१८ ऑक्टोबर, २०१६

Kissing babies... it used to be the stereotypical politician's move.

But Trump ruined it:



Look: Obama did it so nicely:

P070409PS-0507

Just looking at that picture, I got chills and tears came to my eyes. That man is so lovely. I'm advance-missing him.

Is it time for politicians to stop with the kissing? Here's David Shears, a Brit looking at America, writing in 1961, "Is Baby Kissing Really Necessary?"
While blintz-eating and other epicurean forms of electioneering may swing the odd vote here and there, I very much doubt if baby-kissing cuts any political ice whatever. In this respect I agree with Mr. Arthur Levitt, the Democratic organization candidate for Mayor of New York, who sternly refused to kiss babies when he toured the Rockaways during the primary campaign. I refuse to believe this reserve had anything to do with his defeat. He was merely exercising every man's right to draw the line.
And in 1968, Nixon said: "I won't wear a silly hat, or kiss a lady or a baby. I won't ski down a hill or do any stunting like that—I'd look like a jerk."

Both those quotes are from a 2012 Mother Jones article: "Politicians Kissing Babies: A Short History/From Andrew Jackson to Barack Obama, a cheeky timeline of a revered and reviled American political custom."

As for "exercising every man's right to draw the line" — which referred to the politician's right not to kiss — How about the baby's right? The baby is used as a prop — an object — and has no option to exercise a right to kiss or not to kiss. There's no capacity to consent.

Are we to view baby-kissing as sexual now, because Trump reminds us of sexual intrusions (on adult women)? So now, babies must not be kissed, even if unlike Nixon, the politician thinks the kissing of babies will further his pursuit of power? It worked for Obama.

Ah, but the kissing of babies can't be considered sexual, because we have to kiss our own babies. How tragic to make people think that might be wrong. The problem is the use of children in politics. Just stop that... or minimize it. Be very careful. You can use children a little, but treat them with the utmost respect.

१३० टिप्पण्या:

Brando म्हणाले...

Eh, babies are germ factories. Better to just high five the kid, and then use hand sanitizer.

Rich Vail म्हणाले...

Way to set the bar pretty low. Pre-missing Obama is like you enjoy that massive access in your...

traditionalguy म्हणाले...

Trump's kissed youngster got brought on stage because she had been shouting out for him. Obama's newborn was just 100% used.

Laslo Spatula म्हणाले...

Lesson number one for Politicians kissing baby girls: do NOT grab them by the pussy.

I am Laslo.

Michael Fitzgerald म्हणाले...

LOL! Troll-time at Althouse! Obama lied through his teeth about Obamacare, used the federal government to attack political rivals, abused taxpayer money to treat his extended family and friends to lavish vacations, created a hell-hole dominated by Russia and Iran, cratered the American economy, and polluted our nation's reputation and standing all over the world, but look how cute he looks kissing a baby! Boo-hoo-hoo, I'm going to miss having such a charming baby-kisser as president...

Thorby म्हणाले...

I'm tired of the politics of personal destruction. Clinton and Obama have politicized the Departments of State and Justice, the IRS, and the FBI. Clinton is a criminal. How Trump saying 'grab by the pussy' is worse than suborning the FBI is beyond me.

buwaya म्हणाले...

Good God, tears?
Come on Althouse, thats a joke.
Spreadsheets make me cry, thats reasonable.

David Begley म्हणाले...

"Just looking at that picture, I got chills and tears came to my eyes. That man is so lovely. I'm advance-missing him."

Wow. Is that ALL it takes? You and Chris Matthews. Obama is a fake and incompetent.

Iran will be advance-missing Barack too but Hillary will continue to make Iran great again.

Darrell म्हणाले...

Tears rolling down your cheeks? Which ones?

Char Char Binks, Esq. म्हणाले...

Who knows what diseases those duck lips have?

narciso म्हणाले...

carusone, wasn't that one of the get rush coordinators,

Curious George म्हणाले...

"Just looking at that picture, I got chills and tears came to my eyes. That man is so lovely. I'm advance-missing him."

He's a nasty POS.

CStanley म्हणाले...

...advance-missing him

What makes you think he's going anywhere?

Chuck म्हणाले...

The baby in the Obama photo is just thankful that he/she did not become a "choice" as part of "women's health care" a few months earlier.

By the way, professor; that beautiful, gentle photo of Obama/baby is an official White House photo, taken by Pete Souza and released by the press office.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan म्हणाले...

You guys are just bitter because Obama is beloved and your guy Bush isn't. Obama is a nice, even tempered guy. Not perfect, but he has dealt with the demands of office very well. He didn't go crazy or get squirrelly like so many of his predecessors. He can still screw up his post-presidency. Hopefully he sees Carter as the model rather than the Clintons. Unlike the Clintons he has a marketable skill as a writer, so he starts in a better place.

eric म्हणाले...

Baby kissing and using children in politics has to stop.

Unless you're a Democrat and it makes the girls miss you andove you more.

Otherwise, it needs to stop!

narciso म्हणाले...

he used to be media matters, now he's finance chair at the dnc, collaborating with think regress, through hillary's lead researcher, legum, I call him dadgum

William म्हणाले...

It's about time we took a hard look at the dark side of baby kissing. How many babies did that disease ridden hag infect in her merciless campaign for the Presidency. The next Wikileaks posting was going to be a DNC internal memo about the sudden spike in infant mortality rates at her campaign stops, but they managed to spike it. If word got out about how many babies Hillary has killed, she might lose hundreds of independent women voters.

Brando म्हणाले...

"You guys are just bitter because Obama is beloved and your guy Bush isn't."

Bush is due for a comeback. And the only reason Obama's so popular is he has no organized opposition and the choices for his successor are bad enough that even Andrew Johnson would look popular by comparison.

Earnest Prole म्हणाले...

Perhaps you can clarify how Obama's use of a baby as a prop can be lovely in practice but immoral in theory.

n.n म्हणाले...
ही टिप्पणी लेखकाना हलविली आहे.
n.n म्हणाले...

Obama is Pro-Choice. Baby, beware.

HoodlumDoodlum म्हणाले...

Good rule, Professor: "Don't kiss babies/use children in politics unless you're a man I consider lovely, in which case doing so is so beautiful the sight of it will give me chills."

narciso म्हणाले...

you have to realize, that blurb is not incidental, it is part of david brock's coordination, as it was blumenthal,

traditionalguy म्हणाले...

OK. Obama won it by using his all time perfect smile while he lies and lies. But after all we know now about his intentions to destroy the USA from within, that smile has lost some of its appeal.

machine म्हणाले...

hahaha...it could only have been better if he picked the quitta from wasilla for a running mate!


and I think that comeback may be stunted due to the gopers eliminating sovereign immunity...he will be tied up with albertooooooooooooooooooooooooooo......

HoodlumDoodlum म्हणाले...

Speaking of children and using children in politics: Survey: 1/3 of Millennials Believe George W Bush Killed More People than Stalin

From where do you think those Millennials "learned" this junk? Who exactly is teaching these kids? Ah, but the Left just cares about facts, they wouldn't miseducate children just to advance the Leftist political agenda. Stop being so paranoid.

HoodlumDoodlum म्हणाले...

And in 1968, Nixon said: "I won't wear a silly hat, or kiss a lady or a baby. I won't ski down a hill or do any stunting like that—I'd look like a jerk."

I bet he eventually socked it to that rule, though.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan म्हणाले...

Brando said...
Bush is due for a comeback.


From leading candidate for worst president? Maybe. Don't see it myself.

the only reason Obama's so popular is he has no organized opposition and the choices for his successor are bad enough that even Andrew Johnson would look popular by comparison.

There is some truth to this, but these are largely self-inflicted wounds on the part of Republicans, who couldn't accept that regular people's perception of Obama was very different to the image they tried to create with their over-heated rhetoric. Obama's cool got under a lot of skins on the red side, causing them to act somewhat irrationally. Hillary is a plus, but Obama also made this happen. No one wants to be upstaged by the support act.

TWW म्हणाले...

He kisses Babes.

Earnest Prole म्हणाले...

"In theory there is no difference between theory and practice"

machine म्हणाले...

wait...on the mouth?!?!?!?!

narciso म्हणाले...

his most significant legal work was forcing citigroup into the subprime business, although the cra revisions that clinton signed played a part, he taught alinsky social strategy in place of law 'community organizing,'

narciso म्हणाले...

you were sold a bill of goods, professor, and you bought it because you loathed mccain, we do too, he earned his contempt subsequently,

Sebastian म्हणाले...

"Just looking at that picture, I got chills and tears came to my eyes. That man is so lovely. I'm advance-missing him." For the sake of argument, I'll set aside the distinct possibility that you are trolling your commenters, so - - -

See, the posts on this blog often give me a sense that, yes, after all, people live in the same world and can through careful analysis separate BS from a semblance of truth to recognize what's really real, even in and through the linguistic obfuscations thrown on our path. And then this. O as "lovely," as if he had done anything, anything at all, to earn that sentiment; chills and tears, about a moment so utterly conventional, so wholly staged and fabricated, just one more manipulative gesture among the many that made up that man's public life; "just looking at that picture," as if analysis means nothing after all, as if gushing unprocessed sentiment rules in the end; "advance-missing" a man who has harmed the country, and other countries, in so many ways, who has degraded the governmental apparatus itself, who disdains the very notion of the rule of law, who has emboldened our enemies, who --. I realize I haven't been quite cynical enough.

buwaya म्हणाले...

" Unlike the Clintons he has a marketable skill as a writer"

That was Bill Ayers.

JPS म्हणाले...

AReasonableMan [sic]:

"You guys are just bitter because Obama is beloved and your guy Bush isn't."

You're mistaken. Given some of the truly horrible public figures who have been beloved, I don't have much use for this metric, and I don't take it personally when someone I approve of isn't. I'm sometimes nostalgic for Phil Gramm, who was no one's idea of warm and cuddly. ("...that you don't love my kids as much as I do." "Yes, I do!" [waits one beat] "What are their names?")

"Obama is a nice, even tempered guy."

If you're on his good side. He's also spent his presidency talking as though he's obviously right and everyone knows it, but his opponents have been bought into opposing him, or do it out of fear of their stupid supporters, or out of petty pique. Nowhere in his rhetoric do I find any element of "honorable people may differ", except belatedly as he talks about how reasonable other Republicans are compared to Trump.

He's a nasty, dishonest, trolling partisan who is good at sounding very reasonable, the adult in the room. And I, with all respect to our host, won't miss him in the slightest. (I have a feeling I'll spend his post-presidency wondering, How can I miss you if you won't go away?)

Ann Althouse म्हणाले...

@narciso

I didn't loathe McCain. I thought he was unprepared to deal with the financial crisis. He'd already said he didn't know much about economics, and then he suspended his campaign and seemed inept at that meeting about the crisis.

That was THE issue of the day at the time of the 2008 election, and McCain looked really bad in that context.

n.n म्हणाले...

Obama is warmly welcomed by liberals after his recycled wars, progressive wars, immigration reform (e.g. refugee crises, mass exodus), trials by sodomy and abortion, impulsive regime changes, resetting cold wars, celebration of selective exclusion, promotion of [class] diversity (e.g. racism, sexism), passing a health penalty tax, advocacy for green blight, and devaluation of capital and labor. Obama marks the renaissance of the Pro-Choice quasi-religion and [unqualified] progress. Baby, beware.

narciso म्हणाले...

to his credit, he had been trying to stop it, back in 2005-2006, but all the sheriff's had been bought off, and he didn't know that important players like andrew cuomo, had been a part of it, so they rewarded the players who were most response, who took no affirmative steps to prevent the next crisis,

William म्हणाले...

It was said that Harding was elected on the basis of his looks. He looked like what we wanted Presidents to look like. In public, he had the natural gravitas and dignity that you hope for in a world historical figure. Maybe not so much in private, but you couldn't hope for a better baby kisser. His case is generally offered as an example of the gullibility of the American public, especially when they vote for Republicans. Democrats are immune from that sort of thing.

SukieTawdry म्हणाले...

Just looking at that picture, I got chills and tears came to my eyes. That man is so lovely. I'm advance-missing him.

Good one, Ann.

From where do you think those Millennials "learned" this junk? Who exactly is teaching these kids? Ah, but the Left just cares about facts, they wouldn't miseducate children just to advance the Leftist political agenda.

Domestic terrorist cum education expert Bill Ayers is quite straightforward about the purpose of public education. Its primary goal is not to educate children in the traditional sense but to prepare them to become good citizens. And, he believes, the indoctrination properly must begin with the educators which is why most of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge money went to teacher/administration programs and not into the classroom. Accordingly, even the CAC's own evaluation committee judged the CAC an abject failure in achieving improved student performance which was its ostensible goal. And let's never forget who was in charge of handing out CAC money.

Brando म्हणाले...

"From leading candidate for worst president? Maybe. Don't see it myself."

His low point was during a financial crisis and recession (which he didn't cause but had the bad luck to preside over) and an unpopular war (which he did cause), so his approval ratings in the 30s is natural. But we've had time to see his successor repeat many of Bush's same foreign policy mistakes, many of the same economic mistakes, and his own unforced error (the ACA) and plus, time gives us all more perspective. Bush also didn't spend his post-presidency ripping on the new guy, so it helped his likability factor. His current ratings are around or over 50%.

Everyone tends to do better popularity-wise after they've been out of office a while, even Nixon did. Bush probably won't be as popular as Reagan, but it'll be better than it was in 2008.

sakredkow म्हणाले...
ही टिप्पणी लेखकाना हलविली आहे.
Tim म्हणाले...

I didn't loathe McCain. I thought he was unprepared to deal with the financial crisis. He'd already said he didn't know much about economics, and then he suspended his campaign and seemed inept at that meeting about the crisis.

And Obama was? He didn't/doesn't know the difference between comprehensive and collision auto insurance.He did know how to keep born alive babies from receiving care after a botched baby-killing abortion attempt. He is a piece of shit. And that denigrates shit.

narciso म्हणाले...

there has been no major official, who has been convicted out of the bustup, only fines collected from the likes of mozilo, which the doj recycles as funds to preferred community groups like acorn, that started the whole drum roll in the first place,

Rosalyn C. म्हणाले...

Trump has never run for office before -- so he makes rookie mistakes like kissing young children. Politicians only kiss babies because there's no chance of a sexual subtext and the demonstration of affection proves they care deeply about people. It's a marketing tool and Althouse proves how effective it can be. It even works with someone who avows to be cruelly neutral in politics.

Brando म्हणाले...

"I didn't loathe McCain. I thought he was unprepared to deal with the financial crisis. He'd already said he didn't know much about economics, and then he suspended his campaign and seemed inept at that meeting about the crisis."

McCain seemed mostly tired that year--repeating a lot of old mantras, coming across more annoyed than energetic, and prone to erratic but poorly thought out decisions (the suspending his campaign, picking Palin).

But what really got him was the economy going down, body bags still coming back from Iraq, following an unpopular two term president from his party, and running against what was admittedly a well-run campaign with a solid politician. It wasn't a good year for any GOP nominee.

machine म्हणाले...

...and then he picked...Sarah Palin.

ba-dump bump!

narciso म्हणाले...

Harding did a few good things, largely staying out of the way, enabling mellon to reform the taxes, freeing debs from prison, he had a few apples as hangers on, like forbes and daughtrey,

narciso म्हणाले...

any war that lasts four years, is likely to be grueling, the surge was just beginning to yield fruit, but obama and clinton wouldn't hear of it, now islamic state is the result,

OGWiseman म्हणाले...

I'd say the key difference is that Obama kissed a baby, and Trump kissed a girl who was like 5.

David म्हणाले...

"I'm advance-missing him."

He has always seemed contrived to me, except when interacting with his own children. I will not miss the hectoring of his opponents or his complete lack of humility. The healthcare "summit" was enough to show me how he interacts with others. He was dismissive and condescending to the other participants on national tv. Then the literal looking down on the Supreme Court at the State of the Union, and the speech he gave, excoriating the morality and motives of Ryan and other leaders, as they sat in an audience before him in what was supposedly going to be a policy speech on health care. Finally, Syria and the Middle East, where he talked tough but failed to act when needed, and allowed Aleppo and other atrocities to happen without trying to use American power to stop it. Obama kisses a baby nicely, but he seems to me a vindictive and deceitful man. It's a quality he shares with other leaders past and present, but it's not a precondition to leadership.

David म्हणाले...

"Bush also didn't spend his post-presidency ripping on the new guy . . . "

Neither will Obama. The President will not be a guy.

narciso म्हणाले...

good gravy, obama picked a fool off a turnip truck, who had been wrong for 36 years, except perhaps authorizing the drug czar legislation, which has it's ironies, wrong on pershings, the pipeline, the contras, even wrong on taking out bin laden,

buwaya म्हणाले...

"And, he believes, the indoctrination properly must begin with the educators"

This is true. The brainwashing begins in the cadre. And that cadre are the teachers of the teachers of the teachers. Once one gets to actual teachers it seems its more like leading sheep.

The would-be teachers are nearly all young women with no intellectual background and looking for stable government employment. And there is no perspective among these, they are insulated and then released to make their way in a world of juveniles. Many are quite juvenile and stay that way.

"which is why most of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge money went to teacher/administration programs"

His, and their, intentions were clear, but his efforts are a drop in the ocean. This seems to be the general attitude across the profession and would have been if Ayers did nothing, because there were a lot of Bill Ayers. The root is in the system that taught Ayers and his compatriots.

The causes of the whole thing are as Allan Bloom described.

Brando म्हणाले...

"I'd say the key difference is that Obama kissed a baby, and Trump kissed a girl who was like 5."

Seeing the photo now, I see that--the lesson here is if you're going to kiss a baby, make sure it's a small enough baby that it can't embarrassingly squirm around. Learn from what happened with Ted Cruz and his own daughter!

Or, say to the kid "don't squirm or this will go very badly for you."

MadisonMan म्हणाले...

Yes, Trump erred in trying to kiss a toddler.

narciso म्हणाले...

who thought fdr gave speeches on the radio as president in 1929, who thought hezbollah had been kicked out of lebanon,

buwaya म्हणाले...

"...and then he picked...Sarah Palin."

Who, as it happens, was entirely correct about everything important.

Brando म्हणाले...

"Neither will Obama. The President will not be a guy."

I have a feeling that once this election is over, Obama will actually prove quite critical of Hillary, and vice versa. Particularly when it comes time to reboot or gut Obamacare. Or when she needs to blame someone for the next recession, and he wants to scapegoat her.

It could be very entertaining!

Brando म्हणाले...

"Yes, Trump erred in trying to kiss a toddler."

Admit it though, if he skipped the kid and just kissed the mother, we all would have appreciated his sense of irony.

sakredkow म्हणाले...
ही टिप्पणी लेखकाना हलविली आहे.
narciso म्हणाले...

no, their goals are the same, they want single payer, that's also in the emails,

machine म्हणाले...

uhuh...sure thing.

rhhardin म्हणाले...

Women like to see baby kissing. It shows the good character of the guy. It means the guy will hang around and help with the kids, probably.

It's all about feeling. Upgrade women's civic game, and baby kissing will stop.

Gahrie म्हणाले...

Just looking at that picture, I got chills and tears came to my eyes. That man is so lovely. I'm advance-missing him.

Repeal the 19th Amendment.

Titus म्हणाले...

Any time Althouse same something nice about Obama the place goes ballistic....and I love it.

Crazy fucks.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan म्हणाले...

buwaya said...
"...and then he picked...Sarah Palin."
Who, as it happens, was entirely correct about everything important.


She probably also thinks Bill Ayers wrote the book.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan म्हणाले...

Titus said...
Any time Althouse same something nice about Obama the place goes ballistic


No one likes to see an affirmative action hire do well.

buwaya म्हणाले...

"She probably also thinks Bill Ayers wrote the book."

I do too. Or Obama got a rather good ghostwriter who writes a lot like Ayers.
I may be dead before it comes out, but I would put money on that.

Carol म्हणाले...

why do people end sentences with a comma,

machine म्हणाले...

file it with the bridge to nowhere...

JPS म्हणाले...

Titus,

Who's gone ballistic?

AReasonableMan:

I love seeing affirmative action hires do well. It means we were right to reach out to them.

This president is not an affirmative action hire. He was hired based on charisma, political ability, salesmanship, and potential. The kind of potential that got him nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize two months into his term ("extraordinary efforts"). He hasn't delivered for the country as a whole, only for his flavor of liberals.

You and Titus don't like that pointed out, so we must be unhinged or racist, right?

Achilles म्हणाले...

"Just looking at that picture, I got chills and tears came to my eyes. That man is so lovely. I'm advance-missing him."

Worship his beautiful cock

MayBee म्हणाले...

Just looking at that picture, I got chills and tears came to my eyes. That man is so lovely. I'm advance-missing him

*THat* Obama is so rarely around. I've missed the likable Obama since midway through 2008.

320Busdriver म्हणाले...

He was hired based on charisma, political ability, salesmanship, and potential.

He's done more to advance the economic status of those poor african american families in the inner cities as well as healed the racial divide like no other president.

Dave in Tucson म्हणाले...

Just looking at that picture, I got chills and tears came to my eyes. That man is so lovely. I'm advance-missing him.

So much for cruel neutrality.

JPS म्हणाले...

320Busdriver,

Assuming you're being sarcastic, I agree with you. And personally I never found him charming. But I can see how liberals would have been thrilled, and I can even see why centrists and some moderate conservatives disgusted with the results of the Bush presidency would have chosen to believe in him.

I'm not arguing we were right to elect him. I am saying if race hadn't been part of the equation, he still would have beaten John McCain in 2008. Hell, John Kerry gave Bush a run for his money in 2004. That was before the public had really soured on the Iraq War, and before the housing market collapse and the bank bailout; and that was John Freakin' Kerry.

narciso म्हणाले...

yes, it's only a matter of which road they will take, not the destination,

http://www.lifezette.com/polizette/wikileaks-hillary-wants-obamacare-unravel/

320Busdriver म्हणाले...

Well T rump must know he's been beaten like a cheap drum since he feels compelled to spend an inordinate amount of time in a state that rejected him soundly and where he is still losing badly. He seems hell bent on trying to drag down Speaker Ryan with him.
More SNL footage at 11.

Winning!

320Busdriver म्हणाले...

JPS

I forgot to add that he stopped the rise of the oceans ;)

I just got a tingle....

320Busdriver म्हणाले...

My favorite M Steyn quote on Obama;

"The election of Obama was a profoundly unserious act by an unserious nation, and, if you were Putin, the ChiComs, or the ayatollahs, you would have to be awfully virtuous not to take advantage of it....He's WEIRD in the sense of those students in the behavioral studies: Western Educated Idle Rich Deadbeat. He's not, even in Democrat terms, a political figure--as Bill Clinton or Joe Biden are. Instead, he's a creature of the broader culture: there are millions of people like Barack Obama, the eternal students of an unbounded lethargic transnational campus for whom global compassion and the multicultural pose are merely the modish gloss on a cult of radical grandiose narcissism. Even as he denies American exceptionalism, he gets turned on by his own.”

****What are they gonna say after we eleect Hillary?*****LOL

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent म्हणाले...

"No one likes to see an affirmative action hire do well"

Half right.

dreams म्हणाले...

"Just looking at that picture, I got chills and tears came to my eyes. That man is so lovely. I'm advance-missing him."

Its hard not to lose some respect for someone who would say that considering what he has done to our country and the world the last eight years.

Fabi म्हणाले...

Why is Barack sexually assaulting that baby?

rehajm म्हणाले...

How can we miss him when he won't go away?

rehajm म्हणाले...

We are truly a divided nation.

Char Char Binks, Esq. म्हणाले...

Presidents generally don't know much about economics, at least not at an expert level; that's why they hire Jews.

Eric the Fruit Bat म्हणाले...

Every candidate for high public office should kiss a baby.

And then immediately thereafter that baby should be disemboweled and its entrails examined.

The public has the right to know.

Caroline म्हणाले...

"How about the baby's right?" -- did you really just say that?

HoodlumDoodlum म्हणाले...

Ann Althouse said...As for "exercising every man's right to draw the line" — which referred to the politician's right not to kiss — How about the baby's right? The baby is used as a prop — an object — and has no option to exercise a right to kiss or not to kiss. There's no capacity to consent.

If there's one thing people on the Left care about it's the rights of the very young--consent from "babies" is super-important to the Left, you guys. Treating a baby like an "object" without giving moral consideration to that independent life form really bothers people on the Left. Failing to give proper respect to the needs, wants, desires, or autonomy of helpless living things & instead only caring about how they can be used or treated to benefit oneself--that kind of thing really bothers nice women like Professor Althouse!

Unrelated, but did you know Planned Parenthood just celebrated their 100th anniversary?

Jon Ericson म्हणाले...

@HD
*chortle*

Ken B म्हणाले...

rhhardin vindication award for 2016:
"Just looking at that picture, I got chills and tears came to my eyes. That man is so lovely. I'm advance-missing him."

I'm Full of Soup म्हणाले...

Obama talks of the progress they have made under his administration- is he referring to progress we have made towards becoming a lawless 3rd World shithole?

mockturtle म्हणाले...

Seeing the photo now, I see that--the lesson here is if you're going to kiss a baby, make sure it's a small enough baby that it can't embarrassingly squirm around. Learn from what happened with Ted Cruz and his own daughter!

Brando, that was my take on it, too.

"Just looking at that picture, I got chills and tears came to my eyes. That man is so lovely. I'm advance-missing him."

Ann, I truly, truly hope you were being sarcastic. If not, I may, although a woman, begin to agree with those who believe women shouldn't have the right to vote.

mockturtle म्हणाले...

She must be trolling us. There can be no other explanation for such idiotic outpourings.

Paul Ciotti म्हणाले...

"The man is so lovely."

Yes, except when he issues executive orders that violate the constitution, admits illegal aliens against the wishes of most Americans, conducts the least transparent presidency in history, has John Kerry at the State Department try to punish Julian Assange for releasing Hillary's emails, sends out Susan Rice to lie about Bengazi, dismisses the white working class as people who cling to their guns and religion (they do but Obama doesn't have a clue why), and makes race relations worse than they've been in decades.

Ken B म्हणाले...

The amazing thing is Althouse will think her reaction, he's so lovely, shows *resistance* to demagogues and charlatans, not that she is their meat.

cacimbo म्हणाले...

"I'm advance-missing him."

Not surprising. AA is ensconced in academia. In Madison, WI just like in DC the economy is good and everyone is happy. It is out amongst the student debtors where formerly good paying construction jobs are done by poorly paid illegal immigrants that things look less rosy.

Nicholas म्हणाले...

Paul Ciotti - nailed it!

अनामित म्हणाले...

I didn't cry, but yes, I'll miss President Obama too. Looks like 57% of people polled will too.

And that little girl isn't a baby, Trump shouldn't have tried to kiss her, that came off as creepy.

अनामित म्हणाले...

Mockturtle, I have a hard time believing you are a woman.

Ann Althouse म्हणाले...

I'm being honest. Unfiltered.

I feel the love and I believe there is a lot af love and in the next phase we will not have that.

10/18/16, 5:04 PM

mockturtle म्हणाले...

Ann, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but 'love' isn't what our government is--or should be--about. Maybe you have a different version of the Constitution up your sleeve.

eddie willers म्हणाले...

I didn't loathe McCain. I thought he was unprepared to deal with the financial crisis. He'd already said he didn't know much about economics, and then he suspended his campaign and seemed inept at that meeting about the crisis.

That was THE issue of the day at the time of the 2008 election, and McCain looked really bad in that context.


So you vote for a man who is so wrong on his economic theory that, if he succeeds, guarantees the 8 year L-shaped "recovery" and turning million of workers into food stamp recipients?

These are the times I wish you had studied Milton Friedman instead of Henry Campbell Black.

अनामित म्हणाले...

Mockturtle, previous Presidents have been beloved among the people in the past. This phenomenon didn't start with Obama. If you try really really hard maybe you can reach deep and grasp your feminine side...or not. No one thinks that the government is about love, but leaders who do good works for the people are held in high esteem, one could call it love of sorts. There are many forms of love, maybe if you were more of a female you'd understand the concept.

cacimbo म्हणाले...

Love! I feel the scorn. Based on his own statements Obama thinks he is better at everything then everyone. He refuses to even do the traditional backslapping that would keep members of his own party in Congress happy. Are you speaking about the love he does appear to have for Michele and his daughters? You know, the black family he chose not like that typical old white grandma who raised him.

HoodlumDoodlum म्हणाले...

Ann Althouse said...
I'm being honest. Unfiltered.

I feel the love and I believe there is a lot af love and in the next phase we will not have that.


Unfiltered, incontinent, same deal - we get it. "Hey I'm just being honest!" is a pretty standard adolescent dodge for saying something that makes you sound like an asshole, isn't it?

But, no, of course; you're feeeeeeling things and feelings are valid and should be celebrated. Stunning & brave.

Oh:
Obama's Shameful Drone War Legacy

Caaaaan you feeeel the love tonight?

HoodlumDoodlum म्हणाले...
ही टिप्पणी लेखकाना हलविली आहे.
HoodlumDoodlum म्हणाले...

Unknown said...No one thinks that the government is about love, but leaders who do good works for the people are held in high esteem, one could call it love of sorts.

"good works for the people?" Citation needed.
Look, the guy won election twice. Lots of people like him. Lots of people like the Kardasians, too, but there's no denying Obama is popular. Good for him.

Do you remember a lot of love from the Left and/or Media for George W Bush near the end of his presidency? I don't. Bush left office with an approval rating somewhere between the high 20's and mid 30's (he came in somewhere in the mid 50's).

Here's a famous picture of GWBush comforting a teen who lost her mother in the Sept 11 attacks. This was an impromptu moment that was later turned into a political ad, and lots of people on the Left said it was offensive/manipulative.

Here's a touching story about President Bush visiting injured soldiers at Walter Reed

Here's a cute picture of GWBush holding a little girl during a humanitarian trip to Zambia a few years ago

Anyway this sentimentality and "love" talk seems awfully one-sided and/or recently discovered, you know...I sure seem to remember a lot of calls to throw outgoing Republicans in jail (frog march 'em!) back then. But yeah, it was probably all love.


But I get it; there's nothing I can say but I can learn how to play the game: All You Need is Love.

SukieTawdry म्हणाले...

I feel the love and I believe there is a lot af love...

A lot of love for whom?

buwaya म्हणाले...

Love is a chemical reaction evolved to assist mating.

It is one of those quirks of human nature too often misunderstood in personal relations and, in others, exploited by perceptive characters. Like politicians.

Remorse म्हणाले...

Nice pictures of GWB at 6: 13. There's a very touching one of Michelle and GWB that just came out a few weeks ago. GWB seems like he has a pretty good heart. Some people personalized their opposition to his policies in a way they shouldn't have. They're doing it now, too.

I know there isn't any way to reach the hardest core true believers on either side - at least I don't have the power to do that even though I wish I could. I think there's a lot of people who want to back off the ledge and find their humanity again. You got to find the humanity in your opponents as well.

JMO.

JamesB.BKK म्हणाले...

I pre-miss Obama not setting more of the world on fire. He did a splendid job with handling the global financial crisis too. He did not let the crisis go to waste. More importantly, he did not admit that his party's and fellow ideologues' governmental controls caused it, and then made worse the consequences. Better still, he used it to increase government power, and the skim into and the number of sluices out of the national treasury to his friends and party and party voters. Thanks for the big tax increases, Obama! McCain would probably have failed to do that.

It is with such insistence that the blogress refers to Trump's talk of 11 years ago, one might wonder whether "they let you" does not mean "they let you" in constitutional law professor land. Maybe Brennan discovered something along these lines using some other words that was not well publicized.

Gretchen म्हणाले...

Gross Ann, you lost me on this love of Obama's loveliness. The president has not done well by the country, foreign policy is a mess, poverty has increased, the IRS and FBI are totally corrupt, and we even have a resurgence in diseases that had been eradicated in the US due to an enthusiasm for unfettered immigration, which has put people in poor neighborhoods the most at risk for some democrat votes.

It will just get worse with Hillary. She obstructed justice, destroyed evidence and set up a cash register at State, even stealing the furniture and lamps.

Woo woo, you can feel GOOD because there will be a woman in the presidency. What a disgrace she is.

JamesB.BKK म्हणाले...

"I've missed the likable Obama since midway through 2008." Some evidence for the excellent grifter is that his marks still like him, even trust him, after he has revealed.

Birkel म्हणाले...

I would like people to point to Obama's successes. List them. I need a chuckle.

Big Mike म्हणाले...

That man is so lovely. I'm advance-missing him.

@Althouse, thanks for confirming that in 2008 you voted your dripping vagina. The profoundly unserious approach you are taking to the issues of this election certainly places you among the smugly self-satisfied limousine liberal set. That there are people who are hurting, who have lost all hope, since the 2009 inauguration doesn't much register with you, or if it does then you don't much care. You've got yours; that's all you care about.

I feel the love and I believe there is a lot of love and in the next phase we will not have that.

And that's at least partly your fault. But you delude yourself that "there is a lot of love." Not among the people you social liberals have screwed over. Not among the children of farmers who cannot inherit their parent's farm because of the estate taxes. Not among the people who wound up paying more for worse coverage under Obamacare, and now they may lose even that. Not in Appalachia, where people were already very poor and now you've shut the mines. But enjoy your delusions.

Jon Ericson म्हणाले...

That man is so lovely. I'm advance-missing him.

I feel the love and I believe there is a lot of love and in the next phase we will not have that.


Sounds like the gardener garnered some poisonous mushrooms!

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil म्हणाले...

After he kissed the baby, Obama whispered in his ear: "Just wait, cracka. You and your fucking white privilege."

walter म्हणाले...

Yeah..I know I will miss his trademark bleating scold.

walter म्हणाले...

But I would send him a bucket of golf balls every month if he gifted us with endless golfing.

MayBee म्हणाले...

There's a very touching one of Michelle and GWB that just came out a few weeks ago.

Have you seen the video of the same moment? It's so different from the still. Let me see if I can find it.

MayBee म्हणाले...
ही टिप्पणी लेखकाना हलविली आहे.
MayBee म्हणाले...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyfQmrG_1b4

Oso Negro म्हणाले...

And Althouse descends into bathos. Am I the only one reminded of this:

“He gazed up at the enormous face. Forty years it had taken him to learn what kind of smile was hidden beneath the dark moustache. O cruel, needless misunderstanding! O stubborn, self-willed exile from the loving breast! Two gin-scented tears trickled down the sides of his nose. But it was all right, everything was all right, the struggle was finished. He had won the victory over himself. He loved Big Brother” ?

Kirk Parker म्हणाले...

Just looking at that picture, I got chills and tears came to my eyes. That man is so lovely. I'm advance-missing him.

The Nineteenth Amendment rears its ugly head...

KLH म्हणाले...

"That man is so lovely." LOL. I didn't think there was anybody left who still believed that. I was very surprised to read that. Surely Ms.Althouse noticed his incompetence, lying and scolding of the last eight years.

Monty Mehra म्हणाले...

Nice article and thanks for sharing your knowledge. I really appropriate your views.

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