Althouse: Do you give a damn who Maria Shriver endorses?

February 4, 2008

Do you give a damn who Maria Shriver endorses?

I consider this the most boring news in the world. Because first ladies are insubstantial figureheads.

Hmmmmm.....

79 comments:

Bob said...: She and Arnie cancel out each other's votes. I imagine that happens a lot all around the US.; 2/4/08, 9:38 AM
Synova said...: They've got kids, right?

So we'll have to wait and see which parent's politics dominate.; 2/4/08, 9:48 AM
Hoosier Daddy said...: She and Arnie cancel out each other's votes.

Well considering Cali-For-Nyuh is pretty much a given for the Democrats anyway, Arnie can just hang out at Gold's for as much good his vote will do.; 2/4/08, 9:48 AM
Anonymous said...: It's just some slight additional indication that Guvna Ahnul might not be, you know, like, an actual Republican - and what that says about his endorsement of McCain. OK, so it's a stretch.; 2/4/08, 9:49 AM
Anonymous said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 2/4/08, 9:51 AM
Roger J. said...: No--and furthermore I don't particulary care who endorses whom--The endorsement of the Culinary Workers didn't help Sen Obama in Nevada.; 2/4/08, 10:02 AM
Meade said...: Not even a tinker's damn.; 2/4/08, 10:07 AM
MadisonMan said...: From the linked article: "The drama of it all was just delicious," said USC political analyst Sherry Bebitch Jeffe.

People actually say things like that?. So someone gives a damn, but I sure don't.; 2/4/08, 10:17 AM
Maxine Weiss said...: Was it worth it? ---These weekends that are being frittered away...

What is your legitimate explanation for spending the weekend in Wisconson, when you've got perfectly adequate digs in New York ???

What are these pressing obligations that send you racing back to Wisconson every single weekend ?

There's a whole weekend world in New York, that you are squandering because you insist on making these nonsense forays back to Wisconson each weekend.

New York weekends can be a blast, if you'd let it.

Love the one you're with.; 2/4/08, 10:20 AM
Balfegor said...: Figureheads schmigureheads -- she's a Kennedy.

I think its interesting to the Kennedy family (including Kennedy women--except Kathleen Kennedy Townsend) endorsing Obama storyline.

I think, strategically, they see him as a way to rejuvenate their public image. Literally. Because their primary public representative today is a bloated old man, Edward Kennedy. If they can appropriate Obama as the second-coming of Kennedy, the Kennedy name can be young and hip again. Kind of.

The Clintons cannot provide young or hip. Clinton I might have provided a little bit of the hip, with his saxophone and all, but he also was a dirty old man and sexually incontinent, and that hits somewhat close to home for the Kennedy clan.

Clinton II, on the other hand, is like the antithesis of hip. She has negative cool. One imagines her as a class monitor. Or the 風紀委員長 (fuukiiinchou -- classroom morality censor).; 2/4/08, 10:26 AM
rhhardin said...: McCain blew up at Shriver March 8 2000 . Maybe there will be a repeat.

From MRC; 2/4/08, 10:31 AM
Meade said...: "fuukiiinchou "

Yeah, well, chou too, buddy.; 2/4/08, 10:34 AM
Balfegor said...: Yeah, well, chou too, buddy.

Hey, I can't help it if my brain has been rotted out by Japanese school dramas.; 2/4/08, 10:37 AM
AllenS said...: When this news was first on the internets (I think it was Drudge) there was a picture of Maria and her face was really gaunt. Does Arnold have her on half rations?; 2/4/08, 10:38 AM
Trooper York said...: She just has a horse face, just like her mom. Eunice even dated Alan Young back in the sixties. Of course, of course.; 2/4/08, 10:47 AM
I'm Full of Soup said...: Anyone else think the Kennedy family experience says something about the diminishing returns of dynastic families and perhaps even the pros and cons of an estate tax?

The Kennedy offspring (Maria's generation) have been fairly ordinary in terms of real achievment after you discount for the advantages (wealth, education, privilege, etc) they each started with.; 2/4/08, 10:50 AM
Brian Doyle said...: Maybe the only thing I care less about is what you think about Maria Shriver's endorsement.

Flaky wingnut hacks shouldn't accuse others of being "insubstantial."; 2/4/08, 10:50 AM
I'm Full of Soup said...: Here is one quote from Schriver's endorsement:

"I thought, if Barack Obama was a state, he'd be California," Shriver said as the crowd of thousands roared in a chorus that rose as she ticked off each attribute: "Diverse. Open. Smart. Independent. Bucks tradition. Innovative. Inspirational. Dreamer. Leader."

Is it me or is there nothing substantive there? What are Obama's dreams and visions other than way liberal and way bigger government to pay for his way liberal ideas? Most of Ann's visitors went to college, paid for it somehow and some way.

Obama says he will give that to everyone! How and why should we do that?; 2/4/08, 10:57 AM
former law student said...: I can't wait for Trooper any longer.

MOTHER ABBESS (Hillary Clinton): How do you solve a problem like Maria?
How do you catch a cloud and pin it down?
How do you find a word that means Maria?
A flibbertijibbet!
A will-o'-the wisp!
A clown!; 2/4/08, 11:03 AM
Anonymous said...: Yes, shes is an insubstantial figurehead who has been telling her husband how to run the state of California for the past five years now.; 2/4/08, 11:06 AM
MadisonMan said...: doyle, probably even more people couldn't care less that you couldn't care less about althouse not being able to care less about Shriver endorsing Obama.

Someone should set that sentence to music.; 2/4/08, 11:06 AM
ricpic said...: It's not just a horse face. Shriver's face is so angular that it's painful to look at. But whaddaIknow? maybe that jaw structure is the result of decades of talking like a Smith girl. Or is it a Brynmawr girl? Or too much inbreeding. There is such a thing as too much inbreeding, ya know. But mater says not to worry. And pater concurs.; 2/4/08, 11:09 AM
George M. Spencer said...: Former NBC correspondent....reasonably heavy hitter in NY publishing (six books, some for children helping them understand death and dementia)...that plus her family name....means something, sure.

I still want to know who Julie and Tricia are for. Ron Reagan, too....

The most ridiculous piece about Kennedy fever has to be Jonathan Alter's breathless behind-the-scenes essay about how Caroline Kennedy arrived at her momentous decision. Runner-up was historian Robert Dallek's recent gushgush op-ed about Obama. Those guys are on the payroll.; 2/4/08, 11:11 AM
DADvocate said...: Doyle doesn't get the obvious humor.

I couldn't care less about any of the endorsements.; 2/4/08, 11:12 AM
Trooper York said...: Last night, as I got home, about a half past ten
There was the woman I thought I knew in the arms of a black man.
I kept my cool, I ain't no fool. Let me tell ya what happened then.
I packed some clothes and I walked out ..and I ain't goin' back again.

So take a letter Maria..address it to my loser wife
Say I won't be coming home.don’t want to face a losing wife
Oh Take a letter Maria..address it to my loser wife
Send a copy to my lawyer..gotta start a new life

You've been many things but most of all a good supporter to me
And it's time like this I feel, you've families always been close to me
Was I wrong to work nights, to try to build a great party,
All work, and no play has just cost me a chance at new hotties.

Chorus
So take a letter Maria..address it to my loser wife
Say I won't be coming home.don’t want to face a losing wife
Oh Take a letter Maria..address it to my loser wife
Send a copy to my lawyer..gotta start a new life

When a man loves a party, it's hard to understand
That she would find pleasure in the arms of some other black man
I never really noticed, how sweet you are to me
It just so happens I'm free tonight, would you like to have dinner with me?

So take a letter Maria..address it to my loser wife
Say I won't be coming home..gonna start a new life
Ohhhh, Take a letter Maria..address it to my loser wife
Send a copy to my lawyer..Gonna have a new life
Take a letter Maria..address it to my loser wife
Say I won't be coming home..fade out; 2/4/08, 11:13 AM
Maxine Weiss said...: I think it's gonna backfire. The Kennedy's are going to start turning the world off, with their smiles.

I keep thinking of Michael Skakel and Martha Moxley etc...the disgusting Skakel (Skank--el) family. Ethel's pigsty of a home she kept, Mary Jo, Judith Exner etc....the hiding behind the Catholic Church, with each new scandal....the good old days !

Trotting out the Kennedys can only lead to disaster. This family is obsolete and their really grasping at relevancy.

Big blunder.; 2/4/08, 11:24 AM
Dust Bunny Queen said...: "I thought, if Barack Obama was a state, he'd be California," Shriver said as the crowd of thousands roared in a chorus that rose as she ticked off each attribute: "Diverse. Open. Smart. Independent. Bucks tradition. Innovative. Inspirational. Dreamer. Leader."

I wonder what kind of a tree she thinks he is? What type of end table or car?

For the very first time....I agree with Maxine. I'm now worried about myself.; 2/4/08, 11:29 AM
Trooper York said...: Maria, I've just been dissed by a girl named Maria,
and suddenly the name will never be the same to me.
Maria! I've just kissed off by a girl named Maria.
And suddenly I've found how wonderful a sound Oswald can be.
Maria, say it loud and there's a music video playing.
Say it soft and it's almost like my husband straying,
Maria, I never will stop hating: "Maria!"
(Song running through Hillary’s head today); 2/4/08, 11:44 AM
Brian Doyle said...: Doyle doesn't get the obvious humor.

What, the reference to Hillary? Oh yeah that was way over my head. Ann can be so highbrow!; 2/4/08, 11:50 AM
Palladian said...: "Doyle doesn't get the obvious humor."

Goes without saying, really.; 2/4/08, 12:11 PM
Maxine Weiss said...: Althouse has less than 12 New York Weekends left.

Will she make the most of each and every one?

How many people would kill for a New York Weekend, with free lodging in the City. Well, not quite in the City, but not too far.

Of course, it takes energy and money to go out and do. Rent a car and just drive....

But, if you had a man in your life, he could take care of all those things.

This has been an eye-opening experience for us all.

We're all learning, first-hand, that a Single-Woman of a certain age doesn't have the ability to make the most of her time in New York.

You really do need a Man to help smooth the way, and make things easier.

As I've told you many times before....; 2/4/08, 12:21 PM
Dust Bunny Queen said...: "How many people would kill for a New York Weekend, with free lodging in the City"

You couldn't pay me enough to go there. Wild horses couldn't drag me into New York. If I won an all expenses paid trip to the best that New York could offer, I would give it away to some one else. Nothing personal about New York. I feel the same way about San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Pittsburg and every other "big" city.; 2/4/08, 12:38 PM
Trooper York said...: DBQ, the professor is in Brooklyn, not New York. It's the coolest. You would have a great time in the borough of churches. Family style. Lot's of big shot celebs are moving in to get a relaxed urban life style. They just go to Manhattan to croak.; 2/4/08, 12:42 PM
ricpic said...: A woman can't make it on her own,
Or so Maxine would tell us;
She's just a rag, without a bone
Or hank a' hair, sans fellas.; 2/4/08, 12:46 PM
Trooper York said...: But if she really liked to bone
She would not be always alone,
It’s just her harridan tone
That lends to sex on the phone.; 2/4/08, 12:58 PM
ricpic said...: Not That There's Anything Wrong With That

Brooklyn, borough of churches,
Long since has it lurched
Into hip hop king of boroughs,
Reina of chuchifritos.; 2/4/08, 1:02 PM
Anonymous said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 2/4/08, 1:05 PM
tituschelsea said...: I actually watched the campaign event with Maria.

Poor Stevie Wonder and Michelle Obama wiped out and fell off the stage.

Maria looked hot. She seems kind of wild with all that hair. She said she just came from some horse show with one of her kids and was wearing this very hot horse show outfit. She is definitely doable and for a women her age looks good.; 2/4/08, 1:05 PM
Trooper York said...: Boston,junior senator of lurch
And Teddy shame of my church
Into the midst campaign ventured
Hoping for new servant indentured.; 2/4/08, 1:11 PM
tituschelsea said...: DBQ, you would really give away an all expense paid trip to NYC?

Actually, there are quite a few cool things to see there. Museums, plays, etc.

Pittsburgh? I agree with you there. Same with LA which I think is gross.; 2/4/08, 1:15 PM
tituschelsea said...: I like to bone trooper.; 2/4/08, 1:16 PM
Roger J. said...: Titus: can Maria pass the quarter test? I thought that was your basic criterion.; 2/4/08, 1:17 PM
Trooper York said...: Now, now Titus don't make Palladian jealous. I bet Doyle is available.; 2/4/08, 1:23 PM
Maxine Weiss said...: ricpic: That's not what I said. She can make it on her own. The issue is whether she can make the MOST of what she has...

Of course she'll survive no matter what. She's been taking care of herself for a long time, now.

It's more a question of missed opportunities, and squandered gifts---repeatedly.

Look at the Christmas Fiasco. And, why do you think that whole thing happened? What message was the Universe trying to send Althouse with that?

Hint: She wasn't meant to be in Wisconson at Christmas time ! At least not at that time.

Who wouldn't want to spend Christmas in New York ? And, for the first time, ever, this past Christmas, New York had a white Christmas, too.

It almost never snows in New York on Christmas, but it did this past Christmas. And, where was Althouse?

Dithering in Wisconson.

Timing is everything, and having a Man around---a helpmate, to prod and nudge her into doing the right thing....would really help her make the most of these opportunities that won't continue to come her way forever.

Fondly,
Maxine; 2/4/08, 1:23 PM
KCFleming said...: Maria Shriver's extreme angularity means she is undetectable by radar, which makes her a stealth first lady.

So the endorsement will remain unnoticed, unless she starts strafing or something.; 2/4/08, 1:24 PM
tituschelsea said...: Maria's ass did look pretty big yesterday but not as big as Oprah's-woo-baby's got back. I think the quarter would get lost in both of their asses.

Michelle Obama seems to have a nice ass though. She was wearing white and that ass was tight, nice bubble, perky and ready.; 2/4/08, 1:25 PM
Trooper York said...: She doesn't strafe, her bony ass mainly chafes. Arnold, that is. Luckily his equipment has atrophyied due to steroid abuse. There's a lot of sharp angles on that bitch.; 2/4/08, 1:27 PM
tituschelsea said...: I guess I wouldn't call Maria Shriver pretty and agree she has a very angular face.

But I do think she is attractive. That head of hair is hot. The thought of her hair all over the place during sex is kind of hot.; 2/4/08, 1:28 PM
tituschelsea said...: I bet when she and Arnold do it it gets a little rough.

He probably slaps her around a bit (during sex) and she enjoys it.

I can see her on top too while her hair is flying all of the place telling him, "yes you can".; 2/4/08, 1:30 PM
ricpic said...: Pittsburgh has all those bridges,
Plus up hill down dale steep streets, too;
I love to treck around that town,
From on high river/angular views.; 2/4/08, 1:31 PM
tituschelsea said...: Trooper not all gays want to hook up with other gays. Doyle seems a little bitter.

Any time a straight friend of mine says he or she knows a gay guy they want to introduce to me they automatically assume that because we are both gay it is a match made in heaven. And when I meet the person it is always like what were they thinking.

Au contraire, this is something that breeders need to be aware of. Just because you know two different gay people does not mean that they will automatically hit it off.

You see we have types that we like just like the heteros.; 2/4/08, 1:35 PM
Trooper York said...: Pittsburgh has this great sandwich
Inside some greasy french fries,
I love to inhale two of those sum’bitchs
But wife sez it goes right to her thighs.; 2/4/08, 1:37 PM
garage mahal said...: Don't pay attention to that hot and successful Kennedy. Whatever she says is the most boring thing in the world.; 2/4/08, 1:38 PM
Trooper York said...: Well Kennedy kind of fell off the map since she got thrown off MTV. Plus her new glasses suck.; 2/4/08, 1:45 PM
Peter V. Bella said...: "Because first ladies are insubstantial figureheads."

I guess Hillary Clinton never got that message.; 2/4/08, 1:45 PM
tituschelsea said...: Here's the truth fellow republicans.

Gays don't like other gays. We are not a homogenous group even though we are homos. The bears don't like the muscleheads who don't like the drag queens who don't like the muscleheads; the twinks don't like the trolls; everyone hates the twinks and trolls and the intellectuals hate everyone; the leather queens hate the drags; the blacks, latinos, asians and whities are all separated.

Don't even get me started with the lezies which is drama central. You know the joke about what the lesbian brings to a date...a uhaul truck.

It is all very competitive and cut throat. Walking into a gay establishment is not for the faint at heart. There is so much dishing and tude flying around. Sound fun? No its not. And there is generally some big queen bitch fight at one of these establishments.; 2/4/08, 1:58 PM
ricpic said...: Titus, on the prowl for hog,
Was sidetracked by a cougar.
Just once to be a dom'nant dog!
Aooga-ooga-ooga!!; 2/4/08, 1:59 PM
J. Cricket said...: "first ladies are insubstantial figureheads"

Yeah right, A-House. A first lady would never end up, say, running for president.

Great insight, professor!!!; 2/4/08, 2:00 PM
blake said...: I guess Hillary Clinton never got that message.

Hey, I got 43 cents for a stamp.

Hell, I'll spring $12 for FedEx priority.; 2/4/08, 2:01 PM
Roger J. said...: Titus: I need to get you to share your experiences in the gay community at our next accountant's association branch meeting of the Young Republicans club (average age = 64). From there, perhaps the Rotary!; 2/4/08, 2:02 PM
Roger J. said...: "first ladies are insubstantial figureheads"

Yeah right, A-House. A first lady would never end up, say, running for president."

I rather thought A-house made the case pretty well--we could look at liberal economist Brad DeLong's critique of Ms. Clinton's foray into reforming health care for a second opinion, however--thats even less flattering.; 2/4/08, 2:05 PM
Trooper York said...: The first lady who was definitely not an insubstantial figure head was Dolly Madison. Her impressive bosom was the centerpiece of the figurehead that graced Admiral Bainbridge’s ship Relentless. Her particularly pointy breasts did in fact impale two Barbary Pirates during a cutting out expedition in Tripoli in 1801.
(Alfred Thayer Mahon, History of the United States Navy); 2/4/08, 2:11 PM
Ralph L said...: Actually, many of the millions of people who watched her TV show must have been hard-core Maria fans to enjoy watching that hatchett-faced hair-fountain every week, so the endorsement could have an effect. I'll bet most of her viewers were females of a certain age, too.; 2/4/08, 2:31 PM
Trooper York said...: In a curious circumstance, President Bill Clinton made headlines in Iceland. During a visit to the Viking museaum, the American president was visibly taken aback by the figure head on the long boat exhibit of the flagship of Olaf the Unlucky. As he began to sweat and shake, he pointed at the misshapen gorgon with the snake like hair and insanely demented eyes and said “Oh my god, it’s Hillary. She looks like that first thing in the morning. When she’s horny” No other human has lived long enough to confirm this account. Unfortunately the dairies of Vince Foster were destroyed during an Xeroxing mishap.
(Medusa’s and Gorgons, Figures of Fear Through Out the Ages, Thor Heyheideal); 2/4/08, 2:42 PM
Ralph L said...: Trooper, it's Mahan.
I thought her breasts were deployed against the British in 1814, but I learned all my history from Richard Armour.; 2/4/08, 2:43 PM
Trooper York said...: Ralph that was his disreputable cousin who wrote that book, he had a different spelling for his name, as he didn't want to be confused with his similarly named relative.
Her breasts were displayed on this ship long before she was first lady. No one knew that this was the future first lady. She was a nude scrim shaw model in Philadelphia to earn her way through finishing school before she snared James. Much as Hillary worked as a fish monger in her salad days. Allegedly.; 2/4/08, 2:54 PM
Hoosier Daddy said...: How many people would kill for a New York Weekend

I'd kill you for taking me there.; 2/4/08, 2:58 PM
Trooper York said...: Hoosier Daddy, if you come to New York, give me a call. I guarantee you will have a great time. Just bring lots of singles. And bail money.; 2/4/08, 3:04 PM
former law student said...: hatchett-faced hair-fountain
I have been to Steiermark, where Arnold was born and grew up. Based on the local standard of beauty, her facial bone structure would make her a very good-looking woman there.; 2/4/08, 3:15 PM
KCFleming said...: Swear to God, Trooper, I'm gonna find my way back to New York just to find out how much bail money I shoulda brought.; 2/4/08, 3:15 PM
Ralph L said...: fls, do you mean the Austrian girls were plump, or Maria is like them only more so?
I shouldn't rag on her, since my face has gotten bonier, but not bonnier, in my 40's, and my hair fountain dried up years ago.; 2/4/08, 3:32 PM
Balfegor said...: I rather thought A-house made the case pretty well--we could look at liberal economist Brad DeLong's critique of Ms. Clinton's foray into reforming health care for a second opinion, however--thats even less flattering.

Yes . . . but anecdotal evidence from her years in the Senate strongly suggests (at least to me) that she's managed to overcome a number of the traits that led to the health care debacle. You know -- has managed to develop decent working relationships with other senators, including Republicans, usw. On the other hand, though, every time she squawks that she wants universal healthcare, I do have to wonder whether she'll revert to form once she's back in power.; 2/4/08, 3:50 PM
Roger J. said...: Balfegor--I have heard that as well. If Ms. Clinton is elected, I hope that is true.; 2/4/08, 4:11 PM
hdhouse said...: well frankly if Michelle Obama ran for president she would get my vote and she is the best speaker out there..certainly the most sincere and well spoken.

What does it really say about our process if the spouse is the superior candidate to the person running for office?

I would vote for B. O. because he had the good sense, taste, and judgment to pick her as his wife.; 2/4/08, 5:42 PM
former law student said...: I mean Maria is like them only more so. The average woman there looks like Arnold, but with longer hair.; 2/4/08, 6:27 PM
blake said...: I think I'd have to go back to Betty Ford before I found a first lady I didn't prefer to her husband, HD.; 2/4/08, 6:30 PM
Trooper York said...: The last first lady figurehead was that of Lucretia Garfield who was depicted as a sea nymph on the bowsprit of the last new sailing ship commissioned by the United States Navy. The USS Monologue was launched in 1881 and a controversy ensued over the depiction of the first lady. The problem was with the artist who insisted that the figurehead be anatomically correct. The fly in the ointment was that Mrs. Garfield was infamous for actually having two vaginas. One was in the normal place but there was also a vestigial one on her left buttock. This lead to the snide canard that President Garfield got two for the price of one. This was a major scandal which eventually died down due to the sympathy for Mrs. Garfield after the assassination of her husband, who was killed on July 2, 1881 by a disappointed orifice seeker.
(Alfred Thayer Mahon, History of the United States Navy); 2/4/08, 7:02 PM
Cedarford said...: hdhouse said...
well frankly if Michelle Obama ran for president she would get my vote and she is the best speaker out there..certainly the most sincere and well spoken.
What does it really say about our process if the spouse is the superior candidate to the person running for office?

That's beyond stupid.

You would vote for some corporate lawyer bitch who has never held elective office, never been in the military or an executive postion of leadership ....to be President and Commander in Chief....

.....simply because she is black and talks well????

Jeez, Henhouse, does that mean you were rooting for Oprah before you watched Obama's wife talk?; 2/4/08, 7:30 PM
DADvocate said...: Obviously I was wrong. Doyle is humorless, period.; 2/4/08, 7:46 PM