The highest-rated comment is: "Remember when Michelle Obama going sleeveless was a scandal? Republicans have ridiculous double standards." To answer that question: No. But if it happened, I'll bet it was in a different situation, like inside a church, and not at a ball.
Here, I found this from March 2009: "Obama's Choice to Bare Arms Causes Uproar." There was some criticism of Michelle Obama for going sleeveless in her first official photograph as First Lady and at Obama's first congressional address, which took place in wintertime.
"Most of the complaints centered on the dress conveying a sense of informality on a serious occasion," [Chicago Tribune style reporter Wendy] Donahue said. "She's kind of faced some criticism for that in the past where people have said maybe [her clothing is] distracting from the central point, from what is going on."...I don't think anyone criticizes a ball gown as informal when it bares the arms (and shoulders and much of the back and chest). Those are standard design attributes that make it seem formal. The bareness is standard even in winter, and I don't think Michelle Obama was criticized for baring her arms at the inaugural balls.
"When she was at the non-State of the Union address and had the sleeveless dress on, that was a bit of a surprise and I got some e-mails from some folks who were, you know, they work on the Hill and they were like, 'Wow she's sleeveless,'" [Politico White House reporter Malika] Henderson said. "'Nobody else is sleeveless here and it is the winter.'"
But if you want to talk about double standards, I don't remember anyone saying that Michelle Obama looked like a "call girl in her tightclothes and stiletto heels with that icy cold smile."
Was Obama criticized for wearing her clothes too tight? Yes! In the New York Times, quoting an unnamed fashion designer: "Her clothes are too tight."
Was her smile criticized? Yes, according to "To the First Lady, With Love Four thank-you notes to Michelle Obama, who has spent the past eight years quietly and confidently changing the course of American history," in the NYT just before last fall's election:
Because she said what she thought, and because she smiled only when she felt like smiling, and not constantly and vacuously, America’s cheapest caricature was cast on her: the Angry Black Woman. Women, in general, are not permitted anger — but from black American women, there is an added expectation of interminable gratitude, the closer to groveling the better, as though their citizenship is a phenomenon that they cannot take for granted.
“I love this country,” she said to applause. She needed to say it — her salve to the hostility of people who claimed she was unpatriotic because she had dared to suggest that, as an adult, she had not always been proud of her country. Of course she loved her country....
129 comments:
Mrs. Trump is an immigrant. Why is WaPo attacking her?
I don't remember people attacking MO's public clothes very much. I remember people attacking the suck ups' "toned arms" fawning.
The WaPoo strikes again.
“I love this country,” she said to applause. She needed to say it — her salve to the hostility of people who claimed she was unpatriotic because she had dared to suggest that, as an adult, she had not always been proud of her country. Of course she loved her country....
Once it acted in such a way to earn her love and pride [by asking her husband to lead it], of coarse...
""She always looks like a high priced call girl in her tightclothes and stiletto heels with that icy cold smile that never reaches her eyes."
Wow. Sounds like if Harvey Weinstein were to harass her then she would deserve it.
I am Laslo.
The MSM uses criticisms from Fox and the like to claim balance. But the tenor of coverage of the Obamas was 99% positive. Make that 100%. There was a universal glow emanating from the MSM towards their lord and savior and his wife and everyone knows it. There is now a universal black light glow cast on the vile Trumps.
The media is really no different now than in 1960 when JFK was King Arthur and RMN was Lord Voldemort ... except for now a stray voice from the Right has a tiny megaphone to yell from its cordoned off corner of the cave.
Ann, so your standard is to compare comments to an article about Melania to actual quotes in an article about Michelle. That is a double standard and once again demonstrates that your self-proclaimed cruel neutrality is bullshit.
Michelle’s eyes are too close together. That’s right, I said it!
Never read comments to a new story.
Ann, why don’t you delve into those comments from articles about Michelle? They often had right wingers calling her an ape, if not worse. Heck, why don’t you review the comments to your posts about Michelle over the years?
I have read hundreds of comments during the Obama administration that commented upon the First Lady in horrible, simply dreadful language. As someone who despised her and her husband, and believes taking her to task on her comments and positions fair play, comments about her appearance were juvenile, hateful and at many times racist.
The comments are hilarious. Mrs. Trump sure brings out the "classy" in her husband's detractors, doesn't she?
The very notion "looks like a high priced call girl" makes no sense. At the high price point, you can't tell they're call girls. They're all trying to look like Melania. Idiotic insult.
Call girls dress like first ladies.
Lot of bitter comments there.
"Nope. Nope, nope, nope. She is absolutely complicit. By the nature of her position... she has an obligation to either push back against the injustice that is the Trump administration or leave him."
This works better if you listen to Tears for Fears' "Everybody Wants To Rule The World" while reading it.
I am Laslo.
Beware of people that hate Beauty and love ugliness
She's the best dressed first lady. Elegant and sophisticated.
I don't understand why people who enjoy calling her a call girl thinks that helps their cause. It makes you sound like a brat. Perhaps it is therapeutic but it sounds like it's too late for therapy to fix you.
BTW, I have never said anything negative about Melania on your blog or anywhere else. She has my full sympathy being married to the Doofus-in-Chief.
Notice the Dutch angles in almost every photo from number 6 onward. The Washington Post wants us to know that things in Trump world are askew, very askew.
"She always looks like a high priced call girl..."
The undercurrent of course is jealousy, jealousy in that the commenter and likers know that there is NO way they could ever afford a high priced call girl anywhere close to Melania quality! The cost, it would be huge. It would absolutely be worth it because she would be like the most amazing of high priced call girls, the best, absolutely amazing. So worth the huge price. So great but so unaffordable for most. To bad too because she is absolutely amazing and since she is NOT a call girl, Trump is hitting that for FREE! Unlike the comment maker who likely would have to pay for it and can't afford a call girl anywhere near Melania quality. Oh well, sucks to be them.
As an aside, notice the former first lady was never ever compared to a high priced call girl. Wonder why? I am sure there would have been someone/anyone on the right that would have done so if they though it plausible. You don't consider just anyone of sufficient quality to compare them to a high priced call girl, just saying...
Every First Lady donates her inaugural ball gown to the Smithsonian. The collection of First Lady's gowns goes back to Martha Washington. They are on display here.
Now I Know! said...
once again demonstrates that your self-proclaimed cruel neutrality is bullshit.
To be fair, I haven't heard Althouse say this since her retirement. Since retirement Althouse has been comfortable presenting a more nakedly partisan persona to the world. I think it makes the blog a bit less interesting, but perhaps more honest. She remains at a loss as to how to deal with Trump.
Yes the FLOTUS is a fox.
Michelle Obama benefits from fashion more than any other first lady.
How's my backhand?
Now I Know! said...
why don’t you review the comments to your posts about Michelle over the years?
I also found these off-putting. Obama, Melania, and Bush's wife, have all tried to be a good first lady in ways that they felt worked for them. Michelle Obama had a particularly difficult role as the first black first lady, but Melania's role is not an enviable one either.
Marcus: As someone who despised her and her husband, and believes taking her to task on her comments and positions fair play, comments about her appearance were juvenile, hateful and at many times racist.
I agree (though I don't recall seeing much that was really "racist"). Mrs. Obama was no style icon, but neither were most first ladies. That some political cultists convinced themselves that she was the second coming of Jackie O doesn't excuse the petty, spiteful comments from others.
ARM, I slightly disagree with you. Ann does know how she wants to deal with Trump—She gives him a total pass.
Imagine if President Obama or Secretary Clinton had acted like the Doofus-in-Chief does? Ann would be having a hiss fit everyday about how undignified they are. The Doofus? Not a peep from Ann.
The Smithsonian accepted Daryl's crossbow, too.
Type "All this for a damned flag" into your search engine.
Any further questions?
Here's some good ol' Michelle Obama class.
LINK TEXT
If you can remember, there are more instances just like this.
You can say what you want about Michelle Obama looks, but I've never considered what is in her heart to be worth spit.
As much as I like beating up on the WaPo, I think it is a bit unfair to beat them up for a top rated comment and compare that to what published writers said, especially since we also like to beat up on media that selectively choose what articles get to have comments.
In general, I'm sticking with the rule, the only people whose clothing I should comment on are my own, my characters in things I'm writing, historical personas when discussing folkways and the very few people who ask my opinion.
I don't know why I said personas. I feel like being faux fancy today.
"Nope. Nope, nope, nope. She is absolutely complicit. By the nature of her position... she has an obligation to either push back against the injustice that is the Trump administration or leave him."
-- God, I hope someone responded, "She's just standing by her man."
Now that the internet has opened the floodgates, it's possible to find all kinds of comments out there.
The bigger question is: Who is making those comments?
Ignore the Twitter trolls and bigots, what are the people who are being quoted in the NYT saying?
Quote me one Republican with some status making an unfair comment about Michelle to the MSM that was equal to or worse than someone calling the First Lady a "high-priced hooker." (And, no, I don't mean criticizing her policies; if you're on the "anything you say about her is racist" bus you can just step off right now).
Quote me one Republican who matters who called Michelle a gorilla.
Not an anonymous Internet commenter or some Joe Blow whose opinion no one cared about before. Someone who matters to the public discourse.
Just one.
William said...
Type "All this for a damned flag" into your search engine.
Any further questions?
Yes. Why did you fall for bad lip reading? Why exactly were you so blinded by partisan hatred as to fall for such a transparent scam.
Snopes
If you can't/won't cover Uranium One then you must cover something really important! This whole thing is hardly worth the effort.
Blogger AReasonableMan said...
Since retirement Althouse has been comfortable presenting a more nakedly partisan persona to the world.
Really? Nakedly partisan on whose side? Care to explicate Althouse for us?
The fact that it's a top rated comment in the New York Times says something about their target demographic, but I have read a lot of nakedly racist comments about Mrs Obama, some so racist as to make me think Moby, so the left sells out their purported feminism to call Mrs Trump a whore.
"call girl in her tight clothes and stiletto heels with that icy cold smile.'”
So, is Melania now entitled to say she's a "MeToo" victim ?
Now I Know! said...
ARM, I slightly disagree with you. Ann does know how she wants to deal with Trump—She gives him a total pass.
True, but the Chuck persona does not. I would guess that Althouse and Meade's views on Trump hew fairly closely to those of Chuck.
Misogynist leftist scum gonna misogynist leftist scum. Now you know.
Amazing how quick ARM is with a rebuttal when he has one. Says a lot about his silence on so many other issues.
Althouse does the women's point of view.
Althouse, the LLR.
Cats gonna be catty.
-sw
ARM, is “Chuck” a puppet for Ann and Meade?
Well, I guess that is one way to bring diversity to your comments. LOL!
Melania looks good in "tight clothes", the rest of us, not so much.
FLOTUS is an FLILF.
"Since retirement Althouse has been comfortable presenting a more nakedly partisan persona to the world."
Rest assured, Althouse's neutrality is fully intact. Its her cruelty which has changed.
And by 'changed' I mean increased.
Welcome to Crueler Neutrality.
Michelle had an unfortunate tendency to wear clothes that were not flattering for her figure, or which seemed inappropriate for the occasion. It was made worse by the media's constant refrain that she was some sort of model beauty. The latter part, combined with some of her own nasty comments ("first time I'm proud of my country", "America is downright mean") is a why most conservatives weren't willing to cut her slack.
Melania has class and character -- Michelle is entitled and insecure. Clothes can't mask those qualities.
"Ann does know how she wants to deal with Trump—She gives him a total pass."
Wait 'til you notice the next post, "Let’s all give each other a pass, shall we?"
Is 'high priced call girl' the new way of saying 'movie star?'
Who elected Michelle Obama and gave the right and the power to change American history?
I think Chuck is the real deal. ARM just has such a purblind world view that he can't believe an intelligent person would disagree with him.
Melania is beautiful and seems kind. Michelle was beautiful and seemed admirable. Laura was beautiful and seemed wise. Hillary could be handsome and seemed ambitious. Barbara was handsome and seemed droll. Nancy was beautiful and seemed protective. Rosalyn was beautiful and seemed protective. Betty was beautiful and seemed courageous. Pat was beautiful and seemed loyal. Lady Bird was beautiful and seemed long-suffering. Jackie was beautiful and seemed intelligent. Mamie was handsome and seemed able. Bess was plain and seemed loyal.
That covers my lifetime. Like their husbands, they all had merit. Hillary was my least favorite.
I criticized her outfit, January 2013.
http://bloggie-doo.blogspot.com/2013/01/michelle-romulan-obama.html
I agree with Mr. Wibble. I sometimes felt as if Michelle Obama's stylist secretly hated her. Regardless of what she wore we were constantly and breathlessly informed about how beautiful and stylish Michelle Obama was, the same went for Hillary Clinton. Both women are average looking, not great beauties, but as the left always does they claim how a woman looks shouldn't matter, but harp on how beautiful women they like are, and criticize much more attractive conservatives (Sarah Palin, Michelle Bachman, et al.)
" I think it makes the blog a bit less interesting, but perhaps more honest."
There is always Mother Jones or Washington Monthly where the partisan bias would make you more comfortable.
I don't remember people attacking MO's public clothes very much.
I do and sometimes quite rightly as when she was emerging from the Presidential Jet dressed in rumpled shorts and wrinkled shirt. Remember the shit that Melania got for wearing stiletto heels? Which she then changed into nice tennis shoes later?
Not that Michelle isn't entitled to wear the rumpled cheap looking stuff that the rest of us wear....HOWEVER, as First Lady she is at all times, when in the public eye, representing the People of the United States and is a reflection of the Office of the President. It is stupid that this is the tradition, but it is.
Is THIS a good look?
How about THIS?
Geez! I can find better looking clothing in a Salvation Army reject bin. Talk about nailing the Bag Lady look!
There have been many times where Michelle O looked fabulously elegant in well tailored dresses that FIT her body and have colors that flatter her skin.
Here
Here
It is all about being appropriate for the occasion and the fact that they both are First Lady which is a stupid position in the first place but is part of the package.
AReasonableMan said...
Now I Know! said...
why don’t you review the comments to your posts about Michelle over the years?
I also found these off-putting. Obama, Melania, and Bush's wife, have all tried to be a good first lady in ways that they felt worked for them. Michelle Obama had a particularly difficult role as the first black first lady, but Melania's role is not an enviable one either.
10/24/17, 7:52 AM
I understand that it is trendy for First Ladies to have causes but it is off-putting when they get preachy about it. See Nancy R. with her just say no and Michelle with her lunches. I am sure others did as well but those are the two that stand out in my mind.
How was her roll "more difficult" as the first black First Lady? She simply had to not be extreme. One could argue as the first black First Lady she had it easier than others, at least with our current press. They covered for her just as they covered for her husband.
Dudes recognize the undertone of butt-hurt envy when they hear it. The call-girl comment is a gross tell of the insecurity, envy, and pettiness of it's sayer. It's neither complicated nor significant.
I just hate the "role" of First Lady. I find it incredibly sexist that women are used to further their husbands' image the way they are. Michelle Obama was ok, but turned into the apple of her husband's eye and a style icon because that's what pollsters told them their voters liked. Her arms had to be shown off at all times because she at one time had well-toned arms, and the pollsters liked the positive attention they got.
Think of how much less the Edwards family would have gone through if John and Elizabeth had no longer had to pretend they were deeply in love in order for him to run for president. If pollsters hadn't decided Elizabeth was a strong, smart lady who was really the better half of John.
At least Melania, for the most part, is quiet. Nobody is trying to make her the hostess of the lifestyle show that some want the presidency to be.
I've long found the comments section on WaPo articles to be surprisingly awful, particularly given the WaPo's veneer of respectability. It's quite the cesspool over there -- even worse than what you see on many extremely partisan sites. Let's just blame it on the Russians. It's easier that way.
Rob, Ha - I was with a serviceman closing down the cabin for the winter, and all I could think of was his eyes were far too wide, almost fish-like. I told my wife after I got home about it, my remark was along the lines of 'he'll never be able to get swimming goggles'. She remarked that I am a shallow man, which is certainly true. I was deft enough not to mention it to him though. As for First Ladies, I really don't care. Wouldn't cross the street to meet any of them, nor their husbands either. Time to turn the Presidency back into a 'Coolidge' type office, with semi-retired occupants.
"[Michelle Obama] had dared to suggest that, as an adult, she had not always been proud of her country. Of course she loved her country...."
"For the first time in my adult life, I am really proud of my country"
There is a vast difference between not always being proud and never having been proud before.
It's pretty well-known that a woman built big with big shoulders, like Michelle Obama, should wear clothes with long lines. Monocolors are kinder, or patterns that don't mess with the long lines. She should try to look impressive, like a Roman goddess, and then accessorize to soften the look in clever ways.
Most of the fashions that Michelle Obama chose were not in accordance with her best looks. She kept choosing colors and patterns and shapes that didn't work, when often a small variation would have worked. And yes, she chose clothes that were too small for her or which fit weirdly.
This was particularly strange, because the community of African-American women is known for prizing good fashion sense. By dressing badly so often, Mrs. Obama failed to represent their values and aesthetics to the world. I think she did try, but she wasn't any good at it; and her advisers were equally bad at it.
Melania Trump, OTOH, is ridiculously surehanded in her fashion choices. She could wear a really stupid outfit and still look good, because she has a model's body. But instead, she tends to wear outfits that nobody could dislike, but which are just different enough to be interesting.
Most first ladies just wear okay clothes of appropriate formality levels, and that's fine. But in a lot of ways, there is leverage given to a first lady who is always the best-dressed woman in the room, and who always knows it. Melania has this power, and to a ridiculous extent in a Washington that no longer has fashion leaders. So of course people are ridiculously jealous.
MayBee said...
I just hate the "role" of First Lady.
At least Melania, for the most part, is quiet. Nobody is trying to make her the hostess of the lifestyle show that some want the presidency to be.
I largely agree with this. And, notably, Melania has not received much criticism for stepping back from many of the duties associated with this ceremonial role.
I don't suppose you'd have to do a lot of research to find unfair and racist criticisms of Michelle, but no pundit or late night comic would ever say anything critical about her appearance. Rather, she got double scoops of praise about her appearance. Over the top flattery and racist criticism. I can see where Michelle would have trouble finding the center. Michelle is an attractive woman and reasonably sane.
Ann, so your standard is to compare comments to an article about Melania to actual quotes in an article about Michelle.
Any one comment is meaningless, agreed, but this was the "highest-rated," so that says it reflects a broader consensus. I don't doubt one can find racist comments about Michelle Obama, but not highly-rated ones, and they could have been posted by some teenager, or a moby.
In any case, the negative comments about Michelle were mostly a reaction against the ridiculous fawning by the media. The negativity about Republican first ladies was usually instigated or inflamed by hostile media coverage.
Anyway... I've never seen Melania Trump wear "tight" clothes. The day she looks like a sausage in her clothes has not yet come.
She does wear "form-fitting" clothing on occasion, which is the privilege of those who have model bodies. But you will notice that those outfits always move with her easily, and whatever foundation garments she might be using are working for her. You never see underwear lines or bunching of fabric. I am sure that the tailoring is calculated to a hair, but it doesn't look that way.
And that's the point. Tight clothes make the body look stupid; formfitting clothes show off the body.
Banshee is correct
Michelle O has a 'difficult' body to dress in that her proportions, like most of us :-D are not that of a fashion model. Michelle looks good in jewel tones, simple lines, and in clothing that is tailored to flatter her body and (ahem) minimize certain features. When she dressed accordingly, she look very nice.
Michelle was OK, but not a fashion Goddess and to have that shoved at us for the last 8 years when our eyes could tell us it wasn't so, is just insulting. Hence the push back about her appearance.
Melania has that European model, untouchable looking face and a physique that is perfect for showing off clothing....which is the whole POINT of being a model. The Ice Goddess look is one that she has cultivated through her career as a model and is serving her somewhat well as First Lady. She might try to loosen up a bit and smile more, but after a lifetime of training that is probably hard to do.
Wouldn't it be great if all those who claimed women are the equal of men treated them as equals. I don't want to hear anymore about Mrs Trump's clothes/looks than would have been reported on Mr Clinton's wardrobe/looks had Hillary won.
Should change to present tense...
>That some political cultists convinced themselves that she was the second coming of
>Jackie O doesn't excuse the petty, spiteful comments from others.
And I agree with you, there were some nasty comments on Michelle Obama. They were nobodies, Internet Trolls. The spiteful comments on Trump's wife have included a lot of somebodies. The vogue editor that went off on Melania wearing heels, that looked like a bag lady...
Melania is exceedingly beautiful and knows how to dress well. I find those qualities distancing. Nothing against Melania personally, but it's hard to connect with her. She lives in a different world than the one I'm familiar with. So, for that matter, does Michelle.....I'm not knocking them, but they're not women I would go to for sustenance in times of trouble.
Every first lady in my memory, and throughout history, was criticized for something. What a difficult position! People may take their venom out on Trump if they must but please lay off Melania! She is doing her best and I think she is genuinely sweet as well as beautiful. I have a friend who lives in Prague and knows her personally through her clothing business who says Melania IS genuinely nice.
Funny how people remember stuff. The last bit from the NYT stuck out to me.
“I love this country,” she said to applause. She needed to say it — her salve to the hostility of people who claimed she was unpatriotic because she had dared to suggest that, as an adult, she had not always been proud of her country. Of course she loved her country...."
What MO actually said was, "for the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country..." and she said it twice.
The plain meaning being from when she became an adult until now, she had never been really proud of the country—which is a very different message from "not always proud"
And that statement caused a lot of people (myself included) to tilt my head and question her world view.
"Nakedly partisan on whose side?" Not promoting the prog party line = being nakedly partisan for Trump and other deplorable politicians.
Comment is clearly coming from the Russian troll farms. No good American would stoop this low.
Are we shaming call girls? Shouldn't we be more inclusive?
Michelle's biggest problem was that in repose she often looked angry.
DBQ, I thought of that denim skirt outfit, but that wasn't a public event.
What's the significance to a comment to a news story? I wonder whether Prof. Althouse has any thoughts on the comments sections at Breitbart or Instapundit, both of which are riddled with angry racist and sexist comments tolerated by the sites (specifically, by Instapundit himself).
Oh! I've finally learned why Michelle's bare arms were controversial. She wore them in a place where they were against dress code. Oh brother. Our media is completely useless.
I thought of that denim skirt outfit, but that wasn't a public event.
@ Ralph.
True. Unfortunately, when the President or First Lady are in the public eye...it becomes public. They need to always try to look if not their best, at least not ridiculous or look like you don't give a shit.
It must be such a drag to be in their position. Not able to be 'normal', act or dress as you wish.
I imagine Melania waking up every day and being amazed at her life trajectory that brought her from being a child in Communist Slovania to becoming the First Lady, wife of the President of the United States. What a wild ride. What a burdensome responsibility.
Now I Know! said...
Ann, why don’t you delve into those comments from articles about Michelle? They often had right wingers calling her an ape, if not worse. Heck, why don’t you review the comments to your posts about Michelle over the years?
___________________________________________________________________________________
Do you regularly assign homework like that? Or is it only to those with whom you are on a first name basis?
Mr Wibble said..."Michelle had an unfortunate tendency to wear clothes that were not flattering for her figure, or which seemed inappropriate for the occasion. It was made worse by the media's constant refrain that she was some sort of model beauty."
This exactly - I will give her a pass on the ugly, unflattering shorts while on vacation - everyone can dress down now and then, and many women seem unaware just how grossly unflattering shorts with straight lines are to all but the most hipless women. For what it's worth, when straight males try to analyze women's fashion, we generally don't know much about colors or patterns, but tend to focus on shape - and how the clothes' shape works (or fails tow work) with the woman's shape - this makes sense given both the male mind's propensity for geometry and also for scoping out women's shapes, especially from behind.
But as Mr. Wibble said, the thing that really annoyed conservatives was the fashion media's (and sometimes the MFM's) hopeless crusade to turn her into a style icon. For political reasons.
" I wonder whether Prof. Althouse has any thoughts on the comments sections at Breitbart or Instapundit, both of which are riddled with angry racist and sexist comments tolerated by the sites (specifically, by Instapundit himself)."
Breitbart -- I dislike the whole place and don't read the non-comment part of it. Don't think I've ever read the comments there, but I assume they're awful.
Instapundit -- I tend to read the comments there only when the post links to me, and the norm is angry, sexist attacks on me, including lies about me. It's just knee-jerk hate-Althouse whenever Glenn links to me (which is often, and often the response is to demand that Glenn not link to me because I voted for Obama twice (which I didn't) and because I'm a huge idiot).
By the way, I am criticized by my colleagues for "tolerating" angry, racist, and sexist comments.
@ Now I Know and Jonny Scrum-half
You missed the part about "highest- rated" and "second highest-rated." To say "I can find bigoted and hypocritical comments in new media" is not equivalent to "The readership of one of the lions of established media largely endorses bigoted and hypocritical article and comments."
Be cautious in your accusations. When they go awry, you look like a person who is merely seeking partisan advantage rather than attending to actual content.
Ann Althouse said...
"By the way, I am criticized by my colleagues for "tolerating" angry, racist, and sexist comments."
Your colleagues must consist of a number of assholes.
"often the response is to demand that Glenn not link to me because I voted for Obama twice (which I didn't) and because I'm a huge idiot)."
-- The humility.
Ray: They were nobodies, Internet Trolls. The spiteful comments on Trump's wife have included a lot of somebodies. The vogue editor...
I suppose you could be right that there are people for whom a Vogue editor qualifies as a "somebody".
Vogue is a very trashy publication these days, but even in the days when it had pretensions to "class" and elegance, did its employees count as "somebodies" politically? Honest question. I don't know. (Of course they are "somebodies" in the industry they serve.)
Jonny Scrum-half said...
What's the significance to a comment to a news story? I wonder whether Prof. Althouse has any thoughts on the comments sections at Breitbart or Instapundit, both of which are riddled with angry racist and sexist comments tolerated by the sites (specifically, by Instapundit himself).
10/24/17, 9:36 AM
When it is the "highest rated" on a much trafficked site, much significance.
Not sure how much actual reading of Instapundit and its comments you do but "riddled with angry racist and sexist comments" is in my opinion an overstatement. Tolerated, yes as Glen is big on free speech but those comments are not in any significant amount nor are they encouraged, IMHO.
I would stack Instapundit (and maybe BB) against Solon or DU any day of the week for virol and vile comments.
Picture a Spawn-O-Sphere!
Every time you criticize a blogger, Google spawns a new blog in your username! You get to blog all you want about how much you hate what was said, or hate that something else wasn't said! All responses to your critique go to your new blog!
Google knows how to do this. It wouldn't be difficult.
In fact, I think I'll get started on it after lunch today.
the whole thing is absurd. As someone above pointed out, the Dems wanted Michelle to be the next Jackie Kennedy, but got an overweight lawyer with no fashion sense whatever instead. And, now we have the next Jackie, and she is married to a Republican President. Melania has the beauty, body, poise, and fashion sense that they were so desperately looking for. How can you have a return to Camelot without your Guinivere, in the case of the Dems? If the Trumps, with their beautiful women, and handsome sons, were Democrats, the Democrats would be in ecstasy. The White House could, again, be a magical place. But the Trumps have destroyed this dream.
I think that Pat Nixon, with her good cloth coat, set the standard for Republican First Ladies. Nicely upper middle class values. The Dems had their aristocrats leading the peasantry thing going on, so Jackie was the perfect First Lady for Camelot. Their problem since then (ignoring Lady Bird) has been that their First Ladies have come from the same professional class that the Republican ones have. Nothing glamorous, just the type of women that you would see as attorney wives at bar functions, or that I saw overwhelmingly at the 45th reunion at my small liberal arts alma mater a couple weeks ago.
Given what we've just learned or heard, I believe we can't discern anything about the state of the U.S. and our fellow citizens by reading comment sections of major blogs or sites. We have no idea who are there in good faith, and who are Russians or others just trying to cause chaos and havoc, and sow seeds of disunion, through their comments.
Perhaps this seems paranoid, but in this case I believe we have to assume, not that there are Russians under every bed, but that there are Russian in every major comment section.
Assistant Village Idiot - I didn't miss that point, but couldn't actually read the comment because I don't have a subscription to the Post. I don't doubt that it's the "second-highest rated" comment, but I don't know if it had other redeeming qualities to it. In short, I'm not trying to avoid a substantive back-and-forth.
I brought up Instapundit because I was banned by the Professor from commenting, even though (a) I never insulted people, (b) tried to be substantive in my comments, and (c) regularly dealt with commenters who told me to "die in a fire," or who wrote how Blacks were inferior and should move back to Africa. They weren't banned; I was. I know that Instapundit links to Prof. Althouse regularly (as she noted in a comment in response to mine), and I think that it's significant that Prof. Reynolds bans commenters who disagree with his politics (me) but tolerates commenters who espouse bigoted and hateful views.
We can always count on Michelle Obama to tastefully represent the US, either as FL or as former FL. Well, maybe not always.
“I love this country,” she said to applause. She needed to say it — her salve to the hostility of people who claimed she was unpatriotic because she had dared to suggest that, as an adult, she had not always been proud of her country. Of course she loved her country....
I hate dishonest writing. She said, during the first campaign, that For the first time in my adult life, I am proud of my country because her husband was doing well.
If I had arms like Michelle Obama, I would show them off too.
"As someone above pointed out, the Dems wanted Michelle to be the next Jackie Kennedy, but got an overweight lawyer with no fashion sense whatever instead."
Have you ever watched her workout tape? It's on You Tube somewhere. She is kickass fit.
There are a lot of things that Michelle Obama has said that I do not agree with, and some things that I thought were downright fatuous. But all this criticism of her looks is absurd.
We are getting in to racist area with Melania's eyes. She's Slavic. Asian genetic influence. I'm kind of tired of the lefties making racist comments. However, it's not going to stop.
I remember nothing but praise for Mitchell Obama's guns.
"By the way, I am criticized by my colleagues for "tolerating" angry, racist, and sexist comments."
Yeah, I'm sure. I'm also pretty sure they don't notice that the commenters tend to police this. And if angry comments were eliminated, most of Madison would be enveloped in a vast silence.
"She said, during the first campaign, that For the first time in my adult life, I am proud of my country because her husband was doing well."
It was more than that. She was proud for the first time because that was the moment Barack had a virtual lock on the White House. No pride in her country unless she's at the top running things.
All First Ladies receive heaping amounts of unfair praise and criticism. Only the Republican ones, though, get subjected to unfair criticism by the pros--writers and comedians whose job entails shaping and expounding public opinion........Has any late night comedian made fun of that Congresswoman's sequined cowboy hat?........I get through most days without thinking a single thought--positive or negative--about the First Lady. The exception, of course, was Hillary.
"Republicans have ridiculous double standards." It's called a double standard because Republican A said something and Republican B said something different?
"I love my country..(now)"
Both Michelle and Melania are 5'11". I wonder if they'd be willing to play a game of one-on one basketball for charity.
I hate dishonest writing. She said, during the first campaign, that For the first time in my adult life, I am proud of my country because her husband was doing well.
To add more honesty to the honest writing, the quote was, "...for the first time in my adult lifetime, I'm really proud of my country. And not just because Barack has done well but because I think people are hungry for change.
I remember the Michelle Obama going sleeveless freak out. It was ridiculous.
It was from the Inaugural. Here it is from a 2009 article: http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=6986019
I remember reading the freak out on this board and on lucianne.com. Crazy. But we forget that before Obama, the first ladies were conservative Laura Bush/Barbara Bush with Hillary being forced into very odd clothing to fulfill her requirements. Things changed a LOT in the intervening years to the point that no one can even remember people being like that. People on both sites regularly still freaked out about gay people as well. That's over for the most part. Done and dusted.
ARM,
" Michelle Obama had a particularly difficult role as the first black first lady,"
The hell she did! She could have just acted like a Real Person™, and not gone for stupid sh*t like trying to remake school lunches (wtf???). Although I will admit that her fawning supporters (by which I don't mean all her supporters, just the ones that pushed lunacy like "she's so awesomely good looking") made it hard for her--how DO you respond, when you're actually kinda homely, to those who insist on shouting in public "You're So Beautiful!" ?
William,
When are you scheduled for cataract surgery?
David,
"most of Madison would be enveloped in a vast silence."
You say this as if it were a bad thing.
MikeR,
"It's called a double standard because Republican A said something and Republican B said something different?"
You forget SJW's Always Project. They are totally about groupthink, and cannot understand those who are not.
By the way, I am criticized by my colleagues for "tolerating" angry, racist, and sexist comments.
More law professors who don't believe in the First Amendment. Glad you got out of that business!
Moochelle looks like Aunt Esther - which is not even in the same zip code as a "high-priced call girl".
An Univision anchor was invited to a doubles TV show. A guy dressed up as Michelle Obama. The anchor said that the actor looked like someone from the Planets of the Apes. The WH called and he was fired. He said he was talking about the actor not Obama. To no avail.
Hard to imagine Michelle Obama as a call-girl, let alone a high-priced one. A straight Caucasian male would have to be (a) overwhelmingly horny and desperate, and (b) suffering from a really bad case of what Spike Lee called "jungle fever" to think, "I gotta have a Michelle Obama clone tonight!"
I can just imagine the conversation with his procurer: "Hey, Antoine--it's me, Harvey. I need you to send over one of your broads. I want a shvartzer, with arms like Apollo Creed, a really YUUUUGE ass, and--oh yeah, this is the most important thing . . . she's gotta have a Resting Bitchy Face!"
Michelle Obama’s meeting with Queen Elizabeth was a national embarrassment. I do not imagine that I will ever be embarrassed by Melania meeting a head of state.
But if you want to talk about double standards, I don't remember anyone saying that Michelle Obama looked like a "call girl in her tightclothes and stiletto heels with that icy cold smile."
That's because she looked like a linebacker in her tight clothes and heels.
I couldn't resist the joke, but honestly, I think Michele could look attractive. But she has a figure that is not easy to dress and she was frequently appeared in clothes that did nothing for her - like those massive belts for instance. I did think of Rodgers doing "Discount Double Check" whenever I saw her wear one.
Let's make comments about first ladies. What could go wrong?
"Michelle was OK, but not a fashion Goddess and to have that shoved at us for the last 8 years when our eyes could tell us it wasn't so, is just insulting. Hence the push back about her appearance."
Well that's it. We were constantly being told she was the black Jackie O. and people could see that was not true. It's like the fashion designers stating that pants suits would be in again when they thought Hillary would be elected. If you hold up Michele and Hillary as stylish and insult Melania's looks and clothes, it's obviously you are blinded by partisanship.
The worst comment about Michelle Obama I ever saw called her a wookie. In fact I still see people calling her that. That's unfair and perhaps even racist. That said, I always get the sense that the people who claim she is so beautiful are guilty of the same thing the Blogging Heads guy was complaining about regarding Tennessee Coates. Look how non-racist I am! I voted for Obama and think his wife is beautiful!
I don't think Melania is all that hot either, except from the neck down. And I like Slavic women so much I even married one.
"It was made worse by the media's constant refrain that she was some sort of model beauty."
Precisely.
Who was I to believe? A complicit, tongue-bathing, lapdog press or my own, lying eyes?
Exiled remarks: It's like the fashion designers stating that pants suits would be in again when they thought Hillary would be elected.
If Hillary had been elected we'd all have to wear oven mitts. I was pleased that Melania and Ivanka made form-fitting clothing fashionable again. Even if it means shapewear is required. ;-)
My main complaint about M.O. was that she looked pissed-off all the time.
"My main complaint about M.O. was that she looked pissed-off all the time."
Well, I'll give her honesty at leastd.
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