Elspeth Reeve has good analysis at the Atlantic Wire. I had a big problem with Rush Limbaugh playing this clip over and over on his show yesterday. There's some kind of political point to be be made about they way some people become dependent on government or unrealistic about what government can or should do, but there's an emotional level, below the rational mind, that this video/audio can reach, and when someone repeatedly plays it, as Rush did, it seems as though he's trying to stir up racial fears.
Decent people whose rational minds would reject explicit racial material can be emotionally manipulated. They get their fears stirred up. If this is what Romney supporters think they need to do to get their man elected, I hope they fail. And, frankly, I think they will fail. If people in the middle — like me — get the impression that fear of black people is supposed to be the reason to vote for Romney, we're going to vote for Obama. That's the America I believe in. I think I'm right about that.
September 28, 2012
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«Oldest ‹Older 201 – 400 of 710 Newer› Newest»Pure Presidential Racism consists of a POTUS feeling unique, because of his or her race, in dealing with things a POTUS deals with, in a superior way, because and only because of skin color.
Not pretty.
I'd say Althouse is the one eager to accept a stereotype, that one black represents all.
Rush seems the be the one able to distinguish.
rh!
SugarDwayne: Ann, who are these people so vulnerable to manipulation? Provide one example from real life, please. You don't have to give a name.
She did provide a real-life example, Dwayne. You say you don't want a name, but the person's initials are AA.
I'm not sure I understand why you tarnish Romney with the alleged sins of Rush.
Rush seemed equally upset with Fluke's extreme case of entitlement-itis, as did you to at least some degree. So it is not obvious to me that it is racially motivated.
There was some indication that you weren't fond of Fluke's entitlement-itis either.
August 8, 2012
Sandra Fluke campaigns alongside Barack Obama.\
But since the O-phone protester was a paid representative of the Obama campaign, or least its agent the SEIU, why is it necessary to focus on her race as the source of the problem. She's a greedy human being who expects others to support her. That's not a very nice quality in anyone, without regard to skin color.
Correction: I didn't hear Rush today.
I've seen the video multiple times and never thought "black." I thought "stupid Obama voter."
One other point, picked up, ironically from the sidebar here. As I say, most people are going to see this post or hear Rush's audio and think economically. With that in mind, Consider the first few paragraphs of this piece (whether you buy his contentions about polling, I don't care). That economic data is what should be driving this and I think will. A lot of people are not going to want to pay for some woman's free phone.
If that's racist, so be it.
AnUnreasonableTroll said...
Calling white cops "stupid" by saying he or they acted "stupidly" when that is pure Presidential speculation doesn't make Obama a good person though, it makes him racist.
The problem here is that they were stupid, fucking stupid. They arrested a man in his own house.
No, the Troll is being fucking stupid; the cops were being diligent in their duty.
They had no idea if he owned that house when the apprehended him. Most people would have been glad the cops are that responsive, but Skippy Gates, like his pal, Choomie, is a professional race victim and saw it as a chance for a "teachable moment".
There are some brilliant responses to Althouse's post in this comment section. When one reads them, one wonders how she can resist such sharp insights.
Obama was up to 79 on Intrade earlier today. Quite a run since the conventions. Just saying.
Yashu, thanks a bunch for the counter arguments, not that Althouse had any big argument to counter with -- she was shallower than other times where she professes to be cruelly neutral. But I never see her take Obama to task with the same vigor. What is she afraid of? His skin color? OTH, nothing, NOTHING Romney ever does or says is enough for her and her ilk. She is threatening Romney, "show me, show me what you got." Romney has to perform orders of magnitude more with all the chaos the corrupt media throws at him. But has she seen what Obama has got? Zero, that is what he has got.
FUCK the media, VOTE for Romney.
If people in the middle — like me — get the impression that fear of black people is supposed to be the reason to vote for Romney, we're going to vote for Obama.
Anyone who "gets the impression" that "fear of black people" is "supposed to be the reason to vote for Romney" is, I'm sorry, an idiot. And double the idiot if they think that "impression" is reason to vote for Obama.
I don't think Althouse is an idiot, so I choose to believe she's being partly disingenuous in this post.
edutcher said...
They had no idea if he owned that house when the apprehended him.
Hence, their fucking stupidity.
Know what could top this post from Althouse? If Meade were to come on here and write: "Fellows, she's right. And just as I regret my vote for McCain in 2008, I'm voting for Obama in 2012."
Absolute show-stopping theater that would be.
I double dare you, Meade.
I have read 1/4 of the linked article so now I am expert. Hear me thusly.
Democrats make it a practice to cull sheep from the herd as specific group identity with grievances, blacks, women, latinos, gays, handicapped, even ridiculously so far as to claim the full goddamn 99% and and make big fucking deals about each of them. It's who they are, it's what they do.
Republicans must respond, they must hammer it. If it looses borderline cases like our wonderful professor, so be it. Hammer the stupid.
The thing that's stupid is the woman thinks she has an Obamaphone, it's no such thing. Limbaugh should be hammering the woman's misunderstanding of who her benefactor is, not her glee with having a phone, or our providing it, if that's what he's doing, I wouldn't know.
You know what I do know? I'm making soup from mushrooms and I can smell that it's done. Seeya.
I tend to agree with you usually but in this case you're off base. That video is a clear example of entitlements run amok and Obama buying votes by giving people things I pay for.
Should we not mock that because she's black? It's way more about the content of her character than the color of her skin. And that lady would likely vote for and take everything she can get for free until society runs out of money.
That attitude sucks and deserves to be mocked, repeatedly.
What Chip just said..
Rush seemed equally upset with Fluke's extreme case of entitlement-itis, as did you to at least some degree. So it is not obvious to me that it is racially motivated.
Our hostess has always been emotionally delicate when it comes to anything that touches on race issues. I chalk it up to her baby-boomer flower-child background.
It isn't the kind of thing that can be confronted using reason (no pun intended).
Did I miss the post where Anne decries the shrieking Obamaphile race baiters, like Chris Matthews and Laurence O'Donnell and their ilk, who are redefining every word in the dictionary as racist when used in reference to Obama, and how that will drive her to vote for Romney?
Where is the evidence that Romney coordinates his message with Rush? Does Anne know if Romney has ever listened to Rush? Does Anne know if Romney is even aware of this video?
You, a law professor!
Oh no. Another day, another Romney is losing Ann's vote. Have you seen the website called Obamaphones? At first I called bullshit on it. I was sure it was some kind of parody. Nope, it is real. It is set up specifically to buy votes.
If you want to embarrass our gender and vote emotionally, have at it. I'd rather be a big girl, clear eyed and vote for the person who I hope can turn this country around. I try not to mix up a talk,show host with the actual person running for President. Just as Obama is counting on the culturally stupid to confuse him with the celebrities campaigning for him...thank God I've raised my daughters to be smarter than that.
Chip Ahoy said... "Limbaugh should be hammering the woman's misunderstanding of who her benefactor is."
The taxpayer is down to 21% on intrade.
" Ann, you read into Rush’s repeated playing of that clip and see racial incitement, and you let it sway you away from voting for Romney. But, Biden’s “chains” comments in Danville, Va., doesn't influence you in anyway. One from a radio talk host (which I don’t see), and one from the Vice President, Huh?
9/28/12 8:23 PM
Blogger AReasonableMan said...
NotquiteunBuckley said...
Calling white cops "stupid" by saying he or they acted "stupidly" when that is pure Presidential speculation doesn't make Obama a good person though, it makes him racist.
The problem here is that they were stupid, fucking stupid. They arrested a man in his own house. No charges were ever brought against him, for obvious reasons."
And those stupid fucking neighbors who called the cops when they saw this black guy breaking into the house. I'll bet 2/3 of them are Harvard professors. The other 1/3 are Harvard administrators.
Racists all.
"Althouse might announce that she's voting based on the color of a candidate's tie. That would be in a similar class of "opposing views."
She does have a theory connecting BHO's hair color to his speech topics. So, I could see her being influenced by tie colors.
Bring it on. Fish in a barrel!
"Here's a tip: Everyone votes emotionally. Your idea that you are completely rational is itself emotional. Your very rationality is itself a complex mix of emotion. I've read enough brain science to know that. Pretending that's not true only makes you naive. Resisting that fact is something that comes from emotion, not reason."
....
I don't want to denigrate the science, but when scientists try to draw philosophical conclusions from their work, they usually do so with incredible clumsiness. I'm not sure about this book in particular but philosophers have picked apart the evidence for this conclusion and the conclusion is still unproven. Don't get your philosophy of agency from neuroscientists. (Full disclosure: I am a professional philosopher, not working in this field but in a related one, and have seen the issue debated in conferences.)
C'mon Meade. Care to weigh in on this one?
I am glad to see that others see Althouse's supercilious, self-congratulatory superiority shining through in this post of hers. Sometimes those who think they are thinking large are actually thinking really small.
Ms. Althouse really is a virtuoso blogger. I seriously doubt she has any intention of voting for Bark again but she knows how to light up her commenters effortlessly. If the blue social model is brought to heel, I'm guessing she'll rate more than a footnote when the history of early 21st century politics is written.
Just How Racist is Ann Althouse?
Ms. Althouse really is a virtuoso blogger. I seriously doubt she has any intention of voting for Bark again but she knows how to light up her commenters effortlessly. If the blue social model is brought to heel, I'm guessing she'll rate more than a footnote when the history of early 21st century politics is written.
Chip, the website where one applies for the phones is Obamaphone.com. She thinks it is a gift from Obama because that is what he wants people to think. Maybe Rush should have touched on that aspect of the story.
This woman is just a louder, poorly dressed Sandra Fluke.
You also need to get the fuck out of Whiteville, USA once in awhile. I don't know what people would "fear" from a woman like that.
The problem here is that they were stupid, fucking stupid. They arrested a man in his own house.
He had broken in and refused to identify himself to the police.
If police receive a report of a break-in at a house, arrive at the house to find that, yep, someone broke in alright, and find someone there who refuses to identify himself, do they:
(A): Assume "oh, he's obviously just a homeowner with a bug up his ass about cops", apologize to the man for bothering him, and leave, or
(B): Detain the man on suspicion of breaking and entering.
This is not a difficult question. It takes a very special, Obamaian sort of intelligence to think that option A is the smart play.
How Althouse lost me.
we're going to vote for Obama.
Does this mean Ann's calling the shots for Meade, too?
ELSPETH REEVE Quote:
"The universal service requirement dates back at least to the Communications Act of 1934. The Lifeline program specifically was started in 1984 under President Reagan and was expanded in 1996 under President Clinton to allow qualifying households to choose to apply the benefit to either a landline or a cell phone. So no, it's not an Obama handout."
So its not an Obama phone, its a Reagan phone. Well all righty then.
So its not an Obama phone, its a Reagan phone. Well all righty then.
The cost for the program has more than doubled since 2008.
OWN IT.
Lem wrote:
What Chip just said..
Ditto.
Enjoy your soup.
Wow, Althouse just got a pro-tip from Tom Spaulding! He and other commenters handed Althouse her ass. Just ask him, he'll tell you all about it. It's getting real now!
pm317,
Thanks. But to be fair to Althouse, I do think she is and has been plenty tough on Obama; IMO she does frequently, every day, "take him to task."
It's not that I see Althouse being more critical of Romney than Obama. If anything, it's (arguably) the reverse (and rightly so, I say not just because I'm biased, but because Obama is POTUS). If Althouse were not as astute a critic of Obama as she is, I probably wouldn't hang around here as much as I do.
But IIRC Althouse was relatively tough on Obama during the 2008 campaign, too. Yet ultimately ended up voting for him.
I have a lot of respect for Althouse's perspicacity, and I bet (if I had to bet) that in 2012 she will vote for Romney. She has been brutally clear-sighted about many of Obama's faults (and those of his administration). But I can't help but notice that she tends to bring in the topic of her own vote, her own supposed "undecideness," in posts critical of Romney rather than Obama.
But that itself might be read either way (leaning to Obama or leaning to Romney).
Revenant wrote: Our hostess has always been emotionally delicate when it comes to anything that touches on race issues. I chalk it up to her baby-boomer flower-child background.
I'll add that she tries to pass it on as well. Back in 2007, she fretted about the imagery of hanging any generic person as a Halloween decoration because of potential racists overtones. link
And yet...a year later, when Sarah Palin was hung in effigy, not a peep out of her concerning sensitivity. Perhaps it was the concrete imagery of the lynched being white which assuaged her guilt. Or maybe it was because the perpetrators were gay. She never said one way or the other.
This comment has been removed by the author.
Boom. Typo! HA!
During black history month, videos are played over and over of outright overt racism of whites against blacks...
I presume the videos are not meant to incite but to inform so that history is not repeated.
Is it possible that Rush means to inform as well, to show how Obama is getting the support he is said to be getting by the polls?
To suggest anymore than that I believe you need more than him playing a video of an Obama voter.
I like what Quaestor said at 8:33.
(esp this)
"I didn't hear Rush's program today, but I did see the "Obama gave me a cell phone" video. I interpreted it as either someone whose vote is for sale (cheaply I might add), or as someone who conceives democracy to be a system to convey riches from the earning class (almost a minority now) to the taking class. Either way the attitude on display is fatal to democracy. Instead of reading that twaddle Althouse linked to (I notice she has since edited her original comment for content since I began to compose my reply) please read this. You will never spend a more worthwhile 99 cents.
P.S.: She never said one way or the other.
Then again too, she pretended not to notice the Obama bloody streak flag until it was obvious she couldn't.
I think she's been consistent.
get the impression that fear of black people is supposed to be the reason to vote for Romney
Yeah, that's it.
I'm troubled that Althouse has revised her original comment. It one thing to hang your own ass out on the line. Most people write regrettable thing from time to time, and that we find them regrettable is evidence that our minds are sufficiently flexible that we can see our errors of fact or logic. But to pretend the foolishness never happened...
I think the professor does not understand that women like that, black or white, are not so rare out in the real world.
She thinks he was poking fun at his minority. I think he was poking fun at his woman, the way she "emotionally" thought about her vote and was willing to toss all the essential issues because she got a free phone.
Dumb reason to vote. Why do the research on the issues, if in the end, you let your emotions overcome logic?
Yashu. I dont disagree but i am suspicious of people of the professor's intelligence professing to be undecided at this juncture and in this particular election. There is a certain high horse that these people ride that i find offensive. There is a certain posing that is intellectually dishonest. Very much a characteristic of the progressive if you ask me.
I'm retracting my accusation of selective editing...lead astray and confused momentarily. I was mistaken. My apologies to all for starting or furthering any errors.
I'm troubled that Althouse has revised her original comment. It one thing to hang your own ass out on the line. Most people write regrettable thing from time to time, and that we find them regrettable is evidence that our minds are sufficiently flexible that we can see our errors of fact or logic. But to pretend the foolishness never happened...
I deleted a comment of mine because I made a foolish typo. It said "Boom. Roased." instead of "Boom. Roasted."
I'll admit it.
You don't have to justify your vote, you know?
Obama, Michelle, and Biden talk about the racist white folks putting the blacks in chains. That's not racist. But when Rush repeats a video playing what a black woman said is enough not to vote for Romney, the racist.
AnUnreasonableTroll said...
They had no idea if he owned that house when the apprehended him.
Hence, their fucking stupidity.
When cops get a call someone is breaking into a house, do they have a copy of the title and a photo of the owner?
No, it's the Troll's funcking stupidity.
somefeller said...
There are some brilliant responses to Althouse's post in this comment section. When one reads them, one wonders how she can resist such sharp insights.
The same way we are able to resist some phony folksy's sharp insights.
Obama was up to 79 on Intrade earlier today. Quite a run since the conventions. Just saying.
Gee, the way all the sockpuppets keep bringing up Intrade, you'd think it was part of the FUD being run by the Lefties.
Revenant said...
This is not a difficult question.
To arrest someone and then fail to get a successful charge is, by definition, stupid. Similar to loading a shovel full of dirt and failing to put it in the wheelbarrow. The action had no useful purpose.
If, I am an old guy, just home from a long overseas trip, find my front door jammed shut and then, after some considerable hassle, I finally get into my own house only to have a cop giving me an attitude, in my own fucking house, sure as shit I am not going to be happy about that. Gate's behavior was normal.
But I can't help but notice that she tends to bring in the topic of her own vote, her own supposed "undecideness," in posts critical of Romney rather than Obama.
She has done this twice at least in the recent past, as though Romney has to do "something" to entice her away from voting for Obama. If you are an intelligent, politically observant person, could you still vote for Obama? I don't quite understand that about people who still support him.
Emotions cloud judgement.
Sorry professor... I don't know where you are coming from on this one.
So its not an Obama phone, its a Reagan phone.
So the lady in this video is voting for Obama because Ronald Reagan bought her a phone?
I need a quiet place to lie down for a minute or two.
To arrest someone and then fail to get a successful charge is, by definition, stupid.
Which dictionary's that definition in? :)
Speaking of videos - This one will make you fear for America's future.
If you think this election is about racism you are right. There are people who refuse to accept the equality of the black man.I firmly believe that a black man (or in this case an mixed race elite) can be as corrupt, malevolent and authoritarian as any white man.
I have to second Quastor: I thought I'd never read something so indefensible from Althouse, but here it is. I must reluctantly call bullshit on our gracious hostess.
The atmosphere in Madison is clearly wearing Ann down. Meade will have to offer therapy.
Ann should be a rationalist. I think the MSM is wearing her down with it's incessant cheering for Obama. It is hard to hold out against that, for sure. She needs to maintain that anger that she has demonstrated in the past regarding our amateur president.
Buck up, Ann!
PS: I understand why you track Limbaugh. I would suggest that you follow the WP left leaners to give your emotions fits from the lib side.
If Althouse were not as astute a critic of Obama as she is, I probably wouldn't hang around here as much as I do.
Same here.
They put a black woman who acted stupid and said stupid stuff just deliberately -- for all you know she may have been acting. This is Obama shenanigans as usual to counter the hard truth behind Romney's 47% comment. Obama and his minions put a black, 'stupid' face to associate with the 47%. Who is playing racist games now? Who is being used?
The Althouse who saw a hidden racial message in a 2008 Hillary ad ("The letters in the child's pajamas spell "NIG!" she shrieked) is back. Led by her feeeeelllings, she managed to hear a dogwhistle nobody else heard.
I started reading this blog regularly because of the great coverage of the Madison protests and the recall. Sad to say, she has reverted to standard-issue Madison academic. Since Althouse votes her emotions, perhaps it's her penance for her heretical stance re: Walker.
Or maybe it's all about driving up the hits.
Gee, the way all the sockpuppets keep bringing up Intrade, you'd think it was part of the FUD being run by the Lefties.
Yeah, no one paid attention to Intrade for anything until this election. It's all pro-Obama FUD. Keep up the good work and sharp analysis!
Here's a little history on the phone assistance program. It started in 1996.
m317 said...
If you are an intelligent, politically observant person, could you still vote for Obama?
Yes.
90% chance on intrade that Somefeller is from lgf.
If you are an intelligent, politically observant person, could you still vote for Obama?
A Reasonable Man says: Yes.
That's because A Reasonable Man is possessed of the conceit that he is intelligent and politically observant. Hell, the fool thinks he's "reasonable."
Ann,
Emotion is certainly a factor in how people vote. With some people, including you apparently, it is the largest factor. Some of us acknowledge our emotional leanings, and do our best to factor that out when we make our decision. Apparently, you don't.
This is Obama shenanigans as usual to counter the hard truth behind Romney's 47% comment. Obama and his minions put a black, 'stupid' face to associate with the 47%. Who is playing racist games now? Who is being used?
It's a conspiracy, I tells ya! Can't you see that Obama is behind this, too? We're through the looking glass, people.
AReasonableMan said...
To arrest someone and then fail to get a successful charge is, by definition, stupid.
And it's particularly brilliant to be a buddy of the Prez, who doesn't mind interfering in local law enforcement.
"If you are an intelligent, politically observant person, could you still vote for Obama? "
Sure, if you have some personal stake, whether it be emotional or financial, in Obama.
somefeller said...
Gee, the way all the sockpuppets keep bringing up Intrade, you'd think it was part of the FUD being run by the Lefties.
Yeah, no one paid attention to Intrade for anything until this election.
Not the way the Lefties have been pushing it this year.
It's all pro-Obama FUD. Keep up the good work and sharp analysis!
Well, when some phony folksy actually analyzes something, maybe we can all learn from him, but, since he only comes here to drop off a little snark, all we have is a limp repartee and the fact he just vindicated what I said.
I'm not even going to click on it, but it doesn't matter to me. The whole black/white thing is so last generation. Sorry, but can't be bothered to get offended enough for it to influence my vote either way. (But then, I'm likely going 3rd party. Last time I took the ink blot test, it put me somewhere in between libertarian and green - of all whacked out combinations.)
This is laughable, but mostly sad. Althouse is impaired by her emotional swings. She will vote for Obama because she thinks some supporters of Romney might be racist, or want to exploit racist sentiment. This is how Romney lost her -- some vague, unfounded view that Rush's repeated use of an Obama supporter's absurd expectations somehow reflects poorly on Romney.
Whatever happened to voting with your mind? Perhaps it's an embarrassingly dated, male-dominated concept.
We all want to help the legitimately disadvantaged and we all want good schools and modern roads.
Obama did not and will not deliver.
Obama has wasted our money.
Solyndra, Abound Solar, Stimulus, shovel ready jobs. Free tax payer funded cell phones in the mail even if you do not qualify. ObamaCare tax hikes on the middle class.
Our money - gone.
I love Ann, but this is nonsense. The woman is black. So what. And "fear" of blacks? Give me a break. Ann apparently has her own demons on race.
I have to say, you have lost me on this one.
You cannot possibly be undecided. I think racism is the most important issue to you, a boomer, and an extremely emotional one. I think you are looking for a reason to vote for Obama.
Are you saying Romney's campaign put him up to this!? Rush was a rude and vulgar about race before Obama and he will continue to be one after.
And black people will be better off under Romney, even if he did do it, which I doubt. That's the important point to me: they will be better off.
ReasonableIdiot
You do realize that the Cell phone did not exist when Reagan was alive, right?
Conservatives ask "What do you think about this?"
Liberals ask "How do you feel about this?"
We've had the feelers running things in Congress since 2006 and in the White House since 2008. They've run the country into the ground.
I really can't understand how anyone with a lick of sense can be undecided or neutral in this election. Re-electing Obama would mean four more years of out-of-control federal government and out-of-control spending. The car is about to careen off the cliff, and this is the last time to try to slam on the brakes and swerve to the side before we go over. A vote for Obama is a vote for stepping on the gas pedal.
"Fear"?
I don't get it. I didn't hear Rush, so maybe I'm missing context -- but I saw the video.
How does this relate in any way to fear of black people? Or for that matter, how is this a matter of what Romney supporters think they have to do to win?
I don't get it.
As for the "racial" character of the video -- why? I don't get that either. If 90% of blacks vote for Obama . . . good grief, you can't win. If you find some Republican blacks you'll be called out for citing Uncle Toms. If you interview Democrat blacks you're racist. And IMO, if you're in a "no win" scenario you're actually in a "no lose" scenario because the rubric is corrupt.
The most sensible thing in the Atlantic write-up was the last sentence -- but it's a straw man.
I'd say the video is a bump in the road.
If you want to get all emotional about this and shackle a candidate with his less-than-lovable supporters, please watch and scrutinize Rev. Wright, Fr. Pfleger, Bill Ayers, Bill Maher, every lying scumbag in the MSM, etc.
Fairness and balance is an emotional thing you "independent American values voters" claim to care about, right?
Whatever happened to voting with your mind? Perhaps it's an embarrassingly dated, male-dominated concept.
9/28/12 9:28 PM
Yeah, apparently it's no longer the in thing for feminists to use reason. It's hip to follow the promptings of your lady bits, or your estrogen or lack of said estrogen. Much more progressive.
Althouse: I agree that playing it once isn't racist. But selecting it and highlighting and making it go over and over is really quite miserable.
What? If something is not racist, then repeating it does not make it become racist. Its basic math.
PatCA - you bring up a great point. Are black people better off under Obama?
I'm pretty sure the answer is NO.
Damn, I want my Reagan phone.
"If anyone wants a better reason to object to Rush's use of this clip, they might try the big-shot-beating-up-on-ordinary-person angle. It always bugs me when Chris Christie does that too."
I never watched the crying Wisconsin protester either. "Hey, look, a dumb person!" doesn't appeal. Sorry.
I also don't listen to Rush. I find his voice annoying no matter what he's going on about, even if I agree with him.
Don't lose the forest for the trees professor.
This is akin to holding back an entire class because one student is accused of cheating.
or something.
I made my peace with Althouse voting for Obama.. again.
I'm just sad that some people are not going to be able to move pass it and we may loose them.
Ann,
So to sum up: to interview people is racist. Got it.
Clown!
AprilApple said...
You do realize that the Cell phone did not exist when Reagan was alive, right?
But the basic idea of giving a free phone to the poor did, albeit as a landline. It is probably cheaper to give a cell phone at this point.
In your heart you know Ann is right
In your head you know she's wrong
Michael, I do reckon (in my very humble and fallible opinion) that there is something of a "pose"-- more charitably, a performance-- in Althouse's protestations of undecidedness.
I sometimes find her claim to belong to the "undecided middle" to be disingenuous, annoying, frivolous-- especially when it's adduced (or seems to be) as a kind of pretension to superiority... a presumed intellectual superiority (the superiority of "cruel neutrality") over the rest of us who are decided-- more than decided, thoroughly invested in the outcome of this election, one way or the other.
But then again, insofar as it's all part of the vortex and stimulates good conversation/ argumentation among us, Althouse's commenters, I don't take umbrage at how Althouse chooses to blog her political views (or to what extent she chooses sincerity/ transparency or ambiguity/ opacity). Obviously, I appreciate this blog, both Althouse's posts and its commenters, or else I wouldn't be here.
But if at the end of the day, Althouse were to vote for Obama in 2012... I won't deny that that would be incredibly disappointing to me. I won't go into my thoughts on that or what my reaction would be (e.g. whether I'd stop commenting here) unless & until that hypothetical were to happen.
Rush Limbaugh isn't Romney for Christ's sake!
Lem said...
I made my peace with Althouse voting for Obama.. again.
I'm just sad that some people are not going to be able to move pass it and we may loose them.
An unwillingness to engage with people who have different political views than themselves suggests a level of insecurity that all the alpha males posting here must be long past.
Althouse is so often oblique that I get an incredible thrill when she is direct and says what is on her mind. More please!
I think Rush was referring to two electorate classes represented by this woman: entitlement (he also played the clip from WJR in Detroit when they interviewed people lining up for money from Obama 's stash) and I believe she is paid by the SEIU to protest. Two electorate groups that make governing even in the middle hard. Look at his site and I think the caption refers to his point.
I think Ann must not have caught the entire content.
Ann Althouse is thinking of voting for Obama because she thinks Rush Limbaugh is a racist, my mom is voting for Obama because she thinks Paul Ryan is a liar and it's his fault the country's credit rating was downgraded, a patient of mine is voting for Obama because she thinks Romney is going to do away with pap smears.
Once again, I weep for my country.
When one reads them, one wonders how she can resist such sharp insights.
Its always been a blind spot for her. She and I got into it a few years back because the *only* racial slur she banned from her blog was the n-word. You'd think her reflex would be along the lines of "equal protection under the law" but no, some races deserve special treatment in her world.
This is a really sad thread. Is it possible that during the blogger interupt this afternoon, someone hijacked Ann's blog?
So I took a look at the Obamaphone website where I learned that the program "was created under the administration of George William Bush". Would it have been terribly onerous to get the previous president's name right? I guess it just doesn't matter to Barack Hobgoblin Obama.
Sorry, but everyone should see the damage that dems. lying to blacks has done to blacks in America. They are so far into the mentality the dems. drummed into them for generations that let a black person espouse a conservative view and it will be other blacks who bash them the hardest & use the worst slurs against them.As many people as possible need to see this as often as possible,especially black people. It may wake them up to reality.
Is it possible that during the blogger interupt this afternoon, someone hijacked Ann's blog?
Well, now that you mentioned it, where's Titus?
Althouse: Look, those of you who don't see the racial problem are already probably going to vote for Romney
Huh? Are you drunk?
If the show were in the other foot... would Althouse be so critical of Obama?
Lets say the MSM assault on Romney's Mormonism..
Oh yea.. I forgot... nothing to see here.. move along.
This is an appalling post, and sadly, one that presages a future one which will be entitled "Why I am Voting for Obama -- Again" (something there was never any doubt would be coming).
I'm reminded of the black community's reaction to CNN showing looting by black citizens in post-Katrina New Orleans, as if there were some explicit code that you cannot show minorities acting negatively in any way, and to do so is racist by definition.
If you act a fool, don't be surprised if people call you out for it.
STOP HIDING BEHIND YOUR DAMN SKINTONE.
Cheers,
Victoria
Is it possible that during the blogger interupt this afternoon, someone hijacked Ann's blog?
Althouse didn't build that!
You are losing me.
Seriously? Who made you listen to 3 hours of Rush? I sure as hell don't. Somebody sent me that video and the lady was an idiot and it was funny. The end.
Rush's lack of creativity has nothing to do with who can actually run the country.
Victoria...
A sight for sore eyes!
Furthermore, there are serious problems in black America not being addressed by the Obama administration.
Obama has done jack squat to uplift the human detritus in some communities. He's failed in his Presidency as he failed as a community organizer.
"Here's a tip: Everyone votes emotionally. Your idea that you are completely rational is itself emotional. Your very rationality is itself a complex mix of emotion. I've read enough brain science to know that. Pretending that's not true only makes you naive. Resisting that fact is something that comes from emotion, not reason."
What's that called... a false dichotomy? I don't know of anyone who has made a claim to be "completely rational."
But completely emotional is a weird claim, too, no matter how much brain science explains how we come to our conclusions whatever they are.
And in the end, bottom line? *I* can not be responsible for someone else's emotional reactions. Romney can't do it either. Nor can, or should, Rush expect to be responsible for the emotional reactions of others.
And if decision making that relies on feelings about the economy and feelings about American exceptionalism and feelings about jobs and feelings about foreign policy and feelings about Romney and Ryan's ability to comprehend Math... then isn't the question one of where we allow our "emotional" decision making to go?
I can emotionally decide to pretend that government programs that show I care don't have to be paid for, but I'd be wrong. If my emotional decision is that it's better for everyone, and certainly better for the poor, that our government favor solvency and economics that work, then so be it.
If putting racial conciliation above the economy that hurts minorities most of all is one's emotional choice, then so be it.
I see what happened. Ann listened to Rush's clip over and over again, and at the end of the day she found herself loathing black people.
That's why Rush is racist...
Does it bother you similarly when people make fun of "white trash hillbillies"? Have you seen the TLC show Honey Boo Boo? The entire intent of that show is to mock fat ugly white people. They go out of their way to show to worst behaviors and unflattering images. They are exploiting a real life little girl. I see the "Obama Phone" video in a similar light. Certainly if you are against this kind of mockery, then I hope you feel the same when it happens to a white person or a Christian, more so if it is a child. The problem is, most people are cool with it when the victim is white trash. You know it, everyone knows it. They mock, everyone laughs. Life is cruel. And what does it have to do with Romney? Did he use it in an ad or something? From what I can tell, Romney is a decent person, at least as much as Obama. They are both good intentioned family men. This race is not about that. It is not about how good of dads they are (they both win!), or who has the best intentions for our country (yeah, they both win again). They are both good guys, who would make great neighbors, but you are not picking a neighbor, you are picking a president. Yes people will vote with their emotions, and God knows there has been emotional attacks from both sides. No it is not right to exploit this women as it is not right to exploit any person in that way. Unfortunately we are living in the age of the viral internet and it sucks for anyone, regardless of their race who gets swept up in it. Both sides are guilty.
My worries about your racism have affected my ability to earn a living.
It seems you all owe me, plenty, and your racist school system-the evidence is clear Wisconsin hates black people if you dare look at The Hawk That Claimed Iowanishness why you owe me.
*checks calender*
nope, April Fools Day is still months away.
Sorry, but everyone should see the damage that dems. lying to blacks has done to blacks in America. They are so far into the mentality the dems. drummed into them for generations that let a black person espouse a conservative view and it will be other blacks who bash them the hardest & use the worst slurs against them.As many people as possible need to see this as often as possible,especially black people. It may wake them up to reality.
I don't think it's racism to use that clip. If anything, it's exploitation of a human being who may or may not be capable of reasoning. I don't think we know that about this woman. For me, that she's black is a non-starter. If she's intelligent, then the content of her character comes into play. If not, no one should be mocking her or using her to further an agenda, and that includes Rush Limbaugh, and yes, Barack Obama. And as for Althouse, The Sacred Althouse Vote Drama grows tiresome. I hate to say that because I have been a loyal reader since the inception of this blog. Big Picture, Althouse, Big Picture.
Hey Lem!! Besos y abrazos!
"I sometimes find her claim to belong to the "undecided middle" to be disingenuous, annoying, frivolous-- especially when it's adduced (or seems to be) as a kind of pretension to superiority"
It certainly is frivolous - particularly when you consider an upper-middle class woman in her pretty, lily-white Madison neighborhood having the vapors over Limbaugh's "racism" and blaming Romney for it.
Althouse: Look, those of you who don't see the racial problem are already probably going to vote for Romney
You're saying that Romney supporters are blind to racism...
Ann:
Question. If you had to choose either Romney or Obama to be the person who would make all investment decisions for your pension progam, who would you choose?
If one made you feel good about yourself but wanted to use your money for his pet projects, and the other would grow your money but you had trouble remembering his name, who would you choose?
You want an excuse to vote for O, any excuse will do. Don't think about what a mess the economy is, the ME burning, no jobs, real estate in the toilet, the country is broke. But Ann is offended by a talk show.
Jesus, just vote for him already. Ease your liberal mind.
Excellent post by autothreads at 8:33 PM!!
----
Maybe Meade isn't weighing in on this because he got one of those free phones in the mail and is loving his new entitlement.
IF I was the Chinese, I'd wait until Obama is reelected and send the delegation of their top bankers in then.
No more money for IOUS unless Obama agrees to cut the military 80%. But he can keep handing out new Obamaphones, work to get another 6 illegals in and on free stuff.
Then the Chinese will be ready for phase III.
(First was turning Republican capitalist greed into destruction of almost half the US manufacturing sector under free trade and loaning lots of money to fuel Bush's huge new entitlements, his American Churchill wars that have gone on longer than Vietnam, and his tax cuts for the rich, who BUsh called the Jobs Creators who would create 10s of millions of new jobs in gratitude for their taxes dropping)
AJ Lynch said...I should read something by Elspeth Reeve whose boyfriend or husband made up bogus stories about the Iraq War while she was employed at some far left librul mag which got the idiotor fired?
Ah hell, I knew that name sounded familiar.
Althouse is falling for that swill? Really?
The video is not inherently racist. Neither is Rush using it over and over again absent some express comments that it is. Ann is just projecting. Not surprising considering her previous vote for Obama and the apparent next one she'll now be casting.
I'll say it again and again, we will not put race behind us until the last of us boomers are cold in the grave.
I'm not picking on our hostess personally, but after many posts itemizing the shifty behaviour of the present administration and its media apologists, she picks one Rush L show which is attached to Romney in no way more than any of us commenters to literally opine that Romney is in danger of losing her. All the other observations were phrased in the abstract, but this one is personal.
It just goes to show, that racial guilt and racial emotions trump all!!!
I truly believe that aging whites are the only people in any significantly meaningful numbers left that cannot look at a black person beyond the fact that they are black.
Hey Professor, do you take requests?
I'd like a post detailing what, precisely, Romney needs to "show you" in order to not "lose you."
Particularly vis-a-vis what Obama has already shown all of us, that is, dismal failure coinciding with the implosion of any vestiges of an ethical, competent, responsible media establishment.
sydney said...
my mom is voting for Obama because she thinks Paul Ryan is a liar and it's his fault the country's credit rating was downgraded,
Your mom has her head screwed on straight. Ryan lied about his marathon times. It was such an unnecessary and risky lie that it calls into question his sanity. The house Republicans did precipitate the debt-ceiling crisis, which was cited by Standard & Poor as one of the main reasons for the downgrade.
I am in general agreement with many here that the debt is a huge problem, but the federal government should have been aggressively paying the debt down before the recession not after. The failure of Republicans to deal with the debt on their watch, under much more favorable financial conditions than currently exist, makes the current cries about the debt seem entirely politically motivated. There were principled Republicans, like Bruce Bartlett, who called bullshit at the time, but look how they were treated.
I'm sorry you are only able to focus on the race of the person in that video. Personally, I focused on the insanity of a program to spend federal tax dollars to hand out cell phones. The person in the video could have been any manner of person, I would still find the notion of my labor providing someone with a free cell phone offensive. I'm just not understanding you at all on this one.
Althouse tells us that everyone votes emotionally and that our thoughts are the product of our emotions; that if we thinkmwe vote rationally, that's just some crazy emotion telling us that; and (here's the best part) that she has got rational proof of all of this in a little book on brain science. Ah yes, ther's nothing quite like an appeal to reason to persuade us that reasons illusory. Ann, here's a tip for you: you're ripping off Kant.
Emotions are short term, also known as being rash. Moods are deeper and longer in duration. The general mood of the country is not 2008. It must be hard to meld voting for Obama using the defense of intellectual means, then having to defend that vote based on emotion when now Obama has a record to discern in the intellectual capacity.
I suggest a better way to vote is to make a list of your values and beliefs and she who matches up better rather than having female vapors. In public, no less.
@Yashu. Well put and agreed.
I truly believe that aging whites are the only people in any significantly meaningful numbers left that cannot look at a black person beyond the fact that they are black.
I agree. I have lived in several different cultures and countries and the only people I've ever met who constantly yap yap yap about race are white liberal boomers. It's a peculiarity of their tribe, one that they need to stop assuming is A. normal and B. universal.
(Victoria i.e. vbspurs, so great to see you! Would love to see you here more often.)
I'm looking forward to the debates.
I might not vote for either of them.
Cruelly neutrally yours,
aa
Just to shut the UnreasonableTroll's mouth about a Reagan Phone, toddle over to PowerLine and take a look at how Zero appropriated the program for himself.
It is an ObamaPhone.
I'm heartened to see you've experienced my neutrality as cruel.
Because Rush and Romney are the same person. #logicfail
I'm glad I didn't take the time to read these 333 comments.
Very droll, Madame.
PS Yes, vb, great to have you back.
A Reasonable Man. You would have a good argument if Romney were supporting more debt and spending. He is not. If Republicans were asleep st the wheel they have awakened. The debt is too big to be ignored.
We could look at the bright side.
If Obama has four more years to wait for the economy to improve in spite of emotional decisions to favor scapegoating business and crony funding preferred but nonviable industries, maybe NEXT time we can get someone in who isn't an old-school big government moderate who merely sees the cliff we're headed for and get someone who will actually, for real, use the inevitable global crisis to make significant changes.
Rush's lack of creativity has nothing to do with who can actually run the country.
You know, now that you mentioned that.. in a weird way of the brain works.. it has jogged my memory back to when Rather thought he had cornered Bush senior just before the election..
And Bush senior had a comback..
How would you like it if I judge your whole career on those seven minutes you walked off the set in New York.
How is this relevant to what is at issue?
Althouse claims to have heard Rush for years... how did Rush manage to hide this racism so well from her?
As we have read here, and I also believe, Althouse prides herself in her ability to read between the lines and sense when Rush is doing a media tweak or whatever.
Is Althouse prepared to say Rush had her fooled all that time?
Thank you Ann. Yes, the debates should be a legitimate venue to find out if Romney is your choice. I was just disappointed that you allowed this nonsense to potentially short circuit the decision making process.
I see the Professor wore her ass-kicking boots to work today. Excellent. As some other blogger might say, heh, indeed.
And "fear" of blacks? Give me a break. Ann apparently has her own demons on race.
When you live in lily white Wisconsin, black people are scary. We tend to fear the unknown.
Althouse- I am curious. You have two 20-something sons. Are you satisfied with the range of job opportunities they have in the present economy? Are you optimistic about their future in this economy?
My apologies, and regrets.
Fuck 'em as I will only live once (through Christ if I have a clue).
I didn't give the definition of "stupid" for you, so you could, potentially, understand why calling a cop "stupid" might be inappropriate for the President of American to do.
stu·pid (stpd, sty-)
adj. stu·pid·er, stu·pid·est
1. Slow to learn or understand; obtuse.
2. Tending to make poor decisions or careless mistakes.
3. Marked by a lack of intelligence or care; foolish or careless: a stupid mistake.
4. Dazed, stunned, or stupefied.
5. Pointless; worthless: a stupid job.
n.
A stupid or foolish person.
We will be judged by the color of our skin. The decision of a minority to conduct involuntary exploitation and discrimination of blacks, whites, browns, etc., will forever color people's judgment. A selective recall of history will be our undoing. The normalization of denigration of individual dignity and devaluation of human life in order to fulfill dreams of instant gratification will be our legacy.
It's probably too late to correct America's "progress." People will elect to exchange their liberty for submission with benefits, and they will cast their vote for the progressive involuntary exploitation of 150 million dissenting individuals. Neither a democracy -- tyranny of a majority -- nor a totalitarian regime -- tyranny of a minority -- are desirable governing systems. Both serve to denigrate individual dignity. However, our system is progressive, and is a sponsor of cultural corruption.
Fortunately, a majority of Americans also embrace behaviors which constitute evolutionary dysfunction. So, their influence will be short-lived, and individuals with a superior conception of reality will replace them. Unless, of course, the promotion of dysfunctional behaviors is only directed to lesser classes of human beings.
"I am in general agreement with many here that the debt is a huge problem, but the federal government should have been aggressively paying the debt down before the recession not after. The failure of Republicans to deal with the debt on their watch, under much more favorable financial conditions than currently exist, makes the current cries about the debt seem entirely politically motivated. There were principled Republicans, like Bruce Bartlett, who called bullshit at the time, but look how they were treated."
Wow.
The debt is a real problem, but because it should have been dealt with before, now that it's blown up to unbelievable proportions, I'm going to pretend that it's not a problem at all because... Republicans!
Democrats weren't doing anything *either* except spending money, but so? Who would bother to hold Democrats accountable when they're about growing government. They're honest! Growing the debt is what they do.
But Republicans just pretend to care about this REAL problem, so they are dishonest and political.
So I'm going to vote against 'em.
I'm voting for the emotional choice, who also happens to be the coldly-calculated choice.
I'm not pushing a political agenda... except Freedom and Liberty, which can hardly be considered "agendas".
And for me, in all my divinity, this is the real real, baby:
VOTE FOR GARY JOHNSON!!!
Otherwise you can consider your soul sold... the only choice you have is which evil conglomeration you sell it to.
Rush should replace this video with the teachers chanting "think of the children". All the while seeking compensation for inflationary policies which they support through fiscal and rhetorical contributions to their special interests.
I believe a clip from Chicago should be effective and it features a majority of individuals with "white" or light skin. So, there should be no concerns of implicit racial prejudice. Unfortunately, they are, in the majority, female, which could, possibly, be misconstrued as sexist... or something.
Althouse's vote counts once. Althouse's vote does not count a million times.
You know what's worse than Althouse voting for Obama? Eating a little bag of Reese's Pieces, and you get down to the last one and... There isn't another one! Somehow your Amount Left tracking system erred. (Probably due to some stray emotion wreaking havoc in there.) There are no more even though you were mentally calibrated for one more tiny candy.
Rustling Leaves said...
Does it bother you similarly when people make fun of "white trash hillbillies"? Have you seen the TLC show Honey Boo Boo? The entire intent of that show is to mock fat ugly white people. They go out of their way to show to worst behaviors and unflattering images. They are exploiting a real life little girl. I see the "Obama Phone" video in a similar light. Certainly if you are against this kind of mockery, then I hope you feel the same when it happens to a white person or a Christian, more so if it is a child.
I do, even when its a drunken slut like Snooki. You know that's not going to end well.
The issue is when racial prejudice is exploited for naked political purposes rather than just for commercial ones. Rush is in a position where he does both, although his principal motivation is financial gain, he almost certainly a net loss for the party. To pretend that race is not routinely exploited for political purposes and that this is not fundamentally different to commercial exploitation seems naive to me. White fears of becoming a minority voting block are real, and not entirely unjustified. Obama's election is a potent symbol around which those fears can coalesce. If things were close in this election Rove, Hannity and their like minded brethren will do everything they can to play on those fears. To ignore this possibility is to be deliberately blind to how this game is played.
Freeman Hunt, that is indeed the worst.
Hi back, Mr Edutcher!!
And hiya, yashu! I would love to be here more often, but after the football was yanked from under me once too often, I finally tired of it all.
PS: Since when is Rush Limbaugh, Mitt Romney? Please.
stu·pid (stpd, sty-)
adj. stu·pid·er, stu·pid·est
1. Slow to learn or understand; obtuse.
2. Tending to make poor decisions or careless mistakes.
3. Marked by a lack of intelligence or care; foolish or careless: a stupid mistake.
4. Dazed, stunned, or stupefied.
5. Pointless; worthless: a stupid job.
n.
A stupid or foolish person.
Can anyone imagine calling Mitt Romney this in 1970? Why?
1980? Why, and just what did you do to deem Romney thus?
1990? Again, you, personally, what in 1990 were you doing that Mitt wasn't that made you better than him, to an extent you would feel comfortable proclaiming the man "stupid?"
We all know, those who read this, what happened in 2000 to radicalize the dupes, but how can they Most-Needily-Defend against the Romney claims of success without claiming racist bullshit?
@Freeman Hunt
A rational person empties all their Reese's pieces out on the table and arranges them in rows and columns to make a rectangle. Did I say rational? I meant OCD.
I like M&Ms.
Freeman,
"Somehow your Amount Left"
Pretty clearly you are getting emotional when evaluating the amount on the left.
When did Allie Oop become this angry, hateful Inga person?
Lily Bart, when she gets pissed off enough, that's when.
I get it Tyrone. When I was a kid, I used to separate them all out by color.
Oh, shoot...
I shouldn't have said that should I? Now Althouse is definitely going to vote for Obama.
@FreemanHunt-
It is a shame you see it that way. Perhaps you ought to think of the great irony involved in such a situation... and appreciate the irony... and learn to appreciate the Pieces of Reese's that you had previously consumed, even without paying significant conscious attention to your consumption of the final one. Perhaps it is God's way of telling you
Yo, bitch! Ya' just had a 'hole fuckin' bag o' pieces... so why'a complain 'bout missin' one last lil' piece! Whater'ya? A cracker crack whore, scamblin' f'er that last lil' bit'a crack dat ain't dere?
I guess it just doesn't matter to Barack Hobgoblin Obama.
@Tyrone: This made me crack up. Hobgoblin. Hee.
Ann, I guess I don't understand why, if Rush Limbaugh overplays this woman's cell phone statements, that you'd hold this against Romney / Ryan.
When did Allie Oop become this angry, hateful Inga person?
OLGA NEED A LITTLE RUB-DOWN?
:) Lord Almighty.
Damn. Writing black takes a lot of apostrophes. That's because I do it "old school", and insert apostrophes when deviating from standard English.
Was about to write "the King's English".... but no, no, that's too much.
Still haven't watched the video. If this gets to 500 comments, I'll watch it.
Michael said...
A Reasonable Man. You would have a good argument if Romney were supporting more debt and spending.
I honestly doubt that you have any idea how, or even whether, Romney will dramatically reduce the debt. And this is not any fault of yours. To significantly reduce the debt Romney has to slash the large middle class entitlement programs that a large number of his supporters currently, or very soon will, depend on. There is no magic button here.
I haven't read the the other comments but regarding the post. If that would cause you to vote for the Comrade, then you are going to vote for him anyway. Piss poor excuse, though.
I listen to Rush nearly every day but only for about an hour. My guess is that that is most people's experience. He probably played that clip repeatedly because he was in the presence of comedy gold and wished to keep panning the ore. He's very funny and worth listening to, but tuning in for three hours demonstrates an unhealthy level of fandom. In all things moderation. This probably would not have sounded repititious to a moderate listener......I recognize that there are some white people who will not vote for Obama simply because he is black, but there are other white people who will vote for him simply because he is. I would say that both rationales are very wrong. Don't white people have other flaws to overcome and problems to solve besides racism.
I shouldn't have said that should I? Now Althouse is definitely going to vote for Obama.
Ouch.
@Althouse -
I might not vote for either of them.
I am greatly heartened that your cruel neutrality seems to be back. I hope you VOTE FOR GARY JOHNSON. If you do I will love you forever.
I will not lust you, forever, though, since only Olga spikes my drinks dat-a-way.
I am going to divinely ordain a new blog. It is inspired by Althouse. So is its name... Will announce it here tomorrow!
I am so proud of you, Althouse!
I am in general agreement with many here that the debt is a huge problem, but the federal government should have been aggressively paying the debt down before the recession not after.
"Before the recession, not after"?
There have been quite a lot of recessions, you know. "Before" a recession is always "after" a recession.
For example, some may recall that Bush inherited a recession back in 2000. The recovering economy took another big hit from 9/11. Bush responded with (drum roll) stimulus spending! How about that.
Synova, Victoria and Freeman Hunt all being brilliant in one thread.
Bliss.
An Unreasonable Bonehead said:
"Ryan lied about his marathon times. It was such an unnecessary and risky lie that it calls into question his sanity."
Calls into question his sanity?"
Oh, yes, Ryan's marathon times - now there's a burning issue for the American electorate.
Jesus, what a clown you are.
I saw the picture on Drudge. I thought maybe it was about people buying a phone like buying a shirt and being in a sense part of a partisan club. Her face of simple need didn't go with that. Campaigns are about catharsis which is something other than winning. Maybe Rush has given up and is going with the catharsis. Kind of ugly. Black people might have simple needs and be grateful for having them recognized; if white people are ashamed to admit to need, that is their problem.
Moving the conversation beyond the obvious exploitation of this woman, wouldn't true compassion for her involve teaching her how to fish rather than just giving her fish? Don't we all want to live with dignity?
This is ALL about not being seen with the "wrong" people, specifically the lower class white "cracker." It's fucking snobbery and elitism masquerading as social concern. Snobs like Althouse NEVER mix with African Americans. Instead, AAs are the designated sanctified Brahmin class, set apart from the normal social obligations of an advanced civilization. They will always be segregated from true citizenship as long as they remain on the Democratic "plantation."
African Americans have indeed sold themselves cheaply. But maybe not as cheaply as Althouse who only gets to bask in the glow of her own self-righteousness. All while the middle and lower classes feel the rush of "trickle-up poverty."
The professional class is destroying America. They "got" theirs fuck everyone else.
Synova said...
Wow.
The debt is a real problem, but because it should have been dealt with before, now that it's blown up to unbelievable proportions, I'm going to pretend that it's not a problem at all
Not pretending, just not convinced that dramatically slashing federal spending during a period of slow economic growth is a brilliant idea. Not working well in Britain. Going back into a recession will blow out the debt even faster due to lost revenue. Again, if the debt had been reduced dramatically during the Bush years we would be in a much better position to deal with our economic problems now. Bush was a grasshopper.
Psychiatrist, well put!
Nevermind the administration's numerous lies about Fast and Furious, which cost over 200 people their lives - the really pressing issue is Ryan lying about his marathon times.
A "Reasonable Man" proudly waves his banner in the parade of bozos.
Wait a minute..
Were we just tweaked by Althouse?
Rush does Media Tweaks..
exiledonmainst said...
Oh, yes, Ryan's marathon times - now there's a burning issue for the American electorate.
Explain why he lied.
That was a very interesting exposure of the real issue by La Althouse. Well done.
The commenters here are thinkers who stop at the edge of their best argument as if they have won without seeing the harm they also did in the eyes of observers. For example Ann Coulter does that. She is also a thinker first and ends up offending those who don't accept her facts as the truth.
Lawyers are inherently arrogant people, but we but soon learn better since we want to win.
Mitt needs to engage while the people are wanting to see his emotional orientation towards them, not just his financial Planner qualifications.
A good way to do that is to back a position that is not 100% popular with the Rush Limbaughs of the media...that's would at least show his courage as an emotion.
Are "independents" really so fickle that an episode of Rush Limbaugh determines your choice of President? Really, that's it?
Ryan lied about his marathon times.
For the love of god, do you realize how ridiculous this sounds? Our ambassador was just murdered and the government is lying to us about it, the President is lying to us about it, and they just hauled some guy off to jail for posting a video on the internet and you are talking about someone’s fucking marathon time?
(incidentally I saw numerous explanations about why he wasn't lying or something but I paid no attention because this is the stupidest controversy since the racist rock.)
The first sentence of this post makes no sense, btw. A true video (assuming this wasn't faked) cannot be racist in and of itself. It wasn't created, it's real. Any racial component is in your head.
The professor says publishing the ObamaPhone video once was okay but her objection is the repetition. Therein lies the key to understanding her "emotional" position. She is an old hippie, one of those sincere but naive 60s utopians who thought if only we adopted the civil rights acts and the great society the black community would assume it place in the American melting pot. The phone video strikes her on an emotional level – an unwanted truth is revealed. See it once and it can be shunted to the back of her memory or dismissed altogether. The repetition drives the thing past the emotional walls of resistence and into her conscious mind -- producing a realization -- that all those well intentioned liberal programs have failed. All those 60s utopians were not the saviors of the America but the hand maidens of black dependency and the virtual destruction of the black family. The attendant social pathologies have sprung from the black community and are infecting the rest of American society -- but its racist to say so. And the professor is confronting this conclusion and is afraid she is turning into one herself. Her transference onto Rush is pure cognitive dissonance.
"Black people might have simple needs and be grateful for having them recognized"
Oh, yes, black people - here's your cell phone and your welfare check. We'll gladly pay for your abortion - now go back to your inner city craphole and leave us white professionals alone.
You're simple (read: inferior) and your children will also be simple, and we want to keep you that way. Don't ever aspire to anything more than a free cellphone, like a chance to go to a decent school or anything, just keep asking for your "simple needs" to be fulfilled.
Looking for racism, Ann? "A pyschiatrist" just hit a home run.
Black people might have simple needs
I winced when I read that.
Revenant said...
There have been quite a lot of recessions, you know. "Before" a recession is always "after" a recession.
I can't believe that you seriously believe that the 2000 recession is a comparable event to the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression followed by a prolonged global recession. Is this rational? Read Barlett's books. There wasn't much doubt what the right thing to do was during most of Bush's presidency, particularly because the budget had already been balanced during Clinton's presidency.
Explain why he lied.
9/28/12 10:56 PM
Stupid masculine ego, maybe? He wanted to sound more fit than he is? So what? Really, who gives a damn? This is some big issue for you? The national debt is out of control, the ME is blowing up, we have an utterly corrupt adminstration and dishonest media covering for it and you think Ryan's marathon times are some huge "gotcha?"
Like I said, you're a clown.
Freeman
You have the right attitude. Concentrate on things you can control.
But, losing track of the Reese's Pieces is cruel indeed. The little bags are best because when that happens getting another one doesn't feel quite so self indulgent. Sort by color, arrange in squares and graph them then it's almost impossible to lose track. Sometimes I even have to open several bags just to make sure I have equal numbers of every color. It's very important they be equal so that none of them feels oppressed. I always feel better after the emotional interaction a bag of Reese's Pieces provides.
But, those Skittles! Teh evil is in teh Skittles!
Bwaaaa Haaaaa Haaaaaa!!!???!!!
Really?? Rush Limbaugh... You're gonna play this now? You're gonna center it around a Rush Limbaugh rant? Bullshit...you're just messing with people now. "I'z jes messing with my peoples over a merlot... no worriez... hiccup..." You are Funny!!
Are "independents" really so fickle that an episode of Rush Limbaugh determines your choice of President? Really, that's it?
Its way more..
Obama is like-able ;)
Althouse said...
But this liking of Obama — not loving, liking — what is it? Is it racist? You like him. You really, really like him. Or something's wrong with you. Do you twinge with anxiety that you might be racist if you don't like him?
Shanna said...
Ryan lied about his marathon times.
For the love of god, do you realize how ridiculous this sounds?
Why did he lie? Considerable insight into Ryan's character is available to those that ask this simple question. I agree its a trivial issue, which is what makes the lie so interesting.
I once caught a fish that was [this] big...
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