Althouse: We Didn't Start the Fire....

November 10, 2010

We Didn't Start the Fire....

ADDED: Lyrics here.

29 comments:

The Dude said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 11/10/10, 8:20 AM
bagoh20 said...: I notice that the men, are on average not video material, while the women, especially Ann, are a welcome addition to the audio, but I'm not much of a connoisseur of the male.; 11/10/10, 8:38 AM
traditionalguy said...: Your snippets sounded intelligent enough, but it was clear that they used your attractiveness as a counter point to the rest of the weirdos.; 11/10/10, 8:41 AM
Anonymous said...: The Bloggingheads thing don't work for me.

Plenty of this stuff on TV.

Have very limited tolerance for it even on TV.; 11/10/10, 8:43 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: While I didn't watch the whole thing, I can honestly say, there's not one person featured in it that I'd be willing to follow into battle.

Also, while y'all didn't start the fire, you ain't trying to put it out either.; 11/10/10, 8:47 AM
bagoh20 said...: I like the blogging heads because, unlike TV, they can take the time to actually complete a point. Then again, I hardly ever watch, cause it takes too long. I'm a bitch.; 11/10/10, 8:52 AM
bagoh20 said...: I agree with Crack about the going into battle, but that's a problem with most of the chattering class. They self-select that way. Hey, wouldn't Ted Nugent be great on BH?; 11/10/10, 8:55 AM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: I was familiar with most of the named names.. some I could not make out.; 11/10/10, 8:57 AM
jungatheart said...: You have to be cool to get bhtv. Sorry to put that out there like that, but facts is facts...but you don't have to believe me.

Points to Crack for the 'following into battle' meme. Thought-provoking.; 11/10/10, 9:05 AM
Bob_R said...: Althouse enunciates well.

Sad that when I see a long montage and the words "Virginia Tech" come up in isolation that I know they were talking about April 16 even though I never saw the Blogginheads.; 11/10/10, 9:41 AM
Phil 314 said...: Do you guys get paid for this?; 11/10/10, 9:49 AM
jungatheart said...: C3, if you are asking if the Heads get paid, they don't. It's a brilliant business model, I think.; 11/10/10, 9:52 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: deborah,

You have to be cool to get bhtv. Sorry to put that out there like that, but facts is facts...but you don't have to believe me.

That makes two today.

Bagoh20,

They self-select that way. Hey, wouldn't Ted Nugent be great on BH?

Yea, some people have a real problem with the concept of "fair" - especially when they risk getting skinned in mid-conversation.

Wimps.; 11/10/10, 9:53 AM
Phil 314 said...: Favorite/best celebrity name-drop song?

One of my favorites from one of my favorite albums; 11/10/10, 9:54 AM
jungatheart said...: Crack dear, I was riffing off your post. I'm that cool.; 11/10/10, 9:58 AM
Phil 314 said...: if you are asking if the Heads get paid, they don't. It's a brilliant business model, I think.

So its a vanity project. A mini version of this; 11/10/10, 10:00 AM
jungatheart said...: Absolutely not a vanity press, because something comes of it: exposure. But its engine is vanity.; 11/10/10, 10:06 AM
Bob_R said...: Vanity presses got a bad name because they required a lot of money and hence a lot of vanity. A certain amount of vanity is required to blog (or to comment on someone's blog) but not all that much. Not a necessary condition, but perhaps a sufficient condition.; 11/10/10, 10:34 AM
traditionalguy said...: Any civil discussion between two educated people usually has value in it for listeners. We can pick up the memes and buzz words in current usage to see what interests academics until that changes. An idea can be planted like a seed to sprout later. But it is the real experts in fields of knowledge sometimes found on Blogs that add to our understandings of things...not so much these opinionated dilettantes showing off to one another.; 11/10/10, 10:42 AM
Harry said...: bagoh20 said... I notice that the men, are on average not video material

This is true of about half of the men. To paraphrase a line from the Simpsons, they're Cornelius on "The Planet of Apes" ugly, not Mary Ann on "Gilligan's Island" ugly. They're ugly ugly, not TV ugly.

For this reason I treat blogging heads like the radio and listen to it while I work on something else. Not all the participants can hold my attention, though. They're too low energy and spend too much time fussing over trivial points. They are the type of people who I dread getting phone calls from.

The Robert Wright-Mickey Kaus programs are my favorite. Wright represents the shrill voice of doctrinaire liberalism, while Mickey is the easygoing guy who actually tries to make sense of things.; 11/10/10, 10:49 AM
MadisonMan said...: Needs autotuning.

Have to say that the people without headsets look completely foolish. Come into the 21st century people!!; 11/10/10, 11:02 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: deborah,

Crack dear, I was riffing off your post. I'm that cool.

Yea, I guess you are.

Some people would probably be surprised how much I enjoy being bested sometimes. Glenn Reynolds put me in my place a while back - and never posted a thing from me since - and all I was thinking is how important it is to have people willing to do so. I've been much "better" since he did so because he made me look at myself. (Ann's done it as well and, needless to say, no harm done.) As much as I'd like to think so, I ain't always right, and - after my ordeal - might go off the deep end sometimes, but - hey - we're all human, right?

Anyway, Deborah, I am honored to know you read my blog and happy to have made a fool of myself before you.

Thanks!

P.S.

I'm still grooving on this:

"Socrates was wise because he knew he was ignorant. Everyone else was simply ignorant."; 11/10/10, 11:10 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: Harry,

They are the type of people who I dread getting phone calls from.

Show of hands:

Does he win the thread or what?; 11/10/10, 11:13 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: Jesus,

Even that post to deborah, declaring my own stupidity, is really badly written.

Today must be my day,...; 11/10/10, 11:17 AM
Phil 314 said...: its engine is vanity

So its like a "perpetual motion machine"!; 11/10/10, 11:50 AM
Christy said...: Bago, Then again, I hardly ever watch, cause it takes too long. Do you ever watch at the accelerated speed? Only way I can take it.

Unlike TradGuy (it was clear that they used your attractiveness as a counter point to the rest of the weirdos) I just figured Wright has a crush on Althouse; 11/10/10, 2:14 PM
Penny said...: "We Didn't Start the Fire...."

No you didn't, Bloggingheads, but what you did start is a high quality venue for civilized dialogue between two well-informed people who don't usually share the same views.

We don't see this on TV, in blog comments, and most certainly not in books. These days, people talk or write AT each other, not so much WITH each other.

Bob Wright is giving us another model of communicating, and to my mind, one that not only works, but works well.

Take the time to listen to the first ten minutes of the dialogue between McWhorter and Loury. It's eye opening. These guys didn't like each other five years ago, but through their Bloggingheads' conversations, each has found true respect for the other, and this respect shows itself in the quality and openness of their exchange over the next 35 minutes. You will feel like you are eavesdropping on a private phone call. Pure gold!

Thank you, Bob Wright, for showing us a better way.; 11/10/10, 2:28 PM
The Crack Emcee said...: Penny,

What you did start is a high quality venue for civilized dialogue between two well-informed people who don't usually share the same views.

Please. Are you seriously going to tell me that whiney-voiced Michelle-whatever-her-name-is is well-informed?

What you've got is a lot of people who can talk - which, like breathing, almost anyone can do - but, with the exception of Ann and Mickey, mopst aren't even remotely interesting conversationalists (How many of us have already declared we can't bear to listen?) and that especially goes for Robert Wright.

Rather than Bloggingheads Video, they should change the name to the Moderate Milquetoast Meet-up.

Now that would be truth in advertising.; 11/10/10, 4:20 PM
jungatheart said...: Crack:
"Please. Are you seriously going to tell me that whiney-voiced Michelle-whatever-her-name-is is well-informed?"

Speaking fo Michelle-whatever, this is why I love bhtv (the gift that keeps on giving):

http://bloggingheads.tv/diavlogs/32209

@c3...yes a perpetual motion machine, for some more than others :); 11/11/10, 11:41 AM