December 10, 2017

How does the NYT know what Trump does in his bedroom when he wakes up in the morning?

I'm reading "INSIDE TRUMP’S HOUR-BY-HOUR BATTLE FOR SELF-PRESERVATION/With Twitter as his Excalibur, the president takes on his doubters, powered by long spells of cable news and a dozen Diet Cokes. But if Mr. Trump has yet to bend the presidency to his will, he is at least wrestling it to a draw."

The article — by Maggie Haberman, Glenn Thrush, and Peter Baker — says it's based "on interviews with 60 advisers, associates, friends and members of Congress." But that doesn't mean every stated fact has 60 sources. Who was in the bedroom? The most logical guess is that the report comes from Trump himself:
Around 5:30 each morning, President Trump wakes and tunes into the television in the White House’s master bedroom. He flips to CNN for news, moves to “Fox & Friends” for comfort and messaging ideas, and sometimes watches MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” because, friends suspect, it fires him up for the day.

Energized, infuriated — often a gumbo of both — Mr. Trump grabs his iPhone.
So first he turns on the TV, watches it until he gets excited, and then he grabs his iPhone? Personally, I begin by grabbing my iPhone — oh, sometimes I just pick it up — and I read the news, probably the NYT, until feel so inspired to blog that I jump out of bed. Just kidding. I don't jump out of bed. And, really, who "jumps" out of bed in real life? But it's what everyone does in writing, just like they "grab"* their iPhone.

Anyway, I believe that when Trump wakes up, he turns on the TV and uses it to orient himself to the morning. Is he looking for something precise, like "news" from CNN, "comfort" from Fox, and "fire" from MSNBC — and in that order? "Friends suspect"! Well, I suspect some poetic license is taken there, but the reporters have deniability: They're passing along the suspicions of "friends." How many friends — all 60? What could they know of the order Trump flips through the news channels, what he's seeking on each of the channels, the feelings that actually arise — a "gumbo" of energy and fury! — and whether those feelings impel his famous fingers to the small electronic device.
Sometimes he tweets while propped on his pillow, according to aides.
Does he really tweet from the iPhone? That takes dexterity... or willingness to use speech-to-text. I never do that. I have to leap out of bed — literally hurtle myself out — to get to a real computer with a good keyboard, not just to make typing easier, but to feel better grounded in the real world. But then, I am clinging to the edge of reality in my remote outpost in Madison, Wisconsin, and President Trump, even propped on his pillow, is in the White House, and when he turns on the TV, on multiple channels, people are talking about the fact that he's in the White House. I'm sure he feels grounded. Or insane. One or the other.

But that gumbo, I want to talk about the gumbo. I know HabermanThrushBaker are using "gumbo" to mean "stew," but "stew" is well established to mean "A state of excitement, esp. of great alarm or anxiety." The OED has that meaning for "stew" going back to 1806, whereas "gumbo" only means okra, the "soup thickened with the mucilaginous pods of this plant," something mud-related, and "A patois spoken by black people and Creoles in the French West Indies, Louisiana, Bourbon, and Mauritius." Yes, metaphor can take you beyond those meanings, but why express contempt for Trump by using a word associated with black people?
Other times he tweets from the den next door, watching another television. Less frequently, he makes his way up the hall to the ornate Treaty Room, sometimes dressed for the day, sometimes still in night clothes, where he begins his official and unofficial calls.
So the man walks down the hall, possibly in his pajamas. Or what are we talking about here — "night clothes"? "Quite undress'd, with only Night-cloaths on my Head, and a loose Morning Gown wrapt about me." I'm back to reading the OED. That quote is from the 1722 novel "Moll Flanders," by Daniel DeFoe. I'm just going to picture Trump in pajamas and a bathrobe. Maybe they didn't want to say "bathrobe" because there are too many bathrobes in the news lately. (I see a Slate article from last month, "Ban Men's Bathrobes.")

Back to the NYT article:
As he ends his first year in office, Mr. Trump is redefining what it means to be president. He sees the highest office in the land much as he did the night of his stunning victory over Hillary Clinton — as a prize he must fight to protect every waking moment, and Twitter is his Excalibur. Despite all his bluster, he views himself less as a titan dominating the world stage than a maligned outsider engaged in a struggle to be taken seriously, according to interviews with 60 advisers, associates, friends and members of Congress....
But that is the way they portray him in the news —  a maligned outsider engaged in a struggle to be taken seriously. I don't need 60 insiders to explain that to me. It's an accurate picture of the media. Now, you may say, he just shouldn't watch the TV, shouldn't pay attention to media, should let media do its thing and stick to what's conventionally presidential — ignore what's being said about him.
Before taking office, Mr. Trump told top aides to think of each presidential day as an episode in a television show in which he vanquishes rivals. People close to him estimate that Mr. Trump spends at least four hours a day, and sometimes as much as twice that, in front of a television, sometimes with the volume muted, marinating in the no-holds-barred wars of cable news and eager to fire back.
Don't fight back. Be above it all. Remember how well that worked for George W. Bush? But that's not Trump. I can see why he uses Twitter. He's a master at Twitter, keeping the media honest (or at least looking as dishonest as it is (or might be)). Maybe you think he shouldn't stoop to things like this:

But I don't believe that sort of thing takes much time, just like I don't believe that having a muted TV running in the background for 8 hours means he's spending 8 hours watching TV.  I read Trump's Twitter feed. Some days there's nothing. Some days there is one thing. Occasionally, he spreads out and drops 4 or 5 tweets. How much time does that really take? It might save time, because instead of feeling irritated and distracted by some stupid news report (e.g., Weigel's "phony photo") and involving somebody else in doing something about it, Trump spends probably one minute typing out a tweet. Efficient, effective. The media would, I'm sure, prefer to filter his message through their own template, replete with naysayers and qualifications. But Trump leaps over the media. He springs. He vaults.

Yes, yes. Excalibur. I haven't talked about Excalibur....
__________________

* "Grab" is an evocative word in anti-Trumpiana, because of "Grab ’em by the pussy. You can do anything."

208 comments:

1 – 200 of 208   Newer›   Newest»
Fritz said...

Let me shorten that for you.

Fake news.

Michael K said...

In Lewandowski's book, which I will listen to again, no one on his staff went to the family quarters in Trump Tower.

If anyone is leaking to the Times it might be Secret Service agents who I no longer trust,

His personality, again from Lewandowski's book, is quite a bit different from the description,

David Begley said...

Good grief Althouse! Don’t expect precision in language and thinking from the NYT. And certainly not the truth.

Earnest Prole said...

Does he really tweet from the iPhone? One word: covfefe.

Expat(ish) said...

My 16 year old actually, when woken, executes a perfect jackknife situp and leaps out of bed. It's a startling effect to se something 6'2" do that. I doubt Trump does.

-XC

Expat(ish) said...

Hilary is the okra in Trump's gumbo. Slimy, but required to thicken the sauce and balance the roux.

-XC

Rob said...

With sources for the NYT article like Nancy Pelosi, you know it’s an objective look.

Comanche Voter said...

Gumbo is also a word for red sticky mud. In addition it describes the sort of mud that the NYT likes to throw on the possibility that some of it might stick.

As for references to "bed"---I'd suggest that Glen Thrush might want to avoid the use of any such term. He's already in trouble enough over sexual harassment.

Unknown said...

People are in a car. The driver is trying to drive them to where they want to go.

A tire goes flat. Maybe someone had laid nails in the road.

The driver goes out to change the tire.

Scavengers descend upon them. Among other things, they want to strike fear in the passengers. They want to take the driver away from his chosen course.

The driver was changing a tire: the only weapon he has is the crowbar.

So he beats back the scavengers with a crowbar.

The crowbar is Excalibur, which is a Tweet.

I realize I may be, among other things, conflating King Arthur with Mad Max. Someone should make a movie like that.

- james james

David Begley said...

What doesn’t Trump do in the morning, according to Ann’s excerpt? Read the failing New York Times. And for good reason.

Chuck said...

A "master" at Twitter?

Covfefe?

We've just finshed a week in which Trump's personal lawyer had to claim authorship -- falsely, is my own guess -- for a Tweet that was so bad that it posed real and present legal jeopardy to Mr. Trump.

Althouse seems to think of Trump as a Twitter master by excluding Trump's re-Tweets of plainly false materials. I can't be a mistake by Althouse; I presume it is a conscious choice on her part, following the script of Scott Adams that facts and truth are sort of pointless and that control of the emotional basis of national conversations on hot-button issues are what is important.

What's interesting is how that kind of framing bumped into a controversy that (rightly) rubbed Althouse the wrong way within the last week. It was the Twitter-whore Mike Cernovich, trying to take down Sam Seder for fun and profit, based on Seder's old Tweet about Roman Polanski. Cernovich has been doing what Trump is doing and Trump has been doing what Cernovich is doing, on Twitter. Hateful, disgusting, factless Tweets that would embarass most serious persons who had any sort of conscience and any sort of reputation to protect.

Unknown said...

"I realize I may be, among other things, conflating King Arthur with Mad Max. Someone should make a movie like that."

Trump realizes the Media makes everything into Thunderdome.

When in Thunderdome you gotta thunder.

- james james

Heartless Aztec said...

"Gumbo" is associated with Black people? Oh my. We had forgotten that down here in the deep South. My late cousin Randy Mickler who had a NYT Review of Books #1 selling cookbook in the 1980's "White Trash Cooking" explains in his forward that the difference between white trash cooking and soul food is simply an uptempo of spices in soul food though close first cousins they are and remain. Gumbo is ours. It is the South's and our melting multi-cultural stew pot of Gullah to Cracker says back off with your northern so last century classification. Now if you'll excuse me the okra and tomato gumbo is on the boil.

rhhardin said...

Trump drags daily bait before media that hate him.

Media talk about it all day. See Trump being crazy.

Trump supporters think he's working laser pointer in front of the media they hate, media chase it, supporters love Trump.

Unknown said...

It's Sunday. Around 7:18 AM.

Sometimes I read something that reminds me that it's okay to have a few drinks before church.

Just some Bailey's in the coffee should do.

- james james

Tommy Duncan said...

Chuck said:

Hateful, disgusting, factless Tweets that would embarass most serious persons who had any sort of conscience and any sort of reputation to protect.

Good morning Chuck! Top of the day to you.

Glad to know you're not embarrassed this early in the day.

Chuck said...

David Begley said...
What doesn’t Trump do in the morning, according to Ann’s excerpt? Read the failing New York Times. And for good reason.

But Trump does in fact read the Times. Every day. That is what Trump himself said. (Amid his calling the Times "a great, great American jewel" and confessing that he hadn't fully thought through his weird campaign pronouncement about changing libel laws.)

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/22/business/media/donald-trump-new-york-times.html

The thing is, I think that Trump and Trump fans and especially the Atlhouse/Trump contingent really need the New York Times as their foil, as a hate-object. Because Trumpism is all about cultural hate and fighting and arguing on cable news. What Trumpism is NOT about is skilled leadership on difficult policy issues or strategic negotiation with powerful counter-parties.

rhhardin said...

I get news flash emails from the NYT, owing to some setting from years and years ago.

I know it's not satire but each news flash says they're crazy.

Darrell said...

Covfefe?

Remember this every time Chuck craps out a typo. Don't worry, Chuck. We all do it.
And that's the point.

Michael K said...

"Read the failing New York Times. And for good reason."

According to Lewandowski's book, and chuck, Trump has read the Times cover to cover for 40 years. I doubt he had changed his habits much.

What Trumpism is NOT about is skilled leadership on difficult policy issues or strategic negotiation with powerful counter-parties.

Chuck misses the latest on the Middle East.

Appearances can be deceiving. There is more than generosity, or fidelity to a campaign promise, behind this move. Trump’s many critics don’t give him much credit for strategic thinking, but I think that’s what we are seeing right now.

In and of itself, Trump's declaration gives nothing away. Jerusalem has been the de facto capital of Israel for 70 years. East Jerusalem, which the Palestinians claim, was annexed by Israel in the summer of 1967. The world didn’t recognize that annexation, but Israelis now take it for granted. Jerusalem is the seat of the Knesset, the Supreme Court and the prime minister’s residence. East Jerusalem is home to more than 200,000 Israelis. No Israeli government could bargain it away and stay in power. It is a fait accompli.

Donald Trump knows this. (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has explained it to him many times.) If a deal depends on an Israeli withdrawal from Jerusalem, then there will be no deal -- just endless “peace processing” interrupted by sporadic outbreaks of Palestinian violence that Israel can contain.


The Palestinians have been a dependent of the UN since 1948. That was mostly funded by Europe and us.

Europe now has too many problems to keep it up. The Palestinians are being told that Iran is the main problem in the Middle East, not Israel which is being c=sought as an ally buy the Sunnis.

Try to keep up, chuck.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

There is a difference between:

1. Journalism, which is reporting the facts, putting them in context so that the public can decide what to think about events.

2. Or Speculative Fiction where the author imagines what he/she wishes to be facts and instead makes up scenarios with many flowery descriptions.

The NYT article reads like a bodice ripper romance without the sex.

Darrell said...

Obama was rumored to have half a dozen staffers around to post his Tweets. And there were times they made embarrassing typos that were eventually corrected when other Tweeters noticed. Like Trump did with his personal Tweet.

FIDO said...

No Chuck,

What Trump is is about not listening to your views and ideologies, which the rest of America finds ill considered, failures or outright toxic.

Since you thought you were on the cusp of that 'Permanent Democratic Majority' with a Liberal Leaning SC, this is a particularly bitter brew for you to drink.

It is not a flaw to dislike someone who makes themselves your enemy as the NYT has done to a Yuge part of the population.

rhhardin said...

Last decent articles in the NYT. Compare today.

https://www.nytimes.com/1997/09/13/nyregion/diana-s-death-resonates-with-women-in-therapy.html

https://www.nytimes.com/1998/11/09/nyregion/the-big-city-monkey-business-strippers-testosterone-and-the-dow.html

Tommy Duncan said...

Chuck said:

Because Trumpism is all about cultural hate and fighting and arguing on cable news. What Trumpism is NOT about is skilled leadership on difficult policy issues or strategic negotiation with powerful counter-parties.

You are really looking for a fight this morning. Who pissed in your Wheaties?

Darrell said...

Trump is often up at 3AM--he gets by on very little sleep. He gets caught up on what he missed he day before usually.

Henry said...

I'm really not interested in a two-ingredient gumbo.

Darrell said...

Chuck couldn't begin to do what Trump does. Imagine Chuck trying that Pensacola speech. Assholes that can't do, bitch.

AllenS said...

What do you think it's like for those attendants who have to help Hillary out in the morning when she arises from bed. And, no Bill isn't around. By the way, where is Bill? Haven't heard anything from him since all of this harassing of women started.

traditionalguy said...

What you bet Trump spends his time watching the B/W reruns of 1950s Superman TV shows. He wins everytime.He just has to steer clear of Kryptonite and CIA wiretaps.

whitney said...

I'm so glad you brought up that gumbo. That was just horrifying

Dust Bunny Queen said...

Regarding the tweet that Althouse features showing the empty event area and then the full building, if anyone thinks that Trump himself has the time or skills to make a photo montage like that they, are nuts (or probably Inga).

Obviously, Trump has a staff of people to assemble things like this and 'help' him with the tweeting process. Whether Trump composes every tweet or not, may or may not be of interest. The MORE interesting thing is the power of the constant news feed from the President and how it has been able to immediately take charge of and control the dialogue, in REAL time.

That is really powerful and was a game changer during the election.

The other thing that is great is that a Trump rally will draw MORE people (inside and outside) than a NFL game and this is in the South where the NFL is, or was extremely popular. Plus...no beer available! Hah!

Tank said...

Trump wakes up the happy warrior every day; I think he's happy even when he has his serious face on. He is a positive can do kind of guy. Yay !!! A fighter. Yay !!! A winner. Yay !!!

Other people wake up unhappy every day. Trump makes them unhappier.

All of this makes Tank happy.

=========================================

The NYT writes for it's readers; give em what they want.

walter said...

Wasn't Haberman identified as a sympathetic conduit for Dem hackery?

Does this revelation/association please or concern Coca-Cola?

Does Chuck not realize the douchery involved with the words "presume" and "guess"?

Chuck said...

FIDO said...
No Chuck,

What Trump is is about not listening to your views and ideologies, which the rest of America finds ill considered, failures or outright toxic.

Since you thought you were on the cusp of that 'Permanent Democratic Majority' with a Liberal Leaning SC, this is a particularly bitter brew for you to drink.

I never thought any such thing, and I don't know why you'd trot out such a baseless lie about me. I have regularly posited that the structural/districting advantages that Republican leadership at all levels (local, state, federal) had carefully crafted for more than ten years in the U.S. House of Representatives, would assure our majority through 2020. And that the 2018 Senate races have favored Republicans all along.

I don't doubt that Steve Bannon could damage all of it substantially, but I know that I never predicted any "Permanent Democratic Majority."

And as for the Supreme Court, my writing here makes it clear that there's no greater fan of the late Justice Scalia, Justice Gorsuch, Justices Thomas and Alito, or Chief Justice Roberts.

So it's just a stupid comment from you. As stupid, as it is wrong.


Will said...

I thought Thrush was still in rehab for his drinking problems and on suspension for his sexual harassments?

What a miraculous recovery from his alchoholism and sexual harassment "matters" that he can also find the time to do "journalism" at such a high level...

Since the suspension and rehab began only 20 days ago I would say either he only had a mild case of his twin afflictions or the rehab and suspension were all a giant smokescreen to excuse his behaviors.... Haven't seen such a quick "cure" since political sinners used to consult Rev Jesse Jackson for counseling on their marriages

Either that or the NYT has impaired reporters doing their front page article... Perhaps a little pubic hair of the dog gets him through his day...

But yeah let's focus on how weird Trump is.....

Ron Winkleheimer said...

DBQ nails it. The NYT is now a fan fiction site. I would add that, from the excerpts you posted, not even good fan fiction. Describing someones day and speculating about their inner state regarding motives and emotions is boring to most people. Only someone who was obsessed with someone would find it interesting. The fact is, Trump haters are obsessed with him. He live rent free in their heads 24/7 because his election to the Presidency of the US means they don't live in the world they thought they did.

Still not tired.

Darrell said...

Assholes >who can't do, bitch.

This is for you, Chuck buddy.

dustbunny said...

" He still relitigates last year’s election, convinced that the investigation by Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel, into Russia’s interference is a plot to delegitimize him." As though the opposition isn't obsessed with delegitimizing him. Once again I am grateful for Althouse's willingness to closely read this crap and point out the many absurdities of an unhinged media.

alan markus said...

YouTube staff has been busy the past week scrubbing "Morning Routine" videos from it's content and reworking search parameters. Turns out that a lot of pre-teen girls over the past several years were doing videos set to music of themselves getting out of bed, washing up, getting dressed, eating breakfast, etc. Being young, they were not always aware that sometimes their panties were showing. And their parents were clueless that their daughters were uploading videos like that, shot in the privacy of their bedrooms & bathrooms. Pedophiles had been reposting the videos and they became magnets for all kinds of weird comments.

Now I see Trump's "morning routine" come up as a news item.

YouTube has a perv problem.

Fernandinande said...

Our embedded Keebler Elves report that around 5:30 each morning, NYT Scribblers wake and tune into the television to copy the fake news reports. They flip to CNN for jokes and funny stories, then move to "Fox & Friends" to see which stories should be studiously ignored, and sometimes watch MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” because reasons.

Energiated, infurized — often a mumbo-jumbo of both - the Scribblers grab their battle keyboards.

Other times they tweet from the office next door, hoping the IP address is different. More frequently, they make their way up the hall to the ornate Lunch Room and begin their official and unofficial eating behavior.

Levi Starks said...

The things that would have been adorable if done by Obama are beyond loathsome when done by Trump.

Michael K said...

Once again, I suggest that anyone who wants an inside view of what Trump is like should read the Lewandowski book. He and Dave Bossie did a pretty good job although it is obviously written by two fans of Trump.

The NY Times story does not ring true after reading the book.

There is a very good book about Reagan called "Riding with Reagan" that is also a personal look at the man, not the policies.

Both books are more about the President as a person.

Darrell said...

Obama would arise at 9AM wearing SpongeBob pajamas and show his morning wood off to a select group of female and male reporters that won that day's lottery for the privilege.

AllenS said...

battle keyboards -- nice

David Begley said...

I wrote “according to Ann’s excerpt....” I didn’t click through to the NYT link. Probably a paywall.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

So he gets basically ALL his news, ideas AND emotional cues from the teevee. The boob tube.

You know how easy this mother fucker would be to manipulate?

That's why Berlusconi had to control the airwaves, too. These vainglorious egomaniacal retards - all you gotta do to get what you want from them is to flatter or criticize and they're off. Like rats to cheese.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Once again, I suggest that anyone who wants an inside view of what Trump is like should read the Lewandowski book. He and Dave Bossie did a pretty good job although it is obviously written by two fans of Trump.

A narcissist defends the pro-biased view of a fellow narcissist for the most accurate account. Unsurprising.

Anyone with a shred of normalcy left on this blog should remember: Narcissists distort the truth. They have a warped understanding of reality. Whatever did or did not happen to them (or happen, at all) must first be filtered through the lens of how it affects their pervasive and ever-present sense of image.

So sycophants have a place in the Trump presidency. And in Trump country.

No free thinkers are necessary.

Sean Spicer: America's very own Baghdad Bob.

Roy Lofquist said...

"doing this show with half my brain tied behind my back just to make it fair because I have talent on loan from . . . God." ~~ Rush Limbaugh.

You don't suppose that The Don has borrowed the other half, do you?

Darrell said...

No wonder you're toothless.
My guess is that your mother kicked your teeth in. Am I right?

Curious George said...

"Hateful, disgusting, factless Tweets that would embarass most serious persons who had any sort of conscience and any sort of reputation to protect."

People like President Jeb. Or President Kasich. Or President Romney.

walter said...

Toothless..swallows the story whole...then goes off on "manipulation".

Anne in Rockwall, TX said...

The Toothless Revolutionary said...
"So he gets basically ALL his news, ideas AND emotional cues from the teevee. The boob tube."

So what was all that about reading the New York Times cover to cover? Which is correct?

walter said...

I'm surprised the NYT drone flying outside his bedroom window didn't spot the flurry of activity of waking the hookers and changing out the piss drenched sheets.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Toothless..swallows the story whole...then goes off on "manipulation".

Come on, dodo. Trump doesn't read. It's obvious. No one who reacts that reflexively to everything on Fox News does.

Name a book Trump ever read. Apart from the phony Art of the Deal autobiography that he had to have completely ghost-written for him.

I bet you he didn't even read that one.

Or "Two Corinthians."

The guy's a complete phony. With the depth of carbon paper.

Ray - SoCal said...

Dave Weigel was a journolister.

Interesting how the usual playbook, fake news or showing an empty stadium hour before a heavily attended event, does not work against Trump.

Press sure is embarrassing themselves this week, business as usual under Trump.

Kurt Schlichter compared Trumps use of twitter to a scalpel and MOAB. Amazing how effective it is overall.

Tweet showing video of Clinton, GWB, and Obama all promising to make Jerusalem the capital was amazing.

Michael K said...

Ritmo, as usual, misses the story completely.

Sean Spicer: America's very own Baghdad Bob.

Spicer was a Reince Priebus hire and had no association with Trump until after the election.

You would be well advised to read a book once in a while.

Anne in Rockwall, TX said...

Sometimes on a lazy Friday evening here we indulge in an Ancient Alliens marathon.

Their breathless pronouncements that the pyramid, or hindu writing, or cave painting could only come from advanced civilations that visited earth is always couched in the form or a question, or with the intro that "Ancient alien theorists believe..."

It always irritates me to no end that they give so little credit to the human race being able to develop on their own wit and intelligence.

And it so much reminds me of how the media reports on the Trump adminstration and the Americans that voted for him.

David Begley said...

I was able to click through.

“Mr. Kelly has also adopted some of Mr. Trump’s favorite grievances, telling the president recently that he agrees that some reporters are interested only in taking down the administration.”

Grievance? How about the FACT that the all of the staff at the NYT and WaPo want to take Trump down.

DBQ is right. Fan fiction.

glenn said...

Bylines include Glenn Thrush? That alone indicates bucksnort.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

You would be well advised to read a book once in a while.

About Trump?

I didn't know coloring books had words.

When Baghdad Bob Spicer was selected has very little to do with the way Der Orange Trumpfitpoppen got him to go out and tell lies not so adamantly told and blatantly full of BS since Saddam's henchman did the same. You going to quibble over who brought in and advised of the promotion of Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf? That's not what matters or what people remember him for. The reason for his infamy is what matters, My Dear Quibbler.

Darrell said...

"Two Corinthians."

You're stupid, so you wouldn't know, but English Christians seldom use ordinal number references, so "Two Corinthians" is the norm, not an aberration. On the East Coast it isn't hard to find English ministers and educators in Protestant churches and seminaries. Their students pick up the
affectation.

William said...

The first thing I do upon getting out of bed is take a leak. The second thing I do is get back into bed........I hope none of those sixty sources were sexually harassed by Glen Thrush in pursuit of that story. They're really throwing the dice letting Glen interact with sixty people. I hope there were some chaperones present during these interviews.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

You're stupid, so you wouldn't know, but English Christians seldom use ordinal number references, so "Two Corinthians" is the norm, not an aberration. On the East Coast it isn't hard to find English ministers and educators in Protestant churches and seminaries. Their students pick up the
affectation.


Right. I'm really certain that such fine distinctions of theological nomenclature are what informed the Orange Brainiac's supposed non-gaffe.

Trump is the right's very own Bill Clinton. Just like usual, emulating the left twenty-some-odd years laters. Lying just as naturally and philandering just as easily and selling out to the ideas across the aisle just as quickly.

He's your parallel. Just not slick though like Willie. Awkward Donald.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

And another parallel: The right defends Awkward Donald as cloyingly as the left defended Slick Willie.

Darrell said...

Right. I'm really certain that such fine distinctions of theological nomenclature are what informed the Orange Brainiac's supposed non-gaffe.

Where did Trump go to church all his life, genius? People repeat what they hear. And you hear it all over England and in East Coast churches. But a spaghetti-monster guy like you wouldn't know that, would you? Or the Lefty gits at the Times and Post.

Big Mike said...

Don't fight back. Be above it all. Remember how well that worked for George W. Bush?

@Althouse, you’re being sarcastic, right? Because I don’t think being “above it” worked at all well for George W. Bush. In the end he wound up with a Democrat Congress and Democrat Senate and they wouldn’t let him take even the simplest steps to shore up Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

There’s something very manly about a man who fights back. You married a manly man; he can explain if necessary.

Michael K said...

I'm sure everyone has long since noticed how Ritmo's comments are free of any attempt at mentioning facts. They are all opinion and poorly informed opinion at that.

Spicer was NOT part of the Trump team and was gone as soon as he wore out his welcome.

I would never expect Ritmo to read a book about Trump or any other topic on politics but I do recommend it for the readers here,

MadisonMan said...

I agree with Trump that Weigel should be let go, for what it's worth. Why would anyone believe what he says re: Trump going forward?

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Where did Trump go to church all his life, genius? People repeat what they hear. And you hear it all over England and in East Coast churches.

Um, nowhere. Trump was never a church-goer.

But, but, but, BUT he did say he identifies deep-down with all those common folk in his newly adopted flyover country! No state in New England - let alone England! - voted for Trump. If he was going to suddenly get religion he could have at least unstuck the posh North of Connecticut bullshit from his mouth and mentality.

Like I said. Phonier than a three-dollar bill.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

Sometimes on a lazy Friday evening here we indulge in an Ancient Alliens marathon.

Their breathless pronouncements that the pyramid, or hindu writing, or cave painting could only come from advanced civilations that visited earth is always couched in the form or a question, or with the intro that "Ancient alien theorists believe..."


We do the same thing and laugh every time the breathless questions come out. Plus laugh at that guy's hairdo. How much Gel DOES he have to use to get that look?

Can it be.....?????
Is it possible.....????

The answer we shout at the television is ....probably NOT!

MaxedOutMama said...

The NYT is constantly printing these insider reports, but often they don't pan out! Maybe they need to develop a little skepticism about the motives/true knowledge of those to whom they are speaking?

I note, for example, that Tillerson is still Secretary of State, and has stated that he is not planning to leave.

If Trump has the TV on in the morning for an hour and then an hour in the evening, that would be two hours. And I assume he sometimes has it on muted in his office when working. I don't even own a TV, but many incredibly active people I know wake up to the business news and go to sleep with it. This doesn't seem like a lot of TV even to me. I read Reuters every morning and at leas one foreign newspaper, and often I end the day reading. Trump might spend less time than I do, really. Because he is doing other things during that time.

Trump seems to be getting a lot done. Even with all the golfing and the TV according to the press. Perhaps they need to be worrying about how much time he spends sleeping?

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

I'm sure everyone has long since noticed how Ritmo's comments are free of any attempt at mentioning facts.

Aside from being untrue, the above comment is what is called an opinion, which is the opposite of a fact in the first place.

They are all opinion and poorly informed opinion at that.

I prefer to call them "interpretations." But since your only talent in life is parroting what you hear and read, I'm not surprised that you're as opposed to logical conclusions as you are.

Spicer was NOT part of the Trump team and was gone as soon as he wore out his welcome.

Again, not the point. You must be a poor reader.

The point is how on Day #1 he went out and told the most adamant, ridiculous and incriminating indictment against the truth-telling abilities of the administration, and he did it on guess-who's obvious marching orders. And for the sake of whose personal glory.

Dummy.

Drago said...

LLR Chuck will be working overtime this week to deflect from all the amazing bombshell hoaxes pulled last week by his MSM betters.

Should be fun ti watch.

Darrell said...

Never?
Now you are just lying. Trump may have never been a weekly church goer, but in his 70+ years, he must have gone hundreds of times--especially as a child. Your mother was embarrassed of you so she preferred that you stay home. But Trump was reared in a proper home, with duties and responsibilities.

Big Mike said...

What Trumpism is NOT about is skilled leadership on difficult policy issues or strategic negotiation with powerful counter-parties.

And yet great things are happening at home and abroad. Our NATO allies (allegedly our allies) are starting to meet their treaty obligations. I’m more optimistic about a China-South Korea-Japan-US solution to North Korea than I have been since the Clinton administration. There are good judges appointed and confirmed at the courts below SCOTUS. The tax bill looks to be on the way to passage. The worse of Obama’s regulations are rescinded or on the way towards being rescinded. The economy is booming. Some may not like the way Trump leads, but the results are outstanding.

Inga...Allie Oop said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Darrell said...

Ritmo has an interpretive dance that goes along with every one of his comments and thoughts. Perhaps some day he will post those to YouTube.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

When Trump read, for the first time, the "autobiography" about him that he never wrote, he said, "God damn! Thank you Tony Schwartz for inventing a version of Donald Trump that I can actually agree to become!"

A presidential Frankenstein.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“Anyone with a shred of normalcy left on this blog should remember: Narcissists distort the truth. They have a warped understanding of reality. Whatever did or did not happen to them (or happen, at all) must first be filtered through the lens of how it affects their pervasive and ever-present sense of image.”

With every day that passes, there are fewer of them in this blogs’s comments sections. I always knew these people were ripe for someone as despicable as Trump, it was surprising to see that so many of them actually became sycophants.

Darrell said...

Fake Inga.
Amateur psychologist.
And proctologist, probably.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

But Trump was reared in a proper home, with duties and responsibilities.

Such as bowing down to a statue of the idol Fred Trump, not being allowed to develop an independent personality and quickly learning that the way to get through the military boarding school that he was punished for his incorrigibility by being banished to was by constantly whining, complaining, exaggerating, lying, boasting and generally bullshitting.

Michael K said...

"Narcissists distort the truth."

Nice of you to admit it, Inga.

Have a nice day,

Darrell said...

constantly whining, complaining, exaggerating, lying, boasting and generally bullshitting.

Now you're just writing your autobiography. . .

Ron Winkleheimer said...

@Big Mike

Chuck has that worked out, anything that Chuck dislikes is due to Trump's fecklessness. Anything that comes out of the Administration that Chuck has to pretend to like is due to the outstanding people around him managing him into doing the right thing. The fact that he selected those people is a happy circumstance, or perhaps divine providence, since Trump is incapable of picking outstanding people and taking their advice, because he is feckless.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

"You have to tend to this garden of democracy, otherwise things can fall apart fairly quickly. And we've seen societies where that happens,"
Former president Barack Obama

Not only he sees what is happening to this country.

MaxedOutMama said...

Chuck - relax a bit. Enjoy the morning. Don't let your envy eat you up.

Next year annual US GDP is going to come in well over 3%. For many, that's a big plus. If it makes you ill, you should consider WHY it makes you ill. And you should consider that to many "deplorables", it was a primary reason to vote for this guy.

And you should also at least consider whether this awful deficit of leadership you see is really what is happening.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

With every day that passes, there are fewer of them in this blogs’s comments sections. I always knew these people were ripe for someone as despicable as Trump, it was surprising to see that so many of them actually became sycophants.

Conservatives follow traditions and mythologies. But since America was founded in a modern, post-mythological age, it substitutes them with authoritarians who must instead direct their gullibility to an obvious monstrosity of a liar while enforcing no less strict a hierarchy of kiss-ups and kick-downs. Bullies and bastards. Suck-ups and smackdowns. It's the only form of relationship they understand in life; nothing reciprocal or humane. Just who's beating up whom and how to go along with it. That's how they go through life.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

Ritmo has an interpretive dance that goes along with every one of his comments and thoughts. Perhaps some day he will post those to YouTube.

That made me laugh. I envisioned this dance scene with Rimo cast in the role of Cyd Charisse. I'm not sure who Gene Kelly is representing. Perhaps someone writing for CNN?

(BTW. I think that Gene Kelly was one of the sexiest guys of his era....and probably today as well)

Darrell said...

You know how we water that garden, Inga?
Obama should choose his derivative quotes more carefully.

Fabi said...

Said the former dog eater who wanted -- and tried - to fundamentally transform this nation.

Martha said...

I too turn on Morning Joe first thing in the morning to get me going. The faux shock and outrage about all things Trump screamed from the mouths of the diminishing number of the regular cast —so far Mark Helperin and Harold Ford Jr. dismissed for sexual harassment—is more energizing as that first cup of Covfefe.

Marty Keller said...

Inga gets talking points from Ritmo. Sad.

tola'at sfarim said...

What's interesting is that so many stories these days are impossible to disprove. It's basically the he said/she said all the way down

Paco Wové said...

The NYT is now a fan fiction site... not even good fan fiction"

It's probably hard to write for a show you hate... but can't stop watching.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Inga gets talking points...

It's called "discussion," Marty. Ever have one?

Or do you authoritarian conservatives just take turns figuring out who's barking marching orders at whom?

Darrell said...

Cyd Charisse

I had something like this in mind--

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IttcKP-XpuI

We are talking about Ritmo, afterall.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“It's called "discussion," Marty. Ever have one?”

A very rare thing nowadays on the Althouse blog comments sections, almost nonexistent. An alternative opinion won’t be tolerated, not even from one of their own. Look at how they’ve treated Chuck, a fellow conservative. The vitriol and anger at those who dare to reject Trumpism Trump and his lies are ravaged. I see the frenzy in these attacks and it shocks even me, who has been around here since 2011.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

I had something like this in mind--

I have no doubt that's the sort of bizarre shit that gets you off generally, and that you use as a mental pacifier when digging yourself into another hole on these threads as you just did.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

An alternative opinion won’t be tolerated, not even from one of their own. Look at how they’ve treated Chuck, a fellow conservative.

The uniformity of groupthink is what's necessary for the right to ever be politically successful. Conformists to the core.

tim in vermont said...

Lol TTR. Yeah, the Democrats are the non-conformist!

Darrell said...

I have no doubt that's the sort of bizarre shit

Typical Ritmo appearance on a thread here--

Fap. Fap. Fap. Fap. Fap. Splurt.

You know it's true. And I suspect it's really you in those videos. Admit it. It's typical left-wing conformity. Transgressive. Ritmo. "Revolutionary." Like every other Lefty asshole.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

The Democrat Party is basically a party of corporatist identity politics. Everything else is dross.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

So when you get called out Darrell you make masturbation noises?

If you didn't have such a nerdy name it would be easier to believe that you're just as crude and simple as you really are.

wwww said...

"Remember how well that worked for George W. Bush?"

Bush approval ratings 2001-2005 are higher then Trumps. Like an average of 20-30 points higher. It wasn't until the housing crisis hit that it went down.

Tommy Duncan said...

Chuck said: "Cernovich has been doing what Trump is doing and Trump has been doing what Cernovich is doing, on Twitter. Hateful, disgusting, factless Tweets that would embarass most serious persons who had any sort of conscience and any sort of reputation to protect."

Chuck said: "Because Trumpism is all about cultural hate and fighting and arguing on cable news. What Trumpism is NOT about is skilled leadership on difficult policy issues or strategic negotiation with powerful counter-parties."

Inga said: "With every day that passes, there are fewer of them (those with a shred of normalcy left) in this blogs’s comments sections. I always knew these people were ripe for someone as despicable as Trump, it was surprising to see that so many of them actually became sycophants."

TTR said: "Come on, dodo. Trump doesn't read. It's obvious. No one who reacts that reflexively to everything on Fox News does."

You come looking for a fight and get one. And then blame the others for the resulting level of discourse and nastiness. Your lack of self awareness is stunning.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

You come looking for a fight and get one. And then blame the others for the resulting level of discourse and nastiness. Your lack of self awareness is stunning.

And your level of navel gazing is nauseating.

When did I ever talk about "discourse and nastiness?" What there is here as with the rest of the right nowadays and usually is a lack of reason and curiosity. I'm interested in truth. Trump is a charlatan who simply happened to ride in on legitimate issues that the right doesn't care about anyway. That's it. He's not accomplished at a single thing apart from his own self-glorification. It just works for the right because all they need/care for is someone to glorify. The right really does believe he's: 1) self-made, and 2) better than everyone else. If you expect me to ever courteously go along with that then forget it. It's un-American and foolish.

wwww said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Michael K said...

"A very rare thing nowadays on the Althouse blog comments sections,"

I agree and that is because Trump is living in your heads.

Over at Chicago Boyz we have discussions on other topics. Sometimes airplanes.

I belong to groups on WWII airplanes, basset hounds and Neville Shute novels.

If anybody wants to take about something else, it's OK with me, Ann seems to like sexual harassment and Trump.

Patterico, where I used to hang out, is all Trump outrage. You'd be right at home there, chuck.

wwww said...

"If anyone is leaking to the Times it might be Secret Service agents who I no longer trust,"

Secret service is around all the time, and someone is bringing him food & diet cokes. There's maid service, food service - somebody is making the bed and picking up breakfast dishes.


Inga...Allie Oop said...

“Two Corinthians" is the norm, not an aberration.

Can anyone else speak to this? I've never heard "2 Corinthians" instead of Second Corinthians.”

They don’t want to see it. They’ve made him over into some sort of Christian. And I mean Christian in the fundamentalist sense. The man has been an unrepentant sinner for his entire adult life, yet now he’s become a “follower of Norman Vincent Peale”. Lord have mercy.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Over at Chicago Boyz we have discussions on other topics. Sometimes airplanes.

Just not civics. You outsource that to the politicians?

It seems that beyond Trump-love and Trump-hate (or nowhere in between) there might actually be an actual interest in things that the country needs to properly get done. Perhaps if you right-wingers were as patriotic as you want to advertise yourself as you'd actually show some interest or care in those things. Not everything you want for the country can be outsourced to a bullying orange-haired maniac and then forgotten about.

After that, we can talk about airplanes all you want. Or even before.

But as long as this blog is going to be obsessed with politics I don't see anything wrong in making sensible the arguments that inevitably crop up among them.

wwww said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Bad Lieutenant said...

Wwww,


Can anyone else speak to this? I've never heard "2 Corinthians" instead of Second Corinthians.



Is it fair to ask you what denomination of Christian you are, and when and where you grew up and got your exposure to 2C? I'm not prying, it seems relevant; for instance, if you were Catholic, the Protestant version of the Lord's Prayer would be unfamiliar to you; and depending on when and where you were raised Catholic, you might or might not be familiar with a Latin Mass.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“Is it fair to ask you what denomination of Christian you are, and when and where you grew up and got your exposure to 2C? I'm not prying, it seems relevant; for instance, if you were Catholic, the Protestant version of the Lord's Prayer would be unfamiliar to you; and depending on when and where you were raised Catholic, you might or might not be familiar with a Latin Mass.”

I’m a Presbyterian and supposedly so is Trump. At no time has any Presbyterian I know ever said “2 Corinthians.”

Chuck said...

MaxedOutMama said...
Chuck - relax a bit. Enjoy the morning. Don't let your envy eat you up.

Next year annual US GDP is going to come in well over 3%. For many, that's a big plus. If it makes you ill, you should consider WHY it makes you ill. And you should consider that to many "deplorables", it was a primary reason to vote for this guy.

And you should also at least consider whether this awful deficit of leadership you see is really what is happening.

Why would you think that 3% GDP for the year would make me "ill"? I've never said anything like that. I've never written anything like that. Nothing close. I'm as happy as the next guy with a growing economy. What is so hard to understand about that? I don't see much reason to credit Trump; the growth started before he took office. And we don't have a tax plan yet. There has been a substantial reduction of the federal regulatory state; executed by thousands of Republicans not named "Trump." Anyway, you started this mini-argument, so I'll leave it up to you to comprehend it. In the meantime, leave me out of your fantasies.

But you also raised the notion of the "deplorables" loving the notion that they piss me off. Don't flatter yourselves too much. With all due respect (and not much is due), I'd encourage a new self-adopted name. Because as Rich Lowry pointed out in a beautiful column from just a few days ago -- and which Althouse unsurprisingly didn't blog -- when your band of "deplorables" includes somebody who really is deplorable, the joke is a lot less funny.

"Bannon seems to misunderstand the nature of the deplorables he seeks to lead. 'Deplorable' is supposed to be an unfair, disparaging term for people who believe reasonable but politically incorrect things (immigration should be restricted, NFL players should stand during the national anthem, all lives matter, etc.). It shouldn’t be a license for doing truly deplorable things."

https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/12/06/lowry-roy-moore-garbage-216051


Yet another comments page in which I began by commenting on the topic presented, and, without mentioning or referring to any other commenter, became the subject of numerous personal attacks, many of them making no attempt to address the substance but instead consisting of nothing but a personal attack on me. All of them clear violations of the Althouse commenting rules. But all routinely ignored/allowed by Althouse. Who may be disappointed to see them, but who doesn't have the time or inclination to police them. Still, in the end, it is an ongoing degradation of her blog.

Anne in Rockwall, TX said...

On the Two Corinthians thing. I was raised in a Catholic church with a pastor, Father Pilliod, who was raised in northern Spain, spoke Castillian Spanish and always said one and two rather than first and second.

Big Mike said...

II Corinthians is short for “The Second Letter from Paul to the Corinthians,” or “Second Corinthians.” In reply to my friend Darrell, may I ask why atheists have to explain everything to people?

(Sorry, Darrell, the Devil got in me.)

Inga...Allie Oop said...

It’s simply astounding the way that Trumpists have twisted themselves in pretzels to make Trump over into something they can admire. They turn him into a Christian, turn him into man with a sense of humor, turn him into an intelligent leader, it’s a fantasy. As for the other ones, they identify with him, they like and admire his nature. The uglier he is, the better they like it, because they see a side of themselves that they’ve tried to hide, now they are emboldened to be themselves.

wwww said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Big Mike said...

@Chuck,if you’re going to be that thin skinned go elsewhere. When you throw out provocative and counter-factual comments expect pushback. Duh!

hombre said...

Consequence of Democrat identity politics: NYT, WaPo, CNN, etc., become editorializing supermarket tabloids, only less accurate. Lefty pinheads don't notice.

Fake news abides.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

I’m a Presbyterian and supposedly so is Trump. At no time has any Presbyterian I know ever said “2 Corinthians

Thank you for your anecdotal input.... Pauline Kael.

However, when you search for "Corinthians", you do get many references and links to 1 Corinthians

So...I imagine there are also references to 2 Corinthians. It doesn't seem to be uncommon.

What a weird thing for all the anti Trump people to be hung up on.

Now...if Trump came from a snake handling cult, we would have some much more interesting and entertaining nit picking to focus on.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

It’s First Corinthians and Second Corinthians when SPOKEN, not “one or two” Corinthians, how difficult is this for you Trump sycophants?

This is another example of twisting themselves into pretzels to make excuses for him.

Bad Lieutenant said...

Inga, wwww,

Thank you, and also may I ask where you were born and raised? And where you live now. Apparently there may also be a regional factor.

IANAC so all this means little to me. I would just say that it doesn't seem to have been important in the scheme of things.

Also you Christians seem to switch teams a lot. Pardon my sincere ignorance, but how does an Austrian family become Presbyterian? Wouldn't your people have been Lutheran if not Catholic? Some people despise Pence for defecting from his born flavor of church, but apparently y'all do this quite often. (shrug)

Overall, nitpicking on such a topic strikes me as being, well, "holier than thou."

Bad Lieutenant said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
FullMoon said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Bad Lieutenant said...

Not that it doesn't matter, necessarily. Google "shibboleth." My great-aunt, back during a Revolution-era pogrom in Byeleya Tserkov before we left, ran into a Cossack who put her, at an age of single digits, through a little "sibboleth" of his own.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

Bad Lt.

My people were first Reformed way back in Martin Luther’s time, then they were Lutherans while in Eastern Europe. My family were never Presbyterians, I became one as an adult.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“Thank you, and also may I ask where you were born and raised? And where you live now. Apparently there may also be a regional factor.”

I was born in Austria. I’m not Austrian, my people were refugees from Eastern Europe. I was raised in Milwaukee, since the age of three.

Gahrie said...

I don't see much reason to credit Trump; the growth started before he took office.

But after he was elected.

There has been a substantial reduction of the federal regulatory state; executed by thousands of Republicans not named "Trump."

Because of an executive order signed by a man named Trump.

wwww said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
wwww said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Inga...Allie Oop said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Inga...Allie Oop said...

“Overall, nitpicking on such a topic strikes me as being, well, "holier than thou."”

Maybe so, but it speaks to Trump’s dishonesty regarding he trying to make himself look like a “believer”. He said that he has never asked God to forgive him, how’s that for being a Christian?

wwww said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
wwww said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Chuck said...

Full Moon you keep running that "Titty twister" meme. Even after I challenged you on it; pointing out that I never said such a thing, never wrote it, never hinted at it or intimated it. And ultimately, you agreed and confessed that you must have thought it, but that I never wrote it or said it.

Still, you keep doing it. You're trolling me. And I am not playing.

Inga...Allie Oop said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Bad Lieutenant said...

Still, you keep doing it. You're trolling me. And I am not playing.

Did you have any news about the President's children?

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“We don't know that. We can't know the state of his relationship. anyways, have a joyful season everyone. gonna go wrangle some babies and dress them for Santa.”

No we can’t. But we can point out the things that he says that are questionable regarding his own Christianity. He uses Christians’ belief system to get their support and I consider this a despicable thing to do. The Pope questioned Trump’s Christianity also, IIRC.

Bad Lieutenant said...

The Pope questioned Trump’s Christianity also, IIRC.

Some people question this Pope's Catholicism.

Bad Lieutenant said...

I was born in Austria. I’m not Austrian, my people were refugees from Eastern Europe. I was raised in Milwaukee, since the age of three.


Hungary '56?

Inga...Allie Oop said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Inga...Allie Oop said...

“Hungary '56?”

No, further south.

Jon Ericson said...

Lunchtime at troll central!

Bad Lieutenant said...

Yugoslav? No wonder you're so crazy, and I say that with respect ;)

(It's the slivovitz, to judge from Passovers innumerable. How would you NOT be warlike with that as your daily tipple? Worst gastrointestinal event of my life followed the splitting of a bottle of Maraska with my best friend Mike during winter break one year.)

Michael said...

Trump doesn't require much sleep, apparently four or five hours is his normal down time. As a New Yorker you can be sure he reads the NYT, the Post and the Daily News every morning. Probably gets summaries of the WaPo, the international papers, and the Los Angeles Times. Doubt if he reads fiction or settles in with George Kennan. One of his greatest weapons is that he is grossly underestimated by the smart people.

Air Crew said...

How do they know?

They don't. They're making it up, just like everything else they write about Trump.

Darrell said...

The English ALWAYS use cardinal numbers--like one and two--rather than ordinal numbers--like first and second. Don't ask me why. I've seen it done dozens of times. Watch some murder mysteries from the BBC or ITV. Grantchester might be a good start--I know they said TWO Corinthians in an episode. Maybe Broadchurch Series 1, as well. Inga the liar says it's never done. Wrong. And you have to be stupid to say such a thing. After WWII, a lot of English Anglican (and others) came to the US and took up teaching positions at seminaries and colleges and they taught the next generation of ministers. The students picked up the practices of the teachers.

William said...

I don't think Trump's religious beliefs ever interfered with his having a good time. I don't think it was a matter of cynicism but rather of priorities......When it comes to cynicism, Bill Clinton and Jesse Jackson are not only in a different class but a different dimension. Jackson went to the White House to offer pastoral counseling to Clinton. On those visits he took with him not his wife but his mistress. Who knows more about the sin of adultery than your mistress. She can offer invaluable guidance to the likes of Bill Clinton. Top that for cynicism.

Darrell said...

https://youtu.be/cTqqlqMFjsA?t=34

Never say never.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Full Moon you keep running that "Titty twister" meme. Even after I challenged you on it;

Full Moan is rather like Trump. Totally doesn't give a shit what the truth even remotely is - just as long as it feels fun to him to say something.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Some people question this Pope's Catholicism.

Right wingers.

You really think that the previous pope was a better emissary for and leader of Christianity than the current one?

Jim at said...

I see Inga is alllll over this thread. Lecturing and scolding, of course.

It is noteworthy she hasn't bothered to check on the CNN thread and run her mouth there.

Wonder why that is.

Bad Lieutenant said...

You really think that the previous pope was a better emissary for and leader of Christianity than the current one?

Not that I like to opine on other faiths' leaders, but I think this Bergoglio is a Pink/LibTheo, none too bright, and easily led. I don't understand what happened with Ratzinger, or as I irreverently thought of him, Pope Palpatine, but yeah, he did seem to have a notion of defending Western Civilization.

What really concerns me is how the College of Cardinals settled on a former bar bouncer who probably can't count to 21 with his clothes on.

Darrell said...

You really think that the previous pope was a better emissary for and leader of Christianity than the current one?

I do. No man can serve two masters. Pope Karl only serves Marx.

Darrell said...

Ratzinger "retired" when he began to experience health problems that prevented him from fulfilling his duties as Pope. I believe the onset of Alzheimers/dementia was involved.

Bad Lieutenant said...

And of course Francis ain't a patch on JP II. An insect in comparison.

Inga...Allie Oop said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Inga...Allie Oop said...

“I see Inga is alllll over this thread. Lecturing and scolding, of course.

It is noteworthy she hasn't bothered to check on the CNN thread and run her mouth there.

Wonder why that is.”

Why? Do I work for CNN? Do you work for Fox? When they report erroneous things, which they do often, should I hold you responsible for their content? You are one of the biggest idiots on Althouse, except maybe for Full Moon. Why are you so obsessed with me that you go from thread to thread looking for me? That’s pretty damn odd.

Ann Althouse said...

""Gumbo" is associated with Black people? Oh my. We had forgotten that down here in the deep South. My late cousin Randy Mickler who had a NYT Review of Books #1 selling cookbook in the 1980's "White Trash Cooking" explains in his forward that the difference between white trash cooking and soul food is simply an uptempo of spices in soul food though close first cousins they are and remain. Gumbo is ours. It is the South's and our melting multi-cultural stew pot of Gullah to Cracker says back off with your northern so last century classification. Now if you'll excuse me the okra and tomato gumbo is on the boil."

Not gumbo the food. Gumbo the patois.

There are multiple definitions.

Jose_K said...

who "jumps" out of bed in real life? .. everyone who is not a professor or everyone who has kids

FullMoon said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
FullMoon said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

I do. No man can serve two masters. Pope Karl only serves Marx.

Quote for me which New Testament verses are more pro-capitalistic than socialistic. Count and compare them against each other.

Whether you want to count the pro-slavery verses as capitalistic is up to you. Certainly American slaveowning entrepreneurs thought their business was very enterprising and capitalistic.

Fabi said...

"I don't see much reason to credit Trump; the growth started before he took office."

You know less about business and economics than you do about fucking -- damned near nothing.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Not that I like to opine on other faiths' leaders, but I think this Bergoglio is a Pink/LibTheo, none too bright, and easily led. I don't understand what happened with Ratzinger, or as I irreverently thought of him, Pope Palpatine, but yeah, he did seem to have a notion of defending Western Civilization.

He washes people's feet, asks, "Who am I to judge?" and in general seems a bit more interested in kindness than judgement. Perhaps you overvalue fire and brimstone, and I'm no expert either, but that's definitely a better image than the Natuzzi-upholstered likely closet pedo predecessor of his projected. I can confidently predict that their esteem has improved and that it's likely their numbers renewed compared to before. Anyone can bring judgment. Not many people can do kindness and generosity of spirit - things that conservatives have a hard time with.

It's not his job to "defend Western Civilization." Western Civilization was never about (just) any religion. You can make it that way if you want, but neglects the great strengths of the enterprise: The Greco-Roman heritage. That's represented today by the secular and democratic and scientific and rational traditions of the West - also things that conservatives don't seem very fond of. But if you want to make the West about nothing other than a ridiculous religious war with Islam, I don't think it will go as far. It might make you feel better to do, though. Again, maybe that's because the other aspects of it all don't appeal to you?

FullMoon said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Darrell said...

How are gormless, Leftist, pieces of shit like the Brainless Revolutionary and FakeInga made? Well, first you start with pieces of shit. . .

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Extensive vocabulary.

The word "remotely" caused you some difficulty?

More with the Charlie Sheen talk of self-glorification there. Full Moan has a HOUSE! What an accomplishment!

Oh yeah. So he to pump up his betters on the thread. His dad can beat up your dad!

What a loser. LOL!

FullMoon said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Bad Lieutenant said...

He washes people's feet,

Cmon man, they all wash people's feet, it's a thing.


asks, "Who am I to judge?"

Then judges, alla fucken time.

and in general seems a bit more interested in kindness than judgement.

I agree he hasn't got very good judgment. Kindness in his case is who, whom, just pointing in a different direction.

He really is a media creature. Where is he leading the Church? Towards the NYT editorial page to all appearances.

And while we agree that Ratzinger looked creepy enough for three, that's neither here nor there, eh? (If we're going on looks or impressions, you have to give me Franken. Pegs my meter, always has.)

FullMoon said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Michael K said...

Ritmo still going strong, so to speak.

Cold in Tombstone today,

Big Mike said...

All I can say is that if I woke up next to Melania in the morning, the first thing I did would NOT be watch TV news. Perhaps one becomes jaded.

Ha! That's an idea. Could Melania be the leaker regarding Donald Trump's early morning activities?

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Full Moan's balls are kept in a Mason jar under the sink by his little Missus so of course he thinks there's some sort of issue with having an preference when it comes sex and breasts. Silly little third-grader that he is, he would never do such a thing! Simply shudder under the table and giggle!

Not many eight-year olds own homes. I think when he refers to his wife he means his mommy, who must have been the co-signer on the sale and mortgage.

And he feels very excited when anyone responds to him. Even seems to point out that it's a notable event for which he praises himself. He got a grown-up to talk to him! Wow!

FullMoon said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Winning!

With nothing but my own comment to quote in full, and no comment other than amazement?

Sounds more like "piggy-backing."

BTW, did you slobber all over the keyboard when you noticed my comment?

Check out Full Moan's new avatar!

Michael K said...

" Perhaps one becomes jaded."

There is an old saying, "For every beautiful woman, there is a guy who is tired of fucking her."

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

There is an old saying, "For every beautiful woman, there is a guy who is tired of fucking her."

For women generally or one you might know and like particularly, what would you name as her or their greatest asset of a non-sexual nature?

FullMoon said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Fabi said...

"For women generally or one you might know and like particularly, what would you name as her or their greatest asset of a non-sexual nature?"

Your question wasn't directed at me, but I'll answer: kindness.

Jon Ericson said...

Tone it down, Pedro.

FullMoon said...

A wise man commented elsewhere:
One of my most ferocious long term enemies was a hothead named Ritmo, who still continues to say the most awful shit he can imagine on Althouse's weblog. He, I think, originated the tactic of announcing in his opening comments that he considers himself a brilliant intellectual, so that anybody who disagrees with him is obviously an idiot.

"Go read a book!" is one of his favorite jibes.

Ritmo's quickly shifts tactics once he's challenged and loses ground. Then he resorts to the great internet atomic bomb... "You're a bigot!"

I particularly enjoyed baiting Ritmo and setting him off in a frenzy. For all his self-announced intellectualism, he flew off the handle and started raving with very little prodding.

Watching him explode was amusing, but even that got boring and took up too much energy I could spend doing something else,

Jon Ericson said...

I hope Pedro is watching his blood pressure meds.
Really.

Gahrie said...

This is why we can't have nice things.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

The Jon Ericson/Full Moan circle jerk is in full swing.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

BTW, for anyone who's interested (i.e. no one - but for the record) - Full Moan got his latest quote, that of someone he deems a "wise man", from an unemployed loser douchebag who ranted thus:

Ann Althouse... Whiny Bitch... Spoiled Brat

If you don't read Ann Althouse's weblog, you probably should. She's a law professor at the University of Wisconsin. I worked at the most powerful and important corporate law firm in the world for 5 years, so I know a great legal mind when I encounter same. Althouse is a brilliant legal analyst. She's also a hideously spoiled brat and whining, nagging bitch. The problem here is that she's a feminist.

Bitch

This woman pulls down a $150,000 salary, has enjoyed tenure for 45 years and has not really had to work much in those 45 years. She absented herself from the hard work, long hours and the need to hustle for clients that most lawyers face to live this life of idle pleasure.

But, she can't stop bitching about how badly women are treated. Everything about her life demonstrates that her bitch has no foundation in realty, but she can't stop bitching. She seems determined to prove that the widely held stereotype of women is true... that nothing you give a woman will stop her from bitching for more.

I actually enjoy reading her blog, until I run into the inevitable bitchery. Once I get to that, I just want to kick this fucking spoiled brat in the ass. Her daddy obviously spoiled the hell out of her. She was cute when she was a kid, too, and she undoubtedly enjoyed manipulating men with this bitch act. She's an old woman now and she's still carrying on like some fucking 20 year old spoiled brat bitch.

Althouse got started on this bitching back when she was a kid, joining in the feminist fable that women were treated just like blacks under Jim Crow. You'd think that the circumstances of her life would have caused her to abandon this stupid lie decades ago. No, she's only embraced the "cause" more fiercely as we've dumped wealth, leisure and privilege in her lap.

Here's how bad things are. She and her colleagues purged the faculty of the University of Wisconsin Law School of anybody we might think of as "normal," that is Christian, conservative and oriented toward traditional family. The law school is now entirely in the hands of far leftist feminists, critical race theorists and other such pieces of shit. She and her colleagues get paid to prosecute their bitch, and she still can't stop bitching like a rotten cunt.

It would be interesting to know what we could give this rotten spoiled bitch that would put an end to her whining and bitching.

We spoiled women rotten in my lifetime. It's been 60 years of bitching and whining for more. And, yet, we've given women everything they've asked for, usually within moments after they've asked. The results of this stupidity should have been predictable.

As any daddy knows, you have to say no to your kids or this is what you get.


Violent. Incapable of participation here. And nasty beyond words. In short - Losing!

Just like Full Moan.

Michael K said...

Ritmo doesn't know any traditional statements that are amusing to normal people.

Most of us recognize that as a joke but Ritmo doesn't get jokes.

Everything in Ritmo's life is bad and anger is the only emotion the poor snowflake feelz.

Ritmo lives to insult people who don't know him and in the nastiest, most obscene fashion,

Children do this.

Go to bed Ritmo. Maybe you'll feel better in the morning.

I doubt it, though.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

He, I think, originated the tactic of announcing in his opening comments that he considers himself a brilliant intellectual, so that anybody who disagrees with him is obviously an idiot.

If I had a nickel for every moron on this blog who accused me of self-aggrandizement, I'd be as rich as Trump pretends to be.

Newsflash: Others don't have to declare themselves brilliant for them to prove how easy it is to show what an idiotic douchebag you are.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

You go to bed too, Michael. When you wake up, do try to say something original and not just directed at others. Happily or not.

We'll all be pulling for you at the station.

Bad Lieutenant said...

BTW, for anyone who's interested (i.e. no one - but for the record) - Full Moan got his latest quote, that of someone he deems a "wise man", from an unemployed loser douchebag who ranted thus:


Now Ritmo, I don't mean to pile on, but you know and I know that you are about 85-90% down with that, depending on your mood.

FullMoon said...

(bell rings) Ding ding

Puppy barks) woof woof !


So easy . No self control. Lonely, hateful sad and frustrated. Flea bitten little puppy Ritmo-Rythymn-Toothless.
Bark again for your master .

as if.... said...

Instalanche approacheth.

K. Pablo said...

Listen. Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Now Ritmo, I don't mean to pile on, but you know and I know that you are about 85-90% down with that, depending on your mood.

I never once called Althouse any of those nasty names starting with a "B" or a "C". Not once.

She annoys me with her Trump sycophancy (and general political naiveté) but that guy I quoted (and whom Full Midget looks to for wisdom) is one unhinged asshole-otic whack-a-madoodle.

Full Midget just wants attention. He's seriously amused that anyone would respond to him. Think about what that says about how much he must go on being ignored IRL. Astonishing.

FullMoon said...

Redditor Ritmo fantasizes:
The only women I date are either not from America or are closet freaks - (the good kind)

Where do you find these not from America women, toothless? What is it about you that they find appealing? Is it simply your engaging personality, or is there more to it? Movie star looks? Pheromones? Fat wallet?

What do you mean by "date"? Would it be wrong to assume you use the word in the same fashion as high class escorts and low down prostitutes?

«Oldest ‹Older   1 – 200 of 208   Newer› Newest»