Althouse: "I would like [blank] to become more self-aware."

May 31, 2010

"I would like [blank] to become more self-aware."

56 comments:

Anonymous said...: Sounds like permission for stalkers to move next door to Maureen's house and peek into her bathroom windows, which might be fun if she wasn't so butt ugly.

Can they not find any attractive Jews in New York to feature on Bloggingheads? Or is it going to be a continual stream of mental lightweights who've never heard of Adrien Arpel?; 5/31/10, 2:41 PM
Anonymous said...: Ms. Tkacik, but mostly of how terrible that eyeliner looks on her.

Maybe I need more context (and I'm not about to go listen to the whole thing), but what exactly is Ms. Palin supposed to be more aware of about herself? I think that's usually just one of those garden variety criticisms that are supposed to sound intelligent but really mean nothing at all.

- Lyssa; 5/31/10, 2:42 PM
Anonymous said...: I think it's more of vaguely artisitc/psychological readings that some people feel they have a right to do upon anyone in the name of truth and insight. It can so quickly become narcissistic and self-centerd projection....especially if unmoored from real analysis.

Sadly, it's in the political realm. That's my problem with it. Better these idiots stick to what they know, and often I'm not sure what that is exactly.; 5/31/10, 2:52 PM
Fred4Pres said...: Sarah Palin has little kids. She is very self aware of what is going on around her. Yeah, some guy moving in next door to write about you is creepy.

But as a public figure, that is what happens.; 5/31/10, 2:58 PM
Unknown said...: I think we have a tie, and Mrs. Palin and Ms. Rosin's cat aren't in it.; 5/31/10, 3:00 PM
Wince said...: I'm not sure one has to live in a fishbowl to become "self-aware," Ladyfish.; 5/31/10, 3:05 PM
Sofa King said...: No option, vis earlier thread, for Ann Althouse?; 5/31/10, 3:07 PM
Anonymous said...: I would like Maureen Tkacik to become as self-aware as Hanna Rosin's cat.; 5/31/10, 3:11 PM
Anonymous said...: Fred4Prez said: Yeah, some guy moving in next door to write about you is creepy.
But as a public figure, that is what happens.

I completely agree that people who voluntarily become public figures are going to have to deal with a lot of things that most people don't. But, I'm not aware of any time that another public figure has had to deal with a reporter moving next door to him or her specifically to spy on the family. So, no, it's not what happens.

At least, it wasn't until women started daring to step outside their liberally mandated boxes of be like us or shut the hell up.

- Lyssa; 5/31/10, 3:14 PM
Anonymous said...: Self promotion, wherein you fly somewhere and make an appearance, and privacy in your home are at odds?; 5/31/10, 3:16 PM
Fred4Pres said...: As for the talking heads, more cat tail. Reminds me of "cat party."; 5/31/10, 3:23 PM
mesquito said...: Knockity knock!!

http://iowahawk.typepad.com/iowahawk/2010/05/hi-there-neighbor.html; 5/31/10, 3:27 PM
chuck said...: I think that's usually just one of those garden variety criticisms that are supposed to sound intelligent but really mean nothing at all.

It's not a criticism, it's condescending and hence insulting. The implication is that the intelligent and mature Hanna Rosin can judge the progress of the childlike Sarah Palin in the same way a mother might judge the progress of her child. But without the love, of course.; 5/31/10, 3:27 PM
mesquito said...: Oh, there we are! By golly, that coffee sure smells great. Skim milk no sugar for me thanks, gotta watch the ol' figure. How about the two of us have a sit down on the couch and get to know each other, because I have a feeling we're gonna be spending a lot of time together. You betcha, a whole lot of time. I always say it's important to get to really know folks, especially if you're gonna be camping out in their cerebellum for a few years. Because sometimes you can get off on the wrong foot, ya know? I'm guilty of it myself sometimes. Ya know, as much as I go off and complain about those goshdarn Washington and Hollywood elites, I gotta say those folks are just about the most welcoming, hospitable people on God's green earth. I swear, once they invite you in their head, they'll insist you help yourself their last neuron! Take that Tina Fey for instance. She's pretty much given me the run of her place, rent free. Her id says it's because she has severe body image anxieties, but if you ask me I think she's just lonely and needs somebody to talk to.

Say, do you mind if I use your little girl's room? I just realized I'm going into labor. Back in a jiff!

http://iowahawk.typepad.com/iowahawk/2010/05/hi-there-neighbor.html; 5/31/10, 3:30 PM
vanderleun said...: What? No write-in candidate? We wuz robbed?; 5/31/10, 3:36 PM
Anonymous said...: This bit of video is an eloquent argument for keeping women pregnant and in the kitchen.

What a pair of idiots.

The Muslims may be crazy in their treatment of women at one end of the spectrum. You've got to wonder whether we're just as crazy at the other end of the spectrum.

Why are these two idiots allowed out of the house without chaperone?; 5/31/10, 3:40 PM
I'm Full of Soup said...: Confucius say:

Lady with bad nose job should be farther away from camera lens.; 5/31/10, 3:44 PM
Beth said...: Yes, being a public figure and having children means putting up with crude comments and insinuations about "Daddy, have you plugged the hole?" Palin plays her family like a fiddle, so she'll just have to cope with the blowback. And no one here who opined that Malia had it coming in that sick thread last week has a leg to stand on in complaining about McGinnis and his book.; 5/31/10, 3:50 PM
Anonymous said...: I voted for "Sarah Palin" without watching the video, out of instinct.; 5/31/10, 3:56 PM
traditionalguy said...: I assume that her phrase "more self aware" means for this extremely sharp, great communicator needs to evolve from eskimo-neanderthal into use of a human brain that most people experience between 3 and 4 years of age. That tells us alot about the fantasy land that Tkacick lives in.; 5/31/10, 3:56 PM
Anonymous said...: Yes, being a public figure and having children means putting up with crude comments and insinuations about "Daddy, have you plugged the hole?" Palin plays her family like a fiddle, so she'll just have to cope with the blowback. And no one here who opined that Malia had it coming in that sick thread last week has a leg to stand on in complaining about McGinnis and his book.

BS. This stalker should have the law after him.

If his behavior isn't illegal, it should be.

McGinnis should be in handcuffs and doing the perp walk.; 5/31/10, 3:56 PM
lucid said...: One of Tkacik's promotional pieces describes her as focusing on "pop, politics, scandal, and style" as well as "entertainment...and world affairs."

LOL!!!

Is it possible she does not realize how silly, infantile, and ridiulous that sounds?

Her opinions and insights must be very deeply informed. LOL.; 5/31/10, 3:58 PM
fivewheels said...: She takes on genocide and knuckle-cracking.

Someone isn't aware that the junior-high goth girl look isn't credibility-inspiring for an alleged journalist. I have to think that "style" is at least as much an abdication of adulthood as a guy wearing shorts.; 5/31/10, 4:09 PM
The Scythian said...: "I... I... would... I would like for Sayla Pa--Sarah Palin to get... um... um... more... um... to become more... SELF AWARE!"

So what's the deal, here? Why did somebody record a conversation between a teen emo girl and her mother about Sayla Pa-- er, I mean Sarah Palin?; 5/31/10, 4:14 PM
Anonymous said...: Beth said And no one here who opined that Malia had it coming in that sick thread last week has a leg to stand on in complaining about McGinnis and his book.

Beth,who said Malia had anything coming on that thread? I know I saw a few comments that said that Obama deserved to be made fun of for bringing it up, but nothing indicating that Malia deserved or was getting anything at all. Most people doubted that she even actually said what he said she said, and no one made fun of her specifically (and even if they did, I doubt that she reads Althouse).

Either way, making fun of a politician's own words is one thing, moving next door to them to spy on the whole family is quite another. The kids won't know that blog commenters thought that the way Malia's father gave a quote from her sounded dirty (which I don't think most people, other than Althouse, even thought), but they will certainly know who is living next door to them, and they'll probably suss out why. It's an enormous difference.

- Lyssa; 5/31/10, 4:17 PM
Anonymous said...: This was what the 60 years of bitching at men was about. This is why the women refuse to get married, have children and take care of a family.

So that they can behave like these two childish assholes.

It's not surprising that their especial venom is reserved for a woman who embraces adult sexuality and family responsibility.

For all those men who've been indoctrinated that our fathers and grandfathers were such demonic oppressors... don't you think it's time to rethink things? Maybe, just maybe, our fathers and grandfathers had a lot more sense than you can imagine.; 5/31/10, 4:23 PM
AC245 said...: "I would like [Skynet] to become more self-aware."

Because people like this make me lose faith in humanity.; 5/31/10, 4:40 PM
Anonymous said...: Re: Sarah Palin and McGinnis, I thought Palin had exactly the right idea by way of response: build a very tall fence.

Then again, I thought it was the right idea when Israel did it, too.; 5/31/10, 4:41 PM
AC245 said...: And no one here who opined that Malia had it coming in that sick thread last week has a leg to stand on in complaining about McGinnis and his book.

Did anyone at Althouse actually opine this? Or anything derogatory about Malia at all)?

Because this vague sweeping accusation sounds like just another figment of your imagination, Beth, cast as reality to give you a pretext for going on another one of your moralizing benders.; 5/31/10, 4:46 PM
XWL said...: On the unintentional comedy scale this week, this ranks right up with Jessica Valenti scolding Sarah Palin in the Washington Post on exactly what a real feminist is.; 5/31/10, 4:57 PM
AC245 said...: Just double-checked the Althouse thread about the Malia quote, and no one in it said anything bad about Malia at all.

Although, strangely enough, "danielle" did drop in at the end of that thread to offer the same baseless slander ("anyone here making a joke about Obama's daughter is awful and pathetic.") that Beth repeats in this thread.; 5/31/10, 5:04 PM
Chip Ahoy said...: Speaking of Adrien Arpel, okay don't tell anyone this because it's private. I've been having a few intractable skin problems lately, due I think mostly to exceedingly dry climate. The dermatologist gave me some stuff and said, "don't use this on your face." I go, "Why not?" He goes, "because the molecule is too big for facial skin cells." I go, "Oh." The stuff he gave me didn't work and now my face turns red whenever I shave. Really red. It's alarming. Flakes all over the place. Totally gross. So I was thinking, "well what does go on one's face specifically?" I felt a little weird trying Ponds. BANG. Cleared right up in one day. So I tried it on the other problem spots. Worked there too. I wrote Ponds (Lever Co) and expressed my glee. They sent me a coupon for a free thing of any size. When I told this to a friend he goes, "Ha ha ha ha. That's for the MAID, you loon."

As for McGinniss, I read he became so agitated with journalists approaching his house and asking him questions he threatened calling the police. What a lizard.

I would prefer some people become less self-aware, not more.; 5/31/10, 5:32 PM
Beth said...: Fair enough, it was an "Obama had it coming" thread. But it was in horrible taste, and the mention of one's children does not invite or excuse slime like Drudge to sexualize that; I was really disappointed to see it repeated on this blog. I thought Letterman was wrong to go that route with Palin's daughter (all the more so because he didn't realize it was the younger of the two), and this was worse.; 5/31/10, 5:52 PM
Chip Ahoy said...: I realize this if futile, but here goes.

There was nothing in the earlier post to indicate Althouse thought what Obama said that his daughter said was dirty. That's taking the premise at face value, which few people do.

1) Drudge posted the (imaginary) quote.
2) Along with a photo of Obama's real finger.

That poking finger. The one so many politicians use to punctuate speeches. Mind, not a photo of the entire Obama, just the finger. The question was, "is Drudge implying something here?" Answer: yes. Plug hole, finger. Plug hole with finger. It's funny. A president can do a lot of things but plug a hole spewing oil a mile under the sea with a finger is not one of them. In fact, there's nothing a president can do directly about plugging an oil-spewing hole. It takes doers to to that, not speakers.; 5/31/10, 6:00 PM
fivewheels said...: Really? It was worse? In what way was it worse? You're accusing Palin of "playing her children like a fiddle." She took her daughter to a baseball game. On the other hand, Obama took it upon himself at a press conference to inject his daughter into a discussion she had nothing to do with to try to highlight his humanity or somesuch. So you're saying he's the more innocent victim?

Or are you saying any allusion to off-color meanings to what Obama himself said is worse than ... making a vulgar joke explicitly at the expense of the young girl who just had the audacity to go to a baseball game with her mother?

Or is it that a blog comment is worse than a nationally televised attack?

Please explain.; 5/31/10, 6:04 PM
Beth said...: I'm saying people who want to attack Obama for talking about his kids need to do the same with Palin. Palin's kids were and are a big part of her public image. You can bend yourself into twisty knots about what's worse or not, but that's splitting hairs.; 5/31/10, 6:09 PM
fivewheels said...: Maybe it is spitting hairs. But you know, I'm not the one who brought it up, or who chose to say it was worse. I'm not the one whose first post was about playing kids like fiddles.

So I'm just waiting for the explanation that isn't simply "It's worse because Obama isn't a Republican, who therefore deserves any harm that comes to her or her family."; 5/31/10, 6:14 PM
I'm Full of Soup said...: Knee jerk is what some of us here specialize in. But I ain't naming names. Afterall, it's hard to be original - that is why Althouse begs for it. Originality I mean.; 5/31/10, 6:14 PM
Anonymous said...: Palin's kids were and are a big part of her public image.

That's a sick statement, Beth. Now we know what you are talking about.

Pissed off because Palin didn't abort the kids?

Angry as hell at Palin because she's got a hot sex life?

Kids aren't a part of her public image. She's just a normal woman with kids.

What in the world are you?; 5/31/10, 6:15 PM
Beth said...: What harm came to her family, fivewheels? Or to Obama's? I found that "Subliminal Sex on Drudge" heading to be crass, I found Letterman's comments crass. But no one's come to any harm. Both Obama and Palin are parents, and that's part of their public persona, and aren't averse to using that fact to make a point. Even if they do, I think there can be some simple decency to how we talk about them.; 5/31/10, 6:30 PM
fivewheels said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 5/31/10, 6:31 PM
fivewheels said...: Got it. You're going to completely pretend you never said one was worse. OK. Never mind, then.; 5/31/10, 6:32 PM
AC245 said...: Goodness, even though you were caught out in your lie, you still act like your fantasy was reality and launch into your moralizing lecture!

Absolutely shameless.

"I would like [Beth] to become more self-aware.

And to tell fewer lies."; 5/31/10, 6:34 PM
Anonymous said...: Uh, people aren't just verbally attacking Palin's kids.

A stalker moved in next door, and refuses to allow her family to live in peace and privacy.

Palin isn't even, at this moment, a public official.

Are you saying she's fair game for this invasion of her family's peace and privacy because... you don't like her?; 5/31/10, 6:41 PM
Beth said...: five wheels, I did say the take on the Drudge juxtaposition was worse because it was plain nasty. I also said all (Drudge, Letterman, Althouse's heading) were lousy and in poor taste. You seem oddly inclined to ignore that and go on about degrees of better or worse - I'm happy to state crude remarks about politicians' kids are all out of line. You can have the better or worse angle all to yourself.; 5/31/10, 7:24 PM
lucid said...: Oh boo hoo. Oh boo hoo. Bad person say bad thing about Obama. Oh boo hoo.; 5/31/10, 7:40 PM
fivewheels said...: Seriously, in your world, I brought up what was better or worse? That's my topic?

That's why I said never mind. I meant it. You're never going to admit this all came from you, even though anyone can read the thread and see that Obama wasn't mentioned by anyone until you wanted to play some kind of victimization equivalence game outside the topic of the thread.

So skip it.; 5/31/10, 7:49 PM
John said...: "I'm happy to state crude remarks about politicians' kids are all out of line. You can have the better or worse angle all to yourself."

So I guess you are really angry with Andrew Sullivan claiming that Sarah Palin faked her pregnancy?

Really Beth, after all of the trash that has been thrown at Palin's kids, you really have no shame do you?; 5/31/10, 7:52 PM
Unknown said...: i was impressed with how patient Hanna Rosin was able to stay in this diavlog.

i wonder if you could have done it, Ann, or if it would have been a repeat of the match with the liberal woman whose name I cant remember .. but she had hair cut like yours, but was a brunette.; 5/31/10, 7:53 PM
John said...: "but she had hair cut like yours, but was a brunette."

Michelle Goldberg. She has an IQ just above room temperature and a major case of paranoia and projection. She makes Beth seem reasonable.; 5/31/10, 8:23 PM
Beth said...: John, Sullivan is a great example of someone who's lost credibility for his weird and innapropriate fixation.; 5/31/10, 8:39 PM
John said...: Good for you Beth. You are the only lefty who will call him out. He gets tons of hits and is still considered a serious person by a lot of people who should know better. Sullivan is truly loathsome and derranged. He is especially awful to women. It is not just Palin. He is not obsesed with Elana Kagan's sex life. He would never do that to a male nominee; 5/31/10, 8:57 PM
Ann Althouse said...: "i wonder if you could have done it, Ann..."

I protect myself from such tests.; 5/31/10, 10:25 PM
Mark Daniels said...: I would like me to become less self-aware. It's a prayer of mine. Too often I'm like Bette Midler in 'Beaches': "Enough about me. What do you think of me?"

My belief is that if we're less self-aware, I mean beyond a fair understanding of our own strengths and faults, we become more aware of others and will do a better job of understanding and working and living with them.

I'm just sayin'.; 5/31/10, 11:43 PM
bjkeefe said...: Fascinated that you did not include your own name as one of the choices. But I guess you were afraid of winning?; 6/1/10, 2:42 AM
rhhardin said...: Belmont Club

nothing is more paramount either to the establishment or to the politically correct sections of the media than the maintenance of a lie.; 6/1/10, 4:36 AM