Althouse: "Get me out of here. This is crazy. This is not funny, this is discrimination. This is abusive stuff going on here."

May 1, 2009

"Get me out of here. This is crazy. This is not funny, this is discrimination. This is abusive stuff going on here."

Paula Abdul stands up to Bruno.

24 comments:

traditionalguy said...: Paula is a winner. Even Bruno can't lure her in far enough into an alternate reality like he so easily does everyone else.; 5/1/09, 10:48 AM
SteveR said...: I don't mind him going after celebrities, etc. who can and should have handlers to keep their egos from falling into traps. Average folks who lack the experience or ability to deal with these scenarios is another issue.; 5/1/09, 10:52 AM
Anonymous said...: My only question is: how outlandish and irrational does your behavior have to be in order for Paula Abdul not to go there?; 5/1/09, 10:52 AM
Bissage said...: Paula Abdul stands up to Bruno.

Looks to me like she did nothing more than escape from an uncomfortable situation.

That’s more standing up for Paula than it is standing up to Bruno.

That makes her an ordinary everyday coward, at best.; 5/1/09, 11:26 AM
traditionalguy said...: Bissage... How is Paula a coward? She does well using her wits and moxie, while she still keeps her feminine charms available. Maybe I am off base, but I have always liked her.; 5/1/09, 11:33 AM
Ann Althouse said...: Cohen embarrasses his victims by tricking them into tolerating him too long.; 5/1/09, 11:33 AM
Bissage said...: FROM THE ARTICLE: Abdul said she had no idea it had been a set up until weeks later.

So she thought the abuse was real.

Did she intervene for good?

Did she tell Cohen off?

Did she report him afterwards?

Did she do anything afterwards to help the gardeners she thought were genuine victims?

No. She took no risk. She saved her own skin.

And then she woke up in a cold sweat weeks later and got others to turn the event into publicity.

I’m not saying she should be cast into the fiery depths of hell.

I’m saying she’s an ordinary everyday coward.

That’s nothing to celebrate, imho.; 5/1/09, 11:54 AM
Palladian said...: Someone, somehow needs to figure out how to embarrass the shit out of Cohen sometime.

I still don't understand the appeal. It just seems mean-spirited and revolting to me. How many times can someone do the same act?; 5/1/09, 12:21 PM
Smilin' Jack said...: Yeah, Cohen's shtick is played. He needs to go away.; 5/1/09, 12:39 PM
Anonymous said...: 'Get me out of here. This is crazy. This is not funny, this is discrimination. This is abusive stuff going on here'.Isn't that the intelligent reaction after viewing about 5-10 seconds of American Idol?; 5/1/09, 1:36 PM
Roost on the Moon said...: This is about all the Bruno I ever need to see, but the ending is classic.; 5/1/09, 1:55 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: The Sasha Baron setups and Couther’s Punked are two faces of the same coin; the face in the coin being the subject of wealth and fame.

Taking these people to the edge of a phantom precipice we learn about our phantom selves.; 5/1/09, 1:59 PM
Anonymous said...: Palladian: What could he possibly be embarrassed about?
So far, it looks like he's completely shame-free.

Cohen needs to interview Ignatz Mouse sometime.; 5/1/09, 2:02 PM
traditionalguy said...: Lem... Please tell me you are not a phantom. That was once a radio show in the 50s, but you seem so normal...Did you fall into your subconscious and not get back up again?; 5/1/09, 2:05 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: By 'phantom selves' I mean the person we think others wants us to be. The one we are constantly more worried about.; 5/1/09, 2:16 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: The tale is old as the Eden Tree & new as the new cut tooth.
For each man know that his lipthatch grows. He is master of Art & Truth.

When first the flush of a newborn sun fell on Eden’s green and gold,
Our father Adam, sat under the Tree, and scratched, with a stick, in the mould.
The first rude sketch that the world had seen was joy to his mighty heart,
‘Til the Devil whispered behind the leaves... ’It’s pretty, but is it Art?’.

Kiplin as quoted by Orson Wells; 5/1/09, 2:27 PM
Trooper York said...: Guy's like Cohen need a smack. The trick is to get them to swing first in front of witnesses so you can kick the crap out of them with a clear conscience. Not that Cohen would do that because he is a punk ass bitch.; 5/1/09, 2:50 PM
bagoh20 said...: Cohen, like many a lawyer, makes people pay dearly for being open, honest and human. Any benefit comes at far too high a price. There are enough other ways to make humor and money.; 5/1/09, 3:43 PM
Diamondhead said...: "Revolting" is precisely the right word for his act. The people laughing usually look worse than the hapless people caught on camera with him.; 5/1/09, 5:24 PM
kentuckyliz said...: SBC:

I have suffered for my Art.

Now it's your turn.; 5/1/09, 7:47 PM
knox said...: I agree with the other anti-Cohens here. That guy is an asshole, pure and simple.; 5/2/09, 7:52 AM
Frodo Potter said...: bagoh20 said it best in terms of Cohen's overall creepiness, but Palladian has suggested a possible counterattack worth pondering. How might Cohen be hoist on his own petard?; 5/2/09, 8:52 AM
William said...: Cohen is genuinely mean spirited and nasty, but he is very funny. That's the way comedy works. A smile is a civilized way of baring one's canines....Not all of his targets are impoverished peasants and comfortable Republicans, but enough to make him a big hit among the liberals. Liberals think that the prejudices of poor white people and comfortable Republicans are endlessly amusing.; 5/2/09, 12:29 PM
Brian said...: For details as to why Sasha Cohen is scum, morally, read this piece by George Saunders in New Yorker:

http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2006/12/04/061204sh_shouts

If someone beats the hell of Cohen and his crew, and the case goes to a civil trial, it's a good bet that the jury will find the defendant guilty, and then award Cohen $1 (likewise, a judge in a criminal case would likely find the defendant guilty, and then let him off with 1 day in jail, or time served.); 5/3/09, 5:22 PM