I know Steve Cohen is wielding the old cliché, It's like herding cats, but I thought it was completely unacceptable these days to equate persons of color with animals. (Ask Roseanne.) And look how bad this is:
“Being a speaker — especially on the Democratic side — is like herding cats,” said Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.). “. . . The cats have to understand who provides the water and kibble and cleans the litter. Once the cats understand that, it’ll get better.”He's emphasizing the physical functions — including excretion — and he's subtly threatening Omar and others. It would be crude to just come out and say, She needs to know her place and not speak so loudly and forcibly, but Cohen goes beyond that. He visualizes her as a cat, and, within that visualization, verbal expression becomes eating and defecating. Omar is brusquely informed that she'll be treated like an animal, disciplined by depriving her of her bodily needs, until she "understands" who's in charge here. That's demeaning. And it's revealing. Is that how you think about power?
"Like herding cats" was once a fresh enough notion to be funny, but it's a corny cliché these days. Its triteness is probably why Cohen felt comfortable calling Omar an animal. But he didn't glide past it. He stopped for the full visualization, complete with water and food bowls and a litter box. He meant to demean and diminish — in an offhanded, folksy-cutesy way.
When was this expression new, I wonder? The (unlinkable) OED traces it to the mid-80s:
transitive. colloquial (orig. and chiefly U.S.). to herd cats: used in similative expressions to suggest the unwieldiness or unfeasibility of an undertaking, esp. a managerial or organizational task, as like herding cats ( as hard as herding cats, etc.): extremely difficult to accomplish; unmanageable, futile.I was also curious about how Muslims regard cats. This felt important as I tried to assess the severity of the insult to Omar. Here: Wikipedia has an article, "Islam and cats":
1986 National Jrnl. 3 May 1062 Yerxa will have to continue to juggle the divergent views of the subcommittee members, a task he said ‘can be like trying to herd cats’.
1988 MIS Q. 12 65 At a recent academic meeting, an academic administrator stated that managing an academic department was akin to herding cats.
The domestic cat is a revered animal in Islam. Admired for its cleanliness as well as for being loved by the Islamic prophet Muhammad, the cat is considered "the quintessential pet" by Muslims...
One of Muhammad's companions was known as Abu Hurairah (literally: "Father of the Kitten") for his attachment to cats. Abu Hurairah claimed that he had heard Muhammad declare that a woman went to Hell for starving a female kitten and not providing her with any water.... According to legend, Abu Hurairah's cat saved Muhammad from a snake. In gratitude, Muhammad stroked the cat's back and forehead, thus blessing all cats with the righting reflex. The stripes some cats have on their foreheads are believed to mark the touch of Muhammad's fingers.
The American poet and travel author Bayard Taylor (1825–1878) was astonished when he discovered a Syrian hospital where cats roamed freely.... Edward William Lane (1801–1876), a British Orientalist who resided in Cairo, described a cat garden originally endowed by the 13th-century Egyptian sultan Baibars, whose European contemporaries held a very different attitude towards cats, eating them or killing them under papal decrees.... [C]ats were valued by the paper-based Arab-Islamic cultures for preying on mice that destroyed books. For that reason, cats are often depicted in paintings alongside Islamic scholars and bibliophiles. The medieval Egyptian zoologist Al-Damiri (1344–1405) wrote that the first cat was created when God caused a lion to sneeze, after animals on Noah's Ark complained of mice.
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Being a speaker — especially on the Democratic side — is like hurting cats... it's fun, but after a while you have to replace the cat.
Fixed it for him.
The herding cats analogy could have probably worked if it wasn't attached to the 'provides the water and kibble and cleans the litter' part. That condescendingly makes it sound as though Omar can't do anything on her own, without the help of senior and more influential Democrats who know what they're doing (plus cats are pretty independent creatures to begin with, which is why the herring metaphor is uses -- they can go out and find their own food and water, and then poo wherever they want to, which is kind of what Omar did to Nancy Pelosi last week).
Only women are catty. Who describes men as catty?
MadisonMan said...
Only women are catty. Who describes men as catty?
Well, aren't we heteronormative this morning...
I got my first ever cat on Friday and she is so sweet. I can definitely see why this animal is so revered by Islam and other cultures.
"The cats have to understand who provides the water and kibble and cleans the litter."
But do they really? They're cats. They'll understand what they choose to understand.
Democrats have no problem with immigration fraud--marrying your brother to get him in the country. Telling.
Nothing anyone can say will make me dislike Pelosi or the 3 freshman Senators the media is in love with any more or any less.
I think they are all awful with very few redeeming qualities.
I could care less if Cohen (the Democrat) says something awful about them or not.
"I have nipples, Rep. Cohen, could could you milk me?"
In a sense, this is what we do.
Cats are smarter.
I don’t appreciate this attempt to ruin a perfectly good metaphor by pretending it has racist overtones, but I suppose Cohen was asking for trouble when he kept talking after he was done saying what he needed to say.
J Lee said:
"The herding cats analogy could have probably worked if it wasn't attached to the 'provides the water and kibble and cleans the litter' part. That condescendingly makes it sound as though Omar can't do anything on her own, without the help of senior and more influential Democrats who know what they're doing..."
Funny, Democrats treating other Democrats just like they, along with the self proclaimed elites and the rest of the uniparty, treat the rest of us. We're useless without their guidance.
"...(plus cats are pretty independent creatures to begin with..."
Yeah, well so am I.
Boy, are you missing the point. Steve Cohen is Jewish. You picked the tired, invented, PC subtext instead of the far more relevant one at the heart of the matter. I doubt Omar is fuming about being compared to a cat this morning.
Althouse>>"Like herding cats" was once a fresh enough notion to be funny, but it's a corny cliché these days. Its triteness is probably why Cohen felt comfortable calling Omar an animal.
Really?! Cohen used a well-known, indeed clichéd, metaphor that quite aptly describes what we have witnessed among the Dems in the last few weeks, and you have him calling Omar an animal. You're really reaching here. Sometimes a cliché is just a cliché (like that one I just used...).
Do one of your exhaustive analyses on the term "figure of speech" - you will of course find that "non-literal" features prominently in its derivation.
Don’t overthink it. It’s a visual, an effective one, and that’s why people use it.
Cohen used a perfectly good analogy but even the best analogy doesn't hold up to obsessively intense scrutiny.
"That condescendingly makes it sound as though Omar can't do anything on her own, "
We've already been informed that she doesn't know the meaning of words.
My cats know who provides the food and water, me. Three of them were waiting for me on the back steps, and all of us went to retrieve the cat dish for the food, and then later, all six were at the back steps again for the water.
I could think of a lot worse to call Omar.
... and they are unherdable.
Other than thru lies, fear mongering and propaganda, I have no idea why anyone would chose to be a democrat. What a horrid corrupt hate filled deceptive selfish Clintonian money grubbing mess.
I was also curious about how Muslims regard cats. This felt important as I tried to assess the severity of the insult...
This is, largely, how Americans interact now. Insulting, assessing, apologizing, insulting, assessing...
What feltercarb:
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/433450-female-gillibrand-aide-resigns-over-handling-of-her-sexual-harassment#.XIZicp3qnnQ.twitter
Kay exults: I got my first ever cat on Friday and she is so sweet. I can definitely see why this animal is so revered by Islam and other cultures.
I had cats for years until finding out I'm very allergic to them and my last cat lived to be almost 18. They are wonderful animals but don't underestimate their scheming behavior. Dogs make better companions, IMO.
Is that how you think about power?
@Althouse, it is if you’re a Democrat. You haven’t noticed? You must not have looked.
"The cats have to understand who provides the water and kibble and cleans the litter."
Meade said, "But do they really? They're cats. They'll understand what they choose to understand."
The dogs need to know who can climb above them whenever they want.
It isn't that you can't compare blacks to animals but you can't compare them to monkeys.
Blacks facially resemble monkeys more than whites do; and blacks notice it too. That's why it's taken as prohibited to mention.
As far as hands go, both blacks and whites resemble monkeys, so there's no problem there. That monkeys have hands should give us pause, good joke.
Blacks don't resemble cats, however, so it's open to use in an analogy.
The PC point of don't compare people to animals is pretending not to notice that blacks facially resemble monkeys, which is what is prohibited.
Omar is a tabby cat with the M on her forehead. And she will streak through any barrier meant to restrain her. The only way to control her is Treats.
It's not an insult because;
a) He's a Democrat
b) The particular comment was encompassing to all Democrats, not singling out Omar and inclusive of himself
c) There isn't a long history of calling Muslims "cats" as a derogatory term
d) There is little money to be made in persecuting him
ABC wanted the Rosanne show without her, and now they have it. Nobody cared when W was routinely compared to a chimp by Democrats and the media. Nobody cared when a Muslim threw a shoe at W, which is a major insult in their customs.
Speak softly and carry a big squirt gun.
Cohen messed up the softly part.
There's a reason Pelosi is speaker and Cohen is not.
ACK!
After a few days of wet food you can herd cats using an electric can opener.
I use "rounding up turds in a swimming pool" when I talk about organizing Democrats.
I wonder what animal Cohen assigns to his enemies? His political opponents? His honorable friends? Himself?
I can see why a Jewish Democrat Congresscritter might be pissed off at his own party, and particularly at freshmen members of the House who think Jews are responsible for everything wrong with the world. The Democrats have been internally fractious in the past, only to unify in time for an election — it’s a pattern that goes back to the 1930s, if not earlier. Will it be different this time? Somehow I doubt it.
I don't care what the Dims call each other. It takes someone with a severe mental illness to even call themselves a democrat.
Is it necessary to point out that cats don't know where the kibbles and clean water come from?
And even if they somehow could understand this they still wouldn't care?
It's actually a good analogy, not just because Ilhan Omar does not know or care what political damage she does but, like that uncomprehending housecat, she's almost certainly unable to comprehend why anyone find her speech abhorrent.
She's no more able to moderate her speech than your cat would be capable of not peeing where it's always peed, just outside the litter box. After all, that's what it's always done and, because that spot smells of past pee, that's obviously the right place to go.
I don’t think it’s necessary to invent a new expression to describe a behavioral condition if an existing condition however trite will effectively do the task.
"The cats have to understand who provides the water and kibble and cleans the litter."
They do understand. They have you trained and also have a parasite that infects the host (you) to continue to be the cat's willing slave.
It is up to you to either give up and acquiesce to the cat's subtle ruling over you and your household.....or get rid of the cats.
(I love cats and have had several over many years. We have decided to have NO more cats.)
Scott Adams is covering the Tucker Carlson story.
The metaphor is apt. The few non-prog Dems are reduced to trying to clean the litter. In vain.
Ann: Big overreach on your part.
This is Steve Cohen who compared Palin to pontius pilate, who had a connection with his Miece.
Herding Cats was Trent Lott's memoir of life in Congress. I think the original idea was more that cats can't be herded - the futility of Congressional leadership. Cohen seems to take the idea that cats can be herded seriously. He might better have talked about dogs, but "herding cats" has become a cliche when referring to Congress and I guess it was ready to hand and hard to avoid.
If your name is Steve Cohen and you're opposed to anti-Semitic stories of Jewish dominance through financial contributions do you really want to say things like this? "The cats have to understand who provides the water and kibble and cleans the litter. Once the cats understand that, it’ll get better." Wouldn't anti-Semites give a quick answer about who the kibble providers are? Wouldn't you express yourself differently or give the big gag line to a colleague to use? Or is that not a problem at all?
This is what is meant by starting a conversation and having a meaningful dialogue. I'm sure Cohen's words will do much to convince Omar that her feelings about Jews are mistaken. I look forward to her balanced, measured words in reply to Cohen.
We visited the Challah in Rabat, Morocco, a medieval necropolis famous for the storks that build huge nests atop the abandoned minarets. In addition to the storks there were hundreds of cats living there, a local man lived in a small building and fed them-there were bowls everywhere. We were curious where all the food came from. Like cats all over Morocco, they are fed but filled with parasites and disease. There is virtually no interest in spaying. The reverence is limited.
Doesn't Scott Adams say not to use analogies to persuade?
Meade TOLD us NOT to get him started on Cats! Now look what you've done!
mockturtle said...
Kay exults: I got my first ever cat on Friday and she is so sweet. I can definitely see why this animal is so revered by Islam and other cultures.
I had cats for years until finding out I'm very allergic to them and my last cat lived to be almost 18. They are wonderful animals but don't underestimate their scheming behavior. Dogs make better companions, IMO.
3/11/19, 8:49 AM
I’ve had lots of dogs throughout my life. This is a very new experience for me. But I’m learning a lot about their different personalities.
The question is why Althouse wants to say you can't compare people to animals.
She's working off of you can't compare blacks to monkeys, a specific insensitivity that she wants to mask with a more general rule.
If you think Althouse is guilty of big overreach, you just need to wait and see how the cats react to Cohen's advice. That will tell you what you need to know.
Sayings don't become cliches' unless they are repeated many times. And sayings don't get repeated unless they are exactly true.
I admit I've always been bemused by the notion that I should be sensitive to the amour-propre of people like Cohen and Omar, who want people like me to FOAD, and aren't at all shy about saying so.
So there's no way I find this round of who's-offending-who anything but hilarious. On so many levels. Especially the kibbles and litter box bit.
My dog is exceptionally skilled at distinguishing food preparation sounds. Stuff that's shared pulls her into the kitchen instantly from any corner of the house. Other stuff does not.
Not only opening the cheese drawer, but unwrapping the baggie holding partially cut cheese without opening the cheese drawer, is an attractor.
Who's-offending-whom.
Three sheep equal one sheep.
Sheep herder's maxim. With two sheep you have a problem. With three, the last follows the other two.
How about, "Like herding snakes....".
Cats in pink hats are no longer politically congruent.
I've had cats as pets for decades. As best I can tell, cats would be insulted by a comparison to any humans, if they could be bothered to even consider the matter.
rhhardin said...
My dog is exceptionally skilled at distinguishing food preparation sounds... unwrapping the baggie holding partially cut cheese without opening the cheese drawer, is an attractor.
I'm visualizing your dog lazing on the sofa, looking out the window (thinking: no wolves so far);
and then! Suddenly perking up the ears, and thinking (was that CHEESE?)
Blacks facially resemble monkeys more than whites do; and blacks notice it too.
Whites look more like cats than blacks do, so the guy shoulda said "It's like chimps herding red colobus monkeys for lunch."
Cat Stevens was seen but not herded.
The three little kittens, they washed their mittens,
And hung them out to dry,
"Oh, mother dear, do you not hear,
That we have washed our mittens?"
"What, washed your mittens, then you're good kittens,
But I smell a Trump close by."
"Meow, meow, meow,
We smell a Trump close by."
Laser pointer, Stevie !
Got nothing to do with cats or animals or unspoken racial comparisons. Has everything to do with shutting up the new Dem electees who are exposing the fractious state of the party, a situation I find delightful.
There's an interesting documentary about the Cats of Istanbul - KEDI. BTW, Cats can always be bribed.
Our dog isn't that good at distinguishing sounds. But she can hear car keys "rattle" from anywhere in the house and always knows when we've opened the refrigerator.
Years ago, I found a female kitten in the barn that was in bad shape, so I brought the thing into the house and nursed it to health. It refused to go outside, and never tried to beg for food (mine). When it was a couple of years old, every time I opened a bag of shrimp, immediately it went nuts for some shrimp, and I do mean nuts. I always thought after watching this happen over and over again, that the smell of the shrimp must have made some kind of instant noise that the cat heard. Just my guess.
In other news today, Rep. Ilhan Omar, in a speech to the House of Representatives, stopped to take the time to hack up a hairball.
As an engineer, I have always heard that "managing engineers is like herding cats."
And, as an engineer, I am profoundly offended by this comparison of my noble profession to that of a congressperson.
The domestic cat is a revered animal in Islam. Admired for its cleanliness as well as for being loved by the Islamic prophet Muhammad, the cat is considered "the quintessential pet" by Muslims...
Walk like an Egyptian.
Cohen chose... poorly.
"always knows when we've opened the refrigerator."
My dog gets a little canned food with his dry food, and some turkey or chicken sprinkled on top. He's learned that it's the second time I open the refrigerator that he has to come to the kitchen.
I run a small herd of cats and it ain’t easy sometimes. Cats appreciate a set routine which is key to getting them where you want ‘em when you need ’em there. That and shaking a bag of treats.
There are no racial overtones when using cat metaphors. There are gender traits one could observe, but this guy won’t for now.
It sounds to me like Cohen is saying that Jews really are controlling everything.
An ideological scale from Conservative Democrats are mice to Super Progressives are cats, from Jerry to Tom, of cheese and traps. Republicans are still elephants, trumpeting to progressive glories lost in time. Trump is still classified by diversitists as an orange-colored orangutan that may or may not be from Planet of the Apes. 42.
Isn’t he one of the cats? He's a Democrat congress member, right? So he's one of the cats.
Your entire argument now lies in ruins.
Rashid Tlaib might be at Pelosi's door..spraying, screeching and scratching after that back off from impeaching the motherfucker.
Cohen is a pussy.
And Omar is like the Muslim brotherhood and planet of the apes had a baby.
https://twitchy.com/brettt-3136/2019/03/11/rep-ilhan-omar-explains-the-difference-between-obama-and-trump-one-is-human-the-other-is-not/
Allegedly in the early 80s, a couple of bored C-130 loadmasters on rotation at Incirlik AB trapped a couple of cats for the hell of it, accidentally killing one. They had to be whisked out of the country and it caused a minor international incident.
I don’t know if I believe in the last two categories anymore.
Mark Twain talked of cats and Muslims in The Innocents Abroad:
Spain chastised the Moors five or six years ago, about a disputed piece of property opposite Gibraltar, and captured the city of Tetouan. She compromised on an augmentation of her territory, twenty million dollars’ indemnity in money, and peace. And then she gave up the city. But she never gave it up until the Spanish soldiers had eaten up all the cats. They would not compromise as long as the cats held out. Spaniards are very fond of cats. On the contrary, the Moors reverence cats as something sacred. So the Spaniards touched them on a tender point that time. Their unfeline conduct in eating up all the Tetouan cats aroused a hatred toward them in the breasts of the Moors, to which even the driving them out of Spain was tame and passionless. Moors and Spaniards are foes forever now. France had a minister here once who embittered the nation against him in the most innocent way. He killed a couple of battalions of cats (Tangier is full of them) and made a parlor carpet out of their hides. He made his carpet in circles — first a circle of old gray tomcats, with their tails all pointing toward the center; then a circle of yellow cats; next a circle of black cats and a circle of white ones; then a circle of all sorts of cats; and, finally, a centerpiece of assorted kittens. It was very beautiful, but the Moors curse his memory to this day.
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