Althouse: "Boy, I can't think of a better Christmas present than to read about these vile unpleasant asocial deluded individuals suffering..."

December 26, 2012

"Boy, I can't think of a better Christmas present than to read about these vile unpleasant asocial deluded individuals suffering..."

"... all locked together in a big metal box. Schadenfreude to the max."

57 comments:

Tim said...: Oh my.

The hate burns hot and deep over in the comments over there.; 12/26/12, 10:04 AM
Shouting Thomas said...: Another Democratic touchdown dance article.

Another hate whitey article, written by a white SOB intent on proving he's one of the "good whites."

Joe Hagan, the author of the article, is white as the driven snow. As expected.; 12/26/12, 10:06 AM
Michael K said...: I was on the 2008 NR cruise and didn't notice any of that nasty stuff. It was fun. We saw some good discussions and met some very nice people, including the Romneys.

It's amusing to see the imaginations of lefties run amok.; 12/26/12, 10:11 AM
MadisonMan said...: Althouse, knowing your opinion on cruises skews my opinion of your posting on this article in a very funny way.; 12/26/12, 10:16 AM
Richard Dolan said...: "The hate burns hot and deep over in the comments over there."

Not just over there, but often here as well. Politics is a blood sport, and that approach has spilled over into political commentary. And like most American sports, the players enjoy the sound and feel of contact, despite it's being (in this case) entirely virtual.

The real change is that the commentary game is now open to all, and many jump in with gusto even if (perhaps especially when) they have nothing of interest to say. Yet they all know who they're rooting against more than for, even if they can't articulate why their team is so much better than the other team(s).

I'd blame it on a dysfunctional educational system that rewards group think more than critical thinking.; 12/26/12, 10:21 AM
Richard Dolan said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 12/26/12, 10:22 AM
Nonapod said...: It's pretty depressing to read these typical lefty hate rants. They really are pathetic.

That said I personally couldn't imagine going on one of those cruises. But I don't much like cruises in general so I'm probably not the target audience.; 12/26/12, 10:23 AM
SomeoneHasToSayIt said...: What the Lefties say really boils down to this:

"Let's laugh at the pitiful Republicans who failed to realize just how stupid and easily duped a majority of the American voters are".; 12/26/12, 10:27 AM
Tim said...: "Not just over there, but often here as well."

Oh, yes, surely, but I don't think it has reached that level here, or at the same level as other "conservative" (knowing Althouse is not a conservative) boards.

I do believe a qualitative difference is, if I may paint with an exceedingly large brush deployed through my own prism, is that conservatives wish for things to simply work, and then to be left alone; the liberal Left wants government to fix their irretrievably broken lives.

Yeah, I know. That's hateful, lol!; 12/26/12, 10:33 AM
Palladian said...: To be an uncritical leftist is to be a vile, unpleasant, asocial, deluded individual who spends his entire life locked in a big metal box.; 12/26/12, 10:43 AM
Palladian said...: Didn't Max Schadenfreude direct a bunch of films for UFA in the 1920s?; 12/26/12, 10:45 AM
DADvocate said...: Another hate whitey article, written by a white SOB intent on proving he's one of the "good whites."

Joe Hagan, the author of the article, is white as the driven snow. As expected.

To paraphrase something I read in the "Autobiography of Malcolm X," no matter what you do to fight racism and how hard you work to achieve harmony between whites and blacks, unless you're some well known popular figure, like Bill Clinton, to a black thug in the 'hood, you're just a honky cracker.; 12/26/12, 10:48 AM
I'm Full of Soup said...: Can an objective person not admit that the average conservative sounds much smarter than thew average liberal?; 12/26/12, 10:54 AM
Chip Ahoy said...: I would hear real life cases, modern day and historic, were parents indentured their children to resolve their current finances or help their present situation and I wondered what kind of parent would do that. No parent would do that. The situation must be more dire than I could understand. One would not outweigh the other. But it does.

This is why I am descending into full on misanthropy. There is not one mention over there, not one single hint this country's economics no longer makes sense. It cannot be rationalized. And the observable activities of their entire leadership indicate they are simply not serious Statespeople, not serious negotiators, compromisers nor consensus builders. I have not once seen or heard their leadership nor their fellowship characterize their opposition anywhere near accurately. They are poorer than they know, and making everybody else poorer too and deride everybody and everything outside their own extremely divisive points of view.

So why do they insist on ignoring the debt they're dragging us into without acknowledging? We know that whole group, the original NY piece and all of the Metafilter commenters, would be freaking doubletime and doubleyloud specifically about non sensible intergenerational shared debt. There would be no end to it. We'd hear about every single 1¢ increase in gasoline price, every day, every news report, every $1.00 increase in home energy would be carefully tracked and reported and blamed. And we know that because they did that. But nothing from these smartasses about any of that as if id does not exist and that's why even reading them is becoming intolerable. I really don't like people anymore. So why?

Here's why. Here's why they feel comfortable deriding Republicans who could have at least started fixing the problem they refuse to acknowledge exists much less address directly. Managing their own family's healthcare is beyond their capability. Perplexing, vexing, life wrecking, and not fun.

And it's not their fault. That's the out of touch part. Conservatives are so out of touch they don't realize managing one's own healthcare is too complex, too big to handle, too hard and it does need government help, government protection. From who? From corporations who being without mind and merely profit oriented drive up costs without thought the plight of poor citizens. Modern innovation, the technology of modern medicine, the intervening insurance companies, government regulations, deductions, co-pays, then tax deductions and such the darkened sky of crisscrossing payments and continuously escalating costs altogether make that whole segment of family life unmanageable. If conservatives were in touch they would realize that having that burden lifted off their shoulders, off their minds, is worth the price of something else not completely understood, not able to be comprehended,

that is,

getting rid of the oppressive healthcare situation burdening their minds, incomprehensible and unmanageable, is worth a shared debt that is also incomprehensible and unmanageable. We've reached the point were it is worth it. Neither one can be spoken about accurately because it is not possible. Both are shifting targets, both massive and amorphous blobs, and purposefully so, designed that way, so just shut up all you out of touch people, hire the nice candidates instead, the person most like me, most like myself who says they understand me, by complaining about the same things I do, and speaking about these two issues the same way I do, by knowing who's at fault.

And look, I passed a chance to use porpoise instead of purpose. Damn. You just have to let some things go.

I'm very disappointed in Metafilter commenters. They're typical. Not at all thoughtful. I don't want to know them. We cannot be friends.; 12/26/12, 10:55 AM
I'm Full of Soup said...: UFA? Palladian - are you an Ultimate Fighting fan?; 12/26/12, 11:06 AM
RigelDog said...: I was on that cruise. Ralph Reed is unbearably obnoxious. The iguana liked the orange sections very much, and I am very happy that I did not happen to be included in that photograph. Not everyone on the cruise was wealthy; I am certainly not...spent about $2000 for a full week, which of course includes food and entertainment, and this is not something I can afford to do every year. Not one word in that article contemplates that "conservatives" could actually be concerned about an actual economic crisis that will be disastrous for the entire country.; 12/26/12, 11:17 AM
Michael K said...: " There is not one mention over there, not one single hint this country's economics no longer makes sense. It cannot be rationalized. "

This is the default (pardon the pun) position of the left, including some of my own children. They are not interested in economics, maybe not interested in arithmetic. Well, I'm old enough that the crash will probably be after I would care.; 12/26/12, 11:17 AM
Anonymous said...: I agree with Mr. Ahoy: he did miss a chance to use porpoise instead of purpose.

Right on the rest, too.

I suggest we convert to a flat tax, no deductions, and all the newly unemployed accountants, HR Blocks, TurboxTax etc evolve into personal healthcare accountants. At the end of the year you give them all the various forms, receipts and health paperwork and they navigate the mess and figure out how much you owe and pay all the appropriate parties. Let them deal with the IRS questioning my cotton swab usage.; 12/26/12, 11:22 AM
garage mahal said...: To be an uncritical leftist is to be a vile, unpleasant, asocial, deluded individual who spends his entire life locked in a big metal box.

So true. Conservative commenters are such a pleasant and polite bunch! Never do they partake in rude behavior. Look at the comment section of this blog if you don't believe me.; 12/26/12, 11:26 AM
Palladian said...: UFA?

Universum Film AG

Palladian - are you an Ultimate Fighting fan?

Yes, but probably not for the same reason you are. :); 12/26/12, 11:27 AM
Chip S. said...: Every new version of The Innocents Abroad is worse than the previous one.

Joe Hagan couldn't find the seething racism he was obviously looking for, so he had to resort to stunts like twisting the meaning of the term "Anglosphere" in order to confirm his readers' belief that opposition to Obama's policies is only explicable as a manifestation of fear and loathing.; 12/26/12, 11:44 AM
dbp said...: It was amusing to read the New York piece. James Lileks' Bleat alluded to the "mole". The mole repayed the favor by describing him thus:

"After dinner was a program called the “Light Side of the Right Side.” A frenetic, tightly wound man named James Lileks, a National Review columnist from Minnesota, warmed up the crowd with one-liners: “If we can put a man on the moon, we can put 50 million Democrats up there as well!”"

Having read both Lileks and Hagan's versions of the cruise, I have to admit that Hagan's was not as one-sided as I expected it to be. At the same time, he clearly has no clue about what makes conservatives tick.; 12/26/12, 11:46 AM
Larry J said...: As the InstaPundit noted, that article is from the All White New York Magazine. You see, it isn't a problem when a leftist outfit is all white. The rules they insist on for everyone else don't apply to them.; 12/26/12, 12:04 PM
CWJ said...: The hate follows from the statist/collectivist view of society. It cannot be different. If you advocate using force to take ever more things, money, whatever from your opponents for society, and incidently yourself, then it simply can't be justified UNLESS they are evil and undeserving against your goodness. If you advocate using force to to make others to believe and behave in the the ways you deem proper, then they must be evil, stupid, or at best ignorant against your superior judgement. After all, bad things shouldn't happen to good people. So your opponents should be hated, QED.; 12/26/12, 12:04 PM
hombre said...: "I'd blame it on a dysfunctional educational system that rewards group think more than critical thinking."

Except if you are a sociopathic lefty it does not occur as dysfunctional. It is producing the desired result: election success regardless of the cost to society.; 12/26/12, 12:15 PM
hombre said...: garage wrote: So true. Conservative commenters are such a pleasant and polite bunch! Never do they partake in rude behavior. Look at the comment section of this blog if you don't believe me.

Why should we waste civility on sociopathic, economically illiterate trolls who are content to destroy our children's future with debt, our Constitution with moral relativism and our country with paracitism?

Oh. Sorry. Was that impolite, or just accurate?; 12/26/12, 12:28 PM
Kevin said...: And here I thought it would be Freder Frederson who would introduce the first UFA joke to the Althouse comment pits.; 12/26/12, 12:46 PM
garage mahal said...: Oh. Sorry. Was that impolite, or just accurate

You're rarely, if ever, accurate. So go with the former.; 12/26/12, 12:57 PM
Kevin said...: Patiently awaiting first Toho and first Cinecittà jokes.

Not sure, may be a while.; 12/26/12, 1:11 PM
Chip S. said...: Lileks scooped Hagan by a month, with a better version.

Hagan would've done far more for his career by asking JL for writing tips than by blowing the lid off the big secret that the Nat Rev cruise is for people who can afford cruises.; 12/26/12, 1:15 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: And they say republicans are not good for something.

To provide quality entertainment is not easy... as the mass shooting in Connecticut will attest.; 12/26/12, 1:17 PM
LoafingOaf said...: The hate follows from the statist/collectivist view of society.

It's funny seeing the ultra-right obsessives (who seem to think of little else in their lives except how much they hate Democrats and especially Obama) talking about hate in other comment sections.

Here's a flashback to election night from Althouse's #1 commenter:

"I see that face and the revulsion is physical. I see his ladyhands and my impulse is break them. I see a sign I want to damage it. A bumpersticker - destroy it. A window sign -- toss a rock through . Someone mention the name -- punch them. - Chip Ahoy; 12/26/12, 1:29 PM
edutcher said...: Lefty tolerance and compassion on parade.

I wonder how long it's going to be before the organizers turn their communities into lynch mobs.; 12/26/12, 1:33 PM
Michael K said...: If that cruise cost only $2000, it shows what has happened to the cruise business since 2008 when we went. That was also post a losing election but there was no whining or depression. It was more a learning opportunity. This time I think depression would be more appropriate but, if you like cruises, and I do, it's hard to be too upset when you are having a good time. I think I would be bored if the cruise did not include any learning but those are the sort I choose.; 12/26/12, 1:36 PM
Unknown said...: I was going to say this made me laugh until I read Chip Ahoy's comment. It really is funny that so many liberals think conservatives are miserable. But, on the other hand, it's tragic that progressives have the power to make the narrative Chip talks about feel real to so many people. When the bottom inevitably does fall out conservatives will be blamed again and it will work again.

And yet, here I am laughing and feeling optimistic about my future and the futures of my darling grandchildren. They are amazing and bright and I think they have the ability to make a positive difference in the world. And, further, I think most of the kids I work with every day have the same ability and promise.; 12/26/12, 1:39 PM
hombre said...: Garage wrote: "Oh. Sorry. Was that impolite, or just accurate?"

You're rarely, if ever, accurate. So go with the former.

Pretty good riposte, garage. Nevertheless, I think I'll go with both.; 12/26/12, 1:44 PM
Tyrone Slothrop said...: The post certainly deserves a "liberals are asssholes" tag.; 12/26/12, 2:59 PM
I'm Full of Soup said...: Palladian- I know you well enough to know that is how you would answer! :); 12/26/12, 3:08 PM
Tyrone Slothrop said...: wyo sis said...

It really is funny that so many liberals think conservatives are miserable.

And of course, the liberals are wrong, as usual.

We've got the science behind us on this one.; 12/26/12, 3:14 PM
CWJ said...: Loafingoaf,

You make little effort to understand. And your example doesn't work.

Shorter me, hate from the left is structural. It's baked in the cake.

OTOH, hate from the right is by and large optional as Chip demonstrates. There's nothing in conservatism or more so libertarianism that requires anyone to despise or look down on political opponents. Since confiscation/control morally requires that those affected somehow deserve it, American collectivism/statism surely requires the opposition to be demonized/condescended to, not just disagreed with.; 12/26/12, 3:19 PM
RigelDog said...: <>>

Well, I did have the lowest priced, interior cabin, and $2000 is ballpark figure. But an honestly written article and fair comment section would not presume that cruising--that most middle class of pastimes--is undertaken only by the stinking rich.; 12/26/12, 3:24 PM
Anonymous said...: Wyo Sis, of course our grandchildren have a bright future. Presidents can only serve 8 years total, statistics show that Democratic and Republican presidents have served pretty much the same amount of time since the advent of political parties. Why do some folks think it's the end of the world as we know it when their pary doesn't win the Presidency?

Chip Ahoy needs to beat the hell out of those egg whites, and make something delicious to eat and drop the political anger, too much anger, not healthy.; 12/26/12, 3:31 PM
Tyrone Slothrop said...: Inga said...

Chip Ahoy needs to beat the hell out of those egg whites, and make something delicious to eat and drop the political anger, too much anger, not healthy.

Maybe you could lay some of that sunshine and unicorn crap on the commenters over at Metafilter. Nobody likes a poor winner.; 12/26/12, 3:40 PM
Anonymous said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 12/26/12, 3:49 PM
Anonymous said...: Tyrone, we take turns winning, chances are (and history shows) that Republicans will probably win the Presidency in 2016. Wyo sis and I can be silly optimists if we want.; 12/26/12, 3:50 PM
Robert Cook said...: "It really is funny that so many liberals think conservatives are miserable."

I think there's been a misunderstanding.

Conservatives, on the whole, are miserable bastards.

That's a wholly different thing.; 12/26/12, 4:17 PM
Robert Cook said...: "Why should we waste civility...?"

There's hardly a waste of civility; rather, there's a scarcity of it.; 12/26/12, 4:19 PM
hombre said...: Inga wrote: "Why do some folks think it's the end of the world as we know it when their party doesn't win the Presidency?"

It's always difficult to get lefties to understand that it's not really all about winning elections. It's about governing, economics, freedom, debt, competence and other trivial shit like that.; 12/26/12, 4:54 PM
hombre said...: "Wyo Sis, of course our grandchildren have a bright future..... "

Gawd almighty, Inga, you really are from another planet. There are no indicators, economic or otherwise, supporting this assertion.; 12/26/12, 5:03 PM
Chip S. said...: Robert Cook said...There's hardly a waste of civility; rather, there's a scarcity of it.

It's not possible to waste something that's not scarce.

Your lack of understanding of the principle of scarcity explains a lot about your politics, RC.; 12/26/12, 5:20 PM
Anonymous said...: OK Hombre, but don't forget Wyo Sis is a conservative, apparently we are both from the same planet.; 12/26/12, 5:53 PM
Unknown said...: Our grandchildren have a bright future because they're bright.
It will be brighter if they have a place to live where they have their freedoms secured by the constitution. That's why we don't give up.; 12/26/12, 5:54 PM
Methadras said...: Metafilter, the land of sociopathic fuckheads.; 12/26/12, 6:05 PM
Mitch H. said...: There's hardly a waste of civility; rather, there's a scarcity of it.

And yet, Mr. Cook, you do nothing to increase our common fund of civility, preferring rather to coarsely and repetitively proselytize to the conservative heathen in the most repellent and ill-educated manner possible under the given conditions. Even garage mahal occasionally shows flashes of consciousness of the humanity of other commenters. You, on the other hand, have little to offer other than the bromides of someone so far to the left that any actual working politician (IE, Obama et al) must needs appear to be a "conservative".

As for the article, anyone who goes onto a boat full of National Review types and decides to beat up on Lileks, of all people, is hardly someone worth listening to.

Why did it take him a month to publish? When the subject of your bile manages to get a riposte into print weeks ahead of your actual insult, you might want to think about your editorial turnaround.; 12/26/12, 6:31 PM
somefeller said...: Damn, that was a funny article. Thank you for sharing it (or rather linking to the piece that linked to the article). Voyage of the damned, indeed.

But I'm surprised the people on that boat think that Obama actually won the election. All the smart kids know he stole it! Or so I've heard.; 12/26/12, 8:07 PM
Robert Cook said...: @Mitch H.

To the contrary, I'm civil more often than not (and certainly more often than many reg'lars here) and rarely coarse.

As to whether Obama, et al. are "conservatives" or not, he and the other politicians in Washington who work not in the interests of the American citizenry but in the interests of the financiers, militarists and war profiteers, (which is to say, nearly all of them in both parties), are certainly not "progressives," "liberals," "leftists" or whatever label they may claim or may be applied to them, either pejoratively or in acclamation. Rather, their purported "politics" are mere contrivances to aid in their swindle of the American people, as they are simply lackeys in service to the aforementioned thieves who are looting the country's wealth for themselves.; 12/26/12, 9:55 PM
Unknown said...: It's entertaining watching people jump through all these mental hoops to justify thier opinions about any lifestyle different from what they consider normal. I've personally been in a polyamorous relationship much life the people in the video for years and know quite a few older poly families that have been together happily for decades with no more our different problems than any other relationship, and perfectly normal adult children too. The thing is most poly families don't feel the need to advertise.; 12/27/12, 1:16 AM