... is having a deep emotional impact. I'm really only able to speak of the impact on me, but I'm a person in the middle, maintaining my skepticism toward everything that's being said these days, and I am watching my own emotions, having them, but then also being objective about them. And I can tell you that when I saw that picture, I felt revulsion.
I immediately scrolled it off screen, then realized what I'd done, and I went back to look right at it and decided to write this post. That's a brilliant choice of photograph. And there's no arguing with it. Sometimes a photograph is unfair, such as when the subject is in the middle of blinking or talking and the frozen moment is, essentially, out of context. But that is a picture of how Trump really looks (I think!) and there's something so unwholesome about him.
The photograph appears in the article, "With a Vocabulary From ‘Goodfellas,’ Trump Evokes His Native New York." There are facts in the article, such as:
“I know all about flipping,” Mr. Trump told Fox News this week. “For 30, 40 years I’ve been watching flippers. Everything’s wonderful and then they get 10 years in jail and they flip on whoever the next highest one is, or as high as you can go.”Those are facts that should be reported, but much more is going on in that article — the photograph, of course, as mentioned, but also putting Trump's quote in the context of gangsterdom:
[T]he president was... evoking a bygone world — the outer boroughs of New York City, where he grew up — a place of leafy neighborhoods and working-class families, as well as its share of shady businessmen and mob-linked politicians. From an early age, Mr. Trump encountered these raffish types with their unscrupulous methods, unsavory connections and uncertain loyalties.Raffish!
Mr. Trump is comfortable with the wiseguys-argot of that time and place....Argot!
Notice how with "raffish" and "argot" the NYT is displaying both its knowledge of and distance from the unwholesomeness of the.... outer boroughs. Oh! He's brought that disgusting stuff into our environs.
Environs! See? I am one of the NYT-reading people, feeling the revulsion, shrinking away, seeking higher ground.
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«Oldest ‹Older 201 – 226 of 226Andrew Sullivan puts Trump out of his mind:
Who else, by the way, do you know has spent four decades of his life “watching” the intricacies of mob round-ups? Yes, I know Trump made his fortune in part through the mob. They were regulars at his Taj Mahal casino, which was found to have “willfully violated” the money-laundering rules of the Bank Secrecy Act, was the subject of four separate IRS investigations for “repeated and significant” deviations from money-laundering laws, and was forced to pay what was then an industry record for the largest money-laundering fine. The Russian mob was critical to buying his real estate in secret as well. This is a president who has surrounded himself with criminals, especially Russian criminals, for decades. But still: the man who took an oath to enforce the laws of the land is openly touting the logic of mobsters in their battle with law enforcement. Before this presidency, that would have been inconceivable.
Yes, Gadfly. Everyone takes Andrew Sullivan seriously.
The unhinged quoting the demented.
Redonkulous. Trump is 72. I care more about the policies as I did not elect him to be a spokesmodel.
Have you looked at John Brennan? James Clapper? David Axelrod? Hillary Clinton? Loretta Lynch? Chuck Schumer? Mitch McConnell? Debbie Wasserman Schultz? Nancy Pelosi? John Lewis? Maxine Waters? Dick Durbin? These are not beautiful people and fully validate the rubric "politics is Hollywood for ugly people".
Getting women to vote with their "lady parts" instead of their brains is an actual policy of the Democratic/Progressive party. Good for you for noticing the New York Times attempt at manipulation. Have you noticed the same manipulation with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez? Some media try to make her really look good and some media highlight her crazywoman eyes.
Are we really going to cede the future of our country to George Clooney?
Revulsion? Althouse is entitled to change her perception of Trump solely based on a photograph in the NYTimes. After all, she is a women, and they are easily led.
Dit they call him 'Fatty fat fat', too?
I'm older than Trump. Old faces don't photograph well in respose, I've found to my dismay (and near constant cheerfulness of expression). That said, I thought he looked reflective and serene on the one the paper chose. If their mission was to cause revulsion -- always their mission, seemingly -- they selected badly.
Lewis Wetzel: I think that Trump is right about this -- you are blind if you don't see the hustler in Obama. And I think that explains Trump's harsh words and mockery of his GOP competitors in the 2016 primaries. They all wanted to convince you that they wanted to serve the public, that going into politics was a noble choice, when they had so many opportunities to become lawyers or corporate executives. Trump saw them as a bunch guys working a political hustle, and he beat them at that game.
I think that's a pretty good take. I don't find it odd that people would dislike Trump because he's a hustler, a Barnum. I just find it laughable that they look at the other guys and see serious, dignified, and (lol) intelligent public servants.
To paraphrase an observation buwaya has made, it's really just a matter of their taste in who they want flim-flamming them. In general, I suspect deplorables see the flim-flam in Trump a lot more clearly than their denigrators see the flim-flam in Obama, etc.
Barbara: If their mission was to cause revulsion -- always their mission, seemingly -- they selected badly.
Like everybody else here, I'm at a loss to see how this photo evokes the revulsion our hostess felt. I assume the attempt at evoking revulsion works on a select demographic. If preaching to the choir is the mission - or wrangling stragglers who are still "of the body" - the mission succeeds.
Revulsion really? I think that says a lot more about how you really feel about PDT than just the framing of the picture. I just see picture - unflattering for sure but revulsion? Perhaps your revulsion has more to do with constant barrage of negative news about PDT. Yes he deserves some of it - but a lot of it is really Fake and over the top.
gadfly has th goods on Trump !
When do you leave for Washington, big guy ?
I'm sure they need something so you could do the job for them.
The democrat propaganda machine is good at what they do, never forget that republicans.
NYT's doing a lousy job of it. I'm much happier with Trump now.
Every President shows the strain of their position. Most notably in the greying of their hair. Maybe Trump's dyejob will hide that, but I have noticed that he looks tired at times. By all accounts he has always been a workaholic. Melania didn't bother moving into the WH right away because she knew he would be buried in his work. No matter you have reached the pinnacle of power, the weight of the world is heavy. He is 72, and I expect he will show his age over 8 years. And the left MSM will play that up. The same was done to Hillary by the right during the election.
Although the media's constant focus is on the coup attempt, Trump is handling some pretty large issues. I think it's the weight of these that show, rather than the clownshow in the media.
Edward Bolger said...
Nice attempt at trolling, Ann
8/25/18, 12:27 AM
I really don't understand why people say things they don't really believe.
Blogger Rusty said...
Yes, Gadfly. Everyone takes Andrew Sullivan seriously.
The unhinged quoting the demented.
I don't call people names, so why do you find it necessary?
I quoted Sullivan because his writings are easy-to-read and, in this case, represent a succinctly accurate observation of Trump's criminal mind and lifestyle from the time Don joined his father's business.
It is sad that emotion got in the way during the candidate selection process.
@gadfly: I’m pretty sure that you’re unaware that Sullivan lost all credibility during Sarah Pain’s time on the political stage. He has made no effort to regain that credibility. Full stop.
Angle-Dyne suggests: I suspect deplorables see the flim-flam in Trump a lot more clearly than their denigrators see the flim-flam in Obama, etc.
As I asserted in another thread, regarding LBJ vs. The Kennedys, is really a difference of style and media propaganda whether corruption is recognized. Or not. Same could be said for Huey Long and his elite detractors.
Blogger gadfly said...
Blogger Rusty said...
Yes, Gadfly. Everyone takes Andrew Sullivan seriously.
The unhinged quoting the demented.
I don't call people names, so why do you find it necessary?
I don't know how insistent you are on the distinction between insulting and calling names, but I will observe that truth is a defense and that at least on the subject of President Trump, you are most certainly unhinged. No one is going to accept that your intense animus for PDJT is disinterested, so be a sport and tell us exactly how he peed in your cornflakes. Or show us on the doll, etc.
Some people still think a crowded D primary vs a Republican incumbent in August is an accurate measurement of voter intensity in November.
Then again, those same people dance on the graves of innocent victims in order to spew their partisan political shit.
I, for one, am glad Andrew Sullivan finally got his nose out of Sarah Palin's uterus long enough to focus on Trump's mob connections.
It's a start.
Maybe the Trump picture posted here is like the ink blot test -- where the interpretation is mostly in the eye of the beholder. Because, as Althouse found it to be revolting to her, I thought the man looked beaten down and tired, eliciting a sense of "pity" for him.
Since not everyone is revulsed, I wonder if this is a dog-whistle picture?
Maybe. What does Trump to look like in that picture? Like someone who has had Botox, years of seaweed facials, and a spartan diet of low fat tofu. He does not look like one of the beautiful people.
Revulsion. Althouse. Really?? He just looks serious and tired.
As for the NYT, and your stupid infatuation with it, stick it where the sun doesn’t shine.
What a silly, unserious person you are.
He looks pensive.
"...seeking higher ground."
Well, I'm not necessarily, generally speaking, sure that Upper Manhattan is the place to be, if we're gettin' snooty.
Althouse loves her metaphors.
“As for the NYT, and your stupid infatuation with it, stick it where the sun doesn’t shine.
What a silly, unserious person you are.”
It’s better than her stupid infatuation she had with Trump.
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