March 2, 2018

We're dieing here.

Trump gets the Daily News to waste its time writing a mindless, distracting article promoting this mean tweet



All he had to do to enlist the newspaper's energy was to write "dieing" for "dying" — corrected in the version you now see.

And now that you've seen it, do you give a damn about the misspelling? Maybe you do if you're already bent on calling Trump an idiot. But the main consequence is that we're going to talk about whether Alec Baldwin really does have a dying mediocre career and whether Darrell Hammond really did do a better impersonation. All of those topics are harmless drivel. Is there anything else in the news?

67 comments:

pacwest said...

While a lot of Trump tweets serve the purpose of starting or continuing national conversations the ones that are nothing more than personal attacks just make him seem small and petty. They don't serve him well.

iowan2 said...

Anything else in the news? All of the lefts narratives are in their death spasms, and wide swaths of information have been censored by the media. Economy, immigration, defense, DOJ under investigation, another shoe to drop from Nunnes about the corruption of the State Dept,etc, etc.
All we have left is palace intrigue and they talking heads are batting almost zero on predicting what will happen. Just check in with the ex secretary of state, well soon to be ex, any day now, Trump is going to fire him at any moment, I have been assured of that for 10 months now.

Gk1 said...

I've never really understood Trump's weakness for punching down. For a guy who had legendary 12 dimensional chess skills I don't understand this.

rhhardin said...

I use dieing. Avoid ambiguity with dye.

Fernandinande said...

http://www.dictionary.com/browse/dieing

WisRich said...

Misspelling concern? None.

Baldwin's Trump Impression: Trumps right. I've watched it. Sad!


Trump is stirring the pot right before Oscar Night so the out-of-touch liberals are especially fired up on Sunday. The sanctimonious pedophiles and sexual predators lashing out should be good for 1 to 2 points on Trumps approval rating. I hope they talk about gun control a lot.

Lyle Smith said...

I love Trump’s tweet. This one made me laugh. He is a great banterist.

Ralph L said...

The original also had his name as Alex Baldwin. Another insult.

Big Mike said...

And now that you've seen it, do you give a damn about the misspelling?

Ah, no.

But the main consequence is that we're going to talk about whether Alec Baldwin really does have a dying mediocre career and whether Darrell Hammond really did do a better impersonation.

Who's Darrell Hammond? I had to go look him up on YouTube. And Trump's right.

rhhardin said...

Baldwin United was a piano company that merged and branched out into insuring municipal bonds, backing the insurance with shares of its own stock.

Probably a different Baldwin.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Who exactly is wasting their time here - Trump or the Daily Mail? The Mail is making money off the misspelling in the tweet.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

While a lot of Trump tweets serve the purpose of starting or continuing national conversations the ones that are nothing more than personal attacks just make him seem small and petty.

I don't think Trump commenting on cultural issues and the infotainment industry serve him poorly. Maybe I'm in the minority, but I think of these as similar to Obama's penchant for inserting himself into sports, although Trump was a legitimate TV star (for his now-hated rival NBC), which gives his commentary more weight. Obama loved to talk about March Madness brackets and created the stupid tradition of a presidential Superbowl interview, but he has no real connection to sports other than his own biographical ode to his b-ball prowess.

Trump's tweets certainly take far less time than Obama's brackets and ESPN appearances. So he gets a lot of mileage out of few words. And he's right. Baldwin's characterization was so broad, so lacking in nuance or comedy that the faux-Trump skits were very tiresome to watch. I tuned out until SNL moved on from that same stupid skit every week. Who really did like that performance besides Lorne Michaels?

So I get a small chuckle at the tweet and agree that Baldwin was lousy. At least he doesn't sit on the shitter during media interviews and run around the Whitehouse naked like the democrats of my youth did.

Gilbert Pinfold said...

Farrell Hammond played second base for the Madison Muskies when they were a Class A affiliate of the Oakland A's.

MaxedOutMama said...

In the end, the Trump obsession is really, really boring. When it really is news, cover it then. When it's just crap like this - WHY?

sparrow said...

I agree it's not terribly dignified for Trump, but he's a true populist waging war against the elite left. His roughness and crudity actually serve him well; it's a great antidote to the distant "respectable" elites in both parties who could care less about the common man and must continually pretend to above it all. He's a real person warts and all.

traditionalguy said...

The jig is up. Professor Althouse has The Crazy and uncontrolled Trump tweets figured out. He always builds in a slight mid-speak. That is what gets his message celebrated as MSM’s Breaking News breathlessly repeated for days.

narayanan said...

"For a guy who has legendary 12 dimensional chess skills"
all punching would be punching down unless you can find higher skills.

WisRich said...

sparrow said...
I agree it's not terribly dignified for Trump, but he's a true populist waging war against the elite left. His roughness and crudity actually serve him well; it's a great antidote to the distant "respectable" elites in both parties who could care less about the common man and must continually pretend to above it all. He's a real person warts and all.

3/2/18, 9:31 AM


Trumps understands more than any other President before him that "Politics is downstream from culture."

rhhardin said...

If you think dieing is wrong you don't understand the role of dictionaries. They don't lead, they follow.

rhhardin said...

Dieing would be ambiguous in Poe's Raven.

robother said...

Dieing, not to be confused with the die-ins which were once so popular on campus. And while we're on the subject of grammatical nitpicking, what's so wrong with "your stupid"? Isn't it just the second person accusative of "my bad"? Apostrophes are a dying literary device, why don't we let the grammatical go as well? Where Fowler ruled, the internet rulz!

rhhardin said...

Trump isn't rough and crude. He's just not PC.

ROUGH: 1 (Dominant) not smooth. (Metaphorical) without enough care, feeling, "polish" (r. soldier). 2. violent, not quiet or kind. 3. (1. intruding) not complete, (r. copy, first attempt at a bit of writing; incomplete copy.).

RUDE: 1 (Primary) in natural first condition (without education, art); cf. rough 3. 2 (Dominant) Unpleasing in behaviour, probably on purpose. 3 (1, 2 intruding) r. health, strong, having force.

Wm. Empson "Dictionaries" _The Structure of Complex Words_ p.402

tim in vermont said...

Ankle biters hate people who punch down.

rhhardin said...

Fowler was an expert on where words actually went when you used them. A poet.

There were of course three Fowlers. I go with 2nd edition.

Thurber took issue with him in "A ladies' and gentlemen's guide to modern English usage" which Fowler is said to have found amusing.

Gk1 said...

Alas, I like it better when trump concentrates on worthier targets instead of constantly churning the cultural chum bucket with C-listers like Baldwin . I think this will be trump's biggest problem running for re-election, people will just want relief from this circus and if the democrats can provide a sane, sedate, alternative he's in trouble. Even if you support many of the things he's doing its a bit wearying to look at your cell phone in the morning and see a headline and thinking "Ah geez, what is he tweeting now?"

Birkel said...

"How dare Trump punch down!?!"

--screamed all the people trying to take Trump down, in unison

Nonapod said...

Trump is just venting a bit, I highly doubt there's anything more to this Tweet than that.

I have to agree that Alec Baldwin's Trump is pretty god awful. Not only is it not a particularly good impression from a purely objective standpoint, but there also seems to be very little in the way of clever satirical writing behind it. It just seems like crude, mean spirited mockery without any real nuance or self awareness. There's no real wit to it. It's only schoolyard taunting ("See this? This is you! This is how you are! You're a stupid poopy head!") . Which is a shame, since I think we all need more well written political humor these days. I think a well satirized Trump would be a riot.

Comanche Voter said...

Ah well the world would be better off if Alec Baldwin had been a textile worker with a dying career.

Gk1 said...

Don't get me wrong it was fun at first to see trump take a well deserved swipe at these people during the campaign and Year 1. But like an SNL sketch that has run much too long, I think there are diminishing returns. Less frivolous tweeting please, its diminishing your brand. I'd rather see a 6 to 1 ratio of policy tweets vs. petty tit for tat. And one thing no one has mentioned is how happy this makes Baldwin and the other "RESIST" phonies. Alec is all "See! I got a reaction from that ogre!" I AM SOMEBODY!!!"

pacwest said...

As much as I believe that Trump is an antidote to the idiocy of the PC culture, crap like this just makes him look thin-skinned. Not a good look for President of the United States of America, the most powerful man in the world. I'm a long ways from Chuck territory on this, but I think it makes him less effective when he does have a valid point we all need to pay attention to. Does that make me an 'ankle biter'? I guess you have go with the whole package even if you don't like parts of it.

A common sense revolution led by a madman.

Yancey Ward said...

A good question is why wasn't Alec Baldwin a bigger star than he was? He seemed on a trajectory like that of Harrison Ford after The Hunt For Red October, but that was the peak of his career rather than its launching point.

Ralph L said...

I think this will be trump's biggest problem running for re-election, people will just want relief from this circus and if the democrats can provide a sane, sedate, alternative he's in trouble.
Bill Clinton did OK in 96 despite non-stop scandals, admittedly not as sexy or well known as Monica.

wendybar said...

I agree with the President. Darrell Hammond was great at ANY impersonation he did...especially Bill Clinton. Haven't seen his Trump, but am sure it is great too.

JPS said...

Yancey Ward:

I read - and I don't know that this is correct but it wouldn't surprise me - that he was replaced as Jack Ryan for Patriot Games and later films because he was...difficult. As in frequently unpleasant, with personal problems and a temper that kept getting in the way.

Ralph L said...

GWB never pushed back, and look where that got him. Dumped on by O for 8 years, now W complains about Trump. Sorry I supported him, sometimes.

Y Ward, suddenly he had a fat head, like Bobby Brown. I didn't recognize either the first time.

JPS said...

Speaking of Alec Baldwin back in those days, his vintage-Sorkin "I am God" speech in Malice is rather good (no offense to the lawyers here and our host). Not quite up there with the impact he had as Blake in Glengarry Glen Ross, but memorable.

AllenS said...

Never stop kickin em in the nuts, Trump.

Gk1 said...

Ralph L we may have a different memory of the Bill Clinton years. His bimbo eruptions didn't really boil over till 1997 after he had solidly beaten Bob Dole like a rented mule. Other than a simmering White Water investigation, there wasn't much he had to worry about. I often wonder what would have happened had Monica Lewinsky erupted in 1995. I'm pretty sure people would have looked to Dole for relief.

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

Honest to God, if I'm lying I'm dying.

Ralph L said...

Gk1:
Travel office
Vince Foster and aftermath
Incredible Shrinking President
FBI files
Chinese/Indonesian fundraising
Coffee clatches
Renting the Lincoln bedroom
AR state troopers
Rose billing records
I'm sure I've forgotten some.

stevew said...

I get an email everyday from the NYT with the day's top headlines, I can click through to the online site and read some number of articles per month - I'm not a subscriber - though I rarely do.

Today's top headline, in the email, was, "Trump’s Oval Office Chaos Theory Is Taking Its Toll". My first thought was, this is, according to the Times, the top NEWS story, there's nothing else more serious or of greater import in the world to write about? My next move was to delete the email.

-sw

Gk1 said...

RalphL Yes, I remember these scandals very well but the problem was the majority of people didn't see these stories or if they did just shrugged. My family who all voted twice for Bill never saw these stories or cared when I sent them American Spectator articles highlighting them. They opined that "well at least you don't hear about it in the media so it can't be true". My point was that people were obviously not exhausted with putting up with Clintons BS, I'm just not sure that will be true in Trump's case. For one he has to fight the media the whole way and they will magnify any incident beyond all recognition. In Bill's case they were happy to run interference.

traditionalguy said...

COS Kelly is about to fire the last effective Obama hold over in the Cabinet. The Marines generals want the Army generals gone. And Trump understands the reason for that. Semper Fidelis to Trump is hard to find.

Lloyd W. Robertson said...

It's pretty obvious the Toronto Star doesn't have copy editors any more--all kinds of error-filled junk gets printed and/or digitized. They probably have a message that a person with a degree in journalism shouldn't be making mistakes hah hah hah. Are they going to lecture Trump about mistakes in a tweet, which is by definition a bit of a rush job?

Bad Lieutenant said...

And after all, there is a 4000 character limit on Blogger posts.

Bad Lieutenant said...

Semper Fidelis to Trump is hard to find.

OK now that just verges on creepy.

tcrosse said...

Here are Darrell Hammond and Will Ferrell doing the first 2000 Gore-Bush Debate on SNL. Hammond's impression was so deadly that Gore's staff insisted he watch it to see how poorly he came off.
Gore-Bush 2000

FIDO said...

As far as I recall, Baldwin was famous for two roles: the real estate bitch it Glenngerry Glennross and Red October.

So the obvious question was if it was the quality of the acting or the quality of the writing?

langford peel said...

Trumps enemies want him to stop tweeting because it is very effective.

He is a man of the people. He engages them on a reality TV level where the majority of the country resides.

That is what enrages the bow tie wearer Never Trump homos.



Gahrie said...

he was replaced as Jack Ryan for Patriot Games and later films

I liked Harrison Ford as Jack Ryan and Ann archer as Cathy Ryan. Baldwin did an OK job in Hunt. Affleck was awful in Sum of All Fears. I think Pine was miscast.

stever said...

People still wonder how Trump won. He doesn't play by the nice rules that allow only the media and the liberal celebrity class to define things. He doesn't give a shit, nor do we.

Wince said...

Lying, laying, dieing, dying... All in a day's work at Althouse.

Gk1 said...
I've never really understood Trump's weakness for punching down.

Trump is more selective than he's given credit for, and knows when silence is the greater put-down.

For example. Trump has refrained from taking Eminem's bait multiple times to the rapper's frustration.

EMINEM IS 'EXTREMELY ANGRY' AT TRUMP FOR NOT TWEETING ABOUT HIS FREESTYLE DISS

Fabi said...

I'm dieing for a good triphthong!

BUMBLE BEE said...

Trump leads 'em around the corral by the nose. Punks 'em every time. Really grinds the Franken lover types. Cool beans.

David-2 said...

Alec Baldwin was great in Team America: World Police - quite funny! - but that was a long time ago and his career has gone downhill since then.

David-2 said...

Alec Baldwin was really good in 2004's Team America: World Police but his career has gone downhill since then.

David-2 said...

(Dear Ms. Althouse: Double post because I didn't realize comment moderation was on, sorry for the trouble!)

chuck said...

> I get an email everyday from the NYT with the day's top headlines

My tablet gives me notifications of articles in the Times, HuffPo, WaPo, etc. Automated BS generation in my opinion. I skip them, but I do wonder how much effect that constant bombardment has on the population at large.

StephenFearby said...

I didn't know Daryle Hammond once lived in a crack house:

'...Hammond, whose backstage behavior included cutting himself before going in front of the cameras and a 2009 drug binge that saw him living in a crack house during his final season as a cast member, did not take the loss of the role to Alec Baldwin well. Doctors prescribed a beta blocker to calm his nerves and Antabuse, a drug that would keep him from drinking.

“I was in shock, and I stayed in shock for a long time,” Hammond told the Post. “Everything wiped out. The brand, me, what I do. Corporate appearances canceled. It was a hell of a shock, and all of it was apparent to me in one breath. That ends me.”'

'...Even Hammond (who is still with SNL, now as the show’s announcer), acknowledges the logic behind Michaels’ decision, though he still seems upset over losing the role.

“You’re not running the March of Dimes,” he told the Post. “You’re kind of running a business empire. When things happen it’s hard for it not be personal, but sometimes it isn’t.”'

http://fortune.com/2018/03/02/darrell-hammond-donald-trump-impression-alec-alex-baldwin/


Alec Baldwin had a drug, alcohol and Harrison Ford problem. The latter appears to reflect a compulsive insecurity:

'...Baldwin described how the period when he struggled the most with drugs and alcohol coincided with when he got one of his first big roles, on the soap opera "Knots Landing."

He said that his big break as an actor, the film that "changed everything" for him, was "when I went and did 'Hunt for Red October.'"

"To star in a big film, that changed everything for me," he said.

Baldwin also wrote in his memoir that producers replaced him with Harrison Ford in the sequel for "Hunt for Red October."

"Ford, in person, is a little man, short, scrawny and wiry," Baldwin wrote in his book, adding that Ford doesn't have an Oscar, "which must frustrate, if not burden him after his long career."'

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/alec-baldwin-opens-family-career-past-addiction-memoir/story?id=46528397

Rick.T. said...

FIDO said...
"As far as I recall, Baldwin was famous for two roles: the real estate bitch it Glenngerry Glennross and Red October."

He was hilarious in 30 Rock as Jack Donaghy. Got a gift for light comedy.

Rick.T. said...

FIDO said...
"As far as I recall, Baldwin was famous for two roles: the real estate bitch it Glenngerry Glennross and Red October."

He was hilarious in 30 Rock as Jack Donaghy. Got a gift for light comedy.

Jim at said...

re: Clinton .... the majority of people didn't see these stories or if they did just shrugged.

We all know people who don't frequent politics like we do. I check in with them from time to time.

They're already not seeing these stories or shrugging. They have lives to lead and as long as work is plentiful, money is coming in and we're not at war? They couldn't possibly care less what Trump tweets or what the media says about it.

The media shot their wad months ago. They're just not tired of whacking yet.

Bill Peschel said...

Trump must have seen "Seduced and Abandoned," in which James Toback and Baldwin try to raise money for a film in which Baldwin would star. From the Variety review:

“Seduced and Abandoned” is rarely funnier or more savagely revealing than when director and star find themselves face to face with studio heads (Ron Meyer, Jeffrey Katzenberg) and international financiers (Mark Damon, Ashok Amitraj, Avi Lerner) who tell them kindly but firmly that, together, they don’t amount to a whole hill of beans in the lucrative foreign sales market. Couldn’t Baldwin do another “submarine movie,” like “The Hunt for Red October,” asks one Australian backer, without a lick of irony.

roesch/voltaire said...

Better to tweak Baldwin than mention the Russian video of nuclear bombs raining down on Florida or the Kurds fighting Turkey or so many other important international events

Unknown said...

google "trump on revenge" for chapter 6 from one of his books.

also this
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/06/donald-trump-roy-cohn-relationship

> Donald calls me 15 to 20 times a day,” Roy Cohn told me on the day we met. “He is always asking, ‘What is the status of this . . . and that?’ ”
> All I can tell you is he’s been vicious to others in his protection of me,” Trump told me, as if to wave away a stench. “He’s a genius. He’s a lousy lawyer, but he’s a genius"

No slight goes unreturned - to do otherwise is weak, making you a patsy.

Maybe this is a New York thing? Certainly a Roy Cohn thing.

Leland said...

All the various indecencies and moral crimes supposedly committed by Trump; haven't those things been reliably reported as being committed by Alec Baldwin as himself? Perhaps that makes him a better actor to portray Trump, but it doesn't give him a weak moral voice.