January 25, 2019

Kirsten Gillibrand — earnestly enacting passion — stumbles over "breastplate" and "sword."


I put some effort into looking for the text of the MLK speech I think she was quoting, but it is easy to find the Biblical passages that King must have been preaching:

1. Isaiah 59:
The Lord looked and was displeased
that there was no justice.
16 He saw that there was no one,
he was appalled that there was no one to intervene;
so his own arm achieved salvation for him,
and his own righteousness sustained him.
17 He put on righteousness as his breastplate,
and the helmet of salvation on his head;
he put on the garments of vengeance
and wrapped himself in zeal as in a cloak.
18 According to what they have done,
so will he repay
wrath to his enemies
and retribution to his foes;
he will repay the islands their due.
2. Ephesians 6:
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
Martin Luther King Jr. was a minister, and he was — or believed or pretended to believe he was — channeling the word of God. Beautiful for him. But I'm wary of politicians adopting rhetoric like "the breastplate of righteousness," and maybe Kristen Gillibrand was too. Honestly, I don't know how you can stand up in front of everyone and pompously intone the syllable "breast" if you're not sure you can say it crisply.

88 comments:

M Jordan said...

Gillibrand is the biggest sack of nothing I’ve ever encountered in my quest for nothingbags.

M Jordan said...

Gillibrand makes Al Sharpon look scholarly and sincere.

M Jordan said...

If Tillerson was dumb as a rock (can confirm) Gillibrand is dumber than wedge.

M Jordan said...

Gillibrand’s voice has a ring of insincerity that is so authentically insincere it can’t be mimicked.

wendybar said...

WHY do Politicians think Al Sharpton is a good man?? He is a Racist with an agenda, and is divisive and pitiful.

rhhardin said...

She put on the penis of courage.

M Jordan said...

Al Sharpon went from too fat to too skinny. But his intelligence has never wavered ... nor registered for that matter. (He calls “Skittles” “Skillets.”)

M Jordan said...

Sharpton, dammit. My autocorrect is evil.

chickelit said...

She looked ridiculous from that angle -- arms and fists flailing. She should have rehearsed more because she cannot not fake sincerity.

Bob Boyd said...

"Honestly, I don't know how you can stand up in front of everyone and pompously intone the syllable "breast" if you're not sure you say it crisply."

Breast problems can be mitigated by self-examination?

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

The left are so in love with their own bogus morality.

robother said...

"Is that the breastplate of righteousness you're wearing, or is it just cold in here?"

MayBee said...

This election cycle is going to be dreadful.

lgv said...

"She put on the penis of courage."

It would be a penis guard, not the actual penis. Jockstrap or catcher's cup would be more appropriate.

chickelit said...

Just now, Gillibrand is pointing her finger up at Althouse on the front page. You two look like doppelgängers. Weird juxtaposition that will go away soon enough.

Paul Zrimsek said...

She ain't no-ways tired yet.

Bill, Republic of Texas said...

He is a Racist with an agenda, and is divisive and pitiful.

Exactly. Why are we bothering with style of speech when the much bigger issue is the where.

Sharpton is racist, anti-Semetic hater with actual blood on his hands.

Both parties have racist supporters. The Republican racist are shunned and live in trailers.

The Democrat racists are embraced and live at the center of power.

Paul Zrimsek said...

Isn't that a classic novel or something? The Red Vadge of Courage?

Rob said...

The embarrassment isn't stumbling over the word, it's her trying to simulate a black preacher's prophetic style. Not since Hillary Clinton assured a black church audience that she "ain't no ways tired" has there been such a false note.

MayBee said...

Do you think she was a cheerleader in high school?

William said...

At .20 and several other points, she raises her arm to a Nazi salute position. In some ways, the Nazi salute is even more deplorable than the tomahawk chop gesture. She should be called out on this. Decent people should shun and condemn her.

Danno said...

You two look like doppelgängers.

No, Ann is capable of smiling and often does so.

daskol said...

She's always good for a nice, long cringe when I need one.

hombre said...

Just look at them: Hillary, Elizabeth, Nancy, AOC, Maxine, Kirsten, Kamala, Ilhan, Sheila, Dianne, etc.

Truly a lineup to be proud of.

Mattman26 said...

Wow, talk about not ready for prime time.

BTW, there's a great Angie Tribeca scene (pretty sure I'm the only person on earth who ever watches it) on the vadge-badge thing.

glenn said...

I call Boomer. If she isn’t she took elecution lessons from one.

J2 said...

Who's Elizabeth?

tcrosse said...

Just look at them: Hillary, Elizabeth, Nancy, AOC, Maxine, Kirsten, Kamala, Ilhan, Sheila, Dianne, etc.

Wait until they start sniping at one another.

gilbar said...

so, she started doing her own ASL?

someone said...She should have rehearsed more because she cannot not fake sincerity.
which is too bad for her; cause if you can fake That, you've got it made!

tcrosse said...

I'm Al Franken and I approve this message.

Anonymous said...

How could you stop laughing long enough to analyze the content of the speech?

Bob Boyd said...

A far as breast plates for women,I like those ones that have wicked spikes for nipples.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Don’t preacherspeak in public unless you are fluent in Bible! It’s almost always a bad look for politicians.

Limited blogger said...

Is her name Kirsten or Kristen?

robother said...

This could've deserved Ann's "substitute religion" hook, in a different sense: as in a 4th string substitute preacher lady.

Skeptical Voter said...

As far as Salvation goes, she's going to need a bigger helmet.

MayBee said...

She is also passionately enacting earnestness.

Kevin said...

Are those gang signs she's throwing up?

Or is she showing us she's just as indecipherable in ASL?

Kevin said...

I think we've already found Gillibrand's "Tank Moment".

mccullough said...

Next time just use the word cuirass for breastplate. It’s the PC term.

Leslie Graves said...

I watched this video, which is a beautiful reading of the "Letter from Birmingham Jail" on Monday.

MLK Jr. wrote the letter from jail to a consortium of white church leaders who had published a letter in the local newspaper asking King's organization to cease and desist from what they thought of as extreme tactics, and instead adopt a more moderate approach to change. The question had also been raised about why King was in Birmingham and wasn't he an outside agitator?

To the charge of outside agitation, King say (my favorite line in the reading), "I am in Birmingham because injustice is in Birmingham."

Shouting Thomas said...

Gillibrand is a U.S. Senator.

She is power.

tcrosse said...

Blogger mccullough said...
Next time just use the word cuirass for breastplate. It’s the PC term.


Bet your queer ass it is.

Paul said...

Martin Luther King Jr. was a serial whore monger.

Shouting Thomas said...

Gillibrand has no use for Christianity except for when it comes to pandering to blacks.

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

Witness the birth of African Methodist Episcopal LARPing!

madAsHell said...

Isn't she proof that the ballot box was stuffed?

traditionalguy said...

That was actually good speaking for an inexperienced Demagogue. She boldly proclaimed Scripture, and that made up for her pronunciation stumbles. That proclaiming of scripture is the Sword that Paul recommends using, but using in fights with spiritual powers, not fights with flesh and blood. But she gets an A for effort.

narciso said...

Even the demons believe,

Tommy Duncan said...

Even as a severe stutterer I have better cadence than her.

Senator Gillibrand speaks power to the usual suspects.

Nonapod said...

If this was an RPG, Sharpton would have max scores in "phoniness" and "grievance mongering" while Gillibrand would only be in the top quintile of those stats.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Remember - Christians are horrid and bad bad bad. Except leftwing ones. They are the good ones.

The left are the Pharisees of modern Christianity. If you are not properly leftwing, you cannot be a good Christian, you are denied access to the kingdom, and you deserve a lecture from Lady Gaga.

Bay Area Guy said...

I would like to see Stormy Daniels' breastplates.

Asking for a friend in bible study...

Butkus51 said...

I wonder if she has hot sauce in her purse.

narayanan said...

I always like "Xena the Warrior Princess" breastplate

jaydub said...

The proper term for male-specific protective armor is "cod piece."

Wilbur said...

Her wild flailing and exaggerated gestures remind me of … dare I say it … Hitler.

Wince said...

Well, she's bringing people together!

The reaction of everyone, from black to pallor.

JHapp said...

MLK was riding a wave a power and not the other way around. True we didn't have 538 but that's what the Gallop poles said.

Caligula said...

Somehow it's not hard to imagine Gillibrand practicing for hours in front of a mirror, trying to get the cadence and phrasing just right, only to choke when delivering the actual performance.

Darrell said...

As long as she didn't say "corpsemen."

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

The irony is impossible to process. The Senate’s foremost lynching enthusiast holding forth on MLK. Was Robert Byrd unavailable?

Darrell said...

I wonder if she has hot sauce in her purse

What do you think the Penis of Courage ejaculates?

Bay Area Guy said...

The 4 Horseladies of the Apocalypse:

1. Gillibrand
2. Harris
3. Warren
4. Gabbard

So, it looks like all those sexist and racist Democrat primary voters are leaning towards Straight, White Males Biden, Bernie and Beto in the polls, leaving the gals to scrap and scramble for about 30% of the vote, divided by 4, which gives each about 7%.

I don't think that will get it done.



James K said...

I always remember Obama mangling the Bible: Misusing "my brother's keeper" and confusing "iniquities" and "inequities," among others.

Bay Area Guy said...

It'd be cool if Gillibrand would give the same speech, with the same cadence and same faux passion to some pasty white white guys at a sports bar in Upstate New York.

Humperdink said...

Better steer Gillibrand clear of "“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you ....".

The New York state legislature and Gov. Andrew Cuomo might disapprove.

Known Unknown said...

Well, she's done.

Next!

Andrew said...

I feel sorry for the deaf interpreter. Did she have to stutter too, and throw in awkward pauses?

Carol said...

1. Gillibrand
2. Harris
3. Warren
4. Gabbard


Geez....aren't there any women candidates who are actually cool? (Is Gabbard cool?)

Thatcher was so calm and dignified. I loved listening to Question Time back in the day.

Not Sure said...

I think the charitable interpretation of that performance is that she's got a mild brain disorder.

wildswan said...

In religion you raise your hand to God reaching up for his blessing and strength and as a testimony of your belief in something higher than yourself. At rock convert you wave like a Gillibrand. And I think Gillibrand was trying to be a rock star because, just looking at her, she seems like someone doesn't think there's anything higher than herself.

So Kamala the Grim Lawyer. "My Positions? Why do you want to know my positions? Sit down till I call on you. Just answer yes or no."

Then the Incredible Bulk, lurking in the shadows. "Psst, Hillary's looking for campaign theme."

Now Preacher Babe Gillbrand. "And now we must hook together the bra of salvation and clasp the sword, no, not sword -penis envy- but the, the, the orchid, yes, yes, the orchid of victory and the diamond ring of glory and move forward, to Mendelssohn's March, but not marching but gliding to the altar of who or whatever you choose to think. Glory Hallelujah!!." Whadda think? we looking at the Second Great Awakening?

My opinion? When we ladies look at each other, the true thoughts are harsh. I'm not sure a woman can make it through the whole election process but this kind definitely cannot. Trying to whip people up by shouting in a grating way - with a dowager's hump - and holding her coat or her stomach for whatever reason? no.

buwaya said...

IIRC on Bill Clintons first outing in national speechmaking (the Democratic convention of 1988) he was dismissed as a tedious bore.

Paul Zrimsek said...

Now put on one of those horned helmets and sing "Kill da Wabbit".

JaimeRoberto said...

So the press will start calling this cavalcade of Dem candidates a clown car any day now, right?

MalaiseLongue said...

Al Sharpton—Al Sharpton!—looks embarrassed for her.

Static Ping said...

Kirsten is a frontrunner for phoniest politician in the United States. Her positions at any given time are whatever her audience wants to hear. You would think such a phony would actually be able to fake it, but apparently not.

HoodlumDoodlum said...

The belt of truth with those shoes? Uhn-uh girlfriend!

Bay Area Guy said...

We should set up a GoFundMe account to get Al Sharpton to run. Need an authentic black man in the race, not a ditzy blond poseur.

The Godfather said...

Ephesus, to the Christians in which Paul sent his letter, was a colony of retired Roman soldiers, so Paul used military metaphors in addressing the new Christians in that community. The God of the Old Testament was a God of war -- the "God of Hosts" means the God of Armies -- so it's easy to find military metaphors in the OT. Anyone today who openly embraces that God would have to endure drumming and chanting and criticism by the politically correct, which I doubt that the Senator had in mind.

Rosalyn C. said...

I don't know what the deal is with Democrats running as preacher in chief but I heard Rachel Maddow interviewing Kamala Harris this AM and Harris went on and on and on in the preacher mode. She's definitely better at it than Gillibrand. On the other hand, Harris comes across as a fast talker who lies exceptionally well.

Presidents shouldn't be preachers imo and politicians shouldn't be telling us what is immoral unless they explain what that means to them. I haven't heard Pelosi explain it yet. Madeline Albright is coming to my town on a book tour warning about fascism. I'm a little sick of the direction politics is lurching into, particularly since most if not all of the Democrat/liberals I know are atheists/agnostics. They are now the moral authorities?

bgates said...

Martin Luther King Jr. was a minister, and he was — or believed or pretended to believe he was — channeling the word of God.

Charitable enough to entertain the possibility that some Christians aren't faking belief.

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

HAHAHAHA!!!

Somebody bang a drum in Kirsten's face.

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

"The embarrassment isn't stumbling over the word, it's her trying to simulate a black preacher's prophetic style."

At least she got a laugh at 30 seconds when she said something about a staircase. I didn't get the joke, but she really sold it.

Blackface would have made the routine -- commit to the bit.

ken in tx said...

MLK jr. was not a whore monger, he was a whore buyer, or as was said back in those days whore-hopper. Monger means seller.

Kirk Parker said...

BAG,

Pretty sure Stormy's breastplate is fake.

Tina Trent said...

Anyone who appears at a National Action Network event is no less than endorsing racist mob violence against whites, murder mobs attacking rape victims and hit men threatening the lives of innocent men falsely accused of raping Tawana Brawley, and also threatening the lives their families.

Those supporting the virulent contemporary lynch mob include the DNC, MSNBC, and most of the rest of the media. threatenin

Sure Alex Jones is a grotesque. All truthers are. But he never killed anyone. Every single Democrat who is willing to appear with Sharpton is a racist advocate of deadly mob violence.

It's not some amusing subject unless you can giggle away the ropes and guns.

Bilwick said...

When "liberals" put on the cloak of righteousness, get a tighter grip on your wallet.