Says Dana Milbank "with admiration."
Huffington deserves every one of those millions she'll be paid by AOL for creating this online sensation. She was once derided as "the most upwardly mobile Greek since Icarus" because of her many well-connected friends, but Huffington has earned her place as one of the extraordinary personalities of our time: an entrepreneur and writer who is always chasing the next big idea, wherever it is on the ideological spectrum.Good for her. We need some extraordinary personalities for our time.
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Good for her. We need some extraordinary personalities for our time.
Indeed. Good for her.
A shrewd move against a sucker company.
I get her confused with Zsa Zsa Gabor.
A person you tune away from.
Milbank forgets what happened to Icarus.
Short version: Huntington's an opportunist.
Short version: Huntington's an opportunist.
Even shorter: Capitalist.
Arianna Huffington "has always been on the move ideologically..."
I would translate this as being an advocate for whatever cause provides a bigger spread of butter for her bread.
Which is fine but don't expect me to take her seriously when profers a political opinion.
Huffington deserves every one of those millions she'll be paid by AOL for creating this online sensation.
The conservative in me says indeed she does. The liberal in me says she clearly won't be paying her fair share to the Federal government.
How much can you get for Althouse? One could argue you are one of those extraordinary personalities for our time. And at least when you speak you do not sound like Zsa Zsa Gabor.
Good for her. We need some extraordinary liars for our time.
There - fixed it for you.
These are her priciples. If you don't like them, she can change them.
I would translate this as being an advocate for whatever cause provides a bigger spread of butter for her bread.
Which is fine but don't expect me to take her seriously when profers a political opinion.
Bingo, Hoosier Daddy.
She was for it before she was against it before she was for it before she was against it. Then she cashed out on it. Whatever it was.
What will be the next it she is for before she is against before...
Crack, don't let lying get in the way of success. I mean, Arianna married a gay man to get ahead (it is just a coincidence he was rich). She is committed to success!
It is not like you have to get 315 million for Althouse. Your cost of living nut in Madison is not has high as Arianna's.
Good for her? A career comprised of plagiarism and opportunistic, nay, parasitic attaching herself to whomever or whatever popular meme will advance her status and fortune? (As Huffpo contributors and readers have now discovered.)
Huffington is the antithesis of smart, independent, successful women such as yourself so I am little surprised that you have been taken in by her facade.
@rh
exactly.
Which entrepreneurial venture does Milbank refer to ? Marrying the rich gay guy, Huffington?
Which entrepreneurial venture does Milbank refer to ? Marrying the rich gay guy, Huffington?
I was interested to note that Greg Lukianoff posts at HuffPo.
T.W.: "vagian" Umm....
Why is Arianna an "extraordinary personality" while Glenn Beck is a dangerous nutjob?
Why is Arianna an "extraordinary personality" while Glenn Beck is a dangerous nutjob?
Because Beck is a conservative with external plumbing?
I know this is Crack Emcee's territory, but I can't help but note that basically Arianna Huffington is really just a cult leader for socially acceptable, pseudo-sophisticates.
And I don't even see how she is this great "personality," except on the cocktail circuit of celebrity fawning.
It seems like Arianna is a genius (and it is genius) at monetizing the ideas of others for her own gain.
Or... what ricpic said.
Sarah Palin, on the other hand, like her or not, is a big personality with forceful ideas.
The contrast of the two not only in personality but also in how they live out feminist ideals is interesting. Palin is much more the feminist in her being.
Meanwhile, I can't remember a single idea that Huffington herself really changed national discourse with.
(the other kev)
Arianna's not the only woman who's 'always on the move ideologically.' It's just that most of others only charge by the hour.
As for Milbank's piece, could he suck up for a new job more blatantly?
no Oliver Wendell Holmes Douglas tag?
I dunno... AOL doesn't seem the best brand to be associated with. Aren't they kind of the Blockbuster Video of the internet?
Ahreeahhnah is an extraordinary mediocrity.
The ability to make money is not necessarily virtuous or extraordinary.
Ariana is both the blessing and the curse of merging highly intelligent foreigners into our systems of finance and governance. She sees Americans for what we are, and soon learns how to use our trust of people against us. That way she sharpens us up. But we lose a lot of money and power to the newcomers in the process.
Every time I've seen her debate someone from the right, she spills some line of crap and gets owned.
I would argue that Beck is a lot more interesting, intriguing, successful, principled and emotional. He is just much more extraordinary. You can actually watch him learning important stuff, which is kinda cool and humble and humanizing.
Take away the money success from both and what do have. It seems Huffington would be on Real Housewives, and Beck would just have less people listening, but still the same guy.
Of all the examples he gave of her being 'ideologically on the move,' did she ever once actually land on "the next big idea"? And does taking 60 years to make--with the help of partners--a company worth $315 million qualify her as a top-tier entrepreneur? Her accomplishments, and Milbank's admiration for her, are products of her "many well-connected friends," bought with the fortune of her ex-husband's dad. I agree with the notion that Milbank is gunning for a job.
I say AOL has been taken for a ride, but it's a ride they are taking with their eyes wide open. Considering what AOL did to Time-Warner in 2000, what goes around comes around.
Ann says "good for her" - yea, her and her alone:
With 106.7 million shares outstanding, that means AOL has shed $315 million in value over the last five trading days -- which happens to be exactly the same price AOL agreed to pay to acquire HuffPo.
I always lose a little respect for Ann - and the profession of law - when she stands with evildoers.
The cynicism, it burns.
The $315M seems stupid, but I thought the same about the Sirius Radio - Howard Stern deal, and they are doubling down on that. Entertainment is one of those rare commodities where price has nothing to do with quality. It's pure speculation.
If they'll pay it to her, then she deserves it. That's how it works. But I think it's funny that when she was conservative, she was a nutter. But the moment she became a liberal, she was a doyenne. All the while no less nutty.
Maybe nutty just seems less remarkable on the left.
I dunno... AOL doesn't seem the best brand to be associated with. Aren't they kind of the Blockbuster Video of the internet?
Doesn't matter if all you're going to do is take the money and run.
It's just bizarre that anybody thinks HuffPo is work this much. What do they think they're going ot get out of this deal?
bagoh20,
The $315M seems stupid, but...Entertainment is one of those rare commodities where price has nothing to do with quality.
I'll say, but this ain't entertainment - it's people's lives:
In terms of science and medicine, HuffPo is best known for a mixture of New Age woo, anti-vaccine lunacy, outright quackery, and even creationism.
Arianna was part of the crew that whipped up anti-vaccine hysteria that killed countless children.
"Good for her", right, Ann?
Dana Milbank admires Arianna Huffington because she's been successful in his line of work: scamming the rubes.
And - let's be honest - the phrase "on the move ideologically" translates to two words:
Dangerous Liar.
Or "Feminist Hero" - take your pick.
Crack, I'm with you on this one. The fact that Huffington is a disciple of "John-Roger" -- whether she takes that crap seriously or just copies his methods -- is enough of a turn-off for me.
Crack's probably read it, but if any of you folks ever see a copy of Life 102: What to Do When Your Guru Sues You, grab it. It's a good read. The author, Peter McWilliams, was a disillusioned member of the "Movement of Inner Spiritual Awareness" (pronounced "messiah").
As Arianna tells her unpaid contributors, while pocketing millions: You have to give head to get ahead.
Newsweek sold for $1, and the assumption of a large debt.
She sells for $318 million.
How are these 2 different?
w/v: esser - ein bisschen Deutsch! - the one who eats!!
You go girl!! Take their money, and make them cry.
Huffington is a sophisticated camp follower. Her interests are multi dimensional but her engagement of those interests (other than her ability to generate cash for herself) is shallow. I'm glad she is getting rich(er) through this, but Beck is miles ahead of her in the income generation department.
To all of you who are applauding Arianna's making money from fraud - because you think of it (wrongly) as capitalism - I only have one thing to say:
May you all get taken.
because you think of it (wrongly) as capitalism
How is it not?
I don't know about the cult stuff but I do know that she has an impressive resume outside her marriages. Before I go off on someone I have a look at what they have themselves done and my hat is off to AH. I find it unbearable but apparently AOL thinks it is splendid.
Everyone appears to want to believe that if you marry a rich person everything else falls into place. OK, so marry a rich person if you think that part is easy. Or go write a half dozen books. Or go to Cambridge and get a degree. Go ahead. Try. Put up a million dollars of your inherited money and get some others to invest with you. Run the thing and then find a goose like AOL to pay a preposterous price. Easy. I am flabbergasted at how broad the envy is based.
I salute her success without agreeing with her politics.
Trey
May you all get taken.
Well all have been, continue to be, and will be into the future.
blake,
Well all have been, continue to be, and will be into the future.
Like I said - the cynicism, it burns.
It makes me almost (almost) glad I was raised in foster homes - where I got nothing but the kinds of lectures you guys (apparently) only got in school - because, if being raised by a family creates such monsters, I'm grateful not to have become one.
Barf. He forgot, "Rich divorcee, which enabled her continued spiritual development/foisting of herself on the American public."
if being raised by a family creates such monsters, I'm grateful not to have become one.
Monsters can be made in any lab, Crack, including a foster lab.
Arianna Huffington is the Antonio Salieri of the internet.
If a city, she'd be Oakland. If a book, she'd be 'A Million Little Pieces' by James Frey. If a restaurant, she'd be Long John Silvers. If TV show, she'd be Diff'rent Strokes.
"Mediocrities everywhere... I absolve you..."
I wonder if Yahoo has buyers remorse over the $5Billion they gave Mark Cuban. They could have bought Google with that.
ScottM,
Monsters can be made in any lab, Crack, including a foster lab.
I agree, but you'd probably be shocked at how many of us foster kids try - really try - to be better as adults. And, I think, we can be waaay more cynical than the rest of you, but we aren't, because we have less to take for granted.
It's just a different way to look at the world.
but Huffington has earned her place as one of the extraordinary personalities of our time: an entrepreneur and writer who is always chasing the filthy lucre, by spewing BS to simpletons across the ideological spectrum.
Is there that much advertizing revenue in the PuffHo for this to be a money making adventure for AOL? I'm glad I don't own AOL stock, because if I did, I'd be pissed.
God, SO MANY are right on tgt here in their descriptions of our gal, but I think I like Davids "sophisticated camp follower" the best. LOL
Or....... We need some extraordinary personalities for our time, as long as they're millionaires.
“You’re being rational, and this is not a rational election,” said Huffington in the middle of a segment about just how many seats Democrats are set to lose. Here’s the deal:
People are operating out of fear and anxiety at the moment. And when they operate out of fear and anxiety, they operate out of what they call their ‘lizard brains’.
Pause. Deep breath. Read about Lizard Brains. Okay. She continued: “Lizard brains are not susceptible to rationality. That’s why the argument of, ‘you just voted them out and you want to vote them in’ isn’t going to cut it.”
Scarborough jumped on it. “Lizard brains? Is that what Americans did in ‘08 when they elected a state senator President of the United States?” asked Scarborough. “Was that fear?”
“No, it was hope,” said Huffington, to some chuckles from the panel.
Crack, I am not aplauding Arianna. But it is hard to call what she did fraud, because you have to show you were actually fooled by her lies. Willingly pulling the wool over your own eyes should be an affirmative defense to any fraud charge.
I feel bad for AOL stockholders.
I feel bad for AOL stockholders.
Don't. I'm sure there are some Air America investors that have AOL stock. Kick 'em while they're down, I always say (quoting Nixon).
“Lizard brains? Is that what Americans did in ‘08 when they elected a state senator President of the United States?” asked Scarborough. “Was that fear?”
“No, it was hope,” said Huffington, to some chuckles from the panel.
Funny, that's not what she said in 2008:
"Obama needs to,...appeal to the public's lizard brain. That part of our brain that is not rational, that responds to fear. Obama needs to respond to that, too."
Like I said, she's a liar - who pulls out that "Lizard Brain" nonsense as often as Newt declares he's running.
"Good for her."
Fred4prez,
Which case of "what she did" are you referring to?
Crack: I thought you were referring to her entire life as one big fraud. It is, but anyone falling for it now should know better.
I'm glad I don't own AOL stock, because if I did, I'd be pissed.
AOL stock has now dropped by $315 million. I wonder why ?
Millbank may see an extraordinary personality. I see a power-hungry political grifter devoid of principle or the capacity for embarrassment.
Not that she's stupid or anything. She recognized early on the web was a disruptive technology for opinion journalism - people are interested in what minor celebrities and political figures have to say. And they'll say it for free, allowing her to monetize the page hits.
Two phrases come to mind:
The marketplace of ideas
and
there's a sucker born every minute
Is there a more crass starfucker in the world than AH? She would suck Abe Vigoda's cock for a good seat at the Inaugural ball.
Well, I for one, only use my lizard brain. It's the only one I trust. It's the one that tells you that when you're cold, go out in the sun: and when you're hot, get in the shade. You know, simple logic.
You trust that Geico gecko right? He's cool, made millions, and 100% lizard brain.
WV: "scoottat" I thought they were called tramp stamps.
"Inaugural balls" I bet Barack called them that on Inauguration night with Michelle.
Talking about lizard brains, in the Philippines they have these house lizards—some times called geckos but their not really geckos—they look like tiny sand-colored alligators. They reproduce by rape. The males chase down the females, grab them by the throat and forcibly mate with them. While this is happening, the females' toenails become bright red. Maybe this is where the idea of red fingernail polish comes from—our reptile brain. If you are smart you don't bother them because they eat mosquitoes.
Short version: Huffington's an opportunist.
Beyond that, she is an unprincipled, ideological mercenary. I have no respect for her because there is no core to the women beyond her own self-aggrandizement. In fact she is the epitome of Huffington Post, purely opportunistic without any core beliefs beyond their own vanity.
It's official, this post needs a "lizard brain" tag.
Beyond that, she is an unprincipled, ideological mercenary. I have no respect for her because there is no core to the women beyond her own self-aggrandizement.
This. How does one go from being a water-carrier for the Republican establishment to a cornerstone of the progressive Left? Either she suffered from some unreported brain injury or she's just a sniffer of the sweetest cock.
Being a roving political whore only leads you to have people think that you are nothing more than a money grubbing parasite. Spreading your legs for whatever ideology will pay you the most money. Isn't that right Arianna?
We need some extraordinary personalities for our time.
Actually, you're right. We do. Even if they grate. This is such a small time and our public personalities are feeble. I'll take Ariana Huffington over Lindsay Lohan or any of our bland politicians any day.
What is it with you fuckers? You attack this woman like she was Sarah plain for god's sake. She made some money on a web site. She moved from a conservative to a liberal. Plenty have moved the other way and they have not been pilloried by conservatives. The comments on this thread are very discouraging.
Actually, you're right. We do. Even if they grate. This is such a small time and our public personalities are feeble. I'll take Ariana Huffington over Lindsay Lohan or any of our bland politicians any day.
Yet she is nothing more than a veneer of celebrity. Is she a font of innovative political thinking? A deeply respected shaper of the issues facing the polity and the world? No. She got famous leveraging the power from marriage to a rich and powerful guy. And then she used that to start a website (which was very well done, btw). And now she's going to cash in and go mainstream. Why? Because she is a sucker of the teat of power and celebrity. She will go wherever greater glory awaits, and frankly that makes her no different than Lindsay Lohan (or John Edwards, Mitt Romney, etc.).
What is it with you fuckers? You attack this woman like she was Sarah plain for god's sake. She made some money on a web site. She moved from a conservative to a liberal. Plenty have moved the other way and they have not been pilloried by conservatives. The comments on this thread are very discouraging.
Oh no, you misunderstand, it's not that she made a ton of money--I'm laughing alongside her as she laughs all the way to the bank--it's that I've always disrespected her as a shallow opportunist. Ever since the 90s, when she started appearing on pundit shows, I've not heard her say one thing that struck me as genuine or well thought out, kind of an older, female Tucker Carlson. The fact that she could so facilely move from the simpleton right to the simpleton left just reconfirms that her only principle is obeisance to the totem of self-aggrandizement. Like I said, she is of the same species as John Edwards or Mitt Romney (oh yeah, I speak this badly of them too).
Well, that was Freudian, Crack.
I was really making a reference to taxes: We all have been taken, we all are being taken, we'll all continue to be taken.
It's not cynicism, it's reality. It's what happens when democracy overwhelms a limited government.
ugh--she's an exploitative and utterly self-focused prick who is widely reported to be crude and cruel to her employees.
if she weren't a woman, you'd have nothing good to say about her.
blake,
I was really making a reference to taxes: We all have been taken, we all are being taken, we'll all continue to be taken.
It's not cynicism, it's reality.
Unless you count yourself as part of this country, and don't mind paying taxes, as I do. (I misunderstood your point, but, now that I understand it, I have to admit I actually look forward to tax time.) It just sounds like the typical, useless, cynical whining over nothing.
Taxed too much is one thing, but taxes themselves? Get over it:
We've got to keep the lights on somehow.
Michael,
The comments on this thread are very discouraging.
Discouraging how? Where's it written we have to like Arianna Huffington? And why can't I dislike her for spreading misinformation that's killed kids? Am I supposed to approve? Her website was used for evil - and got her millions - where's the good?
She's a bitch - and her website (to quote a doctor and scientist) is a "wretched hive of scum and quackery" that will probably be used to do more harm.
Fuck her.
Taxed too much is one thing, but taxes themselves? Get over it: We've got to keep the lights on somehow.
I do it by sending a check to the utility company covering the cost of the power I personally used. :)
Seriously, though -- you're right that there are certain public goods that can only be effectively provided by a government. I don't begrudge the ten or twenty percent of my taxes that go to those things. Its the other eighty to ninety percent that chaps my hide.
Short version: Huntington's an opportunist.
Even shorter: Capitalist.
cap·i·tal·ist –noun
1. a person who has capital, especially extensive capital, invested in business enterprises.
2. an advocate of capitalism.
3. a very wealthy person.
Yeah, she meets definitions 1 and 3 -- although obviously not 2. :)
I do not like Arianna. She is not a good person. And eventually I suspect things will catch up with her.
Milbank forgot to mention that she was derided BY THE LEFT and now, that she shifted her alliances, she is also promoted BY THE LEFT. This does not say much about A. Huffington, neither about the left. It only shows that she would whore herself for the highest bidder, and she is interested only in the bottom line, i.e. money, way more than anything else, which Milbank actually admits.
She is always at the front of the publicity line. She has so many posts and comments about her.
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