Althouse: "'Wanker' is a leftie blog cliché used to describe people who deviate from the left-liberal line but aren’t conservatives. Say, Tom Friedman."

December 8, 2012

"'Wanker' is a leftie blog cliché used to describe people who deviate from the left-liberal line but aren’t conservatives. Say, Tom Friedman."

"It has been a long time since I’ve won Wanker of the Day, and the rush of gratitude has me feeling a bit flustered. So many people to thank!"

41 comments:

tiger said...: Friedman is a 'wanker'?

'Jerk-off' is closer to the truth.; 12/8/12, 3:48 PM
David said...: Wanker used to mean jerk off, seems to me. It's not a new phrase.; 12/8/12, 3:51 PM
rehajm said...: If Dayen thinks it is possible for Obama to avoid making any concessions at all to the Republican party without deleterious consequences — this probably is what he thinks, committed as he is to producing the mirror image of redstate.com analysis in which your party can always win if it just fights harder — he ought to explain how this could happen.

Statements like this disqualify you from 'Wanker of the Day' as defined. To liberals, they make you a 'conservative'; 12/8/12, 3:57 PM
Anonymous said...: Wanker is Brit/Aussie speak for a penis, dick, cock. Usage - John Lennon to Murray the K "You Wanker" in the Maysles documentary film "The Beatles Come to America".; 12/8/12, 4:04 PM
Anonymous said...: Addendum - John Lennon said it on air in a live feed to Murray's radio station. Murray being American completely missed it as did he Maysles. As did probably most Americans in February of 1964. The wanted to hold hands not hold cocks.; 12/8/12, 4:08 PM
Unknown said...: I thought a wanker was a pervert.
These young people and their modern language! Soon everything will be about politics instead of sex like God intended.; 12/8/12, 4:13 PM
Michael K said...: The Medicare age eligibility is not the big issue. It is Social Security age. Medicare will take care of itself by going broke soon.The left has no program for reform except Obamacare which has all the wrong incentives and will not work. It is a stalking horse for single payer but the lefties will be disappointed to learn that single payer is going broke in spite of fairly harsh rationing. The " Liverpool Pathway" and the Netherlands rule about never admitting a COPD patient with respiratory failure to ICU. A doctor who admits such a patient gets fired. That's been the case for 15 years. There is no mention of this to the family and no choice except private care.; 12/8/12, 4:20 PM
Anonymous said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 12/8/12, 4:23 PM
Anonymous said...: The British do have some clever words we lack: sod, wank, fanny (in the female sense).

Peter; 12/8/12, 4:24 PM
McTriumph said...: Wanker means a jerk off, masturbator. In this context of "wanker of the day", I guessing mental marturbator of the day, intellectually self-indulgent.; 12/8/12, 4:25 PM
Anonymous said...: Visiting Australia back in the late 70's there was one memorable rage (party) where a group of drunken Aussies (I repeat myself) surfers played a game to see how many donuts they could fit on their erect wankers. The spunky Shelias (girls) went wild! The winner was propped up in a car window by the Shelias and they went driving around showing off the their totem pole as it were of speared donuts. Then the party got serious!; 12/8/12, 4:26 PM
kentuckyliz said...: Wanker is British slang for masturbator.

So...are you a wanker or a liar?; 12/8/12, 4:27 PM
edutcher said...: The Lefties can't even stand each other.

Surprise.; 12/8/12, 4:33 PM
Unknown said...: Yea, we had fanny we just gave it up because it was lame especially in its pack version.; 12/8/12, 4:34 PM
garage mahal said...: (“Wanker” is a leftie blog cliché used to describe people who deviate from the left-liberal line but aren’t conservatives. Say, Tom Friedman.)

Chait can't even get that right. What a wanker.; 12/8/12, 4:41 PM
Rusty said...: A little off topic, but it includes a whole state of wankers.

California State Controller John Chiang has announced that total state revenue for the month of November 2012 fell $806.8 million, or 10.8%, below budget.

Can't wait for the usual suspects to explain this one.; 12/8/12, 4:48 PM
Quaestor said...: California State Controller John Chiang has announced that total state revenue for the month of November 2012 fell $806.8 million, or 10.8%, below budget.

Obama wants another petabuck stimulus for 2013. Three guesses where it'll end up if passed.; 12/8/12, 5:05 PM
Rabel said...: Interesting thing about the comments at the Chait, Atrios and FDL posts is that there is a near total lack of concern about costs, the deficit and the debt.

In fact there are several strong statements that the debt is not a problem at all and we should be increasing entitlements.

I guess I'm just not progressive enough to understand. But it was fun viewing the feeding fenzy.; 12/8/12, 5:06 PM
jr565 said...: I don't even care who's right in this case. I just like seeing the lefties out snark each other. You're both wankers, wankers.; 12/8/12, 5:24 PM
YoungHegelian said...: @Rabel,

...that there is a near total lack of concern about costs, the deficit and the debt.

A few months ago I was having a long distance telephone conversation with a an old lefty friend. truly a brilliant & educated man. He was complaining about something that some Republican official in Texas had done, and in the course of the conversation I mentioned that "Well, the red states do have the natural advantage of the fact that they're not going broke." His response: "Huhh?"

I really do think that once one moves further left than the middle of the Democratic Party, the notion that we are in a debt crisis of massive importance at all levels of government just simply disappears. Or, if it appears, it comes along with the idea that just by applying some sort of onerous but morally justified tax on the rich (especially corporations) the problem will disappear.; 12/8/12, 5:30 PM
n.n said...: Rabel:

We can increase contributory entitlements when they are funded. We cannot increase non-contributory or net-negative contributory entitlements because their beneficiaries are not stakeholders, and other than for rehabilitative purposes sponsors progressive corruption.

We cannot by definition sustain a budget deficit; but, as we are operating without a budget, this is not a relevant concern.

We cannot sustain an account deficit other than through a progressive devaluation of currency, and therefore a progressive devaluation of labor. To continue on this path would transform the citizen to become an effective servant of the state or specifically the people who wield its authority.

There is, however, another concern. While the deficit is funded through the general devaluation of our currency, it is also a promissory note to creditors. Those creditors are both private and sovereign entities. When the value of their compensation becomes effectively worthless, they will demand, and rightly so, a tangible collateral to mitigate the risk which arises from our government's profligate spending habits and implicit commission of fraud.

Finally, the greatest immediate risk is posed by the creation of a virtual economy, which at present is approximately 8% (assuming the GDP growth statistic is accurate) of our economy. This virtual economy cannot be sustained, but it is the only reason why we are not already in a depression given our current spending habits.

So, the risk is many-fold, ranging from corruption of individuals and institutions, to outrageous, but justified, demands from sovereign creditors, to a massive resolution of the distortions in our economy.; 12/8/12, 6:17 PM
Mary Beth said...: When did the definition change and who forgot to tell the rest of the internet?; 12/8/12, 6:28 PM
McTriumph said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 12/8/12, 6:36 PM
McTriumph said...: We are living in Kafkaesque political and economic times.
To the far left this is not a bug, but a feature. The collapse will justify much needed "reforms" in their view. Total virtual money is just around the corner for everyone. 401ks will be nationalized and managed by our overlords.
FORWARD!; 12/8/12, 6:40 PM
Unknown said...: Well duh, if Sally Kohn says There Is No Debt Crisis, most folks understand There Is No Debt Crisis.

Sally Kohn via Fox News.; 12/8/12, 6:48 PM
dbp said...: It is an interesting usage, almost dialectical, in a philosophical sense:

To the left, a wanker is someone who is still slightly moored in reality to the point that they can propose something mildly sensible. Yet, to wank is to exist for that moment in a fantasy.

The true wankers are the ones who are never in contact with reality.; 12/8/12, 6:51 PM
jr565 said...: leslyn wrote:
You poor sod. You don't even recognize a bleeding funny when it's stuffed up your bleeding nose.

I wish I spoke cockney. That would make it even more fun.

It's not that I don't recognize funnies, it's that when two sanctimonious a holes argue I could care less who's right. I just like watching them beat each other up over it with maximum snark.
And at the end of the day Wanker describes them both to a tee. Even if they never had this conversation.
(Plus I wouldnt be surprised if they weren't waking each other when they're not snarking each other); 12/8/12, 6:57 PM
sonicfrog said...: ironrailsironweights said...

The British do have some clever words we lack: sod, wank, fanny (in the female sense).

Peter

Not to mention Baps, and a personal fave... Clunge!; 12/8/12, 6:59 PM
Rabel said...: n.n.

I agree mostly with what you wrote. I just have to wonder what those people on the left think will happen in the long run.
Default or hyperinflation (or both) look to me like the eventual outcome. Either will mean a long period of severe hardship for the common man they care for so dearly.; 12/8/12, 7:14 PM
kcom said...: "Either will mean a long period of severe hardship for the common man they care for so dearly."

But with enough rioting any hardship can be overcome. Just ask Greece. Or Argentina.; 12/8/12, 7:36 PM
Anonymous said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 12/8/12, 8:01 PM
Sam L. said...: Friedman deviates? Really? Why was I not so informed? Heads must ROLL!!; 12/8/12, 8:51 PM
William said...: There was a great Petulia Clark song called "Downtown". I lived in England at the time, and the English slang--at least in some circles-- for third base was "downtown". "Did you go downtown?" meant did you get to third base. I've always wondered if that song had a purposeful double meaning or was just coincidental......At any rate, slang words for sex and its paraphenalia blossom and fade so quickly it's impossible to keep it all in order. When Little Richard said Miss Molly sure liked to ball, he didn't mean that kind of ball. I'm not sure but didn't the word jerk originally come from jerk off?; 12/8/12, 9:37 PM
William said...: This happened in my lifetime. During the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, physicians were sent to rice paddies to spread manure. This cultural readjustment made them more aware of their bourgeoise prejudices. The loss of their sense of bourgeoise entitlement made them not just better human beings but better physicians. While they were sent away, the void was filled by "barefoot doctors". These were proleterians who had completed an EMT course. Barefoot doctors were fine for sprained ankles, but were flummoxed by ulcerative colitis. Many patients did painful and needless deaths because of the forced re-education of the physians.....The interesting thing was how this "barefoot doctor" program was reported in the western press. It was widely admired. It was considered a quantum jump in human progress. There were no reports about wtf are those imbeciles doing. There have been no subsequent reports where those who were so admiring of Mao analyzed why they got it all so wrong.....The people who were most admiring of barefoot doctors are the people who will administer Obamacare.; 12/8/12, 9:54 PM
Robert Cook said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 12/8/12, 10:24 PM
Robert Cook said...: I deleted my previous comment for redundancy, (it was a definition of "wanker," as one who "wanks," i.e., jerks-off).

Maybe I'm reading the wrong "leftie-lib" blogs as I've not noticed "wanker" being used at all, much less having become a "leftie blog cliche."

Friedman certainly is a wanker, though.; 12/8/12, 10:28 PM
Paco Wové said...: Dear Mr. Unknown:
Thanks for linking that Sally Kohn piece. Some fascinatingly twisted thinking going on there.; 12/9/12, 8:05 AM
Rusty said...: Quaestor

I'm chuffed that you noticed , mate.
off to the fish tank.
Cheers.; 12/9/12, 8:38 AM
n.n said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 12/9/12, 12:26 PM
n.n said...: Rabel:

There will be a correction and an adjustment, which may engender negative or positive progress, but tends to favor the former.

Their behavior would suggest that they are not concerned about economic viability. This attitude is especially evident in their flippant regard for evolutionary fitness.

They seem to be living in the moment. Don't harsh their mellow!

The cause of corruption is dissociation of risk. It is dreams of instant gratification which motivates its progress.; 12/9/12, 12:29 PM
Kirk Parker said...: Robert Cook,

"Friedman certainly is a wanker, though."

But a great uniter thereby. :-); 12/9/12, 9:42 PM