Althouse: "It’s really simple, people: don’t fat shame. You can shame Trump for a million other things. Being fat isn’t a character flaw."

February 23, 2019

"It’s really simple, people: don’t fat shame. You can shame Trump for a million other things. Being fat isn’t a character flaw."

"I hate Trump but why is it OK to fat shame anyone?"/"I am the most ardent human being against Trump, however, as a former very obese person as a young kid, this just isn’t necessary... Attack his policy, his demeanor, his callous nature, the fact that he is empty inside... Please stop."

From "Advocates want critics to stop fat-shaming Trump" (NY Post).

ADDED: Trump is an extremely successful, dominating person, and yet somehow his enemies make me feel that he's a bullied outsider in need of a friend. Stop making the President of the United States into the underdog, you fools! If anyone wonders why I seem to take Trump's side here, it's because you idiots make me feel sorry for him.

116 comments:

Amadeus 48 said...: So I guess it’s wrong to refer to Gov. JB Pritzker as “Make Mine Jumbo.” Darn!; 2/23/19, 6:55 AM
Ambrose said...: So many rules...; 2/23/19, 6:59 AM
Leland said...: I don't know how you fat shame a 72 year old man, with a clean bill of health, living in the White House, with a wife that models, and is a billionaire. What about his weight is hurting him, other than listening to the left whine about it?

They are not shaming him; they are insisting he obeys them or die for their benefit. Yet they call him, Hitler.; 2/23/19, 7:10 AM
Henry said...: Attack his policy, his demeanor, his callous nature, the fact that he is empty inside

Don't hollow shame.; 2/23/19, 7:12 AM
Ralph L said...: You'd think they'd encourage him to eat more and have to resign for health reasons.

Speaking of which, are we ready for a President who will be 79 when he leaves office?; 2/23/19, 7:15 AM
Lucid-Ideas said...: We live in a world where so much lies beyond our control, yet large numbers of us are hesitant to take control of the few things that we can actually do something about. One of the simplest is our physical activity and what we choose to eat and how much.

I travel globally frequently and Americans obesity is shocking both to us and especially to outsiders. No one wants to be intentionally cruel but even 30 minutes a day - even without dieting -
can have significant impact over a only a year's time.

In a conversation I heard with a gym franchiser on NPR he said that 3/4 of gym memberships go largerly unused. Come on people!; 2/23/19, 7:15 AM
MayBee said...: "The fact that he is empty inside"; 2/23/19, 7:15 AM
Ralph L said...: Sorry, 78.; 2/23/19, 7:16 AM
William said...: Fat jokes are almost exclusively directed at Trump and Christie, but these are not the only two overweight people in public life. The first comic to make a fat joke about Stacy Abrams will no longer have a career. Nadler looks like he might have had that operation, but he's certainly not thin. He used to be extraordinarily obese, but no one ever commented on it........Somewhere along the way, you'd think that news commentators and comics would take note of the fact that their biases are glaringly obvious and counterproductive, but it hasn't happened yet.; 2/23/19, 7:18 AM
Tank said...: Shaming cigarette smokers helped decrease smoking and was good for millions of people. Fat shaming would be the same. Not talking about ten extra pounds.; 2/23/19, 7:20 AM
campy said...: "Nadler [...] used to be extraordinarily obese, but no one ever commented on it..."

Rush Limbaugh used to call him "The Waddler."; 2/23/19, 7:21 AM
Wince said...: Attack his policy, his demeanor, his callous nature, the fact that he is empty inside...

So how come when Trump critiqued Hillary on those points instead of her obesity he was attacked?; 2/23/19, 7:33 AM
Ann Althouse said...: Rush Limbaugh is a big, fat idiot.

Al Franken is fat too.; 2/23/19, 7:37 AM
Ryan said...: Being fat is good for trump. Maybe that's why he is eating so much fast food.; 2/23/19, 7:37 AM
Chuck said...: For me, it was never about Trump's gross weight. Fat jokes as such, are tremendously tedious.

No; with Trump, it was the fabulous way that he got Dr. Ricky Bobby to certify Trump as one unlikely pound in weight, and one wholly incredible inch in height, off of "obese." Got Dr. Bobby the VA nomination, but then that imploded too.

As with everything Trump, what makes the routine hilarious is the way that Trump ties to dodge the obvious.; 2/23/19, 7:38 AM
William said...: I can't preen myself for too many virtues, but I never got fat. There aren't that many pornstars and drug dealers as I go about my daily life, but everywhere there are pizza places, bakeries, and one bbq joint that truly has my number. It really does take a lot of self restraint to stay unfat. Every time I walk by that BBQ joint, I feel like I'm turning down a chance to spend the weekend with the Playmate of the year. The greatest temptation the average American faces is food. It's a daily struggle.; 2/23/19, 7:40 AM
Bay Area Guy said...: There's good scientific evidence that obesity increases the risk of various cancers. .

There's good common sense evidence that obesity causes a buncha other health problems.

To better our collective health, maybe we should do more fat-shaming.; 2/23/19, 7:47 AM
rhhardin said...: When Limbaugh travels, they have to add a leap second to the year.; 2/23/19, 7:50 AM
traditionalguy said...: Hubris meets fatness. Hubris wins!; 2/23/19, 7:51 AM
Johnathan Birks said...: Trump is indeed blessed by the nature of his enemies. Fatuous, mean-spirited, hypocritical, increasingly deranged. I didn't vote for the guy but the utter mindlessness of his attackers makes him a sympathetic figure. Prof. Althouse is not alone.; 2/23/19, 7:54 AM
jaydub said...: Chuck, speaking of "tremendously tedious".....; 2/23/19, 7:57 AM
Bruce Hayden said...: Fat shaming is a weird thing, because of the demographicst. Few of the upper middle class are obese any more. They are mostly too many generations from the time when fat meant rich. Thinness indicates that you have time for leisure, and are decent at self discipline, which is prized in the upper middle class. Ditto for much of the rich, except that you see some of it there, where their money means that they can afford a lot of fine dining. The exception, it seems, to all of this is the political class. Many of the older members of Congress, as well as many of the lobbyists, tend to be fat, verging on obese. Notice this time every time I make it to DC, and esp when visiting Congress. Never seen that many obese men in well tailored suits to hide their girth as there. I think that it, again, is fine dining, night after night, year after year. And, since Democrat politicians s tend to see politics more as a career than Republicans, I think that you see more Democratic, than Republican whale politicians.

But I don’t think that the interesting demographics end there. We spend half the year in maybe the poorest county in MT. There, there are a surprising number of obese women. Men tend to stay thinner, probably, as with the Inuit, because they work outside year round. But boy does everyone love their ice cream. But down here in AZ, we see a lot more fat people. Partially, it is that it is much more working class. And partly, it is ethnic. See some obese, even morbidly obese, non Hispanic whites, and, indeed, the line for the scooters at Walmart for the morbidly obese seems fairly equal opportunity, with a fair share of whites, blacks, and Hispanics. But when you drop into the category of fat and obese, I think that you see a difference. West African blacks are big, because they are always big (and why Obama’s paternity was questioned). But it is the Hispanics who really stick out here. First generation men are, of course, mostly very thin. But we have a lot of second, and maybe third generation, and there American abundance seems to have had an affect. So, you see whole families, with their 3 and 4 kids, eating ice cream, with the kids being pudgy, and the parents facing Type 2 diabetes. I mostly don’t worry about the overweight my Hispanics, rather it is the young thin Hispanic males, and esp if they are tatted up, or just have a couple tears tattooed around their eyes. The point though of all this is that fat shaming by the media isn’t going to play well in black and Hispanic communities, and that means lost votes for the Democrats, because they are so closely associated with the media.; 2/23/19, 7:59 AM
Matt said...: It is not healthy to be a lard-ass. Fat shaming is good and reflects society's concern for the fatty's well-being.; 2/23/19, 8:03 AM
jaydub said...: It seems Americans are on average fatter than Europeans, but Europeans are starting to catch up. Ten or fifteen years ago you rarely saw a fat one, but now I would say about 25% are overweight or even obese. On the other hand Europeans, particularly those from the South and East, are too busy smoking themselves to death to worry about obesity related diseased. It's like lung cancer and heart disease haven't yet been discovered over here.; 2/23/19, 8:14 AM
mccullough said...: Obama was skinny so a lot of the fat jokes of Trump are just longing for Obama.

Trump was in good shape for a long time. And he’s a better athlete than Obama. Much better golf swing. Can throw a baseball, too.

Hillary Clinton is also fat. So it’s not like that was an issue in the campaign.; 2/23/19, 8:14 AM
narciso said...: Exactly

https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2019/02/22/video-president-trump-meets-with-u-s-china-trade-negotiation-teams-in-oval-office/#more-160327; 2/23/19, 8:18 AM
DUSTER said...: Fat shaming is in need of a makeover, lets rebrand it as Lard Laughing, thats better.; 2/23/19, 8:18 AM
Qwinn said...: Rush Limbaugh used to be quite fat, but that was well over a decade ago. I haven't seen any pictures of him looking actually fat since. I do keep hearing people fat shaming him though.

If fat shaming is bad when people are actually fat, how much worse is it to fat shame people who *used* to be fat and aren't anymore?; 2/23/19, 8:20 AM
Hagar said...: Trump is a bit overweight, but not fat.; 2/23/19, 8:23 AM
Bruce Hayden said...: I think that fat shaming would be just fine with the media, if there weren’t racial and ethnic complications. My kid graduated from a prep school in CO ten years ago now, and the one obese girl left after middle school. They had mandatory athletics through high school, which included running enough teams that everyone could play whatever sport they chose, but had to pick one (you could be excused if you showed that you were competing at a higher level). I doubt that there was a single technically overweight kid in their graduating class. We live right by a Hispanic majority HS here in AZ, and the contrast couldn’t be any starker. There, esp with the girls, the unfat are a distinct minority. No doubt, the kids of the media elites, the ones you see on TV, etc, the more famous comics, and really, all those politicians in DC, probably look no different than those in my kid’s graduating class - thin and athletic, because they, no doubt send their kids to the best private schools that they can get them into. Fat shaming would be funny, because even if they had allowed themselves to pack on some pounds, their kids were thin. But, as I noted, esp the Hispanics seem proud of their chubby, verging on fat, families. And Blacks don’t seem that far behind. Not demographics to alienate, if you want to build a permanent ruling majority.; 2/23/19, 8:24 AM
Jersey Fled said...: Wasn't this just another way of fat shaming Trump?

While humble bragging and virtue signaling all at once?

A threefer. I impressed.; 2/23/19, 8:26 AM
Unknown said...: Maybe it's all they've got!; 2/23/19, 8:27 AM
narciso said...: I guess ths height makes the difference, or maybe they have nothing else to complain about.; 2/23/19, 8:30 AM
Lucien said...: I think Taft is still the presidential champion ov heavyweight. He got to be a Supreme Court Justice, too.; 2/23/19, 8:36 AM
Fernandinande said...: "Oh, Br’er Fox, go ahead and drown me then, just so long as you don’t throw me into that briar patch!"

"I am the most ardent human being against Trump, however,"

Shut up, fatty.; 2/23/19, 8:36 AM
Unknown said...: Carbohydrate addicts need help, not shame.; 2/23/19, 8:38 AM
Sebastian said...: "it's because you idiots make me feel sorry for him"

It's almost as if Trump knows. He triggers overreaction so that nice women will feel sorry for him, knowing that women's feelz decide elections.; 2/23/19, 8:56 AM
Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...: "Nothing Tastes As Good As Skinny Feels"

...except eating a Big Mac in front of loathsome lib reporters; 2/23/19, 8:59 AM
narciso said...: What it tells me is the BMI calculations are bonkers.; 2/23/19, 9:08 AM
Amexpat said...: I agree with Lucid's comment at 7:15 above.

Truth be told, I do have a prejudice against obese people. But I don't fat shame because underneath all the blubber is a real person that feels real pain about their condition. Fat shaming might be OK if it would motivate people to lose weight. But I suspect that fat shaming would make some obese people feel worse about themselves and increase their intake of comfort food.

Fat shaming politicians can sometimes be justified. Al Gore's bloat to my mind reflects his bloated ego and the hypocrisy of not doing what he preaches about global warming. And the magnitude of Chris Chritie's obesity led me to doubt his mental suitability for being POTUS (Althouse had a good post on this point awhile back); 2/23/19, 9:10 AM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: For his own sake, He should trim down. But it's a free country. For now.; 2/23/19, 9:12 AM
Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...: " Your* a big, fat, orange Hitler!"

*sick; 2/23/19, 9:21 AM
JAORE said...: All candidates should be required to run a 5k. Using 10 minutes per mile as the "standard" you gain 20 electoral votes for every minute per mile below 10 and lose 20 electoral votes for every minute per mile above 10.

Sorry Hillary no elbow grabbing escorts.; 2/23/19, 9:25 AM
n.n said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 2/23/19, 9:26 AM
n.n said...: He sets priorities of substance over appearance. He is sufficiently healthy.; 2/23/19, 9:27 AM
Gunner said...: Remember when lefties grudgingly stopped calling Ann Coulter a tranny a couple of years ago? That really made them sad.; 2/23/19, 9:30 AM
mockturtle said...: If anyone wonders why I seem to take Trump's side here, it's because you idiots make me feel sorry for him.

So, your opinion of Trump is based entirely on feelings rather than facts? Other than his personality, what are your specific objections to his Presidency?; 2/23/19, 9:33 AM
newton said...: There’s little fat shaming in Venezuela... Of course, count the fact that Maduro is as big as a Volkswagen and the people have been killing soo animals to eat, but the only fat shaming darts go to Maduro...; 2/23/19, 9:33 AM
Bill Peschel said...: Worse than the fat-shaming is the fat acceptance movement, making a virtue out of overeating.

What's worse is that the heavyweights in the movement are young women, which ignores the reality that all that weight is going to destroy their knees and hips, not to mention the other health issues.

As a culture, we're leading people into unhealthy behaviors. We encourage them to disassociate themselves from personal contact with families and friends. We uphold the ideal of individualism. We convince ourselves that we can "have it all" and that there never will be a price to pay. That we can spend ourselves into debt and retire rich.

To live well and safely, we have to resist the lies our culture feeds us.; 2/23/19, 9:43 AM
narciso said...: About that:
https://www.caracaschronicles.com/2019/02/23/chavismos-horror/; 2/23/19, 9:52 AM
William said...: That philosopher who pointed out that the human body is an exquisitely designed piece of machinery for turning fine food and wine into shit and piss had it wrong. The true genius of the body is its ability to turn trace amounts of French fries into adipose tissue......There can be no doubt that besity is a major problem and that fat shaming is not the solution to that problem.; 2/23/19, 10:10 AM
Krumhorn said...: I never defend the guy, but I’d vote for him again in a heartbeat if, for no other reason, than to keep a leftie out of the White House. Lard has nothing to do with it. I could drop a couple myself.

- Krumhorn; 2/23/19, 10:11 AM
Drago said...: "lifelong Eddie Haskell Republican" and self-described Smear Merchant Chuck: "For me, it was never about Trump's gross weight. Fat jokes as such, are tremendously tedious."

LOL

For you it has always been about smearing Trump (as you proudly proclaimed) and to attack any republican or conservative anywhere who is fighting back against your beloved Team Dem.

Your biggest fear are election "disasters" which you define as republican victories.

On a personal level you relish defending Stolen Valor dems and other dems who call US military members "gestapo".

You display a perverse joy in attacking children of republicans and you clearly enjoy attacking republicans who have stellar military service records. Probably due to your own feelings of inadequacy and underlying cowardice.

Your obvious bad faith posting is obvious to everyone and no doubt played a part in why this blog administrator told you to "leave".

A request you refused to honor because helping the dems/left is probably the only thing of value remaining in your life.; 2/23/19, 10:12 AM
Anonymous said...: "Being fat isn't a character flaw."

Sure it is. Not the worst of vices, just as not getting fat doesn't make one a paragon of all virtues, but a failing nonetheless.

The widespread obesity among the young in this country is sad to see. The terrible eating habits and sedentarism should be criticized. Not that isn't difficult to reverse obesity (and the miserable low-fat dieting dogma still being pushed isn't helping), but the last thing we need in this country is "fat acceptance".

That said, an apparently healthy, remarkably energetic guy who's fattened up in the last stretch of his three-score-and-ten is hardly the poster child for obesity as a serious national health problem.; 2/23/19, 10:19 AM
Anonymous said...: Drago: ...Eddie Haskell Republican...

Lol. That's pretty good. Newly minted?; 2/23/19, 10:23 AM
mockturtle said...: Obesity is, in most cases, a character flaw. Any time we yield to our 'drug of choice', be it alcohol, drugs, extramarital sex, pornography or excessive eating, we are showing our human weaknesses.; 2/23/19, 10:24 AM
Michael Fitzgerald said...: Johnathan Birks@7:54AM Oh look, here's another man of impeccable values everyone. Year 3 of Trump's presidency but this tool wants everyone to know that HE didn't vote for Donald Trump. Oh no no no, Johnny B would never vote for such a declasse oaf as Donald Trump. Smart guy and principled gentleman Johnny voted for Hillary fucking Clinton or the old useless fool drooling on himself about revolution,or the green chick who made millions promising a recall to her moronic constituency, or maybe wise Johnny B wrote in a funny protest vote for president so he wouldn't have to lower himself to vote for... shudder... Donald Trump.
So when you are complaining about the economy or minority employment figures or moving the embassy to Jerusalem or defunding Planned Parenthood or stopping the cycle of endless war or getting to work on criminal justice reform or bringing business back to the USA or lots of other stuff ya hear people complaining about, don't look at ol'JB cause he didn't vote for any of that, unh unh. Cause Donald Trump is empty inside....

You and the morons like you so proud of themselves for not voting for the greatest president of our lifetime are fucking Stuck On Stupid.; 2/23/19, 10:26 AM
Drago said...: AD: "That said, an apparently healthy, remarkably energetic guy who's fattened up in the last stretch of his three-score-and-ten is hardly the poster child for obesity as a serious national health problem."

The hyper-political pro-dem/left and their lap-attack poodles like LLR Chuck need to keep the conversation off the economy and the unemployment rate and the manufaturing numbers and the rising wages...etc

However, there are always some liberals around who find their principled beliefs being absorbed by the more radical leftists and lefty allies (like fopdoodle Chuck) and these liberals recognize the danger to their cause.

What these liberals are too dumb to understand is the far left/LLR's dont care about their cause and will destroy the liberals too if they have to in order to get their far left win.

Hence, NYT targeting the more liberal AK to clear the path for a far left/marxist type who isnt "burdened" by a more sedate midwest background and is likely to fight harder for more hard left policies like Open Borders (which is LLR Chuck's desire as well); 2/23/19, 10:31 AM
exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...: Bill Peschel wrote, "We uphold the ideal of individualism."

I agree with most of what you write, Bill, but I'd quibble with that. "Individualism" is a dirty word among SJWs, who think in terms of group identity. Young people are being taught to disassociate themselves from unwoke, regressive family members and traditional community organizations but not so they can become individualists. Instead of the old identities, we have people defining themselves according to their place in the Leftist victimhood hierarchy. The most important thing about them becomes their membership in an "oppressed" group. So fatties have jumped, or rather, lumbered onto the bandwagon, because it's much easier to claim victimhood and martyrdom while reaching for another bucket of KFC than it is to take responsibility and get on the treadmill. Nobody can lose weight for you - you have to do the hard work all by yourself. Sitting around with your fellow lardasses sobbing about "lookism" is much more comforting.; 2/23/19, 10:31 AM
Roy Lofquist said...: Did you hear the one about the Sumo wrestler and the ballerina? How about the movie?; 2/23/19, 10:33 AM
Michael Fitzgerald said...: mckturtle@9:33AM Good question, and one that smug asses superior to empty inside Donald Trump will answer by complaining about Twitter, or chaos, or pinkie lifting concerns. Stuck On Stupid people proud of how stuck they are. Moral and mental fatsos proud of how mentally and morally unfit they are.; 2/23/19, 10:34 AM
Sprezzatura said...: "If anyone wonders why I seem to take Trump's side here, it's because you idiots make me feel sorry for him."

Isn't that doing wrong to him? Like it's wrong to not attack a handicap person who is not a good wheelchair driver, just cause ya feel sorry for his struggle that you don't need to endure.

The Althouse walls of logic are created circuitously.

IMHO.; 2/23/19, 10:36 AM
Chuck said...: Blogger jaydub said...
Chuck, speaking of "tremendously tedious".....

Right; because there is so much criticism of Trump here, from the bloggress and her small army of commenters, that Trump-criticism is just routine. And the small handful who support Trump are liable to be bullied and shut down by the most relentlessly vociferous members of that commentariat.

I’m really thinking about that.; 2/23/19, 10:37 AM
Sprezzatura said...: "That said, an apparently healthy, remarkably energetic guy"

Speed (and such) does put a pep in yur step.

https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-snorted-adderall-apprentice-tom-arnold-noel-casler-1257787; 2/23/19, 10:39 AM
Birches said...: Obesity is, in most cases, a character flaw. Any time we yield to our 'drug of choice', be it alcohol, drugs, extramarital sex, pornography or excessive eating, we are showing our human weaknesses.

I get this, but feel different about Trump. He's an old man. Old people for the most part, especially one his size, are designed to get fat as they age. If not, he's at real risk of bone density issues, yes?; 2/23/19, 10:44 AM
Birches said...: I just ran a marathon a couple of weeks ago. Still about 10 lbs overweight. Hardly lost any weight this training time around. Leads me to my second point: America's obesity epidemic cannot be fixed by just exercising more. I can run 26 miles and use up my calorie savings on one restaurant dinner.; 2/23/19, 10:48 AM
Drago said...: With no where else to turn, adSs decides its a good time resurrect the adderall smear which was offered up by a single stand up comedian looking to make a name for himself!

LOL

adSs goes Full LLR Chuck early in the thread....with the same predictable results (not that there was significant residual credibility at risk of course); 2/23/19, 10:51 AM
narciso said...: The median age having gone up since 1980, makes him not that old. Btw the national guardsmen surrendered.; 2/23/19, 10:57 AM
Sprezzatura said...: https://twitter.com/kurteichenwald/status/969230789283020800?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E969230789283020800&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fboardgamegeek.com%2Fthread%2F1949582%2Fnewsweek-reporter-quits-posts-part-killed-trumps-d; 2/23/19, 11:01 AM
Sprezzatura said...: https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/entertainment/2019/01/tekashi-6ix9ine-grabs-girlfriend-s-bottom-in-first-jail-photo.html; 2/23/19, 11:02 AM
narciso said...: The guy with the hentai fetish and a history of fabrications going back to Texaco study; 2/23/19, 11:13 AM
Drago said...: Durbin Cuckholster Chuck: "I’m really thinking about that."

Perusing and parroting whatever you've been reading or hearing at Media Matters, NPR, DNC website, CNN and MSNBC cannot fairly be defined as "thinking".; 2/23/19, 11:15 AM
Drago said...: Sweet Jesus. adSs is really providing links to Kurt Eichenwald!!!

LOL

The "Full LLR Chuck"!!; 2/23/19, 11:17 AM
effinayright said...: JAORE said...
All candidates should be required to run a 5k. Using 10 minutes per mile as the "standard" you gain 20 electoral votes for every minute per mile below 10 and lose 20 electoral votes for every minute per mile above 10.

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

George W. Bush was in fantastic shape, and could run 7:30 miles.
Fat lot of good it did him with liberals.; 2/23/19, 11:20 AM
narciso said...: in other news:

https://dailycaller.com/2019/02/12/trump-hud-lynne-patton-nycha-housing-authority-video/?utm_source=Twitter&utm_campaign=atdailycaller&utm_medium=Social; 2/23/19, 11:21 AM
Drago said...: LLR Chuck as Whiny Jussie Smollett-victim is perhaps Chuck's worst look...and thats saying something.

Watch out: when LLR Chuck is in a whiny victim mood and thibgs arent going well for dems thats usually a recipe for LLR Chuck to lash out at children or women.

Heads up!; 2/23/19, 11:21 AM
narciso said...: Michael Tracey who is pretty far left, is sometimes gratuitously cruel to eichenwald,; 2/23/19, 11:25 AM
narciso said...: This cruel:

https://mobile.twitter.com/mtracey/status/852980830930685952?lang=en; 2/23/19, 11:28 AM
Tom T. said...: The personal insults always seem heavily larded with projection. Trump isn't empty inside, as by all indications he's a vibrant man with a loving family who consistently enjoys life. But I'll bet for damn sure that the writer who's criticizing him feels empty and worthless.; 2/23/19, 11:28 AM
Chuck said...: About Atlhouse's added paragraph, to wit:

ADDED: Trump is an extremely successful, dominating person, and yet somehow his enemies make me feel that he's a bullied outsider in need of a friend. Stop making the President of the United States into the underdog, you fools! If anyone wonders why I seem to take Trump's side here, it's because you idiots make me feel sorry for him.

One of the most curious and disgusting aspects of Trumpism is how it has turned a generations-old movement -- American conservatism -- into a kind of sad identity politics. As if fully employed, middle class white Americans who have enjoyed peace and prosperity their entire lives, have learned fro talk radio and cable news all the lessons of the grievance minorities of the last three decades or so.

Where the problems of Trump's most ardent supporters are to be blamed on externalities; Mexican immigrants; Chinese trade cheaters; freeloading Euros; dependent American minorities; and of course the liberal media.

You Trump cultists are so pathetic. Man up already. Don't be such whining pussies. Quit letting Trump make you believe that you -- and very much by extension America -- is a Victim, capital-V. Don't be victims. Instead, quit listening to Trump and make yourselves and America great again.; 2/23/19, 11:28 AM
Drago said...: Eichenwald is the LLR Chuck of lefty hack media world.

And I suppose I should offer some minor apologies to Eichenwald for that comparison.; 2/23/19, 11:29 AM
narciso said...: Mind you eichenwald had no little for Texaco trainers victims of terrorism, or any of a host of other paryies.; 2/23/19, 11:32 AM
narciso said...: Parties, well Europe has built their Oceania with the umbrella of our military, the welfare state has gotten too large, there are too many persons who have to come to this country illegally.; 2/23/19, 11:36 AM
Drago said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 2/23/19, 11:36 AM
Drago said...: #StrongDemDefender Chuck: "One of the most curious and disgusting aspects of Trumpism is how it has turned a generations-old movement -- American conservatism -- into a kind of sad identity politics."

More pathetically transparent lies from the fake conservatives like Chuck who long ago went over to the left.

Sorry Chuckie. The jig is up. Only the lefty money funds the moron opinions pushed by your fake con heroes.

They, and you, are completely exposed as the lefty allies you so clearly are.

You cant talk your way out of this exposure.

There is no FakeConJediMindTrick you can pull anymore.

Which is why all your heroes are standing on line, hat in hand, at every far left billionaire lefty agenda rag like the now defunct Cuckly Standard and its replacement The BS-ulwark.

93 to 95% of all republicans support Trump.

You arent fooling anyone.; 2/23/19, 11:37 AM
narciso said...: Is that from the bulwinkle being given an attaboy from the sargasso, formerly the atlantic?; 2/23/19, 11:38 AM
Darrell said...: Drago called Chuck Eddie Haskell yesterday for brown nosing to Althouse--lobbying her to protect him from the deplorable commenters. So Chuck can't even be original. Sad for a lawyer.; 2/23/19, 11:41 AM
Chuck said...: 93 to 95% of all republicans support Trump.

I keep seeing those polling numbers, and I wonder if it is because there are 65% fewer Republicans. The last midterms didn't show anything quite as dramatic as that. But beginning to get there.; 2/23/19, 11:42 AM
Darrell said...: That's why Chuck set the swirly record at every school he attended.; 2/23/19, 11:43 AM
Drago said...: LLR Chuck: "I keep seeing those polling numbers"

That's impossible as they never report those numbers on MSNBC, NPR, CNN or at the DNC so there is no way you have ever actually seen them.; 2/23/19, 11:44 AM
Darrell said...: Aren't you late for your anal bleaching, Chuck?; 2/23/19, 11:44 AM
narciso said...: Germany trains with wooden rifles but tells they are against the Russians 100%; 2/23/19, 11:45 AM
Drago said...: Darrell: "Drago called Chuck Eddie Haskell yesterday for brown nosing to Althouse"

A little brown-nosing is acceptable.

What LLR Chuck was doing was so over top Brown-nosing that it left the realm of the Brown-nose definition and reached galactic heights of insincerety/lying suck-uppery, all in LLR Chucks sad little attempt to mitigate the damage he has done to his own reputation here by inadvertently revealing precisely who and what he is.

I must admit I did enjoy Chuck's childlike attempts to weasel his way back into the good graces of the Althouse and Meade.; 2/23/19, 11:48 AM
narciso said...: Cruel Darrell, and tmi:

Thanks to our Turkish and qatari friends:

https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2019/02/analysis-hayat-tahrir-al-sham-and-hurras-al-din-reach-a-new-accord.php; 2/23/19, 11:48 AM
Karen of Texas said...: Obviously no one commenting on this thread has to deal with a hypothyroid issue, especially one wrapped up in an autoimmune disease called Hashimoto's Thyroiditis. Undiagnosed hypothyroidism, including Hashi's, could be a contributing factor to obesity. Hashi's means your body is actively destroying your thyroid. Triggers for this autoimmune disease are theorized to be various and many, including heavy metal exposure, the Epstein-Barr virus, and leaky gut/food reactions. And many conventional doctors will brush off symptoms of debilitating fatigue, foggy brain, and *weight gain* as stress, age-related, or simply “women’s issues".

How could doctors get it wrong? Well, often they don't get paid to spend more than 10 minutes with a patient. Some still use old test ranges. Some rely solely on tests in spite of what their eyes and the patient are telling them.

And then there is the issue of insurance paying for all the necessary tests, which many doctors won't order or people don't want to pay for them because they aren't covered. Complete thyroid panels need to be run, not the quick and easy few that many doctors might order to appease a "difficult" patient. Blood work can show thyroid hormone levels to be within normal range, yet those tests don't always tell the full story. If the right labs aren't ordered, your doc is going to be telling you that your thyroid levels are normal, but surprise! You might actually have Hashimoto’s.

Googling will yield various statistics so you can pick your numbers - for instance: "An estimated 20 million Americans have some form of thyroid disease. Up to 60 percent of those with thyroid disease are unaware of their condition." Or: "An estimated 5 percent of women and 3 percent of men in the U.S. have subclinical thyroid dysfunction, and about 0.5 percent of the population may have undiagnosed overt thyroid disease."

Disclaimer, I have Hashi's. I pay out of pocket to see a functional medicine doctor - yes, that's a real MD. My weight has been slowly creeping up while I work to try to figure out what my stupid triggers are that keep my antibodies high - and thus the continual inflammation that makes one feel like crap - while also trying to optimize my thyroid levels with medication so I can function. Exercise? Walking too much and too vigorously is enough to cause me to end up barely able to crawl out of bed. Even controlling my diet at this point isn't budging the weight. As I said, creeping slowly up. I was not heavy, or obese, in years gone by.

So the reality is that there may be more to someone's story than they simply don't know how to put the fork down and push away from the table.; 2/23/19, 11:51 AM
buwaya said...: There is no politics left but identity politics.

Everything else has been deliberately and efficiently expunged, as all other shared values have been subverted and made obsolete, or even shameful. You no longer have a "civic religion" so important to a republic, or even a shared culture.

Moreover all mediating institutions have been mowed down.

This all has been done to you. An exercise of overwhelming and malicious power.

To be clear, what you really have beneath it all is a caste war, white against white.; 2/23/19, 11:55 AM
Drago said...: narciso: "Germany trains with wooden rifles but tells they are against the Russians 100%"

Germany currently uses natural gas for approx 35% of all its energy needs. Russia currently supplies 90% of that 35%.

Germany's former Chancellor, Schroeder, worked hand in glove with Putins energy crony pals (same ones Hillary/Bill worked with on Uranium One) to build and continue to expand the Nord Stream pipleline (double the capacity) in 2019 alone.

With Germany cutting off its nukes and cutting back on coal use in a very short time natural gas will represent about 75% of all energy sources in Germany, with Putin's finger able to turn it all off with the flick of a switch.

The pipeline could have been built overland, but the Russians didn't want that, so the Germans didn't want that.

This hurt Germany's NATO allies....but Germany didn't care. Because when the German govt says they are worried about Russia, they are lying. They only worry about how to keep all the other EU nations in line and doing what they say, even when it clearly is against the national interests of those other EU members.

Germany has never lived up to its military commitments, they have backstabbed the US across the globe, and they are economically aligned with US enemies in the ME.

Germany is the LLR Chuck of the EU/NATO.; 2/23/19, 11:57 AM
narciso said...: Possibly but Obamacare has worsened this trump, she may have a thyroid disorder (is it a preexisting condition?); 2/23/19, 11:57 AM
Yancey Ward said...: Chuck complaining about something being tedious is too fucking funny.; 2/23/19, 11:59 AM
buwaya said...: Trump is an old man. We tend to get a bit loose around our middles approaching that age.

Anyway, I think Trump is best seen as a heroic but tragic figure. One mighty warrior against vast armies organized against him, one who has achieved legendary feats of arms. But the odds against him are overwhelming.

It will end, I think, somewhat like Samson in the temple.; 2/23/19, 12:01 PM
Drago said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 2/23/19, 12:01 PM
Drago said...: Karen, I am sorry you are having to deal with such a difficult disease under such difficult circumstances.

I will certainly make an effort to keep what you have written in mind.; 2/23/19, 12:03 PM
Jeff said...: Fat shaming? Au contraire!; 2/23/19, 12:04 PM
Drago said...: LLR Chuck: "Quit letting Trump make you believe that you -- and very much by extension America -- is a Victim, capital-V. Don't be victims. Instead, quit listening to Trump and make yourselves and America great again."

LOL

Holy crap Chuck, did you really think THAT would work, after all your other failures to get Republicans to self-sabotage themselves all in order to advance your lefty dem pals interests?

Too funny.

Seriously, at least you attempted something new. I'm not saying it was any good (Spoiler: It wasn't), but at least you tried to adapt to the reality that your lefty-ness has been completely laid bare and you had to do something different.

So, you know, congratulations on not having your feet completely stuck in concrete.

You are still a lefty plodding oaf of course, but perhaps a glimmer of hope remains.; 2/23/19, 12:04 PM
narciso said...: Thats pretty weak tea,; 2/23/19, 12:13 PM
Drago said...: Most interesting aspect of all LLR Chuck's posts: The specific set of tactics being used by LLR Chuck to support the left/MSM/Dems attempts to separate Trump from his supporters exposes a set of assumptions (by Chuck) that is completely lacking in any understanding whatsoever of why republicans are supporting Trump.

Even most NeverTrumpers KNOW why Trump supporters support Trump and they recognize the validity of many of those concerns/desires, so the NeverTrumpers usually focus their Separation Attempts on something "moral" or similar.

What LLR Chuck is doing is precisely what a pure leftist would do to separate Trump supporters from Trump. LLR Chuck is operating on a pure leftist set of beliefs and assumptions!

Unexpectedly!; 2/23/19, 12:14 PM
Karen of Texas said...: Drago, keep up the good fight!

(And thank you.); 2/23/19, 12:15 PM
narciso said...: I mean that argument might fly at joyners or the resurgent, definitely the daily basilisk but here?; 2/23/19, 12:18 PM
Drago said...: Karen: (And thank you.)

You're welcome.

And Gig 'em! Or Hook 'em! Or whichever other one is yours.

Texas is a very large place...and I oughta know!; 2/23/19, 12:19 PM
Tina Trent said...: Karen -- good luck.

Churchill did pretty well on tubs of lard and whisky before breakfast. Trump has never had an alcoholic drink. Clinton is a sex addict. Jimmy Carter not only writes but insists on publishing execrable poetry.

Everyone's got something.; 2/23/19, 2:23 PM
HT said...: "If anyone wonders why I seem to take Trump's side here, it's because you idiots make me feel sorry for him. "

It's official - you've got TDS.; 2/23/19, 5:05 PM
HT said...: "To better our collective health, maybe we should do more fat-shaming."

Perhaps. And/or start a massive campaign that directly links processed food to cardiovascular disease, liver disease, metabolic disease.; 2/23/19, 5:07 PM
HT said...: "But when you drop into the category of fat and obese, I think that you see a difference. West African blacks are big, because they are always big (and why Obama’s paternity was questioned)."

What?; 2/23/19, 5:13 PM
FullMoon said...: "That said, an apparently healthy, remarkably energetic guy"

Speed (and such) does put a pep in yur step.

https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-snorted-adderall-apprentice-tom-arnold-noel-casler-1257787

Heck yeak, whole lot of fat speed freaks runnin' around.LOL; 2/23/19, 5:33 PM
Gospace said...: Blogger Tina Trent said...

.... Jimmy Carter not only writes but insists on publishing execrable poetry.

But does it require a Vogon poetry reading chair?; 2/23/19, 5:37 PM
Narayanan said...: Ayn Rand
Sanction of the Victim
¶
The “sanction of the victim” is the willingness of the good to suffer at the hands of the evil, to accept the role of sacrificial victim for the “sin” of creating values.

I believe Chuck is noticing the victim withdrawing sanction.

Trying to figure out why Emerita Professora feels sympathy to victim superior virtue than admiration for fighter.; 2/23/19, 6:24 PM