November 6, 2014

"As the cable shows signed off last night, it was dawning even on the most conventional pundits that the Republicans had not elected an escadrille of Republican archangels..."

"... to descend upon Capitol Hill. It was more like a murder of angry crows. Joni Ernst is not a moderate. David Perdue is not a moderate. Thom Tillis is not a moderate. Cory Gardner -- who spiced up his victory by calling himself 'the tip of the spear' -- is not a moderate. Tom Cotton is not a moderate. And these were the people who flipped the Senate to the Republicans. In the reliably Republican states, Ben Sasse in Nebraska is not a moderate.  James Lankford in Oklahoma is not a moderate. He's a red-haired fanatic who believes that welfare causes school shootings. Several of these people -- most notably, Sasse and Ernst -- won Republican primaries specifically as Tea Partiers, defeating establishment candidates. The Republicans did not defeat the Tea Party. The Tea Party's ideas animated what happened on Tuesday night. What the Republicans managed to do was to teach the Tea Party to wear shoes, mind its language, and use the proper knife while amputating the social safety net. They did nothing except send the Tea Party to finishing school."

Wrote Esquire's Charles P. Pierce, live-blogging the election results. I note that he called Scott Walker "the goggle-eyed homunculus hired by Koch Industries to manage their midwest subsidiary formerly known as the state of Wisconsin."

Yes, it's interesting to go back and relive Tuesday night from the perspective of someone who — we know in retrospect — is going to get deeply wounded.

A few stray observations about Pierce's style of humor:

1. Why is "red-haired" considered acceptable as an insult?

2. Why is it considered okay to call attention to what seems to be an eye disorder? Whether something is wrong with Scott Walker's eyes or not, the epithet "goggle-eyed" is disrespectful to all of the people who suffer from conditions like esotropia.

3. To speak of teaching the Tea Party "to wear shoes" is to try to be funny by evoking the stereotype of barefoot hillbillies. When will elite urban white people ever get the feeling that it's bigoted to mock rural white people? Oh, the answer is easy. You can find it in the book title "What's the matter with Kansas"? There's something wrong with these people as long as they fail to vote for Democrats.

(By the way, "escadrille" is how you say "squadron" or "small squadron" in French. I'll refrain from adding an anti-French kicker, given my attention to political correctness above.)

134 comments:

rhhardin said...

Angels are messengers.

Michael K said...

Th political left is going a bit crazy this week. I fully expect this as the reality, something these people do not handle well, sinks in. The Tea Party's best strategy was always to work its way into the GOP party organization. It's nice to see somebody notices this.

Widmerpool said...

Pierce a long-time Boston-area guy. He narrowcasts to extreme libs, who get stiff as a tire iron over this stuff. Ignore.

NotWhoIUsedtoBe said...

My eyes were rolling while reading that.

rhhardin said...

the goggle-eyed homunculus

There's an app for that.

$ insult 20 | sed /You/s//the/

the afflictive wallet of unhealthy malamute spout
the joyless follicle of malignant conger rumps
the woebegone highboy of pathological water spaniel belch
the wearing dipper of dyspeptic mastiff secretion
the despicable buffet of foul whiting dejecta
the thankless billy of besmirched gerbil slabber
the awful spade of poisoned panda exudation
the dolorific scyphus of nephritic Wensleydale flow
the weighty punnet of neuralgic fly-catching warbler fart
the homely schoolbag of pathogenic house martin vomit
the malformed demitasse of teeming water snake shit
the terrible puncheon of miasmatic oquassa scourings
the malodorous satchel of diabetic rat froth
the unattractive bladder of gouty Leghorn purulence
the importunate corbeil [archit] of venerate willet salivation
the sorrowful spittoon of ratty king snake vestiges
the unlikable coffee urn of tumorigenic silver fox saliva
the cacophonous bathtub of pestiferous chickadee tears
the disconcerting tobacco pouch of venenous asp disgorgement
the unbearable mug of poisonous songbird coprolith

YoungHegelian said...

When will elite urban white people ever get the feeling that it's bigoted to mock rural white people?

Oh, please! As someone who's been the butt of many an Alabama joke, I'd say that these people will understand their bigotry at the same time they understand that fly-over country sees them as deeply obnoxious. Try telling a Bostonian or a New Yorker that Southerners & Westerners see their culture as rude & arrogant. They'll just stare at you blankly.

A friend of mine who almost married an upper class Boston girl said of Bostonians, that they were the "most provincial people on the planet who thought that they weren't."

Tank said...

Michael Medved, of Republican, Inc., was crowing on the radio yesterday about how NO Tea Party candidates, but rather Republican moderates, had won.

Confusing !

Mark O said...

Pierce is the guy who made his name by publishing extensive comments by Tiger Woods that Tiger thought were off the record.

TosaGuy said...

"When will elite urban white people ever get the feeling that it's bigoted to mock rural white people?"

Judging by the more urban liberal wing of my Facebook feed, probably never.

Brando said...

Belittling and dismissing the people who are the reason for your loss will only keep you from accepting what you may have done to contribute to your loss.

This sort of condescension is similar to how a lot of Republicans reacted after the 2012 losses--writing it off as the poor, the young, and the racial minorities just happy to be given free stuff, as if that alone explained the Obama coalition. It enabled a lot of Republicans to ignore the fact that they even do poorly among blacks, Hispanics and young people who are employed and could very well embrace the Republicans.

Much of why these "rural" white voters have abandoned the Democrats is cultural--you read drivel like what Pierce wrote, and it just reinforces this sense of out of touch elitism.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

Why is "red-haired" considered acceptable as an insult?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_hair#Prejudice_and_discrimination_against_redheads

BarrySanders20 said...

This War on Gingers must stop now.

Also, it doesn't make sense that a red-haired fanatic would "amputate" a net with any kind of knife, much less the wrong kind of knife.

Pierce is just venting, like the NYT columns wailing that democracy is broken now that R's just won some elections. As always, the comments are the best part. Pierce should have saved his blogging thoughts for the comment section of the NYT. He would have received 17 "recommendeds".

SteveR said...

If you're smart enough to show up and vote in the "right" people one election, than you're smart enough to show up two years later and do the same thing. Obviously your smart people are relying on the votes of people who don't understand that. So rather than dismiss the people who did vote as angry stupid hillbillies, get a clue.

Henry said...

Charles Pierce is a good sportswriter.

Brando said...

"Michael Medved, of Republican, Inc., was crowing on the radio yesterday about how NO Tea Party candidates, but rather Republican moderates, had won.

Confusing !"

In fairness, it's not easy to define all the candidates, or even what it means to be "Tea Party". In some cases, it's a Rand Paul style liberal, in others it's more a religious conservative type.

It is true though that in the most competitive states, the Republicans have been focusing on broader themes to expand their reach among moderates, women and minorities, and it's been mostly successful. So whether the candidates (like Gardner or Ernst) were actually "moderate" they did run to the middle. It was their opponents who unsuccessfully tried to make them look out of the mainstream.

Robert Cook said...

I'm a redhead and I couldn't care less about slurs against gingers; I just take it as jealousy from those who are born with drab blonde or brown or black locks, and not the shining glory of golden tresses!

Bob Boyd said...

The excerpted paragraph is the most encouraging thing I've read in a long time.
Thanks, Althouse!

TosaGuy said...

Wisconsin urban progs are already trying to figure out a way to trick the "rubes" in the sticks to vote for their side because "they just don't vote for what is good for them."

When they are not doing that, they are discussing rural folks like some study of a remote jungle tribe.

Stephen said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
n.n said...

The Republican War on Corruption

I suggest ending semantic games, so that it's possible to have a true, or at least scientific, perception of reality.

Tee Time is over. Care for a spot of Tea?

Unknown said...

Answers why the left are hell bent on militarizing the IRS, and using campaign finance laws to stop conservatives and republicans from accessing money and free speech in parity with the democrat left.
Remember:
Democrat money = pure
Republican money = dark money

Keep an eye on what radical leftwing Michael Bennett (D-CO) offers (offered) in legislation to actually make contributions to republicans come under harsher scrutiny.

Hilarious that the left obsess over "tea party". They fail to understand that all "tea party" means is: Limited, accountable government. The again-- limited accountable government scares the shit out of the collective left.

TosaGuy said...

Unfortunately for me, Charles Pierce is a fellow Marquette alum.

Wince said...

Oh, how Pierce wishes he could be the left's P.J. O'Rourke.

mccullough said...

Pierce actually knows less about sports than politics.

I wouldn't insult the people who join the military and own guns.

Stephen said...

Wikipedia:

"Pierce graduated from St. John's High School in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts and from Marquette University with a journalism major in 1975."

A lifetime of mingling with Ivy Leaguers without being one himself produces big words, bitterness, and bigotry.

Nonapod said...

White elite liberals are a weird crowd. The academics, journo-listers, and limousine liberal types never seem to be able to fully recognize their own hypocrisies. It can be frustrating trying to understand them.

Witness said...

April Apple said...


Remember:
Democrat money = pure
Republican money = dark money


racist

wendybar said...

Wah, wah, wah....This country is sick and tired of Establishment elites who are in bed with all of their cronies that try to tell us what is good for us. We voted in people who are like us, that love this country and are not trying to change it to the Socialist Utopia where they will always reign

Patrick said...

Never pictured you as a red head, Robert!

Brennan said...

Mr. Pierce refers to Politico as "Tiger Beat on the Potomac".

I think that's hilarious. That's informed humor. His knowledge of the Tea Party is poor at best.

Beldar said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Psota said...

I thought "esquire" was supposed to be a sophisticated men's magazine, but their policital writer doesn't seem all that sophisticated or manly

SGT Ted said...

Progressives and Democrats have always been bigots.

The meltdowns are fun to watch.

Beldar said...

"Escadrille" is a word history-loving Americans should certainly know on this 100th anniversary of WW1's outbreak, since the famous Lafayette Escadrille was among the most celebrated of American units to fight in that war. But that said, it's a bit snooty for everyday blogging in my neck of the woods.

This is doubtless why I haven't been asked to blog for Esquire, even though some people address me by that title professionally. (I so address other practicing lawyers, male & female, in the inside address of correspondence in lieu of Mr., Ms., etc., but I never self-style as such).

Regarding "red-headed," I thought you'd have spent enough time in Austin, Professor Althouse, to have encountered one of Willie Nelson's best albums, "Red Headed Stranger," whence came his re-recording of Roy Acuff's immortal "Blue Eyes Cryin' in the Rain." Red Headed Strangers are, like red-headed step-children, apt to be beaten unjustly.

But it's true that at the moment, as we're experiencing one of the most beautiful Falls I've ever seen in Texas, I'm not wearing any shoes.

Meade said...

My new thing after a good night's sleep is to roll over and gently wake Mrs Meade with these soothing, eye-opening words of optimism: It's morning in Wisconsin.

Brings a smile.

RecChief said...

being a red head, I've had to endure slights and insults my whole life:

"Beaten like a red-headed stepchild"

"Gingers have no soul"

"Whoa, those are some white legs! let me get the sunglasses"

Now this. Who can I sue for my obvious victimhood?

Robert Cook said...

"Try telling a Bostonian or a New Yorker that Southerners & Westerners see their culture as rude & arrogant. They'll just stare at you blankly."

As a born midwesterner transplanted in childhood to the south who moved as an adult to New York, I'd say westerners & southerners who see northeastern metropolitans as "rude & arrogant" are ignorant, misinterpreting frankness and directness as a lack of courtesy. I can't speak directly for Bostonians, but New Yorkers are as polite as anyone anywhere.

RecChief said...

Th political left is going a bit crazy this week. I fully expect this as the reality, something these people do not handle well, sinks in.

As a person with conservative views on the role of the Federal Government, I have to point out that 2 years ago, there were some crazy comments flying around the Tea Party and conservative circles as well.

deepelemblues said...

Pierce is a great example of the lack of self-awareness of assholes.

He is the angry old white man who can't bother himself to do anything but call people names and grumble incoherently about how stupid everyone who doesn't agree with him is. Reading what he puts out is like getting a direct line to Democratic Underground. He's an embarrassment.

I don't know what happened to him to turn him into someone who can't express his opinions without being an asshole about it, but whoever did it clearly needs to recognize the great damage they did to Charles Pierce's fragile widdle ego all those years ago.

Beldar said...

And speaking of waves and Texas, did you notice, Professor Althouse, that according to the exit polling, Greg Abbott beat Wendy Davis by a point statewide among Hispanic males?

What's that say about how likely Texas is to turn blue in the future?

ddh said...

When will elite urban white people ever get the feeling that it's bigoted to mock rural white people?

When they stop worrying about their status as members of the self-selecting elite, which probably means never. Nothing says "social justice" better than a thorough-going disdain for la paysannerie.

Insufficiently Sensitive said...

Written by a sore loser. If you think that's bad, listen to our local 'fine arts' crowd wailing and gnashing their teeth and parroting the most savage stereotypes they can remember about evil Republicans.

And who knew that 'centrist' was code for a committed lefty?

F said...

Poor loser

mccullough said...

Pierce is unhinged. He is a petty boy.

RecChief said...

Did you see Chris Matthews contemplating the endorsement of Cory Gardner by the Denver Post?

Something along the lines of, "Something very strange here, the endorsement...by the educated class."

Also, Bernie Sanders comment about people voting against what they actually want and need.

That's right, the left thinks we're all uneducated hicks if we don't vote for leftists.

That's why leftism is a tribal cult, it's why they make statements like "Joni Ernst makes my skin crawl". It's a marker of status within the tribe.

RecChief said...

@Brando, that's a good summation at 10:05.

Beldar said...

I will say this after watching Gov. Walker's victory speech Tuesday night:

In terms of charisma, he may well be the anti-Obama.

In many ways Obama was the anti-Dubya, and in other but numerous ways Dubya was the anti-Bubba. So maybe that bodes well for Gov. Walker's national prospects in 2016.

But the guy is not a natural crowd-pleaser. When he gets into full campaign voice, he's very obviously having to work very hard at that. He pleases crowds who are wise enough to focus on substance and who may even prefer to be reassured by a candidate's dullness that he won't turn out to be a big surprise when elected to the next office.

rehajm said...

Economics defined-


noun
1) The study of how society manages it's scarce resources
2) Examination of choices and decisions made by individuals, firms and nations on allocating limited resources to unlimited needs
3) (alt., liberal) Fuck you!

MadisonMan said...

$ insult 20 | sed /You/s//the/

-bash: insult: command not found

Owen said...

Brando @ 10:05: well said. I venture to suggest that emotion can cloud our thinking. When we get angry or frightened, it chokes the bandwidth and essentially we project onto the (reduced) data stream what we are feeling. Not much wisdom will flow from that.

Here's an hypothesis: if liberals are more "emotional" than conservatives (i.e. they want to feel good, and fashion or accept policies where they can get those feelings), are liberals less able to learn from bad outcomes? Are their feelings going to get (more) in the way of the data they could be processing?

Unknown said...

Greg Abbott beat Wendy Davis by a point statewide among Hispanic males -- Probably worth noting that Abbot is married to a Latina

Original Mike said...

"1. Why is "red-haired" considered acceptable as an insult? "

This red-head demands an apology.

Unknown said...

Confusing indeed. In Colorado, democrats wanted to take credit for Cory Gardner's success - so they said that he was the democrat in the race.

Twist it, baby!

Bandit said...

Charles Pierce is the embodiment of the Buckley line about 'open minded liberals' he's open to listening to other POV - he just can't accept that there are any

lemondog said...

"Ideologies separate us. Dreams and anguish brings us together".

Eugene Ionesco

Anonymous said...

Wait, Esquire magazine is still around?

I used to think just like this guy when I was part of Big Labor. It is all emotion based. I stopped thinking like that when I had kids.

Original Mike said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Joe said...

My five-year-old granddaughter is a very red redhead and she will glare at anyone who dare criticize redheads. Nobody wants to suffer the wrath of my granddaughter's glare!

Shanna said...



I came to the same conclusion about new yorkers living on the east coast.

As for the article, when he says 'moderates' he means democrats.

Unknown said...

I don't blame the left for the bitter melt-down. Perhaps they should take some time for introspection and try to understand their obnoxious elitism isn't persuasive and they cannot have it both ways.

Also - socialism sucks. think about it, leftists.

#Barefoot is sexy.

Anonymous said...

Marquette? Hah! He must have a severe inferiority complex in the Northeastern "elite" world into which he wormed his way.

Unknown said...

It's the democrat party that has lurched left. The idea that democrat = moderate is a complete laugh.

Shanna said...

A friend of mine who almost married an upper class Boston girl said of Bostonians, that they were the "most provincial people on the planet who thought that they weren't."

For some reason my quote didn't post but this what I was talking.

They are the ones who are provincial. I've been saying that for years. The most insular people, and completely uninterested in any other place. I remember being amazed that people from long island got so excited when they met somebody else from long island when half the school was from long island. Bizarre.

Bruce Hayden said...

It is going to be interesting in the Senate. In the current Senate, there is a cabel of radicals (Rubio! Cruz, Paul, and Lee). Maybe 2/3 of the newly elected Republicans seem to be more sympathetic to them than the establishment, which may bring us to 1/6 or so of the Republican Senators. With only 4, they have often worked through the House majority. Now, we may actually see some area Partyish movement in the Senate. We shall see.

traditionalguy said...

The New York/Boston liberal culture still has a firm hold on their agreed to image of white southerners and invokes them as easy slandeer weapons. Southerners accept that as a sad sign of their abysmal ignorance.

CNN helped some by being based in Atlanta with correspondents living in Atlanta, such as ZSanjay Gupta of Emory. But you cannot stop 100 years of organized stupidity.

Bruce Hayden said...

He's a red-haired fanatic who believes that welfare causes school shootings.

Well maybe. Or more likely a lot of people believe that one of the primary causes of inner city violence, a much, much larger problem, esp in the case of places like Chicago, is caused by welfare. Think about it - more shooting deaths on many weekends in Chicago than in even some of the worst school shootings. And if you added up all the school shooting deaths in an average year, it may be equivalent to the worst weekend in the Windy City.

Why is welfare bad? Ultimately it breaks up the nuclear family, as evidenced by what has happened in the lower income Black community since LBJ. And that ultimately results in fatherless families, where the boys aren't domesticated, and thus end up running in violent juvenile gangs until many of them end up in prison or dead. And their sisters drop out of school to have babies with the remaining males, in order to get their own checks. We are in maybe the third generation of this, and it is pretty ugly. All as a result of the left putting their own good feelings about themselves caring about the downtrodden, over the fate of those downtrodden that they have effectively consigned to permanent poverty and violence.

traditionalguy said...

A "red headed step-child" slurs an illegitimate off spring whose existence shames the family.

Not that such slander stopped one famous red headed runt who became King David.

Brando said...

"Here's an hypothesis: if liberals are more "emotional" than conservatives (i.e. they want to feel good, and fashion or accept policies where they can get those feelings), are liberals less able to learn from bad outcomes? Are their feelings going to get (more) in the way of the data they could be processing?"

That may be part of it--I think the thing with any ideologue is that they have the answers before they know what the question is. So when they are faced with inconvenient evidence, rather than modify their beliefs (or rethink and refine them) they will attack and dismiss what doesn't work for their worldview, not unlike an immune system working at some germ.

The thing for the Left is I think it's easier for them to coccoon themselves because so much of mass media (I don't mean just the news, but culture in general) is dominated by those who share their worldview. So it becomes easier to dismiss anything from the Right as borne of selfishness, ignorance and hatred, rather than giving it the benefit of the doubt. Some Rightists can coccoon themselves quite well, but for the most part people on the right have to confront the ideas of the Left more often.

Larry J said...

TosaGuy said...
Wisconsin urban progs are already trying to figure out a way to trick the "rubes" in the sticks to vote for their side because "they just don't vote for what is good for them."


Which coincidentally just happens to be good fo the liberals.

When they are not doing that, they are discussing rural folks like some study of a remote jungle tribe.

Their observations about rural America read like "Conservatives In The Mist."

rhhardin said...


@MadisonMan
$ insult 20 | sed /You/s//the/

-bash: insult: command not found


Do you have a C compiler? In a clean directory (so you don't overwrite anything)

$ wget http://rhhardin.home.mindspring.com/insult.a
$ ar xo insult.a
$ cc insult.c -o insult
$ insult 20

sparrow said...

Another question: why would anyone think Archangels are moderates?

David said...

"1. Why is "red-haired" considered acceptable as an insult?"

Because black people and hispanics, the only true minorities, generally do not have red hair.

Sigivald said...

So-far infallible heuristic:

Anyone going on about the Koch brothers is a complete idiot.

Peter said...

The "reasoning" behind "What's the matter with Kansas?" is that voters vote against their own economic interests.

Yet a vote for someone, anyone, who's not Scott Walker is a vote to re-empower the public sector unions. And to suppose that it's in most voters interests to do that is a difficult proposition to support.

So Charles P. Pierce shouts "Koch Brothers!" because it's difficult to actually argue that Wisconsin voters are voting against their interests when they fail to vote for someone, anyone, any candidate as long as that candidate is not Scott Walker?

Does Charles P. Pierce realize he's incoherent?

David said...

I like those insults, rhhardin. So childish yet erudite. Did you make them up?

David said...

Pierce completely missed the bald spot. Great opportunity lost.

geokstr said...

Robert Cook said...
"I'm a redhead..."


Although I never agree with you, I think you, and all the other commenters concerned about the insulting of those with red manes, will definitely enjoy this song:

Prejudice by Tim Minchin

MadisonMan said...

You despicable vesicle of unhygenic French coach horse leavings.
You ungainly tin can of unclean toad remainders


Thanks rhhardin!

(laugh)

traditionalguy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
traditionalguy said...

Did any State elect the guy who shot Bin Laden yet. Now he would be a red headed man that the NYC libs could use as an example of southerners who fail to be diplomatic.

Meade said...

Good one, tradguy!

Rusty said...

rhhardin!

The last three words in any of those insults would make great band names.

Owen said...

Brando @ 11:55 AM:

"Some Rightists can coccoon themselves quite well, but for the most part people on the right have to confront the ideas of the Left more often."

Thanks for your response. Yes, maybe so. Maybe it isn't Left/Right but Majority/Minority: those on the "outside" have to work harder (process more "real" data) to survive and thrive.

But I would still argue for a Left/Right bias, where the Left is more addicted to sentiment and thus less able or willing to process the datastream. Why is sentimentality differentially valued by the Left? Well, my guess is, the Left starts from (or gravitates to) IDEAS. It loves abstractions. They're so clean! That deep wax finish, never needs work.

Whereas the Right starts from individual experience and how to enable, for individuals, best use of the datastream from Planet Earth. Free individuals, freely experimenting and sharing their findings, uncluttered by wishes and fears, is what we get there.

Just my opinion.

Drago said...

traditionalguy: "Did any State elect the guy who shot Bin Laden yet."

Well, according to everyone on the left, we all did already since it was obama that "killed bin laden".

If some weirdo Navy Seal is now trying to claim he killed bin laden, well, he must be a racist.

Bilwick said...

I don't want a moderate to defend me against Obama and the Left. I want a fanatic, a guy who's going to figuratively kick the Hive in its collective nuts and then, when it's rolling around on the floor crying in agony, stomp it in the face with cleats. I value my liberty, not "moderately" but extemely, and I wish more politicians who are supposed to represent me felt the same way.

Anonymous said...

RC wrote;

As a born midwesterner transplanted in childhood to the south who moved as an adult to New York, I'd say westerners & southerners who see northeastern metropolitans as "rude & arrogant" are ignorant, misinterpreting frankness and directness as a lack of courtesy. I can't speak directly for Bostonians, but New Yorkers are as polite as anyone anywhere.

I spent most of my life in Southern California. This is where I was the weird kid because I was Christian and believed in God.

For college, I went to Nashville TN. I had been to the South before, but never lived there.

The biggest difference in atmosphere came when I went to Oprie Land and Disneyland in the space of two weeks.

At Orpie Land, there is a train that goes around the park. When it goes through a certain section you have to stand there and wait for it to go by. Most of those waiting and most of those on the train wave to each other. This made me smile.

When I went to Disneyland in Southern California two weeks later, I was in the parking lot waiting for the shuttle to go by. I waved to the people on the shuttle. No one in the crowd with me waved, and only two small kids on the shuttle waved back.

That's when the difference between the South and the rest of the country hit me.

Titus said...

I don't care who won (I voted for a republican governor in Mass) but the northeast is richer, thinner, more educated, better dressed, and not as reliant on the federal government as the south. We have better teeth too.

Also, red state young people move to the Coasts because their job situation is so bad, except Texas and North Dakota! You get our oldies....

We are actually the givers and they are the takers.

kiss kiss

Titus said...

Oprie Land and Disneyland...sigh

Anonymous said...

Thank you, Ann, that was amazingly funny.

Anonymous said...

Sigivald said...

So-far infallible heuristic:

Anyone going on about the Koch brothers is a complete idiot.

Yep

khesanh0802 said...

Charlie Pierce's bitterness probably derives from the fact that he is not a member of the Boston branch of the Pierces (their name's pronounced "purse", don't you know).

richard mcenroe said...

A murder of angry crows works fine for me, actually. Beats the turkey incumbents.

averagejoe said...

Ah yes, it's very important for republicans to be moderate i.e. To do the things that democrats want them to do. However, moderation from democrat party members in support of democrat party policies is not a virtue. As for Charles Pierce, he's the same fedora-wearing douche who writes for ESPN/Grantland, right? His putrid progressive politics permeates his prose. PPPTTHHH!!!

averagejoe said...

Just finished browsing the comments to Pierce's piece at Esquire. Every single one sounding as screechy and hysterical as anything from Democratic Underground or Daily Kos. When did Esquire become a magazine for beta-males?

James Pawlak said...

"Red header radical"---Like
Thomas Jefferson?

Michael K said...

"When did Esquire become a magazine for beta-males?"

A long time ago. I never read it.

Todd said...

Never read Esquire. Just always struck me as a guy's version of Cosmo.

Michael K said...

"Michael Medved, of Republican, Inc., was crowing on the radio yesterday about how NO Tea Party candidates, but rather Republican moderates, had won."

Medved has nice movie reviews but does not speak for most libertarian wing Republicans. That is what the Tea Party is. That's why the left hates it so much.

traditionalguy said...

The Bin Laden shooter was Rob O'Neill which is as Irish a name as you can get.But his picture on Drudge surprised me because he looks like my cousin with the complexion and those close set blue eyes.

mccullough said...

Titus,

New England sleeps under the blanket of freedom provided by rural soldiers. It is dependent on the federal government.

Boston shut down to look for the marathon bombers. They didnt bomb a NASCAR race. The 9/11 hijackers boarded the planes in Boston. What is it about Boston that attracts terrorists and steroid addled baseball players?

Matt Sablan said...

The only moderate Republicans are the dead ones.

Clyde said...

I'm sure that Mr. Pierce would have us believe that people like Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Barack Obama, etc., are moderates. This tells us where is baseline for moderation is.

As Barry Goldwater said, "Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue."

Ken_L said...

Pierce is a commentator in the Ann Coulter/Mark Steyn mould, but from the left. They all write mainly to entertain the faithful by mocking the other side. A certain amount of un-PCness is part of the act.

Quaestor said...

In no sense is Scott Walker goggle-eyed. Now this is google-eyed. In fact George Meade was well known as "a damned old goggle-eyed snapping turtle" partly from his baggy eyes, and partly from his temper.

Homunculus. This is Pierce trying to avoid using dwarf or midget as an insult.

It has been said the Right has opposition, the Left has enemies.

Meade said...

Hey. Take it easy on cousin George.

David said...

Unknown said...
Greg Abbott beat Wendy Davis by a point statewide among Hispanic males -- Probably worth noting that Abbot is married to a Latina


Jeb Bush thinks this is worth pointing out too.

David said...

Ken_L said...
Pierce is a commentator in the Ann Coulter/Mark Steyn mould, but from the left. They all write mainly to entertain the faithful by mocking the other side. A certain amount of un-PCness is part of the act.


I'm pretty sure Stein and Coulter are not acting. Neither is this guy.

Quaestor said...

Escadrille

That word became a minor bone of contention when I was in high school. My mother, who grew up speaking Alsatian French and Elsässerdeutsche at home, corrected me to pronounce it es-ca-dree, while my French teacher (where she learned hers I never knew) insisted it was -dril, almost like the tool. That led to some phone calls and a sudden increase in Mom's attention to my studies. She demanded I recite my French homework, so she could fix my accent problems that she said were being compounded by my teacher -- which led to more phone calls and finally to a meeting that included school admins and board members, but not me.

Quaestor said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Quaestor said...

French is a dumb language. They write all the consonants but say less than half of them.

Pierce is a long way from being the Left's answer to Mark Steyn. Cheap insults are not the stuff of wit.

Big Mike said...

When will elite urban white people ever get the feeling that it's bigoted to mock rural white people? Oh, the answer is easy. You can find it in the book title "What's the matter with Kansas"?

... rural white people who cling to their guns and their religion ...

FIFY

Robert Cook said...

"It's the democrat party that has lurched left."

Hahahahahaha!!!

"The idea that democrat = moderate is a complete laugh."

Hahahahahahahaha!!! Stop! Please! You're killing me!

Drago said...

Titus: "We are actually the givers and they are the takers."

LOL

When you actually look at how the "takers vs givers" is calculated and what is included in those calculations you begin to realize just how stupid Titus' claim actually is.

We are not just talking about welfare here. Like all lefties, Titus has to conflate non-welfare stuff with welfare stuff. Per usual for the left.

This is similar to how the lefties started calling individuals with their own medical plans "freeloaders" but refusing to call those actually on welfare "freeloaders".

But then again, Titus is an HR guy (part of his organizations "overhead" and not an actual value creator) who, for some very odd reason, thinks Lena Dunham is some kind of science genius. That belief is utterly inexplicable.

So, when you read a Titus claim that involves something beyond his usual stick, take it with more than one grain of salt.

Drago said...

Robert Cook: "Hahahahahahahaha!!! Stop! Please! You're killing me."

For your continued amusement, here are a few other items:
- GHWBush never flew to Paris in an SR-71 to conspire with Iranian radicals to keep Americans hostage

- GWBush did not lead a conspiracy to bring down the WTC

- Fire CAN melt steel

- Alger Hiss WAS a Soviet Spy

Enjoy.

Revenant said...

I can't speak directly for Bostonians, but New Yorkers are as polite as anyone anywhere.

As polite as anyone anywhere in the general vicinity of New York, at least.

chillblaine said...

"...amputating the social safety net."

Strikes me that amputation is done when a limb is beyond repair, and poses a risk to the patient.

Saint Croix said...

It's pure awesome when Althouse goes all Saul Alinsky on the PC brigade.

When you really want to smack the shit out of somebody. Better call Saul!

kcom said...

"those who are born with drab blonde or brown or black locks, and not the shining glory of golden tresses"

"Golden" means blonde.

Robert Cook said...

"'Golden' means blonde."

Nope! Blondes do not have golden hair, no matter how much this may be claimed for them. They have a drab, desaturated yellow-ish tint.

On the other hand, look at "goldfish" or "golden retrievers;" their tint is what, on human heads, is called "red-headed" or "ginger."

kcom said...

Yellow-ish? You mean like gold?

gold /ɡōld/

noun: gold; symbol: Au; plural noun: golds

1. a yellow precious metal, the chemical element of atomic number 79, valued especially for use in jewelry and decoration, and to guarantee the value of currencies.

2. a deep lustrous yellow or yellow-brown color.
"her eyes were light green and flecked with gold"

Unknown said...

Charlie Pierce is an imbecile. I think that’s French too.

Unknown said...

--- epithet "goggle-eyed"

Laugh out loud. Look up goggle-eyed (imbecile) in the dictionary and there’s a picture of Charlie Pierce.

Unknown said...

---Pierce is the guy who made his name by publishing extensive comments by Tiger Woods that Tiger thought were off the record.--

Pierce is the guy who made his name by saying that Mary Jo Kopechne would be grateful to Teddy Kennedy for her social security benefits (if she hadn’t drowned in his car when she was in her 20’s)

kcom said...

"Probably worth noting that Abbot is married to a Latina"

And an American.

Gahrie said...

Hahahahahahahaha!!! Stop! Please! You're killing me!

You have to understand guys, from Bobby's point of view, the Democrats aren't very far Left. Of course, Bobby has been heard to denounce Pol Pot for not being far enough to the Left.

As for me, it is not so much the drift to the Left that upsets me, it is the return to the policies and ideology of the Progressives, truly the must damaging force to the Republic in the nation's history.

CWJ said...

Titus wrote -

"Oprie Land and Disneyland...sigh"

Yeah sigh right back to you. Of course you learned nothing from his comment because the references were common, sigh, ugh, fatty, flyover, whatever.

But tell me. When did anyone learn anything of value from something "fab" that lasted longer than the last in-crowd event or party. Emphasis on lasting.

I have nothing against things "fab." They are an enjoyable evening's diversion. Too bad your life is no more than addiction to one diversion after another. No lessons learned. No values other than fashion received. No people you hold dear other than the last tawny man meat you ogled. Sigh.

Bruce Hayden said...

French is a dumb language. They write all the consonants but say less than half of them.

My partner's last name is French, and ends in an "e". She pronounces it for people with a silent "e". Except that it is really spelled with an accent/grave over the "e. So, I ask her if an accent in French means that the accented vowel is silent. Doesn't make sense to me - I was taught that an accent means that you emphasize the letter, not ignore it.

It is silly because its pronunciation differs much more from how it is spelled than its close Romance Language brethren. And because they are cheese eating surrender monkeys. And because they can't figure out why the Brits across the Channel have one of the most popular languages on the planet, while their language is going extinct.

I do remember a couple decades ago, when the French minister of culture required that all the English, etc words be replaced with French words. So le PC became some long word filled with silent characters - that no one really used. I wonder if the French have yet to adopt these new Frenchisized versions of words from other countries and backgrounds that are used around the rest of the non-French world.

Rusty said...

Titus, Bro.
Quit trying to compete with garage. For one, you're not that stupid. for another political social commentary isn't your thing. Stick with "FABULOUS!". It's what you know. It's what you're good at.
tits

KevDog said...

Please, as if there isn't an equal (or greater) amount of rural elitism from those who consider themselves "real Americans" living in "the Heartland".

Todd said...

Robert Cook said...
"It's the democrat party that has lurched left."

Hahahahahaha!!!

"The idea that democrat = moderate is a complete laugh."

Hahahahahahahaha!!! Stop! Please! You're killing me!
11/6/14, 6:45 PM


Don't look in a mirror much do you? Really, that those comment struck you as funny (i.e. not true) demonstrates what kind of insulated bubble you exist in. The last few decades have demonstrated not only the growth of the left into areas of society to an unprecedented degree but also the leftward lurch of policy (with some specific exceptions of polities cutting the other way like the Patriot Act). The fact that most of these changes have resulted in more stratification of society and harm to those these policies were promoted to help yet goes unacknowledged by the "we believe in science more than those others" crowd would be campy and cute in a "bless your sweet heart" kind of way except for the real damage and pain that it has caused.

No more clear and recent example can be found than the "raise the minimum wage" efforts this past election. Requiring a business to pay a wage above the value of the work received is insanity of the most obvious kind. If raising the minimum wage to $10 plus an hour is good, why not raise it to $100 an hour and make everyone rich? If you can manage to think it through and do agree that $100 an hour is not good AND can figure out why, why support any minimum wage? If the reply is cause a little control is OK, would you also agree that a little cancer is OK or a little leprosy?

Robert Cook said...

KCom,

Okay, maybe blondes can be said to have "white gold" hair. But not golden.

Robert Cook said...

"The last few decades have demonstrated not only the growth of the left into areas of society to an unprecedented degree but also the leftward lurch of policy (with some specific exceptions of polities cutting the other way like the Patriot Act). "

To the contrary: the Republicans have shot so far to the right that the political center appears to be left; the Dems, chasing after those Wall Street and corporate contributors, (or induced by them), and likewise cruised right.

What you and others like you think is far left once was considered a solidly moderate position.

We have virtually no real leftist political faction in this country, certainly nowhere in Washington.

Robert Cook said...

"Of course, Bobby has been heard to denounce Pol Pot for not being far enough to the Left."

I don't care that you say this--as I take it from the source--but I want to highlight that this is not true so others will know you are a liar and your statements cannot be trusted.

Todd said...

"What you and others like you think is far left once was considered a solidly moderate position."

Robert, really?

Abortion on demand, even for minors and no requirement for parental notification, moderate?

Teaching masturbation in elementary school, moderate?

Teaching in elementary schools that homosexual sexual relationships are healthy, moderate?

Banning large sodas, moderate?

I don't think if you take any of these back to when the country was more conservative (50s?), any of this would have been considered moderate. What are you using as a gage? 6 months ago?

SF and NY are so far out there left that you can not even see left of center from there. From the liberal lands, there are places in America that seem frozen in time and backward but that is the appearance because to lefties, anyone that still dares to believe in God or in morals is a far right freak.

The right is not without its own extreme nuts for sure but the left seems to have them by the bushel and in many cases, not only celebrates them but elects them to government office multiple times!

I don't think I am atypical (but who doesn't), I just want to be left alone. I want to be able to decide things for myself and not have "my betters" tell me what I have to buy, where I need to go, what size soda I can have, that I need to undergo a barefoot colonoscopy in order to take a plane trip, nor have a larger and larger share of my (yes MY) earnings taken from me by force and pissed away on crap (solar subsidies anyone?) or the "social safety net" (how about a 7th Obamaphone?). I don't think that is to much to ask and if it takes electing a bunch of right wing, reactionary, tea party types to get there, sign me up!

I guess I am old fashioned in that I believe our rights are those described in the constitution and that mine end where they start impacting yours.

The country really has undergone a 180. It was conservatives of old that passed morals laws. Well today the left is doing the same thing in the opposite direction. You not only have to be tolerant of diversity (a good thing) but you must celebrate it with a all consuming passion. Anything less and you are a racist, homophobe, Crist nut.

Your perceptions are yours but I think you are mistaken.