October 19, 2018

"This week, a friend texted me, 'I feel a panic that won’t stop.' I didn’t have to ask what she meant..."

"... we are, after all, less than three weeks from the midterms. '#MeToo,' I replied. Many women I know — though, of course, not only women — are walking around with a churning knot of terror in their stomachs. The confirmation of the cruel former frat boy Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court brought back the anguish and degradation so many of us felt after the 2016 election. Donald Trump grows more thuggish and mendacious by the day; 'gaslighting,' a term taken from a play about an abusive husband trying to drive his wife insane, has become a byword of our national life."

But who's the other person — the "husband" — trying to drive you insane? It sounds more like some new phenomenon, some kind of gaslighting yourself.

I'm trying to read the new Michelle Goldberg column in the NYT, "A Cure for Political Despair/Join the women trying to save America from Trump," but it's so hysterical and melodramatic. I guess you have to believe you're seriously ill before the proffered "cure" works. I'll bet there's some old play where characters believe some phony panacea worked because the purveyor of the cure began by duping them into thinking that they had a terrible disease. Which is to say: I'm not convinced there is a disease. But Michelle Goldberg sets up her pitch for the cure by asserting that America is full of women who are in a nonstop panic attack and feeling "a churning knot of terror." (What's a "churning knot"? Churning is an agitating movement, but a knot stops movement.)

So women (and some men)(at least those in the vicinity of Michelle Goldberg) are in some sort of horrid psychological state, perhaps because of a few political events (Trump's election, Kavanaugh's confirmation) and perhaps because somebody's trying to drive them crazy. But who?? Goldberg doesn't say. Goldberg vaguely gestures: "'gaslighting... has become a byword of our national life." But gaslighting means that you feel like you're going crazy because someone has a devious intent of making you feel crazy. If anyone is gaslighting here, it's Goldberg and her ilk, insisting that all the women she knows — come, join the group — are permanently panicked and have stomachs in a churning knot of terror.

The churning I'm seeing is an earnest and blandly ordinary effort to generate excitement about the upcoming elections. And after a few paragraphs, Goldberg settles in to this mundane business.
There is, I find, only one thing that soothes my galloping anxiety, and that is talking to women who are actually doing the work of campaigning. The people who are knocking on doors and organizing rallies tend to be much more cheerful and confident than those who spend too much time on Twitter obsessing over each new poll.
That is, now that I've made you gallopingly anxious, activate yourself and campaign for a Democrat. You'll become more cheerful and confident. Ah, yes, after a few more paragraph, she says it explicitly:
So if you, too, are scared, or furious, or despondent, find a Democrat close to you and go canvass for her (or him).... The only way to feel better is to do something to help.
Of course, it's not the only way. The other way is not to gaslight yourself in the first place.

ADDED: I'm just imagining one of these women coming to my door. I mean, I don't answer the door, because I'm picturing all sorts of characters I don't want to interact with, and now I have one more on my list. It's a woman who's been experiencing nonstop panic who believes the way to deal with her raging insanity is to get out and about knocking on doors. I am never answering the door again. Now, it's not just the kid selling bad peanut brittle and the environmental activist with the clipboard, it's the freaked out lady who thinks talking to me is some kind of cure for the churning stomach knots.

IN THE COMMENTS: Amadeus 48 said...
If I want to panic, I look for that old Blogging Heads episode with Althouse and Michelle Goldberg. Althouse is so sane; Goldberg is so crazy.

THIS WOMAN NOW HAS A COLUMN IN THE NEW YORK TIMES!! SHE'S ON MY DOORSTEP!! I'M GETTING A CHURNING IN MY STOMACH! I'M GOING TO RALPH!!!
Amadeus 48 then came back and said:
OMG! I just watched the later Althouse/Goldberg Blogging Heads from 2010(?).

Althouse, I am in awe. Sarah Palin's "Going Rogue" vs. "Dreams from my Father". Goldberg is as light as a feather. All hysteria all the time.

Well done.
Thanks. I just watched some of that. Very amusing from my point of view. Here:

186 comments:

Michael K said...

The Democrats can have a mass panic and let the rest of us get on with our lives,

I already voted.

iowan2 said...

I wonder if these people will ever come to the conclusion that the federal govt only has the power the people allow it to have. But, if...you demand the federal govt do things like define when life begins, or what marriage means, you have to live by the fact that the federal govt is your lord and master. I purpose that the federal govt can do only what the enumerated powers granted it by the Constitution.

I can't have any empathy for the uninformed that refuse to educate themselves.

RMc said...

I'm trying to read the new Michelle Goldberg column in the NYT (...) but it's so hysterical and melodramatic.

Um, you've read the NYT before, right?

tim maguire said...

A fake cure sounds like just the thing for a fake disease.* I interact with Trump-hating leftists every day and I still, after years of exposure to how these people think, am again and again astounded by the dark and ugly fantasy land they, who may be intelligent, thoughtful, and decent, in every other area of life, live in.


*Side effects include losing elections.

rehajm said...

The cheerful women knocking on doors are the ones that completely lose their shit when things don’t go their way. I mean so bad they might threaten to move to Canada.

Breezy said...

“The only way to feel better is to do something to help.”

If they would only apply this lesson to other aspects of their lives and not expect the rest of us to pitch in.

Darrell said...

They just need an enema.

clint said...

It must be pretty terrifying living in the world described on the nightly news and in the pages of the New York Times and Washington Post.

Saint Croix said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Shouting Thomas said...

Marxist feminists are determined to demolish the stereotype of women as bitches and nags by...

Relentlessly bitching and nagging.

Goldberg is Jewish. Who ever heard of a Jewish woman relentlessly bitching and nagging? Stereotypes are evil!

But they almost always seem to be on the mark.

Ron Winkleheimer said...

https://twitter.com/BostonBikers/status/1019769973516926976

Doug said...

But they almost always seem to be on the mark.
Which is why they are stereotypes in the first place.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

Who is gaslighting who here? Trump and his followers, Althouse included, have been trying to gaslight liberals for the last year and a half. Liberals are not feeling anything that most rational and realistic people who are not mired in Trump cultism feel. And since this article and post is about feelings, I’ll use the word. If you have a feeling of well being under this administration, you are deluded.

Darrell said...

Inga needs two enemas.

JML said...

The New Democrat: Bat shit crazy.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

An FYI, liberals never succumbed to your gaslighting, we knew full well what you were doing.

Michael K said...

An interesting essay by Codevilla about the present revolution and what might happen.

Were the Republicans to maintain nominal control of Congress, the Democrats would have a chance to rethink “resistance,” and open the door for some kind of moderate settlement. But it is difficult to imagine the ruling class reversing a course that has been set by how its character has evolved over a century, renouncing its pretensions and privileges, and treating the “deplorables” as fellow citizens. Likely, its pressures on the “deplorables” would continue, as would the Republicans’ failure to deal with them. Such a Republican “victory” would make it likelier that Trump would be the 2020 candidate. This would add its own level of uncertainty to the outcome.

Sydney said...

It's crazy, but the crazy is out there. I was talking to someone yesterday who had to end a friendship with a woman who kept getting angry with him for not sharing her Trump terror.

Linda said...

" . . . they might threaten to move to Canada".

This comment made me think back to all the people (stars and famous people) that threatened to move to Canada or elsewhere as a result of Trump winning - has anyone followed through?

Temujin said...

The Feminist movement morphed over time into a bizarre, anti-intellectual, self-mocking school of thought. I listen to them and cannot believe grown adults think like they do. Yet- it has power beyond it's borders and frankly- has become the fount of thought for the Democrat Party, Academia, Hollywood, Big Media, and most corporate HR departments.

We can laugh at them as crazy, keep the door closed when they knock, but they're already in your house. It's too late. They're like the pods in Invasion of the Body Snatchers. You went to sleep at night and woke up to find all the people around you look almost hypnotized, with blank eyes. Yet they move with a purpose and if they see you, they point their finger at you, open their mouths, and a horrible, shrieking sound comes out. Then others of their ilk come running at you, all pointing and shrieking.

Don't open your doors. Don't go to school. Don't turn on the computer. Just....watch the Brewers and hope it all goes away. Look for beer commercials. They are your safe haven.

tim maguire said...

Brett Kavanaugh is like George Bush--not only is he a better person than his critics claim, he's a better person than his critics.

Amadeus 48 said...

If I want to panic, I look for that old Blogging Heads episode with Althouse and Michelle Goldberg. Althouse is so sane; Goldberg is so crazy.

THIS WOMAN NOW HAS A COLUMN IN THE NEW YORK TIMES!! SHE'S ON MY DOORSTEP!! I'M GETTING A CHURNING IN MY STOMACH! I'M GOING TO RALPH!!!

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“I guess you have to believe you're seriously ill before the proffered "cure" works. I'll bet there's some old play where characters believe some phony panacea worked because the purveyor of the cure began by duping them into thinking that they had a terrible disease.”

I guess not. I guess this is Althouse gaslighting liberals. No liberal believes they are ill, or the sick shit that is happening under this administration is not as real as a heart attack. No Trumpists, all is not well, break out of your cultish thinking. We know who is suffering from some sickness, it’s you, not us.

Gaslighting fail.

Bill, Republic of Texas said...

So if you, too, are scared, or furious, or despondent, find a Democrat close to you and go canvass for her (or him)....

There's their problem right there. So to feel better, go campaign for a liberal Democrat in your deep blue neighborhood. This is professional level advice. Why not tell these women to stay home and just paste memes on Facebook all day. Be a Clicktavist!

Better to tell them to get out of their bubble and campaign for a Democrat in a close election. That could make a real difference.

Darrell said...

The insane always think they are the normal ones.
Exemplar? Inga.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“If I want to panic, I look for that old Blogging Heads episode with Althouse and Michelle Goldberg. Althouse is so sane; Goldberg is so crazy.”

I recall recently seeing a Blogging Heads where Althouse went bananas on some poor young woman, who was blindsided by Althouse’s over the top anger because Althouse felt disrespected by liberals. That was very telling.

Darrell said...

It's perfectly normal to summon witches to cast spells on people like Trump, like the Left has been doing. Hillary and that nutter running in Arizona have been a part of this.

Jersey Fled said...

Another day to be happy that I did not marry a woman like her.

I always try to imagine what what her husband must be like, if she hasn't driven him away by now.

Does she buy pussy hats from the BOGO rack?

Anne in Rockwall, TX said...

I'm trying to figure out what "sick shit" is happening under this administration. Enforcing the borders is sick shit? Tax cuts and more money in my paycheck is sick shit? Responding to hurricanes and floods is sick shit? Building up the broken military is sick shit? Treating the UN as the corruptocrats they are is sick shit?

Where the hell is the sick shit?

mezzrow said...

You will not be amused by the fact that this phenomenon has been long termed by yours truly as "high wackiness." It's like when my friend Stevie's mother and sisters would swear they heard a monster in the bushes and we would have to go out and see what was happening. No matter how much reassurance we would offer to them, they would not be reassured. In addition, they would not go look at the source of their fears. They would just bundle together and squee. Honest.

This can't last. The proponents of this play mistake their peak for some sort of permanence. We will find out if reality will continue to intervene, or if the fantasy lingers on for a few more thrilling scary moments.

rehajm said...

That was very telling.

What did it tell you?

Amadeus 48 said...

OMG! I just watched the later Althouse/Goldberg Blogging Heads from 2010(?).

Althouse, I am in awe. Sarah Palin's "Going Rogue" vs. "Dreams from my Father". Goldberg is as light as a feather. All hysteria all the time.

Well done.

Shouting Thomas said...

If you have a feeling of well being under this administration, you are deluded.

I'm pretty happy with 4% growth, a booming stock market, full employment, no new wars, and enforcement of the border. Couple of sane originalists on SCOTUS, too.

I can see why you're unhappy, Inga. Your dream of turning the U.S. into a shithole like Venezuela is currently on hold.

Nagging and bitching comes naturally to you. But, you really do up stupid, too.

It's a great era of peace and prosperity in the U.S. Pull the burr out of your ass and stop bitching and nagging about nothing. If you can. Women have a problem with that.

Guildofcannonballs said...

I used to think a regular here was showcasing his crazy as a way to gain sympathy and understanding, the idea being "look at what they have done, they made me crazy ergo you ought be angered and/or frightened by them or you will go nutso too!!!!" or something.

Emotion as an argument works sometimes, especially on the young, yet it does not work all the time and can create vicious emotional blowback, with emphasis on the blow.

Assistant Village Idiot said...

Mmm...peanut brittle.

Inga, what non-imaginary things are happening that didn't also happen under Obama? I grant that Donald is more insulting than Barack. What else you got?

Larry J said...

Annie C asked

Where the hell is the sick shit?


To the left, Democrats out of power is the sick shit. Democrats not getting to fill supreme court and other judicial vacancies with people who will rule from the bench is sick shit. People getting to keep more of their own money instead of giving it to government to buy votes is sick shit.

They could've had it all had Hillary not been such a terrible candidate that she couldn't win an election that was rigged in her favor. That's some sick shit right there. No wonder they're going batshit crazy.

David S said...

I think that both parties have equally gaslighted us.

Gaslighted us into thinking that they represent something other than the biggest corporations and the 10,000 or so wealthiest Americans.

dustbunny said...

I’m not in the US but I kinda wish I was there to open the door to one of these creatures just to witness their strange behavior in the flesh. What do they do when one tells them they’re insane?

Anne in Rockwall, TX said...

OKay, I found the sick shit.

GOP getting shot at a baseball practice, thugs burning cars and attacking deplorables, pussy-hatted women screaming at the sky, progressives (?) making up quotes by their woke kids, progressives (?) descending on administration people in restaurants and forcing them out, Congresswomen calling on all progressives (?) to never let republicans eat, shop or live in peace, students physically attacking conservative speakers, progressives(?) calling for the assassination of the lawfully elected president.

You're right Inga, there is some sick shit going on!

Inga...Allie Oop said...

Althouse engaged in a very insidious form of civility bullshit here with this post. No, liberals are not convincing themselves of anything that isn’t very real and this thing you’ve done here is only one more way of attempting to shame them into stepping down their activity, thus silencing them. She discounts what liberals see and react to and attempts to paint them as somehow gaslighting themselves. She’s done this repeatedly over the last year, while out of the other side of her mouth speaks about civility bullshit being used against her preferred group, Trumpists.

This is one of Althouse’s more hypocritical posts, not her best work.

Amadeus 48 said...

Althouse: "[Obama] is giving thoughtfulness a bad name."

Good times, good times.

Chuck said...

Well Althouse your criticism of Michelle Goldberg is certainly warranted. I agree with you and I think your analysis is wonderful.

But I wonder; do you ever watch the crazed emotionalism during some — not all — of the Fox News Channel day? Because Sean Hannity is to Trumpism what Michelle Goldberg is to leftism.

Jersey Fled said...

Actually liberals do not need gaslighting. They are already nuts.

rhhardin said...

Feminine panic is traditionally handled by talking with your husband, who's tasked with making your feel okay no matter how crazy you are at the moment.

Darrell said...

Don't be a fuckhead and vote Democratic.

This is the cure for sick shit.

Rob said...

I knew Trump’s election would cause dyspepsia to the NYT, the New Yorker and others of similar ideological bent, but I had no idea it would be this severe and long lasting. Am I a terrible person for so greatly enjoying their suffering?

Amadeus 48 said...

Chuck--you are right about Hannity, but you know what you are going to get if you turn on that show. Personally, I can't watch it.

JackWayne said...

When there is a War on Individualism, the people naturally fall into 2 groups; the good people who conform in their thoughts and demeanor and the people they deplore who do not conform. Failure to conform results in confrontation. The more the deplorable are confronted, the more they resist conformity. This is the churning knot. It’s a social construct that is as old as time.

itzik basman said...

Such a well written, incisIve post by Ms A.

For wit, intelligence and good writing—“churning knot,” really,?—MG is to Ms A as, say, Melmac is to Porcelain.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

I used to cringe when Michael Savage said "Liberalism is a mental disease," but the symptoms point towards validating that statement. More accurately, I would say "Progressivism is a mental disease," because Classical Liberalism is now called Far Right Conservatism as Progressives push themselves farther and farther left and into madness. Try saying "Women don't have penises!" in a crowded faculty lounge and see what has become of common sense among the intelligentsia.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

Amadeus 48 said...

THIS WOMAN NOW HAS A COLUMN IN THE NEW YORK TIMES!! SHE'S ON MY DOORSTEP

The paper holds their folded face to the floor,
And every day, the paperboy brings more.

Henry said...

The opposite of that obscure gaslighting play is Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca, in which the beleaguered young woman is actually being driven mad by her husband's housekeeper who idolizes the previous regime. Who then burns down the house.

Sebastian said...

Women's panic, like women's feelz generally, is just another prog tool.

Gahrie said...

but it's so hysterical and melodramatic.

Well at least it's authentically feminist.

cacimbo said...

Could never last more than a few minutes listening to Goldberg on blogginheads, her constant hysteria was so grating.

michaele said...

As a noble public service to others in your neighborhood, you should open the door and take up as much of the crazed canvasser's time as possible as possible. Nod your head endlessly, ask questions, voice agreement...do it "for the children".

FIDO said...

Because Sean Hannity is to Trumpism what Michelle Goldberg is to leftism.


Michelle Goldberg really rocks that pixie haircut and has a nice rack. Sean Hannity has a face built for punching.


That being said, Goldberg is crazy as a squirrel on meth, so yeah...look at the rack from afar.


And she is aging poorly. All that anxiety (who heard of a neurotic Jewess?) is aging her quickly. She should move somewhere more in keeping with her philosophy like Cuba.

Anne in Rockwall, TX said...

How massively screwed up must you be to base your mental health on who is in the white house, congress or the courts. Are people really that insane?

Gahrie said...

Trump and his followers, Althouse included, have been trying to gaslight liberals for the last year and a half.

You cannot gaslight the authentically crazy and hysterical. "Yeah, I'm behaving like a crazy hysterical bitch, but Trump made me do it!"

Henry said...

I'll bet there's some old play where characters believe some phony panacea worked because the purveyor of the cure began by duping them into thinking that they had a terrible disease.

The Music Man

Gahrie said...

If we get hit with a red wave instead of a blue wave will the Democrats finally move on to acceptance?

Darrell said...

If we get hit with a red wave instead of a blue wave will the Democrats finally move on to acceptance?

They usually double down. The outrage is faux, you see. They want people to get sick of the squawking, and give them their way.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

And as for the rest of you antisemites and sexists, you can’t critisize Goldberg based on her commentary, you feel the need to use her sex and ethnicity against her. This is what Trumpism has wrought.

robother said...

Ask not for whom the doorbell rings. It rings for #MeToo!

AndyN said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

If you have a feeling of well being under this administration, you are deluded.

I have a feeling of well-being because I'm well, my life is going smoothly, my customers have money to spend because they are working, and God continuously blesses me. In 2010 things were a little rough after the ACA caused medical device manufacturing to flee America. But still, I had feeling of well-being because my FEELINGS are not dependent upon who holds office. And 92% of the country is just as happy to ignore politics and enjoy their lives as I am.

Where did that figure come from? I read a survey that 6% of Republicans are super-active and 8% of Democrats are super-active, to the point these people feel like their whole being are somehow tied to politics and elections. That sounds like you, Inga. You allow yourself to be driven by politics to the pint it assumes overall importance in your life and (presently) everything bad you can trace back to Trump. There's a few more around Althouse Blog like you. Maybe 8% of the commenters. But ordinary people do not behave that way or see the world through a political lens. Those that do tend to project their pathologies on the rest of us. When you start diagnosing "delusion" in others on the basis of political disagreement then you may want to step back and reevaluate your life. Normal people do not live in a constant panic over who may or may not be elected. Panic is an emergency response system, not a state of wellness.

Remember, Chicken Little was wrong. And he panicked because he was ignorant.

Amadeus 48 said...

"This is what Trumpism has wrought."

Come on, Inga, take your blinders off. Look at what your team has said about Sarah Palin, Condoleezza Rice, Nikki Haley, Betsy DeVos, Candace Owens, Susan Collins, etc.

It isn't Trumpism. It's the zeitgeist.

AndyN said...

I'll bet there's some old play where characters believe some phony panacea worked because the purveyor of the cure began by duping them into thinking that they had a terrible disease.

Scene: Hillary Clinton steps off a train in a (non-flyover country) small town and waylays a local rube...

Hillary: "Say stranger, name's Professor Hillary. Have you heard about this fellow Trump? He's made millions in New York City opening pool halls. You know what happens in pool halls, don't you? Men and boys shoving sticks around, driving things into holes, drinking beer, laughing uproariously... And now he's trying to open pool halls all over the country. And worse yet, he's buying his pool tables from those dirty commies!"

Rube: "Oh my stars and garters! People opening businesses where customers can enjoy themselves! What are we to do?!?!?!?"

Hillary: "I have just the cure. Hire me and I'll bring you all together to make beautiful music, and I'll even get other people to pay for the instruments!"

Final scene: Ma and Pa O'Rourke stand amid a cheering throng, Ma clutches Pa's arm as their son marches into sight...

Ma O'Rourke: "Pa! Pa! Look at our boy Beto banging on his drum! He's the best ever! And to think a month ago nobody'd ever even seen him hold a drumstick!

Nearby objective reporter: "And his smile is soooo dreamy!!!"

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“You allow yourself to be driven by politics to the pint it assumes overall importance in your life and (presently) everything bad you can trace back to Trump.”

More civility bullshit. You use gaslighting to try to make me feel I am unusally engaged in politics, unlike the rest of you folks. I am neither more nor less driven by politics than you are.

LOL, another gaslight fail.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

You see, gaslighting doesn’t work on people who are well grounded in reality and secure in their observations.

stan said...

Her hatred has driven her insane. Along with most of the left the last few years. Hateful, crazy and arrogant is no way to go through life.

wild chicken said...

The galling thing about Hannity (besides his inane run-on sentences) is that he never gave one goddamn about Trumpian issues like immigration until he realized how his audience was leaning.

Same for the other talkers. The only ones who cared were mostly writers - Kaus, Sailer, Steyn, and on TV there was Lou Dobbs.

buwaya said...

When that sort gets anxious they text each other and write articles for the NYT, or something.

When the other side gets anxious they buy another thousand rounds of ammunition.

Darrell said...

Inga is well grounded in reality.
The funniest thing you will read all day.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

More civility bullshit. You use gaslighting to try to make me feel I am unusally engaged in politics, unlike the rest of you folks. I am neither more nor less driven by politics than you are.

So hysterical ranting isn't evidence of anything awry, but my suggestion you step away from hysterical ranting and finger pointing is wrong? You called us delusional because we aren't enraged like you. You chose to wear a pussy hat in your icon last year, not me. You still have Melania's coat as your avatar now. I use a photo my wife took of me in Santa Monica. So really, your denials of being politically hysterical are self-refuting, by your own words and deeds, lady. Yes this is redundant.

How am I gaslighting you? Please be specific. Show me on this doll where the bad words hurt you.

Darrell said...

If gaslighting doesn't work on Inga, maybe just the gas would do the trick.

TrespassersW said...

Inga...Allie Oop said...
Who is gaslighting who here?

"Gaslighting or gas-lighting is a form of mental abuse in which information is twisted or spun, selectively omitted to favor the abuser, or false information is presented with the intent of making victims doubt their own memory, perception, and sanity."

Given that definition, I'd have to say the gaslighters have been the raging left and the Lickspittle Media (BIRM).

Phil 314 said...

It’s sad when I look forward to hurricanes because there will be extended times (as in over a minute) when the word “Trump” is not mentioned.

And in those rare moments we have something besides “Trump” to blame.

Chris N said...

Inga demonstrates what everyone who chooses to believe in victimhood as a universal eventually does: Appeal to authority and ‘power’ when it suits your immediate interests, but turn on the same authority eventually, because you have not chosen to become sovereign of your own choices.

The bad ideas allow and encourage such people to become bad masters of their own passions, disrupting often legitimate internal and external authority with what is, essentially, an endless tantrum.

Otto said...

The more you fisk the feminist Goldbergs of our day the more you fisk yourself.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Thank you, Roy. It is good to remember that RESTRICTING ACCESS TO THE TRUTH is an essential element of gaslighting.

Inga is correct then. I really have been throttling back her internet so she can't suss out the truth about Trump. And I cut all the positive press for Democrats out of her newspaper before the papergirl throws it on her porch. And the only cable channel Inga gets is Fox News so she can't learn the truth from Maddow and Acosta. And I started a whisper campaign amongst her neighbors just so they would refuse to give her "the real story." We've done as good a job as possible of keeping Inga in the dark precisely for this moment in time, the most meaningful midterm elections in the history of the world!

Yeah. That's not crazy at all.

Jeff Brokaw said...

Trump Derangement is confirmation bias, nothing more. The longer they talk about it, the more they show that they are the crazy and dangerous ones. They keep missing good opportunities to shut up.

She’s right about one thing though: spending time online and allowing yourself to get all worked up about it, and then doing nothing to address those feelings, is a recipe for madness, anxiety, and depression. If it came in a pill we’d be talking about how horrible it is. Go for a walk or a workout, get off Twitter, live a normal life and don’t feed the passive-aggressive trolls.

h said...

"Men,[and women] it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, and one by one."

"We go out of our course to make ourselves uncomfortable; the cup of life is not bitter enough to our palate, and we distill superfluous poison to put into it, or conjure up hideous things to frighten ourselves at, which would never exist if we did not make them."

"We find that whole communities suddenly fix their minds upon one object, and go mad in its pursuit; that millions of people become simultaneously impressed with one delusion, and run after it, till their attention is caught by some new folly more captivating than the first."

MacKay Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

Some folks go door to door spreading their insane ideas, some have a blog.

buwaya said...

Concrete personal actions are the healthiest. It improves your sense of security and serves as a fallback plan, perhaps never to be invoked, but there at need.

I moved a large fraction of our assets abroad last year, as a family fallback vs US instability, and of course passports. But that suits me, a foreigner and expat.

The rest of you with such anxieties, like Goldberg, have concrete options for fallback plans. What I dont see is any discussion of them. Or even scenario analyses.

The guys who buy a thousand rounds extra have a scenario or set of scenarios in mind, at least, they are preparing to gird on a sword, should worst come to worst. Thats a plan. The Goldbergs and Ingas dont seem to think of scenarios, or plans.

Gordon Scott said...

Sadly, some folks fail to realize they're being gaslighted into thinking someone is gaslighting them.

Tom Grey said...

Trump keeps trying to save these women by telling the truth.
The Fake News media,
fully of hysteria,
Is trying to gaslight women.
To drive them insane,
To make them deranged.

To make them suffer.
To suffer from Democrat Derangement Syndrome.

Bay Area Guy said...

2 small editorial insertions below:

"I'm trying to read the new Michelle Goldberg column in the NYT, "A Cure for Political Despair/Join the DELUSIONAL LEFTWING women trying to save America from Trump," ......

Paul Zrimsek said...

This is that strange time of year when the doorbell rings and you think, please let it be a Jehovah's Witness.

Gordon Scott said...

Paul wins the internet today.

Basil Duke said...

True story: In May of 2017, a fellow bar patron began ranting about the inevitability of Uncle Donnie's impeachment. "That motherfucker is going DOWN!!!" the man thundered. When I asked him to specify the charges to which Trump would succumb, he bellowed: "Russia!!! Treason!!! Emoluments Clause!!!" I then asked him for a time frame. "Soon! This summer!" came the reply. I immediately bet the deluded idiot one hundred dollars (U.S.) that Trump would NOT be impeached by July 4, 2017 - roughly six weeks away. He accepted. I collected one hundred American dollars from the jack wagon on July 5. Trump hate had skewered the guy's brain like a javelin, and he was simply incapable of rational thought. I almost felt bad about taking his money. Almost.

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

Dont Boo! The lefties are scared!!

Yancey Ward said...

You think they are crazy now, just imagine what it might be like if Goldberg's friend's nightmare turns out to be true and the Democrats fail to win the House and lose seats in the Senate. Could I get a schadenfreude booster shot.......my previous shot was starting to wear off after almost 2 years.

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

i hope Galloping Anxiety wins the Triple Crown.

So much winning!

Fernandinande said...

"panic that won’t stop churning knot of terror Please disable your ad blocker gender chasm Please disable your ad blocker Trump won penis in a professional wrenching speech imploring force women rape and incest blew up her life depressing demoralizing demoralization Fascism Works gender hierarchies cosmopolitans corruption existential threat"

My diagnosis: ha ha.

Amadeus 48 said...

"Some folks go door to door spreading their insane ideas, some have a blog."

Some persistently post inane comments on another's blog.

Never change; never go away.

Yancey Ward said...

You gotta hand it to Inga- she can read what Althouse wrote and totally miss the point in comment after comment. That kind of obtuseness has got to be a special talent.

Amadeus 48 said...

By the way, what would you do if Michelle Goldberg came to your door?

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

Doctor, my hypochondriasis has flared up--give me the strongest placebo you got!!

mockturtle said...

So this is what empowered women sound like? The #MeToo-ers have made mockery of the movement many of us worked hard for in the 70's.

And Temujin is right:
We can laugh at them as crazy, keep the door closed when they knock, but they're already in your house. It's too late. They're like the pods in Invasion of the Body Snatchers. You went to sleep at night and woke up to find all the people around you look almost hypnotized, with blank eyes. Yet they move with a purpose and if they see you, they point their finger at you, open their mouths, and a horrible, shrieking sound comes out. Then others of their ilk come running at you, all pointing and shrieking.

Caligula said...

""This is what Trumpism has wrought."

It's not "Trumpism," it's the refusal to accept that Trump won the election that's creating the crazyness.

"Can't we just make it go away" is crazy, magical thinking. You can ignore reality (how much does the presidency actually affect anyone's day-to-day life, anyway?) but demanding that reality just go away is not gaslighting, it's self-induced insanity.

In any case, the Great Divide here is not so much between men and women as between married and unmarried women, as the nuttier, more hysterical, "OMG Trump can't really be president, can he?" varieties of feminism are vastly over-represented among the unmarried.

MadisonMan said...

@rhhardin @727, that was perfect.

I would say that if you live in an echo chamber, like Michelle Goldberg and her ilk, the cacaphony will drive you around the bend. My Rx for her and her perturbed friends would be to seek out the good and don't fixate on the bad.

gahrie said...

You see, gaslighting doesn’t work on people who are well grounded in reality and secure in their observations.

Yeah...but what does that have to do with the Left?

buwaya said...

The degree of anxiety exhibited in these cases is of the sort that,on the other side, explains the numerous videos explaining how to bury caches of weapons and ammunition in such a way as to preserve them for several years. Or the stockpiling of a years-worth of freeze-dried food for the family.

It would be a healthy outlet for such as Goldberg and Inga to do so, to pack a waterproof box and bury it the garden, perhaps in a flowerbed. The contents thereof can be left to the imagination, to suit the specific, personal nature of the anxiety.

Its interesting that the very common male response, of stockpiling weaponry, is not really to prepare for a personal response to cataclysm but to contribute to a collective one. That is, personal preservation is beside the point, no matter what the stock-piler says. This is an understudied phenomenon, to say the least.

pokerone said...

Henry, thanks for the Music Man clip, perfect on a sunny morning.

Perhaps it is time to re-read, "The Madness of Crowds and other Popular Delusions."

If you haven't had enough of Elizabeth Warren you can watch her debate Republican opponent, Geoff Diehl tonight at 8:00 PM, streaming on WBZ.com. Don't take my word for it, check listings for times and sites, details are becoming blurred as we move into the final two weeks of campaign season. Just 17 days left till November 6, 2018.

Jupiter said...

buwaya said...

"When the other side gets anxious they buy another thousand rounds of ammunition."

Well, I wouldn't really say I was all that anxious. But I did just buy 1000 rounds of 45 ACP. It was on sale.

Jupiter said...

Isn't Goldberg a little old to be so concerned about losing her access to abortion? Women her age are more often found spending small fortunes to try to get pregnant. Maybe she's an illegal immigrant? What's her problem, anyway?

Cassandra said...

I'm trying to read the new Michelle Goldberg column in the NYT, "A Cure for Political Despair/Join the women trying to save America from Trump," but it's so hysterical and melodramatic.

Well, it *is* Michelle Goldberg. Just sayin'.

That's kind of what she does. Lord, I am so tired of these idiots.

JohnAnnArbor said...

These people consider themselves serious citizens?

Get.
A.
Grip.

Kirk Parker said...

Everybody needs to back off on Inga. She learned a new word! Let her enjoy using it.

buwaya said...

There is an aspect of urban living and its fundamental insecurity in this anxiety response, possibly. Its not easy for apartment dwellers to cache, to store, or to exist for even a month without the complex systems that keep them alive.

A suburban lot, even, a house with a garage, offers storage and independence options that apartments don't.

And the generational mindset that is created by such an urban existence plays a role too.

buwaya said...

A conservative anxiety-response in an urban setting is a bit of an absurdity.
It amounts to being like Charlton Heston in "Omega Man".
Which is an excellent analogy for the personal situation of a conservative in a leftist city by the way.

Jason said...

Inga's reading like the best parody account since America's Politico!

JAORE said...

Not answer the door?

Oh hells no. I'm answering the door, inviting her in, asking her what sorority she pledged (implying I'm a frat boy of old), calling her sweetums and asking her if she wants "just one" beer.

Bay Area Guy said...

Personally, I would not sleep with Michele Goldberg. I have an aversion to unattractive, hysterical, NYT writers. But that's just me.

We need some selfless, brave male to step up and help Ms. Goldberg out of her self-induced panic attack. I would suggest that a good long night of consensual love-making -- divorced from any and all discussions about Trumpian politics -- might just do the trick.

Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

Sam L. said...

So, really, women ARE hysterical? Some of them, anyway. Reading the NYT is gaslighting yourself, seems to me.

JAORE said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
buwaya said...

Michelle Goldberg is not unattractive (turn off the sound). Or she was fairly attractive eight years ago. She could carry off the gamine thing, probably. Certainly could have, in her 20's.

The video uses a rather wide-angle lens emphasizing her nose, and she is much too close for the lens she was using, which is an error. Althouse wisely or fortunately set a longer effective focal length and sat further back.

Ken B said...

I went down, down, down
To that churning knot of terror
I went down down down
And the churning knot went higher

mockturtle said...

Nicely done, Ken.

mockturtle said...

Buwaya observes: There is an aspect of urban living and its fundamental insecurity in this anxiety response, possibly. Its not easy for apartment dwellers to cache, to store, or to exist for even a month without the complex systems that keep them alive.

And they can be isolated, cut off from supplies and kept under siege for as long as it takes. Funny how food can't be downloaded onto a smart phone. Drones? Easily shot down.

Bay Area Guy said...

@Buwaya,

Michelle Goldberg is not unattractive (turn off the sound). Or she was fairly attractive eight years ago.

8 years ago?! That's 56 in dog-years.

(Ba-da-bing)

Anne in Rockwall, TX said...

Everyone that knows me agrees that I should never sing.

I read Ken's 11:08 comment and got in the shower. I was doing my very best Johnny Cash while soaping up when from the other side of the door I hear the most mournful "aawwoooooooooooo" I have ever heard.

Apparently my Labradog agrees as well. Thanks Ken!

Michael K said...

Because Sean Hannity is to Trumpism what Michelle Goldberg is to leftism.

Not a bad analogy. I don't listen to or watch him but he did do a good job of jumping on the Trump train.

I still remember Mark Levin and Michale Medved going on with NeverTrump rhetoric. They got over it.

People like Inga seem to exist mostly in blue cities. I haven't lived in an apartment since medical school but I got out of California when it started to get too crazy. Tucson is a pretty blue city, what with the university and all, but I still have my CCW permit.

We have an acre, and my wife had to get used to no sidewalks and no street lights.

Much calmer. Grandkids are driving distance.

FullMoon said...

Ya know, since collusion seems to have disappeared, gaslighting has arisen.
The optimistic right sees good things happening, sunshine and rainbows.
The pessimistic left sees doom and gloom, bad things gonna happen any time now

Birkel said...

I congratulate Royal ass Inga on learning to spell a new word.
Tomorrow maybe she will learn the definition.

Baby steps.

LA_Bob said...

"The Goldbergs and Ingas dont seem to think of scenarios, or plans."

Is that just a nice way of saying, "Much easier to bitch about it".

FullMoon said...

Cool, calm, collected. Reasonable. Non-hysterical. Rational TYPICAL.

Inga 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?

7/23/18, 3:47 PM

Arashi said...

So what in the hell is Inga smoking? The only sick shit I see on a daily basis is the left's inability to accept an election they lost, and as a result, they engage in increasing levels of violence against everybody that does not conform to their biased view of the world.

Maybe Inga could share some concrete examples of the sick shit and drop the 'gaslighting' meme of the daily leftitst talking points. But I sincerely doubt it.

I sit here, looking out the window of my home office, at the beautiful fall day here in the Pacific Northwest, and wonder if the crazy on the left is ever going to peak.

Michael K said...

The question of the day is is Inga an NPC ?

Arashi said...

Hmm... An NPC created by the Chinese, to spew the daily leftist talking points? Perhaps genned by the Russian troll pharms? Maybe created and maitianed by one of the many Soros funded NGOs?

Or maybe just a die hard leftist who cannot accept the election and move on, who gets all her data from the NYT, CNN, etc?

Cassandra said...

You know what seems insane to me? Paying attention to what Donald Trump says on Twitter. Good Lord - who cares? When you get to the point that tweets are occupying your thoughts, there's something wrong with your perspective.

Speaking of which, being hysterical and melodramatic seems to be a job requirement for NYT columnists, male or female.

I have a recurring nightmare in which their op-ed staff somehow pair off, breed, (but only after consulting their respective attorneys and signing innumerable consent forms and hold harmless agreements), and produce offspring.

Who is going to employ these kids when they grow up? One suspects they'd be too unbalanced even for the NY Times.

Howard said...

Liberals and feminists have really fucked over women by coddling and have set back their assimilation into the white American male economy by a decade at least.

FIDO said...

And as for the rest of you antisemites and sexists, you can’t critisize Goldberg based on her commentary, you feel the need to use her sex and ethnicity against her.


I don't dislike her because she is a woman, or a Jew. I dislike her because she is a crazy feminist scold who has some mental issues and brings them to the entire readership of the NYTs.

Michael K said...

Who is going to employ these kids when they grow up? One suspects they'd be too unbalanced even for the NY Times.

Universities and HR departments of major corporations.

Jim at said...

You see, gaslighting doesn’t work on people who are well grounded in reality and secure in their observations.

Stupidity exceeded only by arrogance.
What a glorious combination.

Drago said...

Michele Goldberg, like all lefties, supports the wife-beating democrat senator from Ohio who has now been credibly accused of sexual assault.


Inga, LLR Chuck and Michele Goldberg dont believe a single thing they lecture us about.

They are just here to smear, as LLR Chuck explicitly admitted on this very blog.

Bay Area Guy said...

Cassandra sez:

You know what seems insane to me? Paying attention to what Donald Trump says on Twitter. Good Lord - who cares? When you get to the point that tweets are occupying your thoughts, there's something wrong with your perspective.

Bingo!

The country has 330 Million people, and has a yearly GNP of $19 Trillion (that's Trillion with a "T").

Given this vast number of people and enormous amount of wealth and productivity, what kinda clueless, deranged loser would spend their time focusing on a Trump Tweet?

It's the equivalent of spending a honeymoon with Cindy Crawford in Cabo San Lucas, and spending the entire week using a microscope to examine her mole.

Bill Peschel said...

Let's have some perspective here on what really constitutes abuse. For example, last night, I came up from the office, and preparing for our nightly walk. My wife was not particularly happy. She seemed down, distant.

During our walk, I learned why. She had picked up the Canadian Maclean's magazine (from the library) and read a story. A novelist had written about an isolated Mennonite community in Bolivia where ... let the magazine explain it:

"Between 2005 and 2009, a group of men—seven eventually went on trial—regularly used an anaesthetic developed by a local Mennonite veterinarian to gas entire households into unconsciousness. They would then enter the homes and rape the girls and women. Hundreds of females, from three-year-olds to the elderly, would wake up in pain, bruised, bleeding and sometimes pregnant. Until two perpetrators were caught entering a victim’s house, the colony elders attributed the assaults to demons or ghosts, or God’s punishment for sins, or the women’s own imagination."

Jeeze, no wonder she was upset. I was upset.

That's real misogyny. That's real abuse. That's real gaslighting. That's plain evil.

It's no wonder women can get lit up when they see Kavanaugh accused of abuse. Once the emotions get riled, there's no controlling where it's directed.

Unfortunately, it takes sober thinking and a sense of fairness to realize that gassing women and girls until they are unconscious and raping them is not in the same universe as throwing ice during a bar fight (which was unproven) or awkwardly roughhousing with a girl (which was unproven).

Jim at said...

I sit here, looking out the window of my home office, at the beautiful fall day here in the Pacific Northwest, and wonder if the crazy on the left is ever going to peak.

Nope. Especially not where we are.

Ann Althouse said...

"I recall recently seeing a Blogging Heads where Althouse went bananas on some poor young woman, who was blindsided by Althouse’s over the top anger because Althouse felt disrespected by liberals. That was very telling."

The woman — who isn't poor or meek or a little baby in need of protection — is Garance Franke-Ruta. And if anyone was blindsided, it was me, because she brought up an old incident that would take a lot of explanation to make sense of. I took her to task for bringing it up. I should have taken the time right then and there to explain the entire incident, which I have considered doing this week because of the attention to Bill Clinton's long pattern of sexual harassment. Instead, I decided to call her on bringing up something in a way that could only be dealt with by my going into a long explanation that wouldn't really have been what we were supposed to be talking about.

Here's the explanation, briefly: I was very interested at the time in the independence of political bloggers and very optimistic about blogging. So it troubled me that the 2008 Hillary Clinton campaign was undermining the independence of bloggers by making them feel like insiders, treating them to a meeting with Bill Clinton. It might have been okay if they'd kept an arm's length from him, but they were just gushing out stupid PR about his blue eyes and the "Southern chicken" they got to eat. And I have long wanted feminists to oppose Bill Clinton, because of the sexual harassment and rape, so I really hated seeing him getting young women willing to pose with him looking as though they felt lucky to be near him.

The photograph of the bloggers with Clinton was funny because one blogger, Jessica Valenti, was right in the middle of the photograph and actually blocking much of the view of Bill Clinton, whom all of the bloggers wanted to be seen posing with. So it was ridiculous of her to pose so centrally like that and bad of her as a feminist to be posing not only with him but seemingly for him. And he was looking down at her in a possibly leering way, quite red-faced. She was somewhat similar looking to Monica Lewinsky, so it was an awful image for a lot of reasons — for Valenti, for the other bloggers at the lunch, for Bill Clinton, and for Hillary.

Liberal bloggers joined forces to crush me, pushing the meme that I was talking about JV's breasts. JV later complained that blogging her name brought up words like "boobgate," but that was a consequence of the people who were swarming me.

Of course, I got re-swarmed after that Bloggingheads. There were a lot of people who tried to crush me, and I didn't fight for myself hard enough, and yet, I'm still here.

mockturtle said...

One suspects they'd be too unbalanced even for the NY Times.

No, that's not possible.

Bay Area Guy said...

Inga wrote: "I recall recently seeing a Blogging Heads where Althouse went bananas on some poor young woman, who was blindsided by Althouse’s over the top anger because Althouse felt disrespected by liberals. That was very telling."

Yeah, I saw that video. Althouse got pissed, and rightfully so! She came in good faith to discuss and debate ideas, and the other lady tried to casually drop a turd in the punch bowl, and run away from it. Some jive about some past controversy - a classic "hit and run."

Althouse is truly a national treasure!

Bill Peschel said...

Althouse, I went looking for the Valenti photo, which led me to a couple of bloggers criticizing you over it. Both of them were experts in Missing the Point, and neither of them blog anymore. Neither of them had no audience, either, judging by their lack of commenters.

If you can't beat the bastards, outliving them is the next best thing.

FIDO said...

The photograph of the bloggers with Clinton was funny because one blogger, Jessica Valenti, was right in the middle of the photograph and actually blocking much of the view of Bill Clinton, whom all of the bloggers wanted to be seen posing with. So it was ridiculous of her to pose so centrally like that and bad of her as a feminist to be posing not only with him but seemingly for him. And he was looking down at her in a possibly leering way, quite red-faced. She was somewhat similar looking to Monica Lewinsky, so it was an awful image for a lot of reasons — for Valenti, for the other bloggers at the lunch, for Bill Clinton, and for Hillary.


Ah yes. The Rack Smack Attack.


While Althouse is against boobs in general, and certainly against boobs in proximity and in relation to Bill (Put some ice on that) Clinton, I have to say that a Feminist using her tits to get noticed is (typical) something that a feminist more centered in her principles has every right to call her on.


Plus, I don't like Valenti.

gerry said...

The confirmation of the cruel former frat boy Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court brought back the anguish and degradation so many of us felt after the 2016 election.

Heavens, this woman needs a good, strong man to make her feel safe.

A good, strong lesbian might do in a pinch.

Qwinn said...

Haven't read all the way through yet, but anyone notice right near the top that Inga claims Trump and his fans are trying to gaslight them... without any evidence... and then says, completely unironically:

"If you have a feeling of well being under this administration, you are deluded."

In other words, you think you're fine, but Inga wants you to think you're crazy.

That sentence was an explicit, hell, the very definition of gaslighting, and she's doing it in a post complaining about how she's the one being gaslit.

Inkling said...

Someone should warn these people that their real danger doesn't lie in elections, but in falling asleep.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNJB363yql8

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

".... I have to say that a Feminist using her tits to get noticed..."

Full stop. I am generally for this.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“In other words, you think you're fine, but Inga wants you to think you're crazy.”

Because you are.

Bay Area Guy said...

Regarding Inga's opinion about Althouse:

It is the equivalent of a fat drunk softball player pontificating from the bleachers about the flaws in Barry Bonds' swing.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“It is the equivalent of a fat drunk softball player pontificating from the bleachers about the flaws in Barry Bonds' swing.”

Over the years there were many times I defended Althouse from vicious attacks from her own conservative commenters, but there are times like this when she posts a truly ridiculous blog post and I don’t feel my pushback isn’t warranted.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...


"If we get hit with a red wave instead of a blue wave will the Democrats finally move on to acceptance?"

Heavens, no. It's not about power. What more could White, middle-class progs need or want? This is purely about the gratification of overwrought emoting, something which, traditionally, normal middle-class White folks don't get to do much of in adulthood.

Qwinn said...

I don't think you're crazy, Inga. I think you're well aware that virtually everything you say is false, including your condemnations of people based on no evidence whatsoever for political gain. You're not crazy, you're just pure fucking evil.

Curious George said...

"Blogger Qwinn said...
That sentence was an explicit, hell, the very definition of gaslighting, and she's doing it in a post complaining about how she's the one being gaslit."

Old cut n paste Inga thinks she's a big thinker. She's a dolt. A dotard.

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

“You're not crazy, you're just pure fucking evil.”

To say your political enemies are evil is crazy. You proved my point. And if you think liberals haven’t spelled out clearly what they oppose in Trump and his administration, maybe you should step out of the conservative bubble. Read some liberal publications in which daily there are Trump policies and his stark lack of principles being discussed in detail. You folks don’t like cut and pastes and I’m not going to waste my time listing what Trump’s failings are after having done do for the last year and a half. If you don’t know by now, you are either deluded or stupid.

JaimeRoberto said...

A good example of gaslighting is all the talk about collusion with Russia.

Pianoman said...

Normally I don't feed trolls, but I can't resist:

Inga, name three Trump administration policies that you disagree with, and the reasons why you think they're bad for the country.

Should be pretty simple -- I assume that you are constantly reading "liberal publications in which daily there are Trump policies being discussed in detail".

Bay Area Guy said...

Inga sez:

"Over the years there were many times I defended Althouse from vicious attacks from her own conservative commenters, but there are times like this when she posts a truly ridiculous blog post and I don’t feel my pushback isn’t warranted."

Alright, fair enough. And for the record, I don't think you're evil or crazy. Perhaps, misguided, but that's ok, too. It's just a bunch competing opinions.

n.n said...

Isn't Goldberg a little old to be so concerned about losing her access to abortion?

She's worried about the shared responsibility of unPlanned after-birth burdens and groups of unworthy children ruining the "green" and cosmopolitan vistas in high-density population centers.

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

Accusation of gaslighting is the Left's hysterical response to Deplorables refusing to take "shut up" as an explanation.

n.n said...

Progressives targeting the "white girl next door" who exceed the established diversity quotas.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

I don’t feel my pushback isn’t warranted.

You didn't "push back" on her ideas, you just bleated non-sequiturs, as usual. Are you trying to do criticism, cause it ain't working out that way. And double negatives make it hard to read.

So you are saying Goldberg is right to be in a constant state of high anxiety, because somehow she is deprived of enough information to figure out she's being gaslighted? Why are all the best known femenists (other than Paglia or Sommers) so goddamn weak and stupid? Or why do they play weak and stupid characters online? So we really shouldn't let feminists anywhere near the levers of power because they need a fainting couch to relieve their delicate sensibilities!

Seeing Red said...

Gaslight is one of my FAVE movies!

; 'gaslighting,' a term taken from a play about an abusive husband trying to drive his wife insane BECAUSE HE WANTED HER AUNT’S JEWELS and wanted her out of the way. He was methodical and brainwashing.

Seeing Red said...

Gaslighting Clinate Change
Access to healthcare
Socialism works

TrespassersW said...

Inga...Allie Oop said...
To say your political enemies are evil is crazy.

Do you not realize that you've just called vast swaths of the left crazy? 'cuz for years, "evil" is what they've been calling the right.

hombre said...

Gaslighting liberals? LOL! Liberals, especially liberal women, are already nutty as fruitcakes.

The only inexplicable, irrational happenings are those precipitated by the leftmediaswine who, by using censorship and fake news, seem to have convinced people inclined to favor Democrat wackos that the economy, sane foreign policy, high employment, the integrity of the Constitution, etc., are of no importance. It is normals who are being gaslighted.

“War is peace.
Freedom is slavery.
Ignorance is strength.”
― George Orwell, 1984

hombre said...

The leftmediaswine have gaslighted (gaslit?) much of the country.

Michael K said...

For years the left has called the right evil while the right has called the left "mistaken."

Inga rejects that.

rcocean said...

Goldberg's such a bubble-headed Leftist. I don't think she's ever had a single unconventional thought.

But I guess the NY readers thinks she's full of "nuance" and "intelligence".

IRC, when single she was a "who needs men/kids" feminist but then found Mr. Right and turned into a stay-at-home mom.

rcocean said...

Every time I hear michelle goldberg i think "Hollywood actress".

She could be on "The View".

Rusty said...

Truly impressive Ms Althouse.
(Note to self. Never give Althouse an opening. )

SweatBee said...

Oh, THOSE midterms. On first (and second, and third) read, I thought she was nervous about mid-term exams, which are going on now for a lot of college kids. I couldn't figure out why she pivoted from being worried about mid-terms to hating Trump.

Richard Cranium said...

"[...] listing what Trump’s failings are [...]"

The set of things that you consider to be a failing may not share any elements with the set of things that I consider to be a failing.

holdfast said...

Valenti has a decent rack. But she’s still an empty-headed NPC.

https://www.google.com/search?q=valenti+clinton+picture&rlz=1C9BKJA_enUS705US706&oq=valenti+clinton+picture&aqs=chrome..69i57.8696j1j8&hl=en-US&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8#imgdii=HnZxfU8333v-RM:&imgrc=uS_Skyaszk-CXM:

tim in vermont said...

"War is peace" - Hillary Clinton Peace and Reconciliation Award Scholarshipt motto
"Ignorance is strength." Peanut Butter's MO
"Well reasoned insight is crazy" - Inga

Paul Mac said...

Stephen Fry and Jordan Peterson, unlikely but less unlikely allies than it may seem, debating political correctness with Goldberg and Dyson is worth a watch too.

Another example of where liberals can't get over themselves enough to see how their personalizing and emotional attacks make them look.


Munk Debate - Political Correctness: Goldberg, Fry, Peterson, Dyson

Bad Lieutenant said...


Shouting Thomas said...
Marxist feminists are determined to demolish the stereotype of women as bitches and nags by...

Relentlessly bitching and nagging.

Goldberg is Jewish. Who ever heard of a Jewish woman relentlessly bitching and nagging? Stereotypes are evil!

But they almost always seem to be on the mark.

10/19/18, 6:29 AM


Althouse is not Jewish, but nags and bitches. Many women, whether Jewish, Christian, Muslim, pagan, atheist, or other, nag and bitch.

I've seen Jewish women acting out stereotypes. This is not that.

Bad Lieutenant said...

Meanwhile, Althouse, do you smear Vaseline on that lens? You are in such soft, soft focus. I believe they used to do that trick with Ingrid Bergman and Cybil Shepard. Complexions, I suppose?

Bad Lieutenant said...

Also, from beginning to end, agreeing or contending, you overtalk her incessantly. I guess you think that's a good thing.

jg said...

the gaslighting will continue until sanity improves

Rick67 said...

What I find irritating and perhaps even offensive is all the angst, concern, psychotherapy for people who are riled up because of the Terrible Threat of Trump - really? people are that freaked out b/c the candidate they don't like won an election? how do they react when their team doesn't win the Super Bowl? - and I don't remember anything like that for people who endured 8 years of President Obama.

The morning after Trump's election, co-workers said to my face they were upset, wanted to stay home in bed, not come to work, oh dear, oh my. The morning after Obama was re-elected I was disgusted with an American electorate that wanted 4 more years of this nonsense. And I drove to campus, walked to class, and taught like I always do. I didn't kvetch and moan, didn't have churning knots, and no sympathetic ministers wrote pastoral missives of concern for my emotional and spiritual state. At the risk of sounding disrespectful, Goldberg comes across as a 13 year old in terms of maturity.