December 8, 2018

"It takes courage to admit that people hate your face, and it’s both sad and heartening to see Cruz do so after years of taunts to that effect."

"Stephen Colbert has called the senator a 'half-melted G.I. Joe.' The Kid Mero told him he looks like he eats mice. USA Today, the most boring and benign newspaper on the planet, once headlined a piece, 'Why You May Not like Ted Cruz’s Face, According to Science.' Cruz seemed impervious to such criticism, what with his nonstop grandstanding and that unrelenting dumb smirk. But apparently he took the feedback to heart, because now the dumb smirk is ever so slightly obscured by a moustache."

From "I’m So Sorry to Report that Ted Cruz’s New Beard Looks Great/Thoughts on the unwelcome semi-hotness of the Texas senator’s facial hair" (Slate).

The beard does look good, but what's more interesting here is how free people have felt to insult Ted Cruz for his looks. Generally, there seems to be a rule against disparaging people for looking bad. No looks shaming. I don't really like that rule, because the visual dimension of is so important, and we should talk about it, describe things, react emotionally. And a person's character, emotion, and inner life shows through the face. That's important to observe and bring to light. I'd say the rule should be to be tactful about the aspects of a person's looks that they were born with or cannot control, but go ahead and talk about things have to do with what kind of person lies behind that face.

As for beards, growing a beard is behavior, and one does it for a reason. Go ahead and speculate about the reason. Whether the reason is to affect our reaction to the man or not, go ahead and share your reaction.

101 comments:

Expat(ish) said...

Someday they'll like him a lot more when he's dead.

-XC

policraticus said...

“Movember” just ended. Plenty of men start moustaches or beards on a whim, or as part of some contest, then find that they, or their wife, really likes it.

Remember Al Gore’s Grizzly Adams moment?

Wince said...

The beard helps define Cruz’s jaw line.

And from the earlier photo it looks like he’s lost weight, even since he started growing the beard.

Darrell said...

Christina Cauterucci looks like an oil painting, rest assured.
But no matter what she looks like, she can't hide the ugliness inside.

lgv said...

Maybe it's deer season.

"No looks shaming. I don't really like that rule, because the visual dimension of is so important, and we should talk about it, describe things, react emotionally. And a person's character, emotion, and inner life shows through the face. "

Does this apply to men and women equally? If we ridiculed Diane Feinstein's face or appearance, would that be OK? If we talked about the positive visual dimension of Tulsi Gabbard would that be sexist or misogynistic?

I found Trump's ridiculing of Carly Fiorina's looks to be very offensive. I work hard at not judging people on things they cannot control, e.g. their natural looks. Should we discuss how ugly someone is due to birthmark or deformity? Of course, criticizing the look of someone's beard or hairstyle is a bit different because it something that IS within the control and choice of the person.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

If Eleanor Roosevelt was right, and small minds discuss people, then what sort of minds discuss people's looks?

RK said...

I've had a beard my entire adult life, except for one week when my wife wanted to see what my face looked like. I don't like to shave is my best explanation for why I have one. Could be Ted's also.

Ann Althouse said...

"If Eleanor Roosevelt was right, and small minds discuss people, then what sort of minds discuss people's looks?"

If she's right, you have a small mind, because you're talking about Eleanor Roosevelt.

Tank said...

Guys like to occasionally experiment with how their facial hair looks in different configurations. Probably means nothing at all.

rhhardin said...

I go with the week stubble look. It serves as a bicycling ski mask.

Tina Trent said...

What I find sexy about Ted Cruz is he is raising his sister's children but doesn't brag about it. The beard is good too.

rehajm said...

It’s not so much his face they hate as his policies. And his effectiveness.

gilbar said...

Generally, there seems to be a rule against disparaging people who aren't republicans for looking bad
fixed it for you Professor! No one's EVER has ANY Problem disparaging republicans for their looks

rehajm said...

When someone says ‘I hate your face’ your face is not much of it. Maybe a little more than guts in ‘I hate your guts’.

David Begley said...

A buddy of mine calls him Count Chocula or just Choc.

campy said...

"If she's right, you have a small mind, because you're talking about Eleanor Roosevelt."

No, he's talking about one of Eleanor Roosevelt's ideas.

wendybar said...

You want to see ugly, take a look at Connecticut's congresswoman Rosa DeLauro. Wonder why Stephen Colbert doesn't make fun of her looks???? https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=yhVmec%2fd&id=168435D9D67661866B74D6D1A49A6C2A163AD295&thid=OIP.yhVmec_dPVIiQLFnD-7bvwHaEM&mediaurl=http%3a%2f%2fusbacklash.org%2fwp-content%2fuploads%2f2014%2f08%2fDumbass-DeLauro-proposes-taxing-beverages-by-sugar-contant.jpg&exph=453&expw=800&q=rosa+delauro&simid=608006521056003934&selectedIndex=126&ajaxhist=0

MountainMan said...

Thanks, gilbar, you said exactly what I was going to say.

Chuck said...

The true first rule of Fight Club is that there are no rules when it comes to insulting white male conservatives.

Ralph L said...

We seem to be in another golden age for facial hair.

I started a beard a year ago because I'm nothing if not fashionable.
More accurately, I stopped shaving because I'd had patches of bad skin frozen.
It does wonders for my weak chin and ugly waddle.

Ann Althouse said...

"No, he's talking about one of Eleanor Roosevelt's ideas."

He was pushing the idea based on the personal brand. And it's a catty as hell idea if you want to talk about it as an idea. Other people are not as lofty as me, because I am a person who cares about abstractions, not people. I'd go on about what I think is going on with people like that, but I've done it before (in a better context and at a length I'm not going to do this morning).

Darrell said...

I side with Althouse.
Never bring up Eleanor Roosevelt until your breakfast is in your small intestine. And that goes for your fellow readers as well.

Hagar said...

Hollywood has always had quite nice people who traded on their menacing looks to play villains - and also the other way around.

Ralph L said...

Funny how our culture went from high-minded as a major virtue to broad-minded as a necessary one.

Unknown said...

Cruz's ancestry is Cuban, we all know, but he strikes me as having a very Hispanic looking face that is not uncommon in Texas.

Rob said...

As long as we’re talking about faces, let me go on record as saying that Michelle Obama’s eyes are way too close together. So are Rod Blagojevich‘s. Maybe it’s the water in Chicago.

Wilbur said...

Cruz looks great with the beard. And Colbert looks like the kid who got beat up every day on the playground for running his mouth.

I tried to grow a beard once. I looked like Ming the Merciless.

Bad Lieutenant said...


Ann Althouse said...
"If Eleanor Roosevelt was right, and small minds discuss people, then what sort of minds discuss people's looks?"

If she's right, you have a small mind, because you're talking about Eleanor Roosevelt.

12/8/18, 6:28 AM


You're an idiot. Eric was *literally* discussing and building on Eleanor Ugly Roosevelt's IDEA about minds that discuss people, not discussing HER.

Michelle Dulak Thomson said...

Trump is orange. Bill Clinton, as President, was also orange, but one of the two men is constantly described as such and the other never was.

Joel Winter said...

"As for beards, growing a beard is behavior, and one does it for a reason. "

Actually, shaving a beard is the behavior. It grows on its own.

Many people choose not to shave because THAT behavior takes time. Beard growing takes precisely zero time.

Bad Lieutenant said...

He was pushing the idea based on the personal brand.

Maybe not an idiot but insane? ATTRIBUTION is now branding? If in conversation I should say "better than nothing is a high standard" I should be sure not to trade upon the personal branding power of your name, or as people used to say GIVE CREDIT?

Hagar said...

Members of the Roosevelt family aided and abetted his affairs on the grounds that "Franklin deserves a break; he is married to Eleanor!"

Crimso said...

The real question is why Eleanor Roosevelt decided to grow a beard.

rehajm said...

Generally, there seems to be a rule against disparaging people who aren't republicans for looking bad

There does seem to be a pointlessness to higher minded talk about the subject when the political asymmetry is so great.

FIDO said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Amadeus 48 said...

I agree that Cruz's beard looks great, but Christina Cauterucci is still an idiot.

She better keep plucking those brows. NTTAWWT

rehajm said...

The political figure with ugliest beard is Huma Abedin.

(bada bing)

stlcdr said...

There are two types of people in the world: those with beards, and women.

FIDO said...

Eric and campy are correct. Althouse is wrong. They mentioned an IDEA of Eleanor. It is a stupid idea and is at odds with most of our successful politicians, PARTICULARLY Trump and Bill Clinton.

Throwing 'brand' out as a rebuttal seems an odd choice, since a 'brand' is a meme, logo, or idea associated with a product. "It's the Real Thing, Baby!" "I believe in Hillary" "Fifty Four Forty or Fight!" Ideas attached to and defining people.

Perhaps she hadn't had her morning coffee yet.

FIDO said...

There are two types of people in the world: those with beards on their faces, and women.


FIFY

Big Mike said...

And I’m so sorry to report that women who write for Slate are fat and ugly. Plus Colbert has a face that I instinctively want to punch. Cuts both ways.

Fritz said...

RK said...
I've had a beard my entire adult life, except for one week when my wife wanted to see what my face looked like. I don't like to shave is my best explanation for why I have one. Could be Ted's also.


I made it a year or two.

Clyde said...

I almost always had a mustache and occasionally a goatee until it went very gray while the hair on my head remained mostly dark. So I shaved it off and looked younger. Last year, I lost a couple of people to cancer and grew the whole thing back out for No-Shave November. In December, I trimmed it back to a goatee. I still have it a year later. I’m old enough not to care.

Fernandinande said...

what sort of minds discuss people's looks?

Human minds, like the one that lives in this nice-looking brain.

William said...

Eleanor Roosevelt was easily the ugliest First Lady of modern times. Melania is clearly the best looking. Interesting to note that both women were cheated on by their husbands. Good looks are no protection against infidelity. Melania, however, seems to have shrugged off the infidelity. Maybe if you're very good looking, you don't take it so personally. Eleanor was devastated by Franklin's affairs......Eleanor could take sustenance from the fact that although she was not loved by Franklin, she was loved by the American people. Also, she got a little of her own back by cheating on Franklin.

rehajm said...

Bill Clinton, as President, was also orange

He's now a disturbing shade of gray, like a sous vide steak before searing.

Jupiter said...

"And a person's character, emotion, and inner life shows through the face."

Yeah, pretty much always, except when they don't.

Dude1394 said...

Really? White Republican is a nazi, sexist, racist, homophobic, xenophobic children and granny hater. What’s a little personal insult when talking about such a monster.

Earnest Prole said...

I am a person who cares about abstractions, not people.

Lordy.

Original Mike said...

"As for beards, growing a beard is behavior, and one does it for a reason."

I've had a beard for 40 years and I did it for one reason and one reason alone. Shaving is a pain in the ass.

I stopped shaving during a period of time when, after knee surgery, it was difficult to stand in front of the mirror and just never started again.

AZ Bob said...

The beard worked for Lincoln.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

American's are sickeningly looks-ist. That is why the cray cray got elected to the senate in AZ. She's pretty!

The left will always mock the unattractive on the right. Never never muster any of that same looksist smear for any of the uglies on the left. Is Bernie Sanders a looker?

Please.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Cruz has a fantastic brain.

I wish he were president. I'd worship him just to irritate Andrew and the left-wing cult left.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Joe Biden just had his face lifted. LOL - point and laugh. Oh wait - the leftwing Colbert-Maddow press won't touch him.

Hillary is generally really ugly. Most of that problem is her foul soul oozing out. Yeah - occasionally the pump bag makeup and her-> hair look nice after thousands spent in an elite ultra pricey NY salon. (No deplorables allowed!)

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Bill Clinton is ugly and has not aged will. His bulbous nose and his ruddy complexion and all that weird sex along the way. He probably has the clap.

Earnest Prole said...

But back to the assigned topic, I think Republican and Democrat alike can agree his face is loathsome and punchable. Whether that’s due to a loathesome and punchable soul or simply misfortune is open to debate.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

I briefly listened to Ms. Hoover interview Donna Brazil on PBS.
The didn't mention HIllary, but they still cannot break away from Bill. "Metoo" gets a nod, but Bill will forever reign supreme on the left. Forgiveness is total.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

I think Ted looks fine. He's not a flaming beauty, but there are worse as far as looks go. Bill Clinton is WAY more ugly than Ted. But old Bill keeps abortion safe and legal, so he gets an ugly pass.

gilbar said...

, then what sort of minds discuss people's looks?"

pretty sure if you read it; Our Professor is saying that if *YOU* discuss people's looks, *You're* discussing people
(if a is a member of set b, and b is a member of set c; then a is a member of set c)
{it's BASIC math people)

you all are misinterpreting whom 'you' references

Francisco D said...

Cruz looks very intense and his intellectual firepower scares some people.

The beard softens his look and makes him seem less scary to the easily frightened herd of sheep.

However, he will never appear to be avuncular like slow Joe Biden whose smiling and friendly demeanor masks a mediocre (at best) intellect.

dwick said...

Ann Althouse said 12/8/18, 7:02 AM...
"Other people are not as lofty as me, because I am a person who cares about abstractions, not people."

Oh yes... supremely vital abstractions of extreme importance like men in shorts.
How lofty thou art-

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

I'd love a Biden- Cruz debate.

David Blaska said...

Know who else looked much better with a beard? King Edward VII. Very feeble chin strengthened with full beard.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

ot-ish: Questions for Kennedy-Bob

Although he said both before and after losing the Senate race in Texas to Ted Cruz that he had no plan to run for office in 2020, Robert Francis “Beto” O’Rourke recently left the door wide open. And now he has met with Obama at his home in Washington. In that context, I sent a list of questions to his press spokeswoman, but never received an answer.

The first question dealt with whether O’Rourke has any Hispanic heritage, or whether, as he is in truth, fourth-generation Irish. As a child living in El Paso, O’Rourke was given the nickname “Beto,” which is a common Hispanic moniker for Roberto, in order to delineate between him and his maternal grandfather, Robert Williams. When O’Rourke attended Columbia in New York he used “Rob,” but his father, then El Paso County Judge Pat O’Rourke, suggested that he once again use “Beto” to increase his chance of winning political office in the heavily Hispanic city of El Paso, which Robert readily agreed to do.

He graduated from Columbia in 1995, and later that month was arrested for burglary at UTEP (the University of Texas El Paso) along with two others. He has previously explained it as a prank from his college years. I asked his spokeswoman if it was true he had already graduated from Columbia and never attended UTEP; what the purpose of the burglary was; what his relationship with Jose Prieto, Jr. and Jacob Barowsky whom he was arrested with was, and where they were located today. I received no response.

Concerning O’Rourke’s 1998 DWI, I asked his spokeswoman why he never admitted the incident also involved a hit and run until the press obtained the arrest reports last August. O’Rourke now claims it was not a hit and run, but I asked the spokeswoman if the arresting officer and a witness who reportedly chased him were lying after O’Rourke, going at an excessive rate of speed, struck a truck on I-10 west of El Paso and ended up on the other side of the Interstate, and then fled. Again no response.


huh. Beto O'Rourke, who is not Hispanic, was arrested for burglary.

Wow - that will go under the media rug - fast.

campy said...

"then what sort of minds discuss people's looks?"

What sort of minds discuss the creases in peoples trousers?

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Beto, the fake Hispanic, who is mildly good-looking and youthful, was arrested for burglary and a hit and run DUI. wow. That's kinda bad. But mostly- he's young and good looking.

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

Never bring up Eleanor Roosevelt until your breakfast is in your small intestine. And that goes for your fellow readers as well.

Breakfast was delicious! Who was it? (overheard at a cannibal's brunch)

Jay Vogt said...

Cruz looks fine w or w/o beard. If we're going to be shallow, it's his voice that is a problem. I think he's trying to manipulate it, which just makes it worse. HRC had the same problem, she's trying to cover up her natural near north suburban Chicago accent and it comes out twangy, and scratchy and raw - come to think of it not that much different that Cruz's. Nonetheless, who'd want to listen to that for 4 or 8 years? I wouldn't.

At least with Bernie and DJT you get an undisguised voice: one from Brooklyn, one from Queens. Not some garbled up mess.

Bad Lieutenant said...

William said...
Eleanor Roosevelt was easily the ugliest First Lady of modern times.

Eleanor Roosevelt should be a caution to those who wish to provide abortion or mandate sterilization in the case of incest. The Jukes and Kallikaks and Bucks ain't got nothin' on the Roosevelt clan. More like the Pharaohs to be honest.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

I disliked Trump in the primary.I get it people liked what he was saying and I back him now, because he won fair and square against the worst possible Democratic person to ever be foisted on us. I also support Trump because the relentless persecution of him by the media and hollywood is unbelievably unbalanced and unfair.. Trump is guilty of this and that BS, all while Hillary walks for much worse.
But during the primary, I thought it was utterly foolish to not pick the guy with the most smarts.

The smartest candidate was Cruz.

wholelottasplainin said...

Dickin'Bimbos@Home said...
I think Ted looks fine. He's not a flaming beauty, but there are worse as far as looks go. Bill Clinton is WAY more ugly than Ted. But old Bill keeps abortion safe and legal, so he gets an ugly pass.
**********************

Long ago, before he went mad, David Letterman opined that a sign of America being so great was that, "Even a swollen-faced hillbilly can become President."

wholelottasplainin said...

"Stephen Colbert has called the senator a 'half-melted G.I. Joe."

***************

I think he cribbed that line from the critic who described Charles Bronson as "looking like Clark Gable left out in the sun too long."

Ken B said...

Althouse at6:28 resorts to neener neener. Fruit bat was talking about Eleanor Roosevelt's ideas, not about her. If I say “As Nietzsche put it ...” I am not in fact gossiping about Nietzsche.

Go ahead, tell me it takes one to know one.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

The beard does look good, but what's more interesting here is how free people have felt to insult Ted Cruz for his looks. Generally, there seems to be a rule against disparaging people for looking bad. No looks shaming.

Not sure where this "rule" came from or who even declared its existence but with Cruz all bets are off. There is no rule he himself wouldn't bend to the point of breaking and is routinely hated by his colleagues as the most odious senator. If you're too slimy for even your fellow senators to care for you then you know there's something pretty uniquely bad about your character.

Ken B said...

“That Stephen Hawking! So ugly! Who takes him seriously?” — overheard at Meadehouse

Ken B said...

We're back to vindicating Hardin I see. And no, I am not gossiping about Hardin when I say that.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Cruz is a tad arrogant, but that is not a crime. Well, it is on the left. unless that arrogance is on the left.

ken in tx said...

My wife, a Texas Democrat voter, says that people on her side call Ted Cruz, "Fish Face". We'll see if his beard makes any difference.

Bill Peschel said...

Dickin' writes: But during the primary, I thought it was utterly foolish to not pick the guy with the most smarts.

The smartest candidate was Cruz.

Dickin', I have to piggy-back on that comment to talk about John Cleese.

In his recent book, based on his talks at Cornell, he thought Obama had a brilliant mind, which is a good reason why comedians should never talk about shit they know nothing about.

Also, I believe that being smart doesn't mean being smart politically. A politically smart politician like LBJ gets shit done. You may not like what he does, however.

If Cruz could get shit done, than his smarts would be an asset, assuming he thinks the same way as you.

Smart people can believe dumb things, and smart people will follow the crowd in areas outside their expertise.

So I guess, if we had a media I could trust, we could identify candidates who a) get stuff done (which leaves out all senators and includes all governors and lower-level office-holders), b) believes in the same issues you do, and c) can reason on the fly when unexpected things happen.

I guess that summarizes what I'm thinking.

El Supremo said...

"If you're too slimy for even your fellow senators to care for you then you know there's something pretty uniquely bad about your character."

If so, you might want to consider how you are viewed in this forum, and what that says about you?

I would expect that most Congress people would not like me, and that's for reasons I'd be proud of and embrace. Do think they would like you? If they did, does that say good things about you? I'm not sure it does. I would sincerely hope than many there would hate me being there. Otherwise, I'm not doing what needs done. They have approval ratings in the teens. I don't want them liking me, but mostly I wish they would just leave me alone.

El Supremo said...

"The smartest candidate was Cruz."

Agreed, and he was my preference in the primaries too. It's sad, but if he was just better looking, he'd be a viable candidate. Most people I talk to know nothing about Cruz, but if you show them a photo, they say "Oh no, I won't vote for him."

I really like most of what Trump has done, and although I don't think anyone else, including Cruz, would be so courageous, Cruz is probably closer than any other. He would be similarly conservative and equally thrashed by the media, and I'm not sure he could take that as well a Trump. Plus, Trump has that crazy factor that works great in negotiations, especially foreign affairs.

Rabel said...

"Other people are not as lofty as me, because I am a person who cares about abstractions, not people."

A few people have misinterpreted the "me" referenced in that statement.

It seems unnecessarily cruel, but the bat can deal and doesn't beg for mercy.

On the other hand, I've seen an unusual lack of clarity in a handful of Althouse comments recently. Maybe it's the eyes. Or the 4 a.m. thing.

Fred Drinkwater said...

Eleanor had it backwards.
What matters are not so much the ideas, but the people who make things happen in the real world, that affect real people.
Understanding people is much more important than understanding the abstract ideas they espouse.
(I was halfway through a long essay on this topic, but you all don't want to plow though that...)

chickelit said...

Life, liberty, and the hirsute of pappyness

William said...

Trump is reasonably non judgmental about looks when it comes to men. Wilbur Ross, for example, is no stud muffin. However, looks count if you're a woman looking for a job in the Trump organization. Nearly all the women are attractive and some are strikingly beautiful. Sarah Huckabee Sanders is the token plain Jane, and she's more dull normal than the fabulously ugly women like Janet Reno and Eleanor Roosevelt who have so enriched our national life........I suppose such an ethos helps you move product if you're selling expensive condos, but should such an ethos be used in government? This is a thorny and perplexing question that I needs must give further thought to. I'll get back to you later.

Rabel said...

It's a little known fact, but Eleanor had an ass like the Loch Ness Monster - Mysterious and ever sought after. It's said that you could bounce a twenty dollar gold piece off of it.

This was at the root of Franklin's decision to confiscate Americans' gold in 1934.

SweatBee said...

I just assumed he'd participated in Movember during the break and decided to keep it.

rcocean said...

No it looks terrible!

Either grow a beard - a real U.S. Grant or Charles Evans Hughes beard

Or don't do it.

It looks like the kind of beard a 16 y/o boy would grow.

rcocean said...

For a while I thought Cruz was super smart.

While all the other candidates threw themselves in front of the Trump tank and got crushed, Cruz held his fire. This resulted in only him and Trump vying at the end.

And then he blew it, after he lost he acted like a little girl. He wasn't going to endorse Trump because of wife. Trump had insulted his wife, and he was going to cry about it - Forever.

Eventually, he grudgingly, gave a tepid speech at the Convention, but never wholeheartedly endorsed Trump.

If he'd acted like a GROWN UP, and put aside his personal FEELINGS, and gone full Trump, who knows where he'd be today. Maybe on the SCOTUS.

rcocean said...

"Eleanor Roosevelt was easily the ugliest First Lady of modern times."

Look at her when she was younger. She was somewhat plain of face, but had a killer body.

And if you see video of her later on, she always had an attractive personality and manner of speaking.

Too bad, she was such a left-wing flake. She surrounded herself with Commies. And she knew they were commies. A couple were spies (as we now know from the Verona Decrytps ).

Jim Gust said...

Why have I had a beard for the last 40 years? Because God (or Mother Nature, if you prefer) put whiskers on my face, and I am in no position to argue about it. I never fell for the siren song of Big Razor.

What is the point of shaving, anyway? To pretend to be a teenager all your life? Why just the whiskers?

The more I thought about it, the stupider the idea of shaving became.

By not shaving I have avoided wasting an estimated 3,600 hours in four decades. It adds up.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

If so, you might want to consider how you are viewed in this forum, and what that says about you?

Oh, I see. You mean by the uptight Nazi right-wingers here - as if they are the sum total of this blog's visitors and commenters. Cute.

I would expect that most Congress people would not like me, and that's for reasons I'd be proud of and embrace.

Yawn. More of the predictable "I'm not an anarchist but need to shit on those deemed most worthy by their communities of managing our nation's nuclear power, war machine, industrial regulation, toxic waste cleanup, fisheries, prisons, food and drug integrity and all sorts of other things that neither I nor my corporate cronies can do on their own."

Whatever it takes to make you feel rebellious and better than someone for a change. You do you, "Unknown."

John Ray said...

I think Ann's coffee pot broke at 4:30 a.m. That seems to me to be the only explanation of the 7:02 rant from an otherwise intelligent and logical thinker. By the way, she executed a (albeit minor) grammatical error, rare for this lady.

I think pee pee is crazy.

I'm with Dickin' otherwise.

On beards. All think that shaving is a pain in the ass. However, maintaining a beard is the pain in the ass, it requires some art, much maintenance, constant trimming, careful eating, and extremely careful staring down a flame. Shaving is easy, foam and stroke -- it's done.

Doug said...

You want to see ugly, take a look at Connecticut's congresswoman Rosa DeLauro. Wonder why Stephen Colbert doesn't make fun of her looks????
WAIT! That's Rosa DeLauro?! I thought Ronnie Wood was a member of Congress.

Doug said...

Hey media types ... you want to disparage someone's appearance? Go ahead. Just make sure to place a current face forward picture of your beautiful mug on your blogpost or byline along with your victim's.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

John Ray sounds uptight and nerdy.

walter said...

Another article only a woman could get away with writing.
Comments on (irrelevant) looks in this fashion are always a tell.
You can see it in Althouse's comfort with it too.

walter said...

fwiw, take look:
http://www.slate.com/content/dam/slate/Authors/christina_cauterucci-authorbio.png

Original Mike said...

Blogger John Ray said..."maintaining a beard is the pain in the ass, it requires some art, much maintenance, constant trimming, careful eating, and extremely careful staring down a flame."

Huh? I trim it every few months, have no problem eating, and have never come close to setting it on fire.

walter said...

Blogger RK said...
I've had a beard my entire adult life, except for one week when my wife wanted to see what my face looked like.
--
It is a bit anonymizing.
Add in glasses and a baseball cap and you have John Doe.

Skippy Tisdale said...

The reason I grow a beard is because I have soft skin and shaving is hard on it.