July 23, 2018

Listen to David Sedaris explain why he thinks — and has a good, sympathetic basis for thinking — that Roseanne is mentally ill.

It's in this podcast with Marc Maron.

Begin around 28:00 to get to the point, but the whole interview with Sedaris is excellent, including the very end, which is on the subject of eyeballs popping out.

158 comments:

J. Farmer said...

Roseanne herself has admitted to a long history of mental illness. She has claimed to have ADHD, multiple personality disorder, and bipolar disorder. She has claimed to suffer psychiatric symptoms from a head injury as a teenager, and she has accused multiple family members of sexually abusing her.

Roseanne sounds like a classic borderline personality.

Yancey Ward said...

I am beginning to think almost all actresses and actors are mentally ill.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

Ha, we on the left knew that. You folks loved her.

Henry said...

Ha, we on the left knew that. You folks loved her.

What a strange and ugly response to mental illness.

J. Farmer said...

Ha, we on the left knew that. You folks loved her.

Mental illness is not a reason for disliking someone. It can be a terrible, alienating condition. I would expect more compassion from someone who claims a mantle of tolerance and open-mindedness.

Yancey Ward said...

Not a strange response at all Henry- I could have easily predicted she would write something like that.

eric said...

Hasn't it been obvious for some time?

I can't figure out who this would be a revelation too.

Don't we also think Robin Williams was mentally ill? I'd bet good money over 30% of comedians are mentally ill.

This shouldn't be confused with saying someone is mentally incompetent however. Many artists have severe mental illnesses. But they struggle thru them and sometimes enhance art with their unique perspective.

Yancey Ward said...

When I see the Hollywood illuminati discuss almost any topic, it is like watching aliens- either I and all the people I know are crazy, or they are.

Sydney said...

Inga: Ha, we on the left knew that. You folks loved her.

J. Farmer: Mental illness is not a reason for disliking someone. It can be a terrible, alienating condition. I would expect more compassion from someone who claims a mantle of tolerance and open-mindedness.

Not to mention a nurse.

eric said...

I should say her ex husband, Tom Arnold, is also probably mentally ill. Or has a substance abuse problem (which can lead to mental illnesses).

Instead of recognize this, today's media likes to parade them on TV and point and laugh and say, "look!" And we all look and laugh.

Stephen Taylor said...

"...Don't we also think Robin Williams was mentally ill? I'd bet good money over 30% of comedians are mentally ill. ..."

Jonathan Winters, who was Williams' idol, also suffered from chronic depression. I agree that depression may be endemic to those with comedic talent.

eric said...

https://www-m.cnn.com/2017/03/01/health/sad-clown-standup-comedy-mental-health/index.html?r=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F

The picture for this story is Jimmy Kimmel's ex girlfriend, Sarah Silverman. She isn't funny, but she is probably nuts.

Yancey Ward said...

Yeah, you don't want to wear a MAGA hat in any hospital Inga works in.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Ha, we on the left knew that. You folks loved her.

Behold: The tolerant and compassionate left. It all goes out the window when the subject doesn't behave and conform to the diktats of the hivemind religion - leftism.

rehajm said...

Famous people are all weird. Your suspicions are correct.

rehajm said...

People want their mentally ill analysis to work like the little rubber eraser on their pencil.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Robin Williams is a fine example. The man had all sorts of emotional/mental illnesses and problems but he made us laugh and for that, we never judged his issues. We didn't mock him. Robin was on the left.

Roseanne will be mocked by the left because she dared to wander off the leftwing plantation. Never mock team saint Obama. Late night TV never does or did, and you cannot either. Those are the rules.
No sympathy for you, Roseanne.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

J. Farmer said...

I would expect more compassion from someone who claims a mantle of tolerance and open-mindedness.

I wouldn't. ( I would expect more compassion from someone who was tolerant and open-minded. But there is very little overlap between those that are and those that claim to be. )

Sebastian said...

Think of the MSM as the modern equivalent of a freak show. One that goes on and on and on.

J. Farmer said...

@Ignorance is Bliss:

I wouldn't. ( I would expect more compassion from someone who was tolerant and open-minded. But there is very little overlap between those that are and those that claim to be. )

I didn't really. It was just a bit of snark on my part. Of course, if you interact with diversity types enough you discover pretty quickly what they typically mean by "diversity" is more non-whites. They love a rainbow coalition so long as those blacks and browns and yellows and reds and queers and trannies all toe the party line. Dissent must not be tolerated.

Of course, diversity of thought and opinion is the only kind of diversity that really matters.

Etienne said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Henry said...

J. Farmer said...

I would expect more compassion from someone who claims a mantle of tolerance and open-mindedness.

I would expect better fakery.

Henry said...

Really enjoy David Sedaris' super low-key political outrage. His outrage level is like 3.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“Ha, we on the left knew that. You folks loved her.”

“What a strange and ugly response to mental illness.”

What a strange and ugly response to my comment. I don’t want anyone to hate her for being mentally ill. What I pointed out was the “love” for her style of ugly hateful humor by those of you on the right. Henry I’m surprised you jumped to the type of conclusion so many Trumpists here would jump to. You disappoint me, but maybe I gave you more credit than you deserve.

rhhardin said...

If they start with Trump being narcissistic, they're unable to read people at all.

rhhardin said...

I am beginning to think almost all actresses and actors are mentally ill.

They're not good at anything but acting. Stupid and socially inept but praised for being some person they're not at all, whatever the fans' favorite role was.

Nonapod said...

I asuspect that the things that often contribute to being a great comedian, lack of impulse control combined with scattered or lateral thinking, can also be symptoms of mental illness. Seeing the world through a filter of madness may make certain absurdities appear in sharp relief.

Henry said...

Ha, we on the left knew that.

You on the left knew what? That she was mentally ill? Why did you decide to make that germane to your insult?

Inga...Allie Oop said...

We don’t have to love and accept the demented things crazy people like Roseann say. We can love the human who suffers from mental illness, that doesn’t mean we need to enable the craziness. On a psych ward, staff were trained not to enable bad behavior by the patients just because they were mentally ill.

rhhardin said...

I just watched Silicon Towers, a B-- movie on a low budget that didn't allow acting to work at all. Too much burden for any actor to carry.

Those actors are probably still sane. Nobody's praising them.

Jim at said...

So a person who dressed up as Hitler and pulled a bunch of Jew gingerbread men out of an oven might have mental issues?

Go figure.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

I am also of the mind that most "creative" types, comedians, artists, actors are to some less or greater extent mentally ill. The stereotype of the suffering artist is a stereotype for a reason.

Others have pointed out Robin Williams as a creative genius who was mentally ill. Vincent Van Gogh, F Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, mentally ill people who have contributed works of art, created things that have lasted and even changed the world.. Many many others throughout history who epitomize the suffering genius.

We warm our hands on their fire. Admire them as they burn.

rhhardin said...

Outrageous is one of the components of comedy. It needs more than one however.

rehajm said...

...the “love” for her style of ugly hateful humor by those of you on the right

I don't recall this type of humor from Roseanne though ugly hateful humor sounds like late night TV loved by the left. Minus the humor part.

walter said...

Roseanne vs "Griff" in a cage match...

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“So a person who dressed up as Hitler and pulled a bunch of Jew gingerbread men out of an oven might have mental issues?

Go figure.”
————-
“I don't recall this type of humor from Roseanne...”
—————-

Really you don’t recall any ugly humor from Roseann? I recall her disrespecting the National Anthem with her hideous screeching.

Fernandinande said...

J. Farmer said...
Mental illness is not a reason for disliking someone.


I think it can be an excellent reason for disliking someone.

It can be a terrible, alienating condition.

QED: terrible, alienating personality.

But you don't have to like someone to feel compassion, just don't invite them over for dinner.

Gahrie said...

“So a person who dressed up as Hitler and pulled a bunch of Jew gingerbread men out of an oven might have mental issues?

Go figure.”
————-
“I don't recall this type of humor from Roseanne...”



Google "Rosanne Hitler" and hit images.

Gahrie said...

Yes you don't even have to spell her name right and the images will show up.

Balfegor said...

Re: J. Farmer:

I would expect more compassion from someone who claims a mantle of tolerance and open-mindedness.

From someone who claims a mantle of "tolerance and open-mindedness?" On the contrary, it's exactly what I would expect from someone who claims to be tolerant and open-minded. That's code for "I'm a horrible person," after all.

J. Farmer said...

@Fernandistein:

But you don't have to like someone to feel compassion, just don't invite them over for dinner.

That is very true. I should have phrased that better. Of course my perspective is a bit skewed since I work with the mentally ill.

wwww said...



I've viewed her as suffering some degree of mental illness or personality dysfunction for years.

What I do not understand, is why did her people not protect her? If she's going through episodes, keep her off media, don't have her do publicity. She has $$ and resources and family.

Shows are stressful. Why not get her the support she needs to keep her level. Hire a therapist to be with her. Make sure she does not get over-stressed. They could have protected her and kept her away from publicity.

rehajm said...

Google "Rosanne Hitler" and hit images.

Ever heard of satire?

J. Farmer said...

Heeb, the magazine that published the spread, is a satirical magazine that obviously does not take itself too seriously. Also, any publication that draws the ire of Bill Donahue, Abe Foxman, and Bill O'Reilly cannot be all that bad.

Jim at said...

Ever heard of satire?

Yes. And that wasn't.

Paddy O said...

Wealth and celebrity feed into mental illness too, as most people with issues have to find ways of coping, and unless very serious they are challenged to adjust their behavior to fit in. But a celebrity is prodded, let to indulge their dysfunction or self-medication, never told no, because everyone wants something from them, and the more unstable they are the better for the hangers-on.

Roughcoat said...

I don't think Inga's comment was out of line. And I'm diametrically opposed to Inga politically.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“They could have protected her and kept her away from publicity.”

She made big bucks for people, until she got too crazy even for them. Those who loved her TV show and encouragd her humor only helped those who were using her.

J. Farmer said...

@wwww:

Shows are stressful. Why not get her the support she needs to keep her level. Hire a therapist to be with her. Make sure she does not get over-stressed. They could have protected her and kept her away from publicity.

Outside of force, how could they have done that?

J. Farmer said...

@Jim:

Yes. And that wasn't.

So you're saying you believe Barr and Heeb magazine were promoting a pro-Hitler, pro-Holocaust message? Have you ever seen the publication?

Roughcoat said...

I do find the moniker, "Inga", rather problematic. Makes me think of Scandinavian lesbians smoking cigars.

rehajm said...

Sedairs and Maron with the threatening to leave crap. We all know now the threats are hollow and by a unanimous decision Trump isn't worth leaving the country over.

Balfegor said...

Re: Gahrie:

Google "Rosanne Hitler" and hit images.

Yes . . . previously, I'd thought that was so much worse than making fun of Valerie Jarrett, but actually, she seems to have worked up that bit with some Jewish satirical magazine. So it's not really as bad as I had thought: just poor taste, not viciousness. On the other hand, she's also a 9-11 truther. On the gripping hand, though, she's just an entertainer. This new mania for demanding purity from our entertainers is going to end up depriving us of all our entertainers!

rehajm said...

Yes. And that wasn't.

I Disagree.

rehajm said...

Pick your favorite OED definition of the term and it fits what Rosanne is doing to a T.

Perhaps you don't have the subject being satirized correct?

Fernandinande said...

J. Farmer said...
Of course my perspective is a bit skewed since I work with the mentally ill.


People often socialize with co-workers, cow-orkers, clients or customers outside the work environment, but I'll bet you don't have a beer with your mentally ill clients very often.

And from what you see, are they good at creating anything other than confusion, chaos and disasters?

"The stereotype of the suffering artist is a stereotype for a reason."

Because anecdotes: you notice the crazy ones.

There is limited scientific evidence to associate creativity with mental illness. Despite this, many authors promoted a connection. Explanations for this contradiction are explored, and social and research implications are discussed.

Far from being the source—or the price—Rothenberg concludes, psychosis and other forms of mental illness are actually hindrances to creative work.

Overall, measures of anxiety, depression, and social anxiety predicted little variance in creativity. Few models explained more than 3% of the variance, and the effect sizes were small and inconsistent in direction.

Nonapod said...

Over the weekend Disney fired Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn for a bunch of old Tweets that (I guess/hope) were extremely poor attempts at humor (basically pedophillia "jokes") that were unearthed by some alt right guy. Of course some people have defended him.

But maybe he's crazy too?

Ann Althouse said...

"Ha, we on the left knew that. You folks loved her."/"What a strange and ugly response to mental illness."

That was my response too, Henry, so I was glad to see that response posted immediately.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Free speech: the curtain is lowering, the show is almost over.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“I do find the moniker, "Inga", rather problematic. Makes me think of Scandinavian lesbians smoking cigars.”

I know! I asked my mother and father what the hell they were thinking when they named me Inga. Well as it turns out I am 8% Scandinavian according to my 23andMe results. I’m not a lesbian, my love for the male member is proven and I don’t smoke cigars...very often.

wwww said...

"Outside of force, how could they have done that?"



Her family may be unable. It is a question of where are her friends and family? Not blaming them if she is not manageable.

Adults have agency. Some people are not willing to manage their disability. Some people can not. She has the money to put tools in place to protect herself. I do not know if she is stable enough to do so.


Her employer knew her history. Either hire her under conditions where you expect the crazy press and unprofessional behaviour, or put elements in place to prevent it. Tell her she doesn't have to do publicity. As a condition of employment ask her to get regular checks with a therapist. Come to an agreement about twitter.






Ann Althouse said...

" On a psych ward, staff were trained not to enable bad behavior by the patients just because they were mentally ill."

But were they trained to punish patients who said bad things?

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“That was my response too, Henry, so I was glad to see that response posted immediately.”

And I’m glad I explained my meaning so there is no misunderstanding of it.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“But were they trained to punish patients who said bad things?”

No, staff don’t punish the mentally ill patients they take care of. The patients were secluded in a quiet room and protected from themselves and prohibited from harming others, as well as given medication. Hopefully that isn’t misconstrued by laypeople as a punishment.

Ann Althouse said...

"Sedairs and Maron with the threatening to leave crap. We all know now the threats are hollow and by a unanimous decision Trump isn't worth leaving the country over."

Sedaris was not threatening to leave. He's lived abroad for many years. He noted that he could easily change to a British passport at this point but doesn't because his heart is in America. And he also has a beach house in North Carolina, where his family vacations together.

It was Maron churning up the idea of leaving the country. Sedaris keeps politics very gentle, even when talking about his own father voting against gay marriage.

Maron blows a lot of hot air, but he gets a great interview out of people.

Sedaris is THE most interesting person to listen to speak. I can't even think of the competition. Love that guy. Such a fantastic mix of dark and light.

HT said...

It's obvious she is mentally distressed, I don't need David Sedaris to tell me that!

Inga...Allie Oop said...

There are public figures that say crazy and bad things that actually do cause other crazy people to do crazy things. Comet Pizza comes to mind. The shooting at the Planned Parenthood clinic comes to mind. Should Roseann be given a pass when she tweets insane shit that might encourage other crazy people?

The network was correct in cancelling her program, they never should’ve started it. I doubt they had no idea about the state of Roseann’s mental health.

DanTheMan said...

>>We warm our hands on their fire. Admire them as they burn.

DBQ, that is very well put. Very apt, and so sadly true...

J. Farmer said...

@Fernandistein:

People often socialize with co-workers, cow-orkers, clients or customers outside the work environment, but I'll bet you don't have a beer with your mentally ill clients very often.

And from what you see, are they good at creating anything other than confusion, chaos and disasters?


You are pushing on an open door with me. I already agreed with you. Remember the first two sentences before the one you quoted were: "That is very true. I should have phrased that better."

I don't think any mental health practitioner should have an outside relationship with their clients. Dual relationships are dicey situations. The fact that my clients are all involved with the legal system is another compounding problem.

But that said, "mental illness" is an extremely broad category that encompasses a wide array of behaviors. And many of them are fine, fun, lovely people.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Inga- Ann is saying she agreed with Henry, as we all do. Your response does not clarify in any meaningful way, it only makes it worse, especially calling his response to your ugliness "ugly." What a sack of crap.

rehajm said...

..when Kennedy announced that's he's gonna resign, meaning that Trump would get to appoint someone else to the Supreme Court, I thought...I thought, okay...well I'll just get my passport because I can get my British passport tomorrow if I wanted..

I don't know how that's anything but contemplating leaving, but whatever. Still- what bilge...


I bought Sedairs audiobooks, too until the diary one.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

If you're in Inga's psych ward and you rant and rave against Trump, you get more pudding.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“Inga- Ann is saying she agreed with Henry...”

No kidding genius.

JaimeRoberto said...

I pretty much assume that mental illness is a prerequisite for success in arts and entertainment.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

Bimbo, I’m sorry you don’t have the cognition to understand my meaning. I don’t hate you.

Balfegor said...

Re: Inga:

There are public figures that say crazy and bad things that actually do cause other crazy people to do crazy things. Comet Pizza comes to mind. The shooting at the Planned Parenthood clinic comes to mind.

There are indeed crazy people out there, susceptible to overheated rhetoric. But shouldn't the first incident you list be when James "Trump is a Traitor" Hodgkinson tried to assassinate the Republicans' Congressional leadership? I mean, if you actually want to be persuasive here. Incidentally, I did not notice any diminution in the fervour of invective against the President or Republicans after the attempted assassination.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

No Inga- you assumed your clarification was really great. LOL.

Gahrie said...

Ever heard of satire?

Offensive humor we're not supposed to find offensive? Wearing a Hitler mustache and baking symbolic Jews in an oven isn't exactly Twain or Swift.

Marcus said...

So now Inga is defending the sanctity of the National Anthem? Will wonders never cease?

BUMBLE BEE said...

The Jew who is most famous for "Nazis", Mel Brooks, was described by Anne Bancroft as "Manic Depressive". At times he'd be soooo depressed as to not be able to function. Roseanne is Jewish, and self identifies as "nuts", as does Tom Arnold. Springtime For Hitler In Germany ring a bell? He loved the idea of "Dancing Nazis".

Jamie said...

WRT Inga's response, I think it was the triumphant "Ha!" and the condescending "you people" that give rise to the reaction some of us had to it. Regardless of what she meant, it sounded as if she was saying, "She's a loon, and you were all too stupid to see it!"

Actually I think her response still reads like that, explanation notwithstanding. For such a short statement, the tone is exceptionally... well, mean.

Which dovetails nicely with the post on leaving Twitter, I guess.

Balfegor said...

Re: Bumble Bee:

Springtime For Hitler In Germany ring a bell? He loved the idea of "Dancing Nazis".

In retrospect, I don't think this is really much of a stretch . . . it's only a short hop from huge parades of Nazi stormtroopers in Hugo Boss high-stepping in sync below the gleaming sky-facing spotlights of Nuremburg to dancing Nazis on a Broadway stage.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“There are indeed crazy people out there, susceptible to overheated rhetoric. But shouldn't the first incident you list be when James "Trump is a Traitor" Hodgkinson tried to assassinate the Republicans' Congressional leadership? I mean, if you actually want to be persuasive here. Incidentally, I did not notice any diminution in the fervour of invective against the President or Republicans after the attempted assassination.”

The crazy man who shot up the Planned Parenthood clinic, during the time of the hidden tapes controversy in 2015 killed three and wounded nine, is high on my list of “what crazies do when prompted by hateful rhetoric”. Of course any reacting to hateful rhetoric with violence is to be condemned, by everyone.

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

"You know, Roseanne, what worries me is how your mother is going to take this."

- Nurse Inga

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

Roughcoat said...
I don't think Inga's comment was out of line.


It was solely an outlet for her first and only principle: partisan hatred. I think that's over the line by itself but the clearest step will be tomorrow when she criticizes someone else for nasty partisanship.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

““She's a loon, and you were all too stupid to see it!"”

Well, yes, to be honest, I was implying exactly this. I however was not implying you must hate her because she is mentally ill.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“So now Inga is defending the sanctity of the National Anthem? Will wonders never cease?”

And why shouldn’t I? I especially love hearing it played at events that I’ve attended when my daughter who is a lifer in the Navy gets awards and commendations.

Jim at said...

Of course any reacting to hateful rhetoric with violence is to be condemned, by everyone.

Bullshit. You dance on the graves of the victims if you can score partisan points by doing so.

Jamie said...

See, when I used "loon" as an idiom for the mentally ill that seemed to be what your comment was connoting, Inga, it was supposed to imply that you were denigrating not just your interlocutors here but also the mentally ill. I just couldn't bring myself to use any more cruel or distasteful idiot than that.

Jamie said...

So I'm glad you didn't mean it that way, even though it read that way to me.

walter said...

"Maron blows a lot of hot air"
Indeed.
I pulled an innocuous enough sounding podcast title recently and he began by prefacing it with a ridiculous apocalyptic diatribe.
Trump's going to drive him back to drinking..might be more funny drunk.

Jamie said...

Shoot! Whoops! IdioMMMM! Darn phone.

gilbar said...

i thought this was all settled by Igna's people Long Ago
If you are a dissident against The State; you are, by definition, Mentally Ill.
If it was good enough for the Soviet state; certainly it's good enough for the deep state.

Francisco D said...

"We don’t have to love and accept the demented things crazy people like Roseann say."

I wonder about your supposed medical credentials.

First, I agree with J. Farmer that she likely has a personality disorder. As we learned from Ted Millon, PDs are acquired through repetitive maladaptive reinforcement. In other words, she had a screwy life growing up.

Second, where does dementia come in? You have certainly cleaned the butts and bedpans of demented patients. It has nothing to do with a personality disorder.

Third, she is in touch with reality and has been a mostly productive citizen. She is not crazy.

The eagerness by which the Left villanizes those who have left the plantation (or were never on it) is sad. You are not people who sit on the moral high ground, no matter how much you preen.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“Bullshit. You dance on the graves of the victims if you can score partisan points by doing so.”

I’d do a pasodoble on yours!💃

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“I wonder about your supposed medical credentials. “

As I have about your credentials... many times. Are you going to tell the people here how you’d like to eat “Ritmo’s brain and my vagina” again?

LOL.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“Third, she is in touch with reality and has been a mostly productive citizen. She is not crazy.”

Wow, what a charlatan you are.

Ann Althouse said...

"It's obvious she is mentally distressed, I don't need David Sedaris to tell me that!"

Well, still... listen to it. He has a specific story to tell of something that happened to him involving her. It's useful to know.

Roughcoat said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Rick said...

What I pointed out was the “love” for her style of ugly hateful humor by those of you on the right.

The left was all for Roseanne when she spat during the anthem. Inga acts as though everyone she hates commits every act so she can claim hypocrisy without actually having to show it. But she would never apply such a principle to herself or her allies.

Note also her "humor" has become suddenly ugly and hateful as if that's what she conveyed all the time. In fact she is generally lauded for compassionate humor toward those often treated with contempt. Inga consistently invents whatever she needs to support her partisan attacks no matter how tenuously attached to reality. Compare Roseanne to Michelle Wolf's ugly and hateful humor. Roseanne has a generally supportive humor - if brash - which included some truly bizarre and outrageous outliers. Wolf is simply hateful and partisan which made her career.

Roughcoat said...

Talking about Nazi humor, how about the "Downfall" parodies. I find many -- actually, most -- of them hilarious, still.

And there's the venerable "Hogan's Heroes." Wacky hijinks in a German POW camp, it doesn't getting any better (more offensive?) than that, does it.

I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to go off the conservative reservation here and say I didn't find Inga's comment especially mean. Commenters here on my side of the fence have said things that were far meaner than what Inga wrote.

Also, I don't think Roseanne's comments are entirely or even primarily attributable to mental illness. I think they're mainly attributable to an obnoxious personality that was formed independently of being mentally ill. In other words: she's an asshole.

But she is, or can be, a very *funny* asshole.

Ann Althouse said...

Inga, you said something awful and got people talking, then you published — what? — 16 MORE COMMENTS JUSTIFYING YOURSELF.

It makes NO SENSE for one person to publish so many comments in a thread. You said something that sounded hateful and really wrong to me and to many other people, and yet you don't apologize, you just keep responding, comment after comment, as if you've got a lot to say and it's really interesting. Show some goddamn restraint.

HT said...

Yes I did, and it was kind of interesting - I liked the interview overall, I too love David Sedaris, and am now on a listening binge of recent interviews. What I heard during that segment was he referenced people who talk at you, like Bill Clinton. I think he included Roseanne in there.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to go off the conservative reservation here and say I didn't find Inga's comment especially mean.

I also didn't find Inga's comment to be mean to Rosanne. I found it to be typically reflexive, however. Knee jerk. A chance to poke at conservatives using any means necessary including someone else's pain and likely mental illness.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

Althouse, you are so transparent. You respond to Chuck and now to myself in this fashion while ignoring Drago and others who you are aligned politically with. Ugh, what a disgusting forum you provide and contribute to.

Ugh disgusting place. Yes it’s time I removed myself.

Roughcoat said...

Inga fights her corner: she pokes conservatives. We should respond by fighting our corners. By poking back.

Everybody has mental problems to some degree. But not everyone is an asshole. In fact assholes constitute a very small minority. Roseanne is one of them. Ain't no thang.

gspencer said...

Only Roger Rabbit can do the popped eye,

https://orig00.deviantart.net/2dfe/f/2010/292/4/8/roger_rabbit_by_danidarko96-d312cy0.jpg

Inga...Allie Oop said...

And Trump posts 22 tweets this weekend, the goddamn President Althouse loves so much.

LOL. What a dumb bitch you are Althouse. I’ve been restraining myself from saying that for a long time. How’s that for lack of restraint?

tcrosse said...

Jonathan Winters put in some time in a private mental hospital in 1959, and he was never quite so riotously funny after that.

Rick said...

But not everyone is an asshole.

The relevant point is that Inga is an asshole.

Rabel said...

"Show some goddamn restraint."

The best thing we can do is go on with our daily routine.

Rabel said...

"What a dumb bitch you are Althouse. I’ve been restraining myself from saying that for a long time. How’s that for lack of restraint?"

If Inga doesn't want to take her medication orally, I'm sure we can arrange that she can have it some other way.

Rabel said...

Cat fight, boys. Alert the media.

Rabel said...

This is more fun than a barrel full of Iranian monkeys.

walter said...

Left for a whole 5 minutes..only to return with "But Truuuummmpp!" and to call Althouse a bitch.
Fitting example for a mental illness discussion.

Francisco D said...

Inga is proudly arrogant in her ignorance and childishness.

She is dumber that Ritmo, but trying to outdo his manic boorishness. She is dumber than Chuck and trying to compete with him on arrogance. She is dumber than a box of rocks, but trying to be more dense. You go girl!

If she represents the current state of leftism, we probably have nothing to worry about.

tcrosse said...

Trying to get the last word in is a great killer of time, but it drives traffic.

Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...

After reading this thread, it's obvious that Roseanne hasn't exactly cornered the market on mental illness.

Drago said...

Inga: "Althouse, you are so transparent. You respond to Chuck and now to myself in this fashion while ignoring Drago and others who you are aligned politically with.."

I for one would like to compliment Althouse.

Not only is she an attractive woman, but a powerful one as well.

With just a few pixels at her disposal she can dispatch the ugliest of posters.

Drago said...

walter: "Left for a whole 5 minutes..only to return with "But Truuuummmpp!" and to call Althouse a bitch"

Someone start a GoFundMe to pay for LLR Chuck's and Inga's first date.

If those 2 kids can't get together and make it, what hope do any of us have?

Drago said...

Where is Laslo Spatula when you need him?

Scene: The first meeting of LLR Chuck and Inga at a quaint italian restaurant for dinner arranged by dually concerned and appalled "blind date setter-uppers" at Althouseblog...

Drago said...

Perhaps Laslo would instead opt for a "meet-cute" between LLR Chuck and Inga at a local organic food farmers market where Inga has purchased the last purple carrots Chuck was seeking and Chuck has just purchased the last pomegranates that Inga was looking for.....

Rosa Marie Yoder said...

Inga being a psych nurse (supposedly) explains a lot about Inga.

Roughcoat said...

Inga @ 3:47 PM:

*NOW* you're out of line. Now you're being an asshole..

tcrosse said...

Ugh disgusting place. Yes it’s time I removed myself.

We've heard that before.

Rosalyn C. said...

Thank you Ann, for finally saying what lots of us have been thinking. The entity behind the curtain has been finally revealed as not such a nice person after all.

Lumping all mental illness into a single diagnosis and then using that label to invalidate a person isn't something I would have expected to see educated people doing with so much public knowledge available.

I also looked at that photo of Roseanne as Hitler with cookies and lol'd. Maybe that makes me mentally ill too, or I just get Roseanne's humor -- Hitler proudly displaying his baking -- mocking Hitler for the maniac he was. Humor and mockery are the final blow against him and his reign of tyranny and horror. Roseanne is outrageous and funny. I think she's a good soul who doesn't self censor as much as most conventional people do. On top of that she has some serious family history.

Sydney said...

Re: the Sedaris story. When you're a celebrity, even other celebrities will let you do anything.

Jupiter said...

Roughcoat said...

"Everybody has mental problems to some degree. But not everyone is an asshole."

I beg to differ. Everyone is someone's asshole.

tcrosse said...

All of a sudden it's quiet. Too quiet....

Michael K said...

Inga is manifesting some serious paranoia and attacking the blog owner.

Don't get between the paranoid schizo and the door.

As the election gets closer and Mueller looks dumber, I expect Inga to go off like a Guy Fawkes rocket.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Michael K - Lol.

Narayanan said...

If comedy requires mental dysfunction, all comedians get a pass ... Unless they claim to be sane and we can pass judgement.

Let us now talk politicians ... Especially the humorless, irritating ones like Hillary ...

Dare Sedaris comment and keep his following??!!

Drago said...

tcrosse: "All of a sudden it's quiet. Too quiet...."

Did we just talk our way into a rhetorical box canyon?.....

Drago said...

Wnen it's this quiet you have to wonder if Elizabeth "li'l tomahawk" Warren is lying in wait along the ridge...

Narayanan said...

Only a demented person could imagine ... If Hitler had just taken up baking, made ginger bread men and decorated any which way, world would have been different?

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Um, because she and everyone who knows her said so?

Narayanan said...

Or only clever inventive mind.
We can laugh but with sadness not enjoyment.

Then be free to ask how did whole nation not catch on? And other nations' leaders.
And recognize Stalin for Hitler's soulmate.

Unknown said...

let me know what you doctors come up with

in your remote diagnosis

Rick said...

As the election gets closer and Mueller looks dumber, I expect Inga to go off like a Guy Fawkes rocket.

If you think the upcoming election will be amusing just think about Trump's re-election.

Lyle said...

He's right about Texas and the rest of the country.

stephen cooper said...

Unknown - not a doctor, here.

But .... Dislike ignited by internet arguments is not really dislike of the classical sort, the way one feels dislike for a sociopathic neighbor or for a cold neglectful parent.

On the other hand, it is probably not, as often as we would want, simply a by-product of simple performance art (as much as we would like it to be only that).

A couple days go by and it (internet anger) is all forgotten, unless - and here is where a real doctor, one better than Freud or Jung or Girard, steps in and explains - unless a heart has spoken to another heart.

So often on the internet the words that are words of scorn are meant to hurt, and the third party hopes that it was all performance art.

But time is limited, and words are real, whether spoken or written down, or typed into some sad little contraption that would have seemed like inconceivably advanced science fiction in the 1970s and now seems old and over-familiar and just fucking sad, so often, and, some day, we will either account for or apologize for every word of ours.

this, my friend, was my "remote diagnosis".


I like reading comments here because Ann is so level-headed and there are so many fascinating commenters with interesting back-stories I can only guess at. I can't really imagine how I would feel if I put myself out there day after day for people to riff off what I said, and if I saw so much anger.


I am better at this sort of thing in person - next time you go to an old folk's home, look at one of the residents in the eye for a long time - they are used to people avoiding their glance or their gaze - trust me, they are used to it, so used to it that they have forgotten that they once knew nobody should live that way (I Remember what they looked like 60 and more years ago) ---and say something remarkably kind. For example, the last kind thing I said to an old suffering person was this ---- she had just said to me, the poor baby, that "we are all blessed, God loves us all, no matter what our situation we need to remember that" and i said ---- "I am blessed too. Some of us suffer for others." Then we talked about other things, as if we had not just told each other the most profound truths ...... True story, but it had nothing to do with a remote diagnosis.

My best guess is that there are about 100 people who have tried their best to say to me, after some comment here or there on the internet (where my comment word quantity is about half a million by now) the most wounding thing they could, out of anger at some opinion I had expressed, And another hundred or more who have been kind. I have been called a faggot, a liar, a coward, stupid, arrogant, over-impessed with myself, way too serious, sad, lonely, stupid, and, my favorite, clueless.
I am morally certain that none of the people who tried so hard to be vicious would have lasted five minutes in a debate with me in the real world, and I hope that after ten minutes none of them would have wanted to argue with me, but would have preferred to, as people should, try to reach the truth by reasoning together.

Thus ends my remote diagnosis.




stephen cooper said...

Btw, I get "condescending" a lot too. "Who do you think you are?"

Just as wrong as all the others (i.e., faggot, liar, coward, stupid, arrogant, over-impressed with myself, way too serious, lonely and stupid).. think about it

We all know what the real criticisms of us are.

... and now Miss Bancock, the retired physical education teacher, is going to tell us about her efforts to get more women into professional hockey..."

stephen cooper said...

retroteevee2 part 3/3 "my son the feminist" "has agreed to step in and tell us about her efforts to get more women into professional hockey"

actually I only got condescending once, but it seemed a lot! "I'm not asserting anything!"

Guildofcannonballs said...

“If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as a Michaelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, 'Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.”

― Martin Luther King Jr.

Michael The Magnificent said...

Maybe she is, and maybe she isn't. That video was disturbing, but then she can also be quite rational and intelligent and in command of the facts.

Can a crazy person pretend to be rational and well informed? I don't think that is possible. I wonder if this is a medication or lack of sleep issue.

stephen cooper said...

Guildofcannonballs ---- thanks for understanding.

between you and me we have had the last 3 hours to ourselves on this thread, so .....

as for me have listened to St Louis Blues, I Think I Love You, Funeral For a Friend, 2 Evanescence songs, and the last 20 minutes of Mahler's Ninth, not to mention having engaged in or focused on, of future memories, conversations with fellow creatures, none of which will seem anything like old a 100 years from now trust me

nobody who has ever said anything nice to me will ever seem old 100 years from now

Albert Murray was right about the blues



Trumpit said...

"You're crazy" may be the original ad hominem argument. It is also usually ineffective. The erection of crazy Trump is an example. Reserve the "crazy" label for extreme cases like Charlie Manson. Trump's crazy, sometimes bellicose tweets are fair game nonetheless. Likewise, Althouse's loser Trumptard trolls are fair game for ridicule and the label "deplorable." They have no redemptive value, and should be relegated along with Trump to the dustbin of history.

narciso said...


Has Sedaris looked at his interviewer lately

https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/noel-sheppard/2013/11/25/larry-king-rush-limbaugh-playing-loose-deck

Ray - SoCal said...

At dinner my daughter and I talked about Roseanne, and the double standard reaction between what happened to her and that director. My daughter mentioned the medicine she was taking, Ambien, has a lot of side effects. Combine that with mental illness - wow.

It's interesting how the Left has basically developed ZERO TOLERANCE, and become Fascist, resorting to online mob violence. And the Republicans have more tolerance, usually. What a crazy world.

And the Left is overall doing a lot more violence than the right in the US, and I find that terrifying. And they are justifying that as something that is good! The shooting of the GOP Baseball Team is being memory holed. Same with all the violence by Antifafa and others at Trump rallies.

And Sarah Silverman just posted this, about the firing...
https://www.neonrevolt.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/firefox_2018-07-22_14-07-05_compressed.jpg

My guess is it will be VERY counter productive...

I wonder whom will be exposed next in Hollywood? There seems to be a lot of shady people in Hollywood, with the casting couch and more still strong. And it's not only Male/Female either.

stlcdr said...

Also, I don't think Roseanne's comments are entirely or even primarily attributable to mental illness. I think they're mainly attributable to an obnoxious personality that was formed independently of being mentally ill. In other words: she's an asshole.

But she is, or can be, a very *funny* asshole.


Having grown up watching Rosanne, and watching that ‘thought she was white’ video (which was, btw, hilarious) she just has a whacked out personality that a lot of people in show biz have. In this unfunny age, there is a lunatic fringe that wants to take you down, and a distorted media that is willing to do so.

daskol said...

I'm sure there are pages in the DSM that describe Roseanne very well. Sedaris too. Abnormal psych was one of the most highly rated classes where I went to college and was tough to get a seat. Would have made for an interesting conversation if, instead of attributing her tweet to Ambien and her failure to realize the bitch was white, Roseanne would have claimed mental illness and/or lingering affects of the brain damage she suffered in her teens. Instead of Sedaris explaining to us that she's on some mental illness spectrum, I wish Roseanne had done so right away, immediately upon being fired. That would have spun heads.

narayanan said...

How reliable/meaningful is the DSM? as much as MSM or more? = a circle jerk?

https://www.psychologytoday.com
The New Definition of a Mental Disorder
Is it an improvement or another brazen attempt to name a non-existing thing?
...
See how easy the definers of non-existing mental disorder have it. First they define it one way, as they did in the DSM-4: “A mental disorder is a clinically significant behavioral or psychological syndrome or pattern that occurs in an individual and that is associated with present distress or disability or with a significantly increased risk of suffering death, pain, disability, or an important loss of freedom.”

Then, under pressure by skeptics as to whether this definition made any sense whatsoever, they redefined non-existing mental disorders this new way in the recently released DSM-5:

"A mental disorder is a syndrome characterized by clinically significant disturbance in an individual's cognition, emotion regulation, or behavior that reflects a dysfunction in the psychological, biological, or developmental processes underlying mental functioning. Mental disorders are usually associated with significant distress in social, occupational, or other important activities. An expectable or culturally approved response to a common stressor or loss, such as the death of a loved one, is not a mental disorder. Socially deviant behavior (e.g., political, religious, or sexual) and conflicts that are primarily between the individual and society are not mental disorders unless the deviance or conflict results from a dysfunction in the individual, as described above."

Professional lady said...

There's something painful about watching Roseanne. Same thing with Kathy Griffin. There's just something very off - it's very sad to see people feeding whatever it is that's eating them up.

HT said...

I am what I suppose commenters here would call a leftist, and I want Roseanne back. I loved her show seasons 1-9, was intrigued by season 10, though it was different, flowed less, but looked forward to each episode, and am disappointed that she's no longer on the air. At all. I'm sure there are plenty of black actors and actresses who've had many a salty word for whites. Who cares. (And oh yeah, she thought VJ was white - whatever)

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

Sedaris is a freak, and obviously mentally ill himself. Oh, and he's not funny, unless your sense of humor inclines you to laugh at a retard.