April 30, 2012

"It's almost an art to be so obnoxious, really."

"You will find nothing in her blog that would get her in trouble with state government or the University of Wisconsin, and yet she is terribly offensive about many serious people and worthy endeavors... She is a confused thinker, and her writing is hard to follow. Sometimes she has nothing to say but says things anyway. But there is a certain consistency in her written equivalent of blather that reassures her regular readers."

Stray antiAlthousiana.

It amused me. It's almost right about some things. "Almost an art"? It is an art.

49 comments:

gerry said...

I lurk and comment mainly because your opinions and comments are knowledgeably soothing. I would have developed severe cardiac ischemia during the months of Madison Madness (with more to come!), but you reported it rather calmly and with insight that calmed matters considerably.

Your commentary may be provocative, but only when you wish it to be. I've never found it obnoxious, but I laugh when I know some will (and I've laughed at myself, too!).

Thank you.

Scott M said...

Any blog which holds comments pending host moderation is automatically persona non blogger to me. It smacks of dishonesty with just a hint of Goebbels.

Matt Sablan said...

Remember when art was supposed to be offensive? I think there is some confused thinking going on, but it is not here.

Matt Sablan said...

"The problem here is that most of us bloggers don't have editors or fact checkers, and we post often."

-- Be your own fact checker, that's what I do on my blog. And most blogs, in fact. Woe is she, who doesn't have lackeys to do the actual grunt work.

virgil xenophon said...

when I read articles like the one you link and the assoc. group-think commentariat I am once again reminded of what a truly MC Escher-like multiple parallel universe existence we inhabit.

Michael K said...

The people who are critical seem awfully self-important. Who cares what a blog says, unless you fear it might up set some applecart of yours, like Obama's election.

Carl Vero said...

Whenever Obama's lapdogs see their narratives negated, they snarl and snivel. From their evacuating brains and bowels emanates the fragrance of failure. Pity the poor pups.

Ann Althouse said...

"The problem here is that most of us bloggers don't have editors or fact checkers, and we post often."

The point about that, which I'm talking about in the Bloggingheads clip posted over there, is that I know how to say things so that I don't say what I don't know, and I also am very aware of what I don't know. This is where being very experienced in reading, writing, and talking about law helps me. I'm doing something that doesn't call a lot of attention to itself, but it keeps me out of "trouble" as the linked post calls it. The blogger there doesn't want to give me credit for doing something that takes skill, and the simplicity of the writing that you actually see -- which she compares to a comic strip -- makes it easy to believe I'm not doing anything.

And, btw, she's disrespecting comics.

campy said...

Remember when art was supposed to be offensive?

Art is supposed to offend people like you, not people like Hattie.

I'm Full of Soup said...

Hattie is an "unfrozen cavewoman blogger"?

Seeing Red said...

It sounds like she's looking for a way to get your fired. "Serious people." Oh, brother.

Matt Sablan said...

That's a good point too. Writing a good comic is actually hard, since you have fewer words to work with. Also, drawing is hard. I suck at both.

rhhardin said...

It's Emma Goldman's blog.

Derrida has the true feminist creating places, which would in the end designate the activity that specifically holds a woman's interest.

Rather than being assigned a proper existing place, as in both leftist feminism and the patriarchy.

Emma Goldman: If I can't dance, I don't want to be part of your revolution.

(Derrida, Choreographies. Women's studies assigns it but apparently doesn't read it)

Comments are there for a reason.

rhhardin said...

I know how to say things so that I don't say what I don't know, and I also am very aware of what I don't know.

Vicki Hearne on the difference between men and women Rota...

Chip S. said...

I would've expected mellower blogging from somebody fortunate enough to have retired to Hawaii.

This exchange in the comments there was good for a chuckle:

The more you point your finger at her, the more hits her blog gets. Let her sink into oblivion, instead.

You are right. You don't see her on my blogroll, do you?

Snap!

Alex said...

Ritmo & garage are in agreement about Ann being a right-wing reactionary.

Alex said...

Basically if you stray off the uber-left wing reservation even on one issue, you get labaled a right-winger.

Joe Schmoe said...

Ann, you're too kind. By mousing over the link I can see it's a link to an inane blog I've never heard of. There's no-effin-way I'm clicking through and giving her any traffic. Mad Hattie needs to find something interesting to write about. If she's confused by your writing, she should stick to Twitter. Or pop-up books.

Joe said...

yet she is terribly offensive about many serious people and worthy endeavors

And that is bad, how?

Alex said...

hattie strikes me as one of those mean-faced, clipped haired, Bergen-Belsen wannabees.

Scott M said...

To those of you not wishing to click through and give her traffic, I posted the following;

"Sometimes she has nothing to say but says things anyway."

Things like "Off to Seattle again. Talk to you later"? Or do you mean much longer screeds in which nothing meeting your stringent levels of discourse are reached?


...and then Quayle posted the following;

"What is the essence of her strange attraction?"

It is a rare and undervalued thing called intellectual honesty.

She doesn't change her level of analysis based on the party that will be hurt.

She doesn't bend or hide the facts to fit the narrative or the outcome she a priori desired.

As I said, rare and undervalued.


...to which this apparent paragon of worthy blogging wrote;

To you previous two commenters, this is what I have to say: Oh poo!

I would had to get embroiled in a "yo mama" contest with her.

Alex said...

hattie is into scat I think.

DADvocate said...

I can't decide: is she an egomaniac ? an alcoholic? Is she in a permanent state of panic?

All of the above? I vote for permanent state of panic.

Ann Althouse is a nonpartisan right wing reactionary.

Yes, that's it.

And there is the perception that blogging (like cartooning) is not a serious medium. And often the fate of serious blogs is to go unread. Could it be that blogging and seriousness are not compatible? I ask, only.

Is poor, little Hattie sad because not enough people read her blog or take her seriously? She's already gotten more attention than needed or deserved. Off to insult Althouse on my blog to get a couple of hits today.

Rob said...

Why are some people so bothered that other people don't share their opinions?

traditionalguy said...

The Obnoxious Art is highly valued among good conversationalists. It opens minds and gives others courage to speak out what they feared to say on the subject.
The doctrine minders cannot stand to be around messy human thoughts no matter how much fun expressing them can be.

It always comes down to the Puritans against the living, loving and happy people. Hint: the liberals are the Puritans of our day creating terrible guilt burdens over every little thing.

cubanbob said...

short summary: Ann is intelligent and open to contrary views. Hattie is an idiot who can't tolerate an opposing opinion hence the comments moderation. Ann has readers, Hattie has a small circle-jerk. Hattie has a deep sense of envy, Ann could careless.

Paddy O said...

"Written equivalent of blather."

As I think about it, she really needs a thesaurus ( "a compiled list of words that share meaning") or some vocabulary work {"verbal condensing of ideas into one term". She spends a lot of time describing concepts that really should seem to have their own actual specific words.

It's not merely the written equivalent of blather that appeals to us consistent visitors over the course of time who like to stare at the words on the screen and decipher the meaning from the established linguistic symbols.

It's the succinctness of the blather that is reassuring.

ndspinelli said...

ScottM, "Comments pending" is horseshit and used by many liberal bloggers. But, is it any better than arbitrary deletions as is the practice here?

ndspinelli said...

cubanbob, Your use of "careless" could be Freudian on several levels.

Wince said...

In that piece, Hattie demonstrates a complete reluctance to engage in a battle of actual ideas with Althouse.

DADvocate said...

Reading a little at Hattie's place, I find a New Age haven. Crack would love the place. One commenter had this to say, "However, I so have spirituality in a humanistic sense." Barf.

Scott M said...

But, is it any better than arbitrary deletions as is the practice here?

My personal opinion is yes. The deletion policy here appears to be lightly used. The blog in question moderates EVERY entry.

ndspinelli said...

ScottM, I made my living proving that things are not always as they "appear." Just sayn'.

Although, to be fair, The Cultural Revolution seems to have abated of late. But believe me ScottM, deletions were not always used "lightly", as they have recently.

Scott M said...

Although, to be fair, The Cultural Revolution seems to have abated of late. But believe me ScottM, deletions were not always used "lightly", as they have recently.

That still doesn't rise to the level of moderating each and every comment before it makes it on to the blog's site. One wonders, if Hatti had the same traffic as AA, if she could still do that. I very much doubt it. For now, she's obscure enough to remain her own censorship czar.

Mr. Forward said...

"Hattie is an idiot who can't tolerate an opposing opinion "
Cuban Bob

A quick perusal of Hattie's blog shows a range of influences, all the way from John Nichols, The Nation Cruise, Progressive magazine, Michael Moore, and Rachel Maddow.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

To you previous two commenters, this is what I have to say: Oh poo!

Poo?

Really? Poo? This is the intelligent and reasoned response to a contradictory opinion?

How scatological of her.

Scott M said...

A quick perusal of Hattie's blog shows a range of influences, all the way from John Nichols, The Nation Cruise, Progressive magazine, Michael Moore, and Rachel Maddow.

Was that this satire thing I've been hearing so much about?

The Crack Emcee said...

"Almost an art"? It is an art.

Yeah, it's called "minimalism," and - I agree - you're a pro at it. The confusion it elicits is a crack-up, like when Michael K said:

The people who are critical seem awfully self-important. Who cares what a blog says, unless you fear it might up set some applecart of yours, like Obama's election.

Does he realize he's speaking to/for a blog that helped elect Obama? Not clear - not that you care, or want to straighten him out. It would ruin the whole effect, right?

It's the equivalent of that French guy (can't remember the name now) who put a urinal in the gallery and dared anyone to say it wasn't "Art," touching off the Dada movement, I think.

A lot of NewAgers claim what they do is art. I call it conning people, since there's so little truth-telling involved, but that's just me - and reality. But - hey - "The Art of the Con" is real, ain't it?

Integrity. Ethics. The Truth. Those are what haven't existed for a long, long time - and there are few "artists" today who seem aware of what we've lost, creatively and as a people, as a consequence. But what's it matter? As long as we can regularly take a shower, it's all good.

That's my strategy for dealing, anyway,...

SHH said...

Professor Althouse:
You are extraordinarily articulate.
You throw blog posts out there & see who else is interested & what is thought.
You don’t suffer pointless fools & celebrate free, mostly coherent, speech, currently a dwindling stance. You have laser like focus, & generally try to lead your minions followers to what you consider the essence of an issue. I haven’t decided if your tenacity would be off putting in person because it doesn’t really matter; I can’t envision circumstance which might place us physically together. You seem to be open to changing your mind, although I don’t really see you do it often; you mostly hint at positions & positively revel in obscuring yours. I suspect that your actual position might surprise many….but that could just be me projecting. (Meade having been sworn to secrecy, if he even has access to your actual illusive perspective)
Unlike minions, commenters on your posts tend have a direction & credible discourse of their own.
Other bloggers are not like you. Pseudo articulate bloggers throw mud at you, in the absence of facts, hoping to inflict superficial damage with personal, unsubstantiated blather. Poor attempt on their part.
I enjoy your blog, & have read for years. I rarely comment.
SHH

RonF said...

It's absurd to call this blog "offensive". The only people who would do so are the kind of people who want to silence opposing viewpoints rather than debate them.

Lucius said...

"Oh poo!"

--A lot of Progressive cat ladies still think the death of Molly Ivins has left a big opening for them.

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Xmas said...

Crack,

Truth is a cruel sword. Ethics and Integrity are the armor and shield worn while wielding Truth. Few people like swinging a sword as that tends to result in decapitation, your own or others.

In 2008, Obama may have been an flimsy, empty shell of carefully crafted lies. However, his handlers ran a great campaign against TWO old, political warhorses (Hillary Clinton and John McCain) using only a Mortal Kombat-esque button mashing of "Intone up while looking up and to the left as if bathed in golden light".

I'm not going to blame Ann for not wanting to wield cruel truth and for actively ignoring it. That's just human nature. Or maybe just "female" nature.

Scott M said...

Or maybe just "female" nature.

Dun-dun-dahhhhhn. You better shield up.

Amartel said...

This person has never left the liberal plantation and has no verbal or experiential context to express her deep unease upon encountering Other Thought. Many leftists would just spew forth venomous accusations (racist, sexist, stupid, etc.). At least she's trying to form the thought but it comes out all feeling and no thinking. "Terribly offensive," "hard to follow," confusing, has "nothing to say but says things anyway." Baa baa baaad

AaronS said...

Looks like Hattie got taken by the Ann Romney satire quote. I wouldn't throw around accusations if I couldn't tell the truth from a lie.
On the other hand I haven't made up my mind whether it is great writing or terrible writing to title a group of blog posts "feminema". Does she really mean to put me in mind of a female specific constipation treatment?

howzerdo said...

The "almost an art" IS funny. This is your art now. Duh.

This reminds me, I haven't seen any doodles lately -- or did I miss recent posts? (I confess to not being an attentive reader for a while.)

Danno said...

Althouse traffic should be way up as James Taranto's Best-of-the-Web-Today has another link to her blog, concerning the Elizabeth Warren as native American post.

Display Name said...

I wish Altmouse was updated.