July 4, 2016

"Althouse, far from ditzy, is an amazing creature, rare in today's world..."

"... a law prof, fairly liberal (as far as I know from reading her blog) who not only will listen to alternative ideologies, ideas, arguments or policies but who will argue against those actual things rather than attacking only straw arguments. She may not get it right (her frequent rants against men wearing shorts comes to mind) all the time, but I'd rather read a month of her blog than a day of, say, Joan Peterson's."

A comment chez Instapundit that Meade noticed and pointed me toward.

I'd never heard of Joan Peterson but, looking at her blog, I don't know why she'd be the point of comparison to me. Maybe it's like the old "better than a sharp stick in the eye."

As for men in shorts, let's take another look at that John Trumbull painting:



If that were a picture of the signing of the The Declaration of Independence on July 4th, I could tell you that the temperature hit a high of 76 in Philadelphia that day. But the painting actually shows the presentation of the draft to Congress on June 28, 1776, and it's not so easy to nail down the temperature.

But weren't these men terribly hot? All those layers! Yes, the pants are shortish but they are anchored below the knee and the lower legs are swathed in hosiery. How could they bear it? And these were men ready to their Lives, their Fortunes and their sacred Honor to the cause of liberty! Yet they did not liberate their legs and open up airflow to the crotch.

91 comments:

buwaya said...

And they were wearing wool.
Men were made of strong stuff then.

Birkel said...

Heat index will hit 108 Fahrenheit today.

We will all be in shorts.

Once written, twice... said...

Ann, where is your "I'm so Great!" tag?

Birches said...

When you're on a roll, you're on a roll.

Lewis Wetzel said...

They should have worn plusfours.

David Begley said...

Posted without further comment. "Do you read her blog for her eclectic posts or for the often witty comments that follow? I read it for the comments. I could not care less what AA has to say about anything, especially the SCOTUS."

Freder Frederson said...

Anyone who thinks Althouse is "fairly liberal" really needs to get out a little more.

buwaya said...

Looking at Joan Petersons blog - its clear she would be a Tory, and would rat out her arms-hiding neighbors.

Once written, twice... said...

It is always humorous when Ann does these posts demonstrating how constantly needy she is to be taken seriously. It is one of the perverse little reasons why I check her blog out. That and when she has one of her frequent emotional meltdowns.

YoungHegelian said...

I'd never heard of Joan Peterson but, looking at her blog, I don't know why she'd be the point of comparison to me.

Oh, oh, perfessor, let's just not mention that basement full of guns you & Meade have!

Family recreation day chez Meadhouse.

Kate said...

I couldn't take two seconds on Peterson's blog. So messy! Althouse is clean and ordered, with lots of nice white space. This site is nirvana for the OCD-afflicted.

buwaya said...

Peterson also doesnt seem to have updated in over 6 months.
Thats a dead blog.

PB said...

It's all a matter of what you're used to. People near and north of the Arctic Circle are more accustomed to cold. Wool is a surprisingly breathable material. Besides, these men drank. A lot. All day long.

traditionalguy said...

Althouse is that rare real deal. And in the zeitgeist of the Age of Trump there is emerging a rolling revelation of the truth in so many areas where the once established phonies are just looking silly. Voila. But Althouse just looks better. What were we ever thinking?

Sure she has a few blind spots. But intelligently sharing so many things in her enjoyable writing style is why we love her and honor her.

Is it time for another donation pledge drive.

Lyle Sanford, RMT said...

There was the Little Ice Age peaking from 1600 to 1870 (remember how cold it was in Dickens's novels?)

According to the American Museum of Natural History, Jefferson recorded in his weather journal for July 4, 1776, that he woke up to find that the temperature at 6 a.m. was 68 degrees. At 9 a.m., the temperature was up to 72 degrees, and at 1 p.m. it was 76 degrees, according to the WeatherBug Web site.

tim in vermont said...

So it's airflow to the crotch that is at issue! Keep the mouse in the house good sirs! All of this time I thought it was instruction as to how to be perceived as a member of certain social classes.

Ann Althouse said...

"So it's airflow to the crotch that is at issue!"

It's been insisted upon by commenters a hundred times on this blog over the years. Oh, my balls! My balls! You women just don't understand. To that I say: What about the Founders' balls?

Etienne said...

No good can come from reading your own press...

Etienne said...

In that picture, the artist has removed the bro's who were wearing hemp coveralls and using large tobacco leafs to fan the honkies.

Wilbur said...

This is a ditz-free zone.

And yeah, what about the Founders balls?

Big Mike said...

Why would anyone living in the 21st century assume a priori that a woman is "ditzy"? Not that there aren't ditzy women, but that should not be any sort of assumption without personally knowing the lady in question.

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

Such a rare and amazing critter!

Big Mike said...

Men wore wool almost to the start of the 20th century because it resisted wear better than cotton and was much less expensive. I believe that back in the 18th century, pre Eli Whitney, cotton was a luxury cloth, sort of like silk.

Jimmy said...

"Althouse, far from ditsy, is an amazing creature..." Endangered creature? and just how far from Ditsy Wisconsin? Very confused. And didn't the founders have Gold Bond powder?

traditionalguy said...

OK, the Founders had really big balls. And Poor Richard Franklin liked to use his on women all over the world.

Big Mike said...

@Althouse, sperm is only viable within a narrow range of temperatures and dies fairly quickly at normal body temperature. Good things, too, or one episode of sexual intercourse would impregnate a woman every time she ovulated. Our testicles droop in the summer and tighten up for warmth in cold weather.

Big Mike said...

@Freder, anyone who doesn't see that Prof. Althouse is fairly liberal needs to get out a LOT more.

Big Mike said...

With emphasis on the word "fair."

Deirdre Mundy said...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqAdlkJDt7k

They were cranky... at least in the musical version!

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

Given the excess of clothing, 18th Century hygiene, the nasty wigs, the smoking, and the non-existence of dry cleaning, the odor in that room must have been eye-watering. As I sit here in my shorts, washing machine and dishwasher both gently swishing in the distance, I am grateful to live in the time and place that a merciful Deity has placed me.

Hagar said...

Freder Fredersen conflates "liberal" and "progressive" again. They are not the same; in fact, rather antithetical.

chuck said...

> And they were wearing wool. Men were made of strong stuff then.

Tobacco, liquor, sweat, powdered whigs, the room probably smelled like a zoo. A male zoo.

William said...

Not every man has a well turned calf. That was the downside of breeches. Most men didn't look good in them. The picture seen here airbrushes history. I'm sure many of our founding fathers had stick like lower legs. Someone should start telling it like it was about our forefathers calves.

Anonymous said...

Tootin' yer own horn? Sure why not, it's good for the psyche. Everyone should feel good about themselves.

mikee said...

I am the person who wrote that comment on Instapundit.

Joan Peterson is now or at least was a member of the Board of Directors of the Brady anti-gun-rights group. She used to allow comments on her anti-gun-rights blog, but no longer does, because apparently the vast majority of her readers, or at least commenters, were pro-gun-rights folk who tore her arguments apart.

A gun blogger, Joe Huffman of http://blog.joehuffman.org/ regularly attempted to break through Ms. Peterson's illogic and appeal to emotion, but finally gave up in the face of her complete inability to address reality, rather than her preferred narrative.

Joe Huffman described her behavior here, http://blog.joehuffman.org/2010/09/25/a-process-failure/ and generalized it into a description that fit a lot of leftists: "...it is my hypothesis that some people who appear to be normal functioning members of society simply do not or cannot determine truth from falsity,"i.e., The Peterson Syndrome.

Thank you for noting my comment on Instapundit, and thank you for the opportunity to explain to you its origins.

As for the shorts antipathy, well, I live in Texas, and shorts here just work for many leisure activities; I may look horrible to an elitist law prof, but I am comfortable.

David said...

And we always thought you were a ditz. What a dissapointment.

mikee said...

p.s. The common tactic of blocking comments on leftist blogs when they are losing the arguments is defined in some parts of the blogosphere by the phrase "Reasoned Discourse" and refers to censorship as a way of "winning" an argument by default.

Etienne said...

Big Mike said...Our testicles droop in the summer and tighten up for warmth in cold weather.

You obviously aren't over 50. There's only one underwear designed for old men - briefs.

Just ask Homer Simpson...

I always laugh when I see a man pull up his trousers a bit before he sits. You have to know he's wearing boxers well past his prime.

virgil xenophon said...

buwaya puti@10:00am/

"Men were made of strong stuff then."

God yes, they had to be. If you're ever in New Orleans, stop by the Confederate War Museum (929 Camp St just off Lee Circle and oppo the WW II museum started by historian Stephen Ambrose) which has the second largest collection of Civil War memorabilia in the US outside of the one in Richmond, VA. Take a gander at the uniforms and notice the weave on most--more akin to burlap bags than anything. Imagine fighting/marching, etc in the heat, dust and humidity (85% here today in New Orleans) in the field for days at a time in those uniforms without recourse to running water let alone showers. A parallel to that saying about sailors of that day and the conditions they suffered: "Iron men and wooden ships."

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

A July 4th celebration to oneself! How fitting in 2016.

CWJ said...

Geez Once Written, Unknown, & Ritmo. It's her blog. At most we are just guests allowed to tag along. She can mention herself or not all she wants. At least Freder's snark refered to something in the post itself.

Gretchen said...

This is a painting, artistic license was taken, the artist could not bring himself to paint the 1970s style running shorts and tank tops that were actually worn.

bagoh20 said...

"Althouse, far from ditsy..." That's a misogynist microaggression at best, or maybe the term is micro-misogynist aggression. Regardless, in the same spirit, I'd like to let everyone know that my mom think's I'm cool... really cool. At least I'm pretty sure of that... if I asked her... and she was in a good mood... and not dead.

Happy Birthday America! You are one-of-a-kind in history. I hope you can stay that way despite all the pressure to melt into the lukewarm puddle of modern human governance.

Bob Boyd said...

"And these were men ready to their Lives, their Fortunes and their sacred Honor to the cause of liberty! Yet they did not liberate their legs and open up airflow to the crotch."

Perhaps they didn't compromise their dress, but they could distinguish between the fashionable and the foundational, a quality lacking in our leaders today.

tim in vermont said...

So she is either unsophisticated or unpretentious, depending on your politics.

dwick said...

It's a painting, dear... not a 'shot on my iPhone' snapshot. Further, it was painted 10 years after the fact largely based on the often hazy and self-serving memory of a wine-loving Thomas Jefferson enjoying the comforts and intimate pleasures of Paris and Maria Cosway.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

76 F is unseasonably mild in the Philadelphia Julys of today.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Sure CWJ. I just thought it was funny timing during a patriotic holiday. The most patriotic of holidays.

And they say certain presidential candidates have egos that are bigger than their country!

Michael K said...

"76 F is unseasonably mild in the Philadelphia Julys of today."

That was still the Little Ice Age when people could skate on the Thames.

Lucien said...

"Far from ditsy" is a high standard.

Fritz said...

There was the Little Ice Age peaking from 1600 to 1870 (remember how cold it was in Dickens's novels?)

According to the American Museum of Natural History, Jefferson recorded in his weather journal for July 4, 1776, that he woke up to find that the temperature at 6 a.m. was 68 degrees. At 9 a.m., the temperature was up to 72 degrees, and at 1 p.m. it was 76 degrees, according to the WeatherBug Web site.


Today, July 4 2016, on the banks of Chesapeake Bay not too far from Mt Vernon, the temperature will not break 72 F.

Ann Althouse said...

Thanks, mikee.

shiloh said...

Althouse embarrassingly congratulating herself again notwithstanding, her smallish nondescript blog w/the same 95/5 con echo chamber repeating themselves ad nauseam pretty much speaks for itself.

Indeed, the perfect vehicle for kowtowing to her uninteresting con majority lemmings in the vast wasteland known as the internet. Totally unaffected by the real world.

As always, deep admiration for her consistency!

>

Are you still at the top of the list re: political blog hits? Rhetorical. A lofty plateau to be sure ...

>

btw, happy Fourth of July!

Freeman Hunt said...

Best blog on the Internet. I comment more or less, but I always, always read it.

Freeman Hunt said...

Well, shiloh, what's a guy like you doing in a "smallish nondescript blog" like this?

shiloh said...

"Well, shiloh, what's a guy like you doing in a "smallish nondescript blog" like this?"

As stated previously it's somewhat entertaining, especially when Althouse modestly tries to portray herself as the second coming and her 95/5 con minions fall over themselves agreeing.

"Best blog on the Internet."

So you're saying you've perused every other blog on the net? That's a variation of the hyperbolic/idiotic nonsense found daily here = somewhat entertaining.

>

Whereas I will agree there's only so many ways Althouse cons can say Trump will win in a landslide and Obama and Clinton suck! That's why it was quite easy for me to take a 3 yr 3 mo vacation from this blog.

hmm, just found another reason why Althouse is fawning over the donald ad nauseam ie they both try to portray themselves as the second comin' ...

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Today, July 4 2016, on the banks of Chesapeake Bay not too far from Mt Vernon, the temperature will not break 72 F.

Well that settles it. What does the rest of the week look like? Surely not in the nineties or anything.

rehajm said...

And they were wearing wool. Men were made of strong stuff then.

Lightweight wools are one of the best ways to keep cool in the summer. It breathes. Far superior to cotton...

Michael K said...

"when Althouse modestly tries to portray herself as the second coming and her 95/5 con minions fall over themselves agreeing."

This is an excellent blog. The left has its own blogs. The largest is HuffPo where hysteria reigns over trivia.

Most leftist blogs are closed circles, sort of like Arabs, who ban any comment that disagrees with the dominant party line.

I used to read and comment at WaPo when Kevin Drum was there but I was banned after I did not agree with single payer in 2004.

The antagonistic replies to my comments were somewhat similar to those here by leftists. They would be personal and often obscene. Never would they be to the point. There are no debates with leftists. Only shouting matches which I decline.

There are several other favorite blogs for me. Usually the posts there are more technical.

Rusty said...

Blogger CWJ said...
Geez Once Written, Unknown, & Ritmo. It's her blog. At most we are just guests allowed to tag along. She can mention herself or not all she wants. At least Freder's snark refered to something in the post itself.

They're jealous. They want to be the popular girls.

I think I remember reading that Jefferson dreaded going to Philadelphia because of the heat that summer. He was relieved that the heat broke in time for the signing , but left to get back to Virginia as soon as he could. He had property up in the mountins where it was cooler.

shiloh said...

"I was banned after I did not agree ..."

No, you were probably banned for being a self–righteous con asshole which is how you portray yourself here. Also why you fit in so well here. You practically live here so it's hard to imagine you at any other blog unless you spend your day 24/7 on the net.

You prefer being at a 95/5 con echo chamber anyways so it's all good.

>

"This is an excellent blog."

Indeed as Althouse is 100% pro Trump and 100% anti-Hillary. Obviously you're in heaven at this safe haven. Congrats! There's no place like home ...

Freeman Hunt said...

"So you're saying you've perused every other blog on the net?"

Yes. And this is the very best one.

buwaya said...

I am actually looking for a blog where one can discuss controversies with some substance, point-counterpoint, data and analysis of data, actual dialectic. I have been wandering the Internet since Usenet days, a quest like that of Diogenes I suppose, looking for an honest argument.
But it is not to be. The lack is most definitely on the left, so many - so very many - are like our friend Shiloh, who will not, and I expect truly can not, argue. They do not have that love of disputation with which I was afflicted in school.
It seems that the culture as a whole has lost it; my kids saw none of it in university, my daughter is quite bitter about the lack of intellect, of will to engagement even in what is supposed to be one of the worlds top universities. Is there, in the US, some school where they actually argue?
Not in universities, not on the internet, it seems that there is no honest battle to be had.
So Shiloh, what say you? Whereof comes this, well, blank hostility? Wherof comes this lack of curiosity? What has life done to you to make you like this? Your tale may well be that of so many.

Gahrie said...

What about the Founders' balls?

Well, they were usually quite large, and very often sweaty.

But the music was always good, and there was usually a big bowl of spiked punch, so no one cared very much.

Gahrie said...

so many - so very many - are like our friend Shiloh, who will not, and I expect truly can not, argue.

This is so very true...and quite often ignorant also. I have had Lefties tell me that the right to an abortion was based on the 1st Amendment right to religious freedom..trying to argue that there was a right to be free from religion, and that that was what the court used to legalize abortion. I have had Lefties deny to me that the Communists were atheists. I have had Lefties deny to me that the KKK and Jim Crow were done by Democrats.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

So can we conclude, based on Professor's staunch opinions on shorts, that she is an advocate of very sweaty balls?

Be careful what you wish for, Ann.

shiloh said...

bp, your attempted pedestrian masterbaiting wore thin a couple mos. ago.

And if you truly are looking for substance, point-counterpoint, data and analysis of data, actual dialectic., a 95/5 con bubble is the last place to look.

Again feel free to ignore me, but of course there are so few libs at this con echo chamber it's kinda impossible, eh.

>

And let the record show no one disagreed w/the obvious ie Althouse is a 100% pro Trump, 100% anti-Hillary con bubble.

I yield back the balance of my time.

tim in vermont said...

Tell us about Hillary's good points Shiloh.

buwaya said...

Shiloh, pedestrian I am, but baiting Im not. Here is your opportunity to make this place other than 95/5 and move it a few degrees. Argue with substance and you will get a substantial response. This is good for everyone.

And I repeat - I cant understand your personality, your motivations. Why? What is your story? Here is the place to tell it. Everyone has a story, what is yours?

Sterile berating is all you do, and it is just that. Do something substantial.

Gahrie said...

And let the record show no one disagreed w/the obvious ie Althouse is a 100% pro Trump, 100% anti-Hillary con bubble.

No it's not...you and Chuckles are here.

Jon Ericson said...

Dead silence, Shiloh. That's much better.
No argument, just asinine insults and talking points.
Dumber even than ballboy. Tsk, tsk.
At least "Unknown" just spouts talking points, you just remind me of a snarling dog.

tim in vermont said...

Shill-o's story is that she knows Hillary is a scumbag, but she has fallen in line to march lock step.

But I agree with you, it would be great for everybody to hear the real honest reason, the one that makes Hillary look good, for why she was getting "protected" information, what is "protected" anyway, wouldn't that be classified as "protected" AKA "classified"? Anyway, I digress, why she was getting classified information regarding the Greek bailout prospects when, and this is just a crazy coincidence folks, the kind of incredible bad luck that seems to have chased poor, honest, Hillary through her whole life... Anyway, and you are not going to believe this, because it is so funny, and such a weird coincidence, but IT'S NOT WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE! (The Clinton Family motto), but Mark Mezvinsky, her son in law was running a hedge fund that made big bets on Greek bailouts! Can you believe it?

Now we know that Republicans, who all hate Hillary for no apparent reason, are going to use this simple coincidence against her. #Unfair!

So I ask again Shill-o, what is honest explanation for this? You could make this blog more pro-Hillary by putting out her side of the story! She won't delete it. I bet she might even be curious too to hear Hillary's side of it!

Jon Ericson said...

Oh, sorry. Bitch.

tim in vermont said...

Shill-oh is a man. She just writes like a woman. She uses "Women's ways of knowing." She thinks that to gain understanding, one learns and repeats "facts" from "authorities" without trying to understand them herself. In her case, the "authorities" are lefty blogs. That's why she has a hard time defending the stuff she says, and thinks that her little attempts at insults are such devastating ripostes.

Anyway, to repeat, I just call her she for that reason, she is really male, or so she has claimed.

Michael K said...

"you were probably banned for being a self–righteous con asshole which is how you portray yourself here. "

Actually no, in spite of your charming characterization, I am in favor of the French health care system and have explained it at length in terms I doubt you could understand. The lefties at WaPo made it quite clear why they were angry at me. You, on the other hand, are a knee jerk jerk.

Jon Ericson said...

Oh, Sorry. Pajama dog.

Michael K said...

In spite of the left's usual resort to obscene and illogical rants, I am happy to have anyone who chooses to, read my discussion of the French system, which I thought to be a possible model for US reform.

I have spent 50 years as a physician, including a lot of time in peer review and working on concepts of reform. I spent a year at Dartmouth getting another degree after I retired in 1994.

I lack shiloh's juvenile vocabulary and lack of judgement but would be happy to go into a discussion of what a real reform would look like.

The children at Wash Monthly had ideas that were not grounded in reality.

Jon Ericson said...

Arf! Arf! Arf!

Dr Weevil said...

The most likely explanation for why 'shiloh' comes here is that she's paid to, by someone who wants to damage the site for political advantage. Why was she absent for 3+ years? Because her work of disruption wasn't even up to the low standards of paid internet trolls, so they fired her. Why is she back now? Because it's election season, and her masters decided to give her another try. After all, there are some things even most trolls won't do, but she will.

I submit that my hypothesis explains 'shiloh' better than than most. Anyone have a better one?

Jon Ericson said...

Ah, the old "incompetent" vs. "evil" argument.

Jon Ericson said...

Evil it is.

Jon Ericson said...

http://www.thediplomad.com/

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

The French health care system was actually ranked at the top by WHO several years back.

Requires loads of micro-management, much more than what we could stomach. But the outcomes financially and clinically spoke for themselves.

Interestingly, one of the aims of the U.S. healthcare system lately has been to prioritize payment for best practices. This is a way of financially incentivizing for practice standards that are shown to be clinically superior and financially feasible, and had the potential to get us to a French model but based on voluntary, financial incentives rather than dictate.

As far as the private/public payor mix, I don't remember.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Shilo's not a bad kid. He/she's just a jaded old Democrat who never questioned the party or its practices and wants Team (D) to win at all costs. Kind of like an old Cubs fan or whatever. He looks at politics as one would sports, focuses on tactics and winning, but is turned off by the discussions we have here on why we play the game or what rules should apply.

Jon Ericson said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jon Ericson said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jon Ericson said...

Poputchiks

Jon Ericson said...

Just try to stay away from the penis references, Pedro, and you'll be good.

tim in vermont said...

Where do you think the artist got all of the white paint?

Sydney said...

It seems that the culture as a whole has lost it; my kids saw none of it in university
I will say that since I've started following my (grown)kids on Facebook, I've been impressed with the quality of the political discussions they have with their friends. They're polite and well-reasoned. As far as I know, my kids do not comment on blogs. Maybe it's our generation that's got the problem, not theirs.
I do think the discussions on this blog for the most part are superior to others- both left and right. And better than what you read in the comments at so-called intellectual magazines. The New Republic was lost to me long before they sold to the internet guy. The comments were amazingly stupid. Same with The Atlantic.

Unknown said...


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