Althouse: "Every time you talk, you take a little of this, and a little of that, and you never settle on anything."

March 21, 2017

"Every time you talk, you take a little of this, and a little of that, and you never settle on anything."

"You’ve spoken for seven minutes, and I have no idea what you said. You haven’t said anything."

Said Marine Le Pen at a French presidential debate to her chief opponent Emmanuel Macron.

"You're talking a lot, but you're not saying anything." That was said, long ago, by Psycho Killer... which, interestingly enough, is half in French...

Je me lance, vers la gloire, okay?

16 comments:

rehajm said...: Quoi?; 3/21/17, 7:19 AM
Hunter said...: I like this Marine Le Pen. She has a certain.... I don't know what.; 3/21/17, 7:36 AM
Johnathan Birks said...: Ce qu'elle a dit, ce soir la; 3/21/17, 7:52 AM
HoodlumDoodlum said...: Chuck Berry reviews "punk" songs, including Psycho Killer, in 1980; 3/21/17, 8:25 AM
Mike (MJB Wolf) said...: Great song! Very descriptive of the current state of one party (the one that includes the media):

I can't seem to face up to the facts
I'm tense and nervous and I can't relax
I can't sleep 'cause my bed's on fire
Don't touch me I'm a real live wire

Psycho Killer
Qu'est-ce que c'est
Fa-fa-fa-fa-fa-fa-fa-fa-fa-far better
Run run run run run run run away oh oh
Psycho Killer
Qu'est-ce que c'est
Fa-fa-fa-fa-fa-fa-fa-fa-fa-far better
Run, run, run, run, run, run, run, away oh oh oh
Yeah yeah yeah yeah!

You start a conversation you can't even finish it
You're talking a lot, but you're not saying anything
When I have nothing to say, my lips are sealed
Say something once, why say it again?; 3/21/17, 8:28 AM
Wince said...: One thing I've noticed is that Trump "the negotiator" starts in conceptual generalities, but actually hones-in on a point, whereas most politicians start with generalities only to remain opaque and never reach a point of clarity.

It's even apparent to his harshest critics, who have to "elide" the truth. Here's the Trump comparison, as described by Andrew Sullivan and Barney Frank on Bill Maher's show.

In summary, on healthcare:

Maher says the Republicans (Rs) want to keep the "good stuff" (benefits) but eliminate the means of "paying" for it (fewer taxes, mandates).

Contradiction 1: Frank says Rs want to keep it for the "middle income people" (people who do actually "pay for" their own insurance) and take it from the poor (Medicaid for those who don't "pay" anything for their zero deductible insurance, incentivizing remaining poor in order to get it).

They all accuse Trump of being a "bad" and "stupid" liar because the consequences of what he propose will be immediate and recognizable (i.e., unlike the attenuated lies of a "good liar" Obama who got out the door without the full consequences of Obamacare being known?).

Contradiction 2: Notice, this exchange was after Sullivan had to admit Trump is presenting a "clarifying moment" unlike any of his predecessors.; 3/21/17, 8:38 AM
Anonymous said...: Apropos of Le Pen, who said (paraphrase) "France isn't burkinis on the beach, France is Brigitte Bardot", how come most all of our old movie stars are multi-culti airheads, and no cool reactionaries like Based Bardot? She's always getting hauled into court for "hate speech". I mean, the lady does traditional old movie star stuff like running an animal rights charity (don't know where on the SPCA-PETA continuum she is), but at the same time testifies like this:

"Je ne me suis pas battue contre l’Algérie française pour accepter une France algérienne. Je ne touche pas à la culture, à l’identité et aux coutumes des autres. Qu’on ne touche pas aux miennes."

(I did not fight against French Algeria in order to accept an Algerian France. I don't meddle in the culture, identity, or customs of others. So hands off mine.)

She'll probably get charged for "hate speech" again.

(Contrary to the headline of the article, there's nothing shocking therein, unless you're a hysterical lefty. Runs through the google translator fairly smoothly, if you're interested in the rest of this summary of an interview.); 3/21/17, 8:55 AM
Daniel Jackson said...: "run, run, run away"

Monty Python and The Holy Grail was just on French television. Of all the phrasing lost in translation, this is the critical phrase lost.

I've often thought that the reference in this song was to RUN AWAY from such people as fast as possible. I listened to the French debate last night and thought Le Pen was telling voters to do the same. But, she sure can talk a lot as well. She lets no one cut her off.; 3/21/17, 9:56 AM
Fernandinande said...: Tina Weymouth can play my bass anytime she wants.

"Velvet Revolver" has a pretty good death-metal + slide guitar version of Psycho Killer.; 3/21/17, 9:57 AM
cubanbob said...: If the race comes down to Le Pen and Macron France has for now really started to change.; 3/21/17, 11:16 AM
Earnest Prole said...: Pig Le Pen; 3/21/17, 11:28 AM
Yancey Ward said...: Le Pen is going to lose the election to Macron, but the mainline French parties are sowing the seeds of their eventual demise. The same dynamic is playing out in Germany, too, and was already confirmed by the Dutch results last week.

What you are seeing is that the mainline parties- center right and center left are converging into one party for the sole purpose of fighting off the growing revolt of the nationalists in all these countries. They do this in order to push the argument that the nationalists are losing support. Just witness what happened last week in The Netherlands- Wilders' party increased its number of seats while Rutte's party lost support, and yet all the media were astir with stories and claims of Wilders great defeat and Rutte's great victory. This will be repeated in France and in Germany later this year. Eventually, however, Le Pen will have become the true opposition party while the center right withers away. The same will happen in Germany as Merkel's support on the right drops and she is forced to make nice with the Social Democrats in an attempt to hold onto power- she will likely win, but by doing so the Christian Democrats will wither away, too as the voting base realizes they are no opposition party to the SDs any longer.; 3/21/17, 12:03 PM
mockturtle said...: Yancey Ward sums it up nicely at 12:03.; 3/21/17, 1:11 PM
khematite said...: In a similar vein, Dylan's 1983 song "Julius and Ethel" makes the observation that in the US in the 1950s "Long as you didn't say nothing, you could say anything."; 3/21/17, 3:38 PM
Dave in Tucson said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 3/21/17, 4:55 PM
BN said...: "French parties are sowing the seeds of their eventual demise"

Hell, those ain't no parties!

They ain't got time for that now.; 3/21/17, 4:57 PM