March 16, 2019

"Beto O'Rourke said Friday night that he had been wrong for joking... that his wife has been raising their three children 'sometimes with my help.'"

CNN reports.
"Not only will I not say that again, but I'll be more thoughtful going forward in the way that I talk about our marriage, and also the way in which I acknowledge the truth of the criticism that I have enjoyed white privilege," he said....

"So yes, I think the criticism is right on. My ham-handed attempt to try to highlight the fact that Amy has the lion's share of the burden in our family -- that she actually works but is the primary parent in our family, especially when I served in Congress, especially when I was on the campaign trail -- should have also been a moment for me to acknowledge that that is far too often the case, not just in politics, but just in life in general. I hope as I have been in some instances part of the problem, I can also be part of the solution," he said....
O'Rourke also apologized for fiction he wrote when he was a teenager. Using the pen-name Psychedelic Warlord, he wrote about murder from the murderer's point of view.
He said he was "mortified to read it now, incredibly embarrassed... whatever my intention was as a teenager doesn't matter."
No. I want him to apologize to the teenager, the boy he once was. Apologize for saying he doesn't matter. Apologize for being embarrassed for him. Who the hell are you to be embarrassed for him? You are erasing him. You are misappropriating him. What about the teenagers today who hear you and resolve never to write fiction lest it trip up some aggressively ambitious person they may grow into some day?

And as for Amy, your ham-handmaid, did she have any help — any nannies and other servants? Aren't you two rich?

And I can't believe you said "she actually works"! Oh, good lord, you'll have to apologize for that too. You think a woman who devotes all her time to maintaining the household and raising children doesn't work?

My real point here is once you adopt the lifestyle of apologies, you can never do enough. The demands for apologies are endless. Where are you going to draw the line? And how are you going to seem presidential? Everybody's trying to take you down, Beto. Don't be beta.

157 comments:

Kevin said...

You are erasing him. You are misappropriating him.

Didn’t you see Sandmann? It’s their stock-in-trade.

To get anywhere in the Democrat Party you must first erase your past and misappropriate yourself.

Then you’re free to apply that to others to build your career.

tim maguire said...

Nice observation on teenage O’Rourke. We’re all embarrassed by ourselves as teenagers. That’s how it’s supposed to be.

And why can’t he make a self-deprecating joke about how his wife works harder at home than he does? Is that supposed to be hurtful to her? Is he supposed to be more contrite? They have their arrangements and if it works for them, then it does.

Stop apologizing! That’s no way to get forgiveness.

Kevin said...

The demands for apologies are endless. Where are you going to draw the line? And how are you going to seem presidential?

You can’t. But you can be Vice President, in charge of white privilege explaining.

That job will always be open in the party, and neither Biden nor Bernie is interested.

Kevin said...

I think Beto could do everyone a service by doing exactly half the childcare and housework while running for President.

He could inform us on a daily basis how difficult a job that is. No nannies, drivers, or housekeepers.

The kids get play dates and he carpools the soccer team. He can can live feed himself making their after-school snacks and helping them solve for x.

Darrell said...

Pancho Nilla gets woker.
He couldn't last a week getting Trump-level criticism from the Press.

Darrell said...

I'm White.

I apologize.

Kevin said...

Does he think Amy Klobuchar is apologizing for what she wrote as a teenager?

Even in high school she was berating her staff for work that failed to receive an A++.

R C Belaire said...

The Road To 2020 will be worth watching...stumble after stumble, with Trump waiting just over the horizon.

Trashcan O Man said...

I would have voted for Beto in 2020 if the Zodiac Killer hadn't got him.

Wince said...

Beto: 5% hipster, 95% doofus.

Darrell said...

Writing Murderer Fan Fiction needs several apologies.

Mid-Life Lawyer said...

Beto is running for president because he has that slight beaver toothed mouth of the Kennedys, especially of Robert Kennedy. That's his main attribute. He seems like a nice enough mealy mouthed fellow, though. It's a shame that Kamala the Dragon will find some tweet or facebook post that she will find concerning, and successfully take him from apologizing for his privilege into his expulsion from the national scene for his full blown white nationalism. He's rich, though, so he'll be ok.

Heartless Aztec said...

Too late. He is a person of the Left and it's shibboleths must be observed. Grovel.

Lucid-Ideas said...

"My real point here is once you adopt the lifestyle of apologies, you can never do enough."

Um....that is precisely the point. "They" want a never-ending grievance-train that runs on rails greased with apologies.

Beta O'Rourke...the soft-faced man-child with so much ambition he'll run for office with your dad's money and apologize for not 'putting in enough time for the kids'!

What a hearthrob!

What a catch!

Isn't he dreamy!

(P.s. ladies....he writes poetry too! Swoon now!)

MayBee said...

Agree with Althouse.

I don't understand why what he said about child raising was bad. I thought it was charming and self-aware!

Happy Warrior said...

Hear hear Ann! I'm tired of all the apologizing for the long-dead past, sophomoric BS most everyone can find in their past. No reparations!

robother said...

Beto O needs a twitter handle: Betoo#

I'm sorry. So sorry. I'm even sorry for apologizing so much! Can you ever forgive and vote for me?

David Begley said...

I demand that Beto release his SAT scores and Columbia grades.

Shouting Thomas said...

We need a compelling opponent to lose to Trump in 2020.

What would such an opponent's platform look like?

Communism and freebies for blacks, gays and women?

So far, that's all the Dems have to offer.

FIDO said...

Let's face it, Madam Althouse, he is not the manly man you made in your mind. Maybe if he had a bunch of starlets he banged. But sons in law who marry into money don't get that kind of discretion...more beta points.

Matt Sablan said...

A Clockwork Orange is powerful because it is written from a twisted perspective. Unsympathetic narrators can do a lot to evoke powerful emotions. In the Great Gatsby our narrator is... Kind of a dick. He sits by and watches a woman get abused among other acts of passive moral failings. This makes me think O Rourke just doesn't understand art.

John Borell said...

Beta O’Rourke

I love it!

Danno said...

And I can't believe you said "she actually works"! Oh, good lord, you'll have to apologize for that too.

Althouse - 1; Beto - 0

Mattman26 said...

I’ve long wondered if there’s a faster way to make toast. I think this guy’s going to show me.

Humperdink said...

I have yet to see Beto apologizing for having three children. And white ones at that.

Big Mike said...

Everybody's trying to take you down, Beto. Don't be beta.

Yes to the first. Decades too late for the second.

Bob Boyd said...

Maybe Beto was born to apologize.

hawkeyedjb said...

I assume whichever candidate the Democratic party puts up will win in 2020. So let's try them on for size. How about a soft, unaccomplished pretty-boy who goes around apologizing? We'll call him "Barack Obama II." He already has the initials, he can re-use the White House hand towels.

Humperdink said...

And to think Ruth Beto O'Rourke has just began groveling for his past sins. He's just scratching the surface thus far. Wait until the Dems oppo research kicks into to high gear.

gilbar said...

truth of the criticism that I have enjoyed white privilege
so, did her wife enjoy white privilege too? Or, is that just a guy thing?

Tank said...

He makes me want to barf.

Ewwwwwwww.

How can this be attractive to women … or men?

iowan2 said...

We didn't plan it, but we raised are children with my wife staying home with them, and me working 12-16 hours a day. She did the mom thing, I swept in and did the dad thing when I had a break in work. Knowing what I know now, I might attack that different. Our kids turned out to be great. Productive, engaged, raising our grandchildren. ( my wife is a kid whisperer, rules with an iron will, and unconditional love)
I might do it different. I'm sure in the hell not cowing to anyone that would attempt to criticize us.
Never Trumpers claim that his character trait of never apologizing is a flaw. But they are just envious that they themselves can't pull it off.

Earnest Prole said...

Beto’s a Girlie Man.

Ann Althouse said...

"Agree with Althouse. I don't understand why what he said about child raising was bad. I thought it was charming and self-aware!"

Thanks for agreeing with me. But I do understand why what he said about child raising was bad. It's a conventional thing that men have been saying about their wives for a long time. They present it as praise but they are showing that they have adopted the stereotypical arrangement and seem to think it's all very nice and loving as long as they lavish the praise. The worst examples of this kind of talk are to be found in the "acknowledgements" sections of books. The male writers make a show of confessing how little they contributed to the household and often refer to their wives as "long-suffering" and wonderfully patient. It's contributing to a culture in which women make themselves small and quiet and supportive. It's the subordination of women, done subtly and painlessly. It's so all-consuming, you don't even feel it, or if you feel it you think how good I am (or how good my wife is), how much better than those other women. Feminism is about noticing and pointing it out.

Darrell said...

If elected, he can finish Barack Obama's apology tour.
Before starting another to apologize for Trump.

gilbar said...

his wife has been raising their three children 'sometimes with my help.'=white privilege

as opposed to;wife has been raising her three children completely by herself=black privilege?

i mean, i just don't understand?
was this male chauvinist? Absolutely.... But how the hell is it white privilege?

MadisonMan said...

Someone upthread said exactly the right thing. Stop apologizing!!

I think a far better reply when confronted by the nothingburger (sorry for that word) that O'Rourke is tangling with is a non-committal grunt. Be certain that the grunt conveys the thought that the person talking to you is insane, because that certainly seems to be the case.

Darrell said...

I'd like to thank my little lady.

rhhardin said...

Women love apologies. It's apology porn, and defines a self-sustaining genre, romantic comedy.

A guy watches romantic comedy up to the first wins the girl, skipping the loses the girl plot complication, which is inevitably stupid, and skips to the rewins the girl at the end. The guy thinks it's nice tha women like men and can be won.

But what you have to say is always a puzzle. Time-travel romcoms solve that, a subgenre for men.

Tommy Duncan said...

Like Caspar Milquetoast, Beto is "the man who speaks softly and gets hit with a big stick".

rhhardin said...

Time travel means you never have to apologize.

Virgil Hilts said...

It would be fun to write Trump's take -- "Wow. Did you see that billionaire's husband Beta guy apologizing again? What's up with that, huh? Beta's sorry he did this. Beta's sorry he did that. Beta's sorry he almost killed people driving while drunk and then tried to flee the police and then lied about it. Beta's sorry he married into a billionaire family when he really doesn't like rich people. Beta's sorry he used to write about killing little kids. Beta's so sorry about this and about that and, you known, man, in the end, I really do feel sorry for the guy!"

Bob Boyd said...

I've only heard Beto's voice on the radio, but he sounded like a skate punk.

"Sorry Dude!"

Charlie Currie said...

"Don't be beta" That's what his nanny kept telling him. The family mistook it for calling him, Beto.

rhhardin said...

Although there's one, Time Freak (2018) where the guy gets caught time-travelling and has to apologize.

Ralph L said...

Forget his hands, he can't keep his head still when he talks. Almost Touretteish.

rhhardin said...

The girl thought it was suspicious that they never fight.

Hammond X. Gritzkofe said...

Borell @6:56

Beta O'Dork

FIFY

MayBee said...

It's contributing to a culture in which women make themselves small and quiet and supportive. It's the subordination of women, done subtly and painlessly. It's so all-consuming, you don't even feel it, or if you feel it you think how good I am (or how good my wife is), how much better than those other women. Feminism is about noticing and pointing it out.

Mmmm...I know what you are talking about, and I've seen it done a lot. Obama used to do it when he would speak to a Women in Business group and say, "I know all about strong women. I'm married to one!".

But, there are times when it is absolutely true that the woman is doing most of the child rearing. Beto was a Congressman. He didn't even live in the same city as his kids. He ran for the Senate, traveling all over Texas. Why not give credit where it's due. It would be worse to say "We are raising 3 wonderful kids!" if she's the one whose putting them to bed, going to school functions, reading to them, disciplining them, feeding them, etc. I thought feminism was also about recognizing the hard work of parenting!

rhhardin said...

Feminism is about women being hard to please. They don't want what they say they want.

rhhardin said...

The girl thought it was suspicious that they never fight.

Women want to fight occasionally. That's probably why apology porn works, same cluster.

Shouting Thomas said...

Feminism is about noticing and pointing it out.

Feminism is about fabricating problems for school teachers to fix.

rhhardin said...

The good romcom apologies aren't really apologies but saying what the woman is surprised by being exactly what she wants to hear, a discovery for her.

Two Weeks Notice (2002) being a good example.

Bob Boyd said...

Come on. It's not Beto's fault his parents didn't bribe an admissions officer to get young Beto into poetry school.

ga6 said...

"once you adopt the lifestyle of apologies, you can never do enough."

Well, there is always Seppuku.

rhhardin said...

The worst examples of this kind of talk are to be found in the "acknowledgements" sections of books.

A math/engineering book had an acknowledgement that we'd like finally to thank our wives, whose active indifference to the project was at least not hostile, even when aware prospect of riches from the project were dim; and for some help, such as it was, with the index.

That resonated with the book's readers, I'd bet. Math guys.

Bob Boyd said...

Well, there is always Seppuku.

No good. Cultural appropriation. You want that on your tombstone?

Mary Beth said...

Don't be beta


Fish got to swim, birds got to fly, Beto got to beta.

Big Mike said...

The male writers make a show of confessing how little they contributed to the household and often refer to their wives as "long-suffering" and wonderfully patient.

My gripe with 21st century feminism. As far as many wives are concerned the woman-at-home-raising-the-kids is a perfectly valid choice for a married couple. A two-career couple is another choice, one that can be hard on the kids growing up if not handled carefully. The variant where the two-career couple is voluntarily childless is, to my mind, less valid because the day will come when you wish you had kids, and grandkids, and you don’t. I get that the husband-at-home didn’t work for you, but other couples might have more success with it. My point is that it ought to be up to the couple to make a joint decision, and it is not your decision to make for them. A good marriage is a partnership where the partners decide how things will be. The notion that the wife in a woman-at-home-raising-the-kids marriage is somehow being part of a “culture in which women make themselves small and quiet and supportive” is about you and other feminists being intolerant and judgemental. Beto’s wife should do it your way or she’s all about the subordination of women? Who turned you into Juno, the Roman goddess of marriage?

rhhardin said...

The subordination of women is something women set up so they can get an apology.

Sometimes an apology has something original in it that she finds she wanted to hear. That's what she's after.

Something's missing in my life now, and I hope he can find it.

Nothing prevents women taking up an interest in math except that they won't find it there.

CWJ said...

Beto's erasure of his teenaged self seems quite selective. Beto the author is tossed overboard. Beto the "punk rocker?" That's a keeper.

rhhardin said...

I talked to a woman the other day who wrongly assumed I ever looked in the mirror. Guys don't look in the mirror, I said. She felt this was sexist.

Henry said...

Wasn't this guy a punk rocker once?

You take the rock out of the punk and you just end up with the punk.

* * *

Regarding his joke -- this is one of those can't win things. A modern politician is going to have almost no regular daily time for his or her family. They might have blocks of time together, vacations together, but Sunday through Saturday the politician's schedule is merciless, a relentless grind of travel, appearances, and official duties, all a long way from home. It's bizarre to pretend that Beto and Amy had any other option, once he successfully ran for Congress.

His only smart move would be to act like Roz Chast's mother and never even mention that his wife is the primary caregiver to their children. Or that he has children. Or that he has a wife.

RMc said...

We need a compelling opponent to lose to Trump in 2020.

What would such an opponent's platform look like?

Communism and freebies for blacks, gays and women?


I'm old enough to remember George McGovern and "acid, amnesty and abortion". (Google that phrase and find out who came up with it!)

Shouting Thomas said...

Feminism is about fabricating problems for school teachers to fix.

Let me amend that slightly: Feminism is about fabricating problems for nice white lady school teachers to fix.

Althouse grew up Episcopalian?

Ann Althouse said...

"Mmmm...I know what you are talking about, and I've seen it done a lot. Obama used to do it when he would speak to a Women in Business group and say, "I know all about strong women. I'm married to one!". But, there are times when it is absolutely true that the woman is doing most of the child rearing. Beto was a Congressman. He didn't even live in the same city as his kids. He ran for the Senate, traveling all over Texas. Why not give credit where it's due. It would be worse to say "We are raising 3 wonderful kids!" if she's the one whose putting them to bed, going to school functions, reading to them, disciplining them, feeding them, etc. I thought feminism was also about recognizing the hard work of parenting!"

It's good not to lie, but the truth should be acknowledged in a new way. His problem is that he said it in the old way. It was retrogressive. Maybe he lacks the imagination to put it in a new way. If I spent 5 minutes thinking about what he could have said, I'd come up with something. I feel like I should be paid for speechwriting though.

rhhardin said...

If I spent 5 minutes thinking about what he could have said, I'd come up with something. I feel like I should be paid for speechwriting though.

Forcing the guy to come up with it is the point. A guy has to appreciate you properly. Best of all if he discovers a turn of phrase that melts your heart again.

You're tired of the old heart melting words.

Darrell said...

My Wife--gotta love her. She brings home the bacon, fries it up in the pan. And never lets me forget I'm a man. A privileged White man.

Henry said...

I hope as I have been in some instances part of the problem, I can also be part of the solution," he said

WTF? Has he decided to not run for President then? Or will he and Amy get joint sex-changes so Beto can leave her husband at home.

Henry said...

And the idiot is running against multiple women. Where's his solution there?

mockturtle said...

My real point here is once you adopt the lifestyle of apologies, you can never do enough. The demands for apologies are endless. Where are you going to draw the line? And how are you going to seem presidential? Everybody's trying to take you down, Beto. Don't be beta.

Well said, Althouse. Trump, perhaps instinctively, has always known this. But urging Beto not to be beta is futile. He is what he is.

Jeff Brokaw said...

It’s self-deprecating humor. Try chuckling, America, it’ll do you good.

What a bunch of humorless scolds. Good grief.

rhhardin said...

A woman in the white house is going to be demanding apologies as foreign policy.

MayBee said...

If I spent 5 minutes thinking about what he could have said, I'd come up with something. I feel like I should be paid for speechwriting though.

I think what he said is perfectly fine. Any outrage is Binders-full-of-women-esque, and he should never have apologized.

rhhardin said...

Thw women voters want to hear how valuable they are, but in new words, from some guy.

dreams said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
rhhardin said...

Women revenge action movies are good but always seem to be based on an old rape. Apparently rape is the go-to first offense to kick the story off.

It's a generic rape, like praising a woman wrong.

Levi Starks said...

Can I take it that he’s telling today’s teenagers that in 20 years they’ll be apologizing for things they’re doing today, like skipping school for global warming?

rhhardin said...

Ever since Get Smart, where 99 with a feather-force punch took out a huge bad guy, women's action flicks have been great.

The dull genres are dramas where the woman just withholds sex.

rhhardin said...

Films are writers figuring out what women are thinking.

Ryan said...

A Russian guy once wrote a novel about murder from the murderer's perspective.

rhhardin said...

Almost Scott Adams time. Yesterday he was bummed out about the New Zealand shooting. Very sensitive guy. Unlike Anthony Jezelnik. Friends write him after a tragedy and say "Anthony, don't do it."

Ken B said...

Spineless.

rhhardin said...

I think it was Atomic Blonde (2017) that the director said he was going for the longest, most over-the-top woman vs man fight scene, ever. It certainly went on for a while but I hadn't been aware they were after the hidden comedy explictly.

Darrell said...

Best male/female fight scene.

Banshee.

Hammond X. Gritzkofe said...

Missing from the Beto Blather is *how* he proposes to fix the endless number of "problem of _____ in America" he reeled off in the "Hands" clip a few threads back.

Here he is appologising for White Privilege. "I was arrested twice, and was fortunate to have wealthy parents who could fix things for me." (Because, you know, White=Wealthy; NotWhite=NotWealthy.)

So what is the fix you propose, Beto? Everybody gets out of jail free? Everbody is restricted to a court appointed lawyer; no privately funded defense attorneys?

The laundry list of "wrong with America" (most of which, if they exist at all, are not within the scope of federal executive authority) was the stump format of B.O. in 2008. Tall skinny guy in clean casual wear with noticeable hand gestures. Worked then. Not now, methinks.

Rob said...

The nice thing about Beto’s youthful fiction is that when they make the biopic we know he’ll be played by Christopher Walken.

Fernandinande said...

The male writers make a show of confessing how little they contributed to the household and often refer to their wives as "long-suffering" and wonderfully patient.

There might be one or two in the history of everything, but other than that, I don't believe it. E.g. "Bonfire" acknowledges two men; Sagan dedicates to his grandson.

It's contributing to a culture in which women make themselves small and quiet and supportive.

Those poor little dears! How are you going to enlighten them and change their personalities so they can be more like you think they should be?

It's so all-consuming, you don't even feel it, **

"It" is so all-consuming and pervasive that only people with Special Feminist Feeling Perception Powers can "feel" it.

Can you get those SFFP Powers from a spider bite?

Feminism is about noticing and pointing it out.

And then what? Blame the all-consuming pervasive hidden feelings on men, then impotently attempt to socially engineer the inferior folks so that women are big and noisy and unsupportive but still aren't cranking out the books?

Feelings!

** Reminds me of Harpending's take on “institutional racism” and “white privilege” - for white folks!

Ken B said...

Althouse objects because he said it “the old way”
Old ways of speaking: “please”, “thank you”, “gesundheit”.
Away with them all!

MD Greene said...

Show me the man, and I'll show you the thoughtcrime.

AMDG said...

Beto’s problem is that he is weird.

Phil 314 said...

Of course his past comment was ham handed, he said it while holding a ham sammich his wife made for him.

Barry Dauphin said...

Does feminism care what Amy O’Rourke thought of what he said? If it was OK with her, what exactly is all the outrage about? To be outraged is to imply she isn’t a feminist. And if Beta didn’t marry a feminist, how in the world can the Democrats nominate him?

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Careful Bob - the thought-crime speech-crime police are all on your team.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Isn't it pathetic that the left are so entrenched in speech-crime - that nobody can say anything anymore without having to issue an apology.

The left ruin everything. They ruin LIFE.

Charlie Currie said...

"It's good not to lie, but the truth should be acknowledged in a new way. His problem is that he said it in the old way. It was retrogressive."

To be a progressive is to be retrogressive.

Jeff Brokaw said...

Self-deprecating humor is just the way guys try to be funny — and maybe, a little bit honest at the same time.

I suggest accepting that as a fact of life and appreciating that guys willingly make fun of themselves. Take it as the humorous gift it’s meant to be, and move on with your day.

Telling a guy who made fun of himself to give his wife credit that he didn’t do it right ... is femsplaining.

Jeff Brokaw said...

Big Mike @ 8:02 for the win.

Temujin said...

I was wondering what happened to his wife when he went on his search to find himself after losing the election to Ted Cruz. I thought- isn't he married? What's she doing all this time? Why is she putting up with this slug who has seemingly had people around him changing his diaper his entire life?

What happens when he's elected Prez and things get tough? When there's a lot coming at him, and most of it is either unpredictable, or he's been given the wrong info from our national security sector? (not that the FBI or CIA ever get it wrong). What happens when it all gets to be a tough slough? Does he say, 'Hey man. I'm outta here. I gotta get away for a bit to chill.'?

Who's going to change his diaper when he's the President?

I, for one, am not. Those of you who donate to this slug are just changing his diaper for him.

fleg9bo said...

Best male/female fight scene.

Best male/transvestite fight scene: Freebie and the Bean.

Seeing Red said...

He is a Beta. She holds the purse strings.

M Jordan said...

Someone has coined the term, “Offense archaeology.” The Left are the archaeologists, dig, dig, digging into the past, looking for offenses that must be brought forth, publicly exhibited with ritual humiliation and shame to follow. If I ever ran for office these fiends would have a field day.

I prefer Jesus’s method of dealing with past sins: they are “taken away” on the back of the ultimate scapegoat.

Sam L. said...

"Everybody's trying to take you down, Beto. Don't be beta." Be gamma, "Beto"!

robother said...

Beto: Not Just Another Asshole from El Paso. (H/T Kinkster)

AlbertAnonymous said...

“My real point here is once you adopt the lifestyle of apologies, you can never do enough.”

Welcome to the dark side, Professor. Now, don’t ever vote Dem again.

Drago said...

I expect many many articles about the "surprising sophistication" and "amazing culture" of the El Paso scene by our most elite publications. Why, its almost like Hyannis Port West!!!

Oso Negro said...

Althouse said "The male writers make a show of confessing how little they contributed to the household and often refer to their wives as "long-suffering" and wonderfully patient. It's contributing to a culture in which women make themselves small and quiet and supportive. It's the subordination of women, done subtly and painlessly."

And right here, we have the crux of the matter with feminism. "Long-suffering" is bad. We need women who refuse to suffer for the accomplishments of a talented male spouse. Beto's wife should have been living high while he wandered around looking for himself over the winter. Perhaps she was. She certainly has the cash to do so. "Wonderfully patient" women should be denounced as well. We need women who are clearly less patient, especially with male husbands.

"Small and quiet and supportive" are so 19th century also. If we can't all marry diesel dikes, we at least want wives who are large and loud and selfish. Or at least more so.

Bill Peschel said...

Don't expect Beto to change.

That the media's big lie, second only to praising those who play to the extremists in the primaries and shifting to mainstream opinions in the general. There's a word for that: "lying."

But expecting someone to change their behavior, to "grow into the job," is complete nonsense. It's the same snake oil self-help authors peddle. Change has to come from within. It takes structure, self-reflection, and discipline to follow through.

That's why addicts have to bottom out before they can even begin to get better, and even then, many of them don't make it.

We need to elect a president who is a leader for the change that we want. A weak man or woman does not grow strong in the Oval Office.

RigelDog said...

That's it exactly---"Beta." He's not just young, he's a complete Beta with no sign of battles or accomplishments in his past that would prove he has the steel required to lead the US. We don't need to elect a Justin Trudeau.

Yancey Ward said...

He will never escape "Beta O'Rourke".

Paul said...

"Don't be beta".... But Ann, he IS BETA. He is a pussy. It's written all over his face. Weenie weenie weenie...

Howard said...

Althouse verifies that women want to hear their own opinions regurgitated to them in a deeper voice. Elizabeth Holmes understood this.

mockturtle said...

Are beta males born or made? I suspect that, just as in the animal kingdom, a beta is a beta and an alpha is an alpha. That said, when I had chickens, I kept two roosters, a Barred Rock and a Buff Orpington. One, Louie, was the more assertive of the two and adopted the role of alpha but he became mean to the hens and to me so I had to kill him. Almost overnight, the other rooster, Mac, became the perfect alpha but without the mean streak. Some roosters are born to greatness, some acquire it. And some have greatness thrust upon them. ;-)

Scott said...

Beto is a fake Beta. I suspect that in spite of his public persona of beta male goofiness, he's a vicious infighter.

RigelDog compared him to Justin Trudeau, and that's a good comparison. The scandal surfaced by former Canadian AG Jody Wilson-Raybould shows that behind closed doors, Trudeau will slip on the brass knuckles and use them on his opponents to get what he wants. My gut tells me that O'Rourke is likely to be the same kind of politician -- he couldn't have gotten this far by being nice.

Tomcc said...

He seems to think that what what voters want (at least primary voters) is a kinder, gentler Beto. Sad. What is his record on creating safe spaces?

LA_Bob said...

"The male writers make a show of confessing how little they contributed to the household and often refer to their wives as "long-suffering" and wonderfully patient. It's contributing to a culture in which women make themselves small and quiet and supportive. It's the subordination of women, done subtly and painlessly..."

Well, you know what? Maybe the wives were long-suffering and patient but otherwise happy with the arrangement, and the successful man is expressing heartfelt gratitude. At least he didn't get his degree / successful company / best-selling books and then swap the "little woman" for a younger model. Of course, some jerks do.

"Feminism is about noticing and pointing it out."

And doing exactly what about it? Feminism is also about women making their own choices.

Howard said...

Funny. The beta accusations from you Cuckservative pukes is precious.

Yancey Ward said...

Here is a good essay on Beta O'Rourke that more or less captures my own opinion of the guy. Here is the best part:

"the Kennedy brothers had a reason to reach for the top. They were young men in a young culture, seeking the absolute limit of itself. They were the expression of a triumphant and confident America, breathing in life as it stood atop the world it had just conquered. The Kennedy brothers represented that culture. They were Faustian men.

O’Rourke, in contrast, represents a dying culture of old men, whose best days are long in the past, but still trying to maintain appearances. Unlike those young men from the young culture trying to live life to the fullest, Beto has always been an old man, just trying to avoid doing anything that requires risk or effort. If the Kennedy boys were the marble statue of the idealized man of their age, Beto is the decorative codpiece that a feminist uses in her installation art, which will be thrown away when the exhibit closes."

Howard said...

What Scott said

Sebastian said...

"You are erasing him."

Now learn from it. What does it tell you that a prog would erase part of himself and kowtow to his fellow progs, besides showing betatude?

The people who erase themselves so easily will erase you even more easily.

Nothing matters to them, not your history, not your sensibilities, not your country. They will erase it all at their pleasure.

mockturtle said...

Beto is a fake Beta. I suspect that in spite of his public persona of beta male goofiness, he's a vicious infighter.

Like Bobby Kennedy?

MacMacConnell said...

Beto and Binden are both cowards, they can easily be cowed in to apologizing for telling the truth.

exhelodrvr1 said...

How about apologizing to all of us for surrendering to the SJWs?

mccullough said...

Beto is a shitty father. He’s setting a despicable example of cowardice for his kids.

Sebastian said...

"The male writers make a show of confessing how little they contributed to the household and often refer to their wives as "long-suffering" and wonderfully patient. It's contributing to a culture in which women make themselves small and quiet and supportive. It's the subordination of women, done subtly and painlessly. It's so all-consuming, you don't even feel it, or if you feel it you think how good I am (or how good my wife is), how much better than those other women. Feminism is about noticing and pointing it out."

Feminists are all about erasing.

Of course, from a different standpoint, women running families are hardly "small" or "quiet," nor do women make themselves small when semi-self-aware authors issue thank-yous, nor is there anything wrong with being "supportive," nor do the few authors of my acquaintance, whose wives did not suffer in any way, "subordinate" women or have partners that were in any way "subordinated." Those partners did, insofar as I can tell from occasional conversation, thoroughly resent feminists presuming to speak for them, deriding their choices and partnership as subordination, considering them "small" because they did not have prominent roles in public life.

Known Unknown said...

Rhardin -- There's a pretty darned good romcom about time travel.

Dude1394 said...

Where the **** did "white" privilege come from in these statements? Damn it's so tiring.

Narayanan said...

I hope I'm not misstating ...
Saw this on thread somewhere ...

***We hate in others what we fear in ourselves***

Isn't feminism constantly demanding apologize from men?
Beto worship at that.

Laura said...

Where are the feminists calling for equal numbers of men in the child care industry, if subordination of women is the issue? (Oh, but men who enjoy time with children are suspect. Leave that job to brown women, right?)

If there is any subordination, it is not of women to men, but of care provider to child.

And if political spouses need to be small, quiet, and supportive, it is because a predatory media exists, ready to pounce on any misstep.

walter said...

"Amy, your ham-handmaid.."
Behind every good ham..

"Beto has always been an old man, just trying to avoid doing anything that requires risk or effort."
Dude! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8rTKF5FILw

Beto has binders full of apologies.

LA_Bob said...

More for Beto to apologize for: Beto: The Beta Version .

And still more.

Media seems definitely out to poke this wild and wacky white guy.

Joe said...

"Beto O'Rourke said Friday night that he had been wrong for joking... that his wife has been raising their three children 'sometimes with my help.'"

Except, he wasn't joking. After losing to Cruz, "[h]is next act was a three-month road trip to clear his head, find adventure, and get out of a “funk.” As he journaled on Medium and posted videos of his journey, his wife stayed behind to work and take care of their children."

Then there's him texting and driving with the kids in the car.

In short, this is a man who doesn't give a shit about his kids and likely sees them as a burden. Even more short; he's an asshole.

wildswan said...

"Unknown said...
Where the **** did "white" privilege come from in these statements?"

Listen, dummy, he just apologized for the wrong privilege. The guy is advanced, so advanced that he just apologizes without thinking, like a firefighter sliding down the pole, getting on the truck, then wakes up. Where's the fire? So, such a guy is going to occasionally apologize for the wrong thing: "Oh I mis-spoke, I said white privilege, I meant male privilege, I apologize for that." But fresh apologies could be extracted as the syndrome, Advanced Fake Woke White Male, is recognized - "Oh, sorry, my white privilege made me incapable of keeping my mind on what BS statement I was making. I was supposed to be doing male privilege apology, I did white privilege instead but that mix-up was both privileges at once so I apologize for them both. And to my little wifie, and to the American people but not to the Deplorables, screw you."

AZ Bob said...

I'm old enough to remember when Beto was the perfect man. It was during his campaign for U.S. Senate. What's happened since then?

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

Make them stick to their own rules. McCain and Romney had to campaign against themselves to keep from being accused of racism, sexism, and various bad-isms, not that it worked. Make all Dem candidates declare and apologize for their own insensitivity, inadequacies, and privilege, and all their past missteps, real or fake, and make them do it constantly.

mockturtle said...

In short, this is a man who doesn't give a shit about his kids and likely sees them as a burden. Even more short; he's an asshole.

That sums him up very well. There's not much to him but what there is, is asshole.

Seeing Red said...

Why is he running? He has kids. The lefties lowered that bar. If women with children can’t run, why is he?

Rabel said...

Neo-hippie, hacker, punk rocker, drunk driver...

There's likely to be a history of extensive drug use during his early years. That will be a minor issue ("a little blow when you could afford it") until they drag out a classmate or bandmate who swears that Beto was dealing.

Richard Dolan said...

AA is asking Beto O'R to be someone he isn't. Sadly, he is the PC ninny who's first reaction is to apologize, usually as here for nothing. Better he demonstrates his authentic ninnyness than follow AA's advice.

madAsHell said...

I've never seen a man cut his dick off, but I'm pretty sure it looks like Beto O'Rourke.

rcocean said...

Actually his Wife is worth $Billions$. I doubt she has to stay home and "take care of the kids". More like, her "staff" takes care of the kids, and she takes them out and does fun stuff.

rcocean said...

His constant willingness to please and apologize will make him a good VP for Harris or Warren.

He'll make a good VP or manservant.

rcocean said...

He has all of the testosterone of non-threatening boys band.

rcocean said...

Remember the Partridge Family? He's the kind of guy that was David Cassidy's best friend.

mockturtle said...

More like, her "staff" takes care of the kids, and she takes them out and does fun stuff.

Sometimes managing 'staff' is more trouble than doing things yourself.

Maillard Reactionary said...

So he's pussy-whipped. Anybody surprised?

I bet his old lady has an airtight pre-nup, so he needs to toe the line.

I mean, it's not like he wants to have to get a job, or something.

mockturtle said...

I mean, it's not like he wants to have to get a job, or something.

Right. There should be some law against professional politicians. They should be required to work at a real job for at least ten years. Note: I do not consider 'community organizer' a real job.

walter said...

Back in his family first days:
Beto O'Rourke says he won't run for president in 2020

I guess he is born again

Unknown said...

I'd say Baydoh is the comic relief of the election season

*** a 40 year old man trying to "find himself" while running for President as our "say anything" college boyfriend ***

Establishment pins their Great White Hopes (and money) on him anyway since the other Dem candidates stink on ice in the South (west) - TX is not going for Kamala...

But the commie section of the Dems keeps bringing the belly laughs! Green New Deal!

Fen said...

Oh wow.

Having spent most my life on the campaign trail, I'm seeing a very familiar pattern here.

Vegas? Yeah, I'll take 3 mistresses/one kid at 3-1 odds. Post-convention outing. Thanks.

Fen said...

Quite honestly, since the Democrats refuse to accept the results of the last election, Republicans should just shoot the top three Democrats after each primary until they get it and agree to go back to abiding by the rules.

But Republicans are pussies, so they'll continue to let the Dems play dirty and then roll over when the Dems actually steal an election with foreign collusion.

Fen said...

"Feminists are all about erasing."

Good point. Last Jedi and Captain Marvel had to lower the males to make the females appear as if they had risen to heroic heights. Luke Skywalker had to be defiled.

Let the past die, kill it if you have to is a summation of 4th wave feminism. Instead of creating something better, erase anything that is.

This is going to end badly, and the feminists will avoid any responsibility for causing it.

Joanne Jacobs said...

My husband proposed to me in the dedication page of the new edition of his book, an engineering textbook. He said that if I rejected him, the publisher would have to pulp $10,000 of books. (Actually, they made up a special dedication page for one edition.) I married him.

Fen said...

Damnit Joanne... something in my eye, brb ;)

Martin said...

Pretty clear that in O'Rourke we see a truly hollow person, one of C.S. Lewis' "men without chests".

Trump will eat him alive if he gets that far, but I suspect other Democratic candidates will get him, first.

Rusty said...

Blogger Howard said...
"Funny. The beta accusations from you Cuckservative pukes is precious."
Howard does irony.

stevew said...

Quite the unforced error from Beto, and so early in his campaign too! Once you start apologizing, especially for things you did or said that aren't wrong, the demands to continue doing so will increase. Blood in the water for the SJW sharks.

Beto's campaign is already trending in the wrong direction.