midst is surprising and one more indicator that we have reached late stage democracy.

Chuck said...

Achilles said...
"Chuck said...
'Seeing Red said...
Progs goals are to dishonor the family unit. Break it down and they’ve done a magnificent job.'


"Ivana Trump and Marla Maples could not be reached for comment."

Says the guy who supported Bill and Hillary Clinton.

But I didn't! I didn't support either one, not ever! I had two chances to vote for Bill Clinton, and never did. I had the chance to vote for Hillary Clinton, and never did. I voted for Republicans in every one of those elections.

So you haven't got that on me. Run that one by some Democrats, if that is what you wish to do.

Chuck said...

Achilles: I read that story on McCain's Chief of Staff. I think I understand it differently from you.

The way that I read it, McCain and his chief of staff were interested in furthering the aims of McCain-Feingold (a law that I hated; a law that gave rise to what I have called the greatest Senate floor speech in 20 years, Mitch McConnell's "You're lookin' at the plaintiff" speech).

The story does not say that McCain or his chief of staff proposed or had anything to do with the targeting of conservative groups. I think McCain and his staff just hated all 527's. They didn't want to target conservative or Tea Party 527's to the exclusion of all others.

This is a broad area of disagreement between me and McCain. Always has been and always will be. But nothing in that article supports that McCain was in on the specific targeting of conservative 527's. And nothing to support that they were conspiring with Lois Lerner to single out conservative groups.

Think of what a different story it would have been, if Lois Lerner had targeted dozens of liberal 527's alongside the Tea Party groups.

Wince said...

You're all wrong!

Kids like the idea of a helpless human being screaming, half in the dinosaur's mouth, being eaten alive.

Here's the fat, bald white guy too slow to run climbing a tree and getting eaten by a "vegetarian" brontosaurus in King Kong.

Here's the T-Rex eating the lawyer on the toilet.

Pookie Number 2 said...

But nothing in that article supports that McCain was in on the specific targeting of conservative 527's.

We all get that integrity is so foreign to Chuck as to be unrecognizable, but this is a legitimate abuse of power by McCain, which honest people understand to be worse than Trump disagreeing with Melania’s spokesperson about what her coat means.

Another example of Trump’s moral superiority to Chuck. Profane bluster in 3...2...

Achilles said...

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...
The number of unrepentant royalists in our midst is surprising and one more indicator that we have reached late stage democracy.


That would be anyone supporting the Mueller investigation and the FBI despite their obvious criminality.

Pookie Number 2 said...

The number of unrepentant royalists in our midst is surprising and one more indicator that we have reached late stage democracy.

Tough to make that argument when Evita was your party’s last presidential candidate.

Quaestor said...

Researchers don’t know exactly what sparks them...

Of course, they don't. Any "researcher" who attempts to generalize the appeal of something of this nature is bound to be frustrated and unpublished. Children are individuals just like anybody else.

In my case growing up next door to a paleontologist, a paleopathologist to be exact helped immensely. When I was but six years old Dr. Casanova gave me a complete fossil of a Bobbichthys sp., an extinct teleost fish, from the Upper Jurassic preserved in Solnhofen limestone, the very formation that contained the type specimen of Archaeopteryx lithographica. I also received a small bronze paperweight in the form of a mosasaur. I was so transported by the experience of actually owning a fossil more than 145 million years old, that I announced my ambition to become a paleontologist. I would have made it, too, except for may miserable abilities as a biological illustrator. 3-hour labs took me 5 hours to complete because my drawings were so pathetically inept. And there was no way around it. Until fairly recently one was required to illustrate everything, every little bit and fragment of bone or tooth material you unearthed. If you couldn't do it you were sunk. Another problem was money. At the time the money was in oil exploration, not dinosaurs,

Achilles said...

McCain refuses to apologize for calling the Tea Party hobbits.

Wacko birds


McCain has clearly hated anyone who represented actual republican voters.

He always had something nice to say about Hillary and Obama.

McCain clearly wanted Tea Party groups destroyed and so did his staff. He has always bee n a democrat in reality.

Now it is official.

Quaestor said...

The number of unrepentant royalists in our midst is surprising...

The number is at least one, and he looks you in the eye each morning, ARM. You are, after all, a supporter of the Clinton dynasty.

You're scum, ARM. There's no way back without contrition for your hateful, murderous musings.

Birkel said...

Chuck, fopdoodle extraordinaire, is still pretending the Wall Street Journal is a conservative publication. Yeah, that's right. Chuck wants people to believe the journalistic home of Fusion GPS founder Glenn Simpson is somehow conservative. Fusion GPS, the Leftist propaganda outfit that hired half a dozen other WSJ reporters, is Chuck's go-to conservative bastion.

Meanwhile, John McCain wanted the IRS to hound conservative voters and groups.

McCain-Feingold should be repealed if Republicans hold the House and Senate next year.

Howard said...

Kids like dinosaurs because they were monsters and were real. You don't need a weatherman to tell which way the wind blows.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

Seeing Red said...

Insty has an article that scientists want to turn chickens into dinosaurs."

Damn, now I'm going to have nightmares about being chased down the street by a gigantic Rhode Island Red. On the flip side, you could feed scores of homeless with just one 3 egg omelet.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

"Kids like the idea of a helpless human being screaming, half in the dinosaur's mouth, being eaten alive."

Only if it's your 4th grade math teacher.

Birkel said...

exiledonmainstreet:

Well, I say, uh, well, I say you may indeed be chased down the street.
--Foghorn Monsterosaurus Leghorn

Jim at said...

Marie Antoinette didn't care either. - ARM

The left owns the institutions, Hollywood, the culture, the media and pretty much everything that has to do with the current establishment and ARM thinks they're the ones who are going to be manning the guillotines.

You really don't get it, do you?

Quaestor said...

In my case growing up next door to a paleontologist, a paleopathologist to be exact helped immensely.

It took awhile for me to notice, but the semi-literate bot known as Safari spontaneously changed the important and well-established discipline known as paleoichthyology to paleopathology. The sentence should read thus: In my case growing up next door to a paleontologist, a paleoichthyologist to be exact helped immensely.

The late Stephen Hawking spent his last decade freaked out about AI, however, not having much use of his hands prevented him from "enjoying" the iPad experience, complete with its easily-bamboozled "artificial intelligence" (i.e. an indirect way of implying genuine stupidity).

Seeing Red said...

Oh, Chuckster, that divorce bar was already lowered by the time Ivana rolled around. Who pushed divorce, hmmm?

Fritz said...

Blogger Big Mike said...
When my son was young the wife and I ran into a Washington-area paleontologist who, for a fee, would take a group of chaperoned kids out on a dig where they were guaranteed to find fossil shark teeth and other fossils. The kids will never forget their “dinosaur hunt” party!


We live on the shore of the Chesapeake near Calvert Cliffs. We routinely walk the dog on the beach and pick up sharks teeth and other fossils. About 2000 a year. Any time you want to come down and look, gimme a holler.

Achilles said...

Trump's policies are actually pretty popular.


The left knows how popular open borders are.

That is why they are acting like deranged animals.

He is rolling out the Angel Mom's now. Mom's who have been permanently separated from their children by open borders immigration policy.

Gahrie said...

Trump might be a little less isolated in the media landscape if he weren't such an asshole.


No he wouldn't, because he would still be a Republican. It doesn't matter who the president is, just his party. They would be treating the racist, homophobic, sexist, NAZI, bully, cult member Mitt Romney exactly the same way.

FIDO said...

What is the polling for trust in the media again?

"News organization 'accidently' accuses Trump's two week wonder of manslaughter. 'Unsure' how they could make that mistake."

When the media polls WORSE than Trump, it is interesting to see them feel they have the moral authority to throw stones and they are shocked SHOCKED when people don't believe them.

Hmm!

rehajm said...

It doesn't matter who the president is, just his party.

Yep.

Bad Lieutenant said...


Pookie Number 2 said...
But nothing in that article supports that McCain was in on the specific targeting of conservative 527's.

We all get that integrity is so foreign to Chuck as to be unrecognizable, but this is a legitimate abuse of power by McCain, which honest people understand to be worse than Trump disagreeing with Melania’s spokesperson about what her coat means.

Another example of Trump’s moral superiority to Chuck. Profane bluster in 3...2...

6/22/18, 1:52 PM


Chuck, are you wealthy? Quite rich?

Because you are not only a whore, but the greatest whore in all the land.

So, I figure you'd make a lot of money.