November 21, 2019

Next morning impressions from the debate last night.

I'm a morning person, but I was awake at 10 CST when the debate ended (assuming it was 2 hours long), but I'd turned off the debate about halfway through.

At 9, the NYT crossword becomes available, and I took refuge in that peace and quiet. Then I finished reading "Strange Planet," which is a delightful comic book by Nathan W. Pyle that revisualizes ordinary life on earth with different words. For example — getting up for a sunrise run would be:



I got a good night's sleep. I've forgotten my dreams, but maybe Bernie was yelling all night. Maybe Cory was raving about taxes. Maybe the mottled, reanimated corpse of Joe Biden was pursuing me. Maybe Amy Klobuchar's vibrating hair was pursuing me. I really don't know. I tell you, I forgot.

The upstairs TV is bigger, brighter, and sharper than the downstairs TV. We ought to switch them around, because who wants these giant, overly sharp heads coming at you when you're in your pre-sleep relaxation position? The heads are smeared with rubbery makeup, perhaps in the hope of making them pleasant enough on the old TV, but they look like false puppet heads on the bedroom TV.

Just as some candidates were promising to tax you more, some candidates chose to slather on more makeup or to tint themselves more yellow than their natural color. Biden kept his natural white-gray-purple mottled skin tone. I'm saying it's natural because who would paint that onto a face (when it's not Halloween)?

Early on, I said out loud, "They all look and sound desperate." A bit later, I said, "Why are they all yelling at me?" So, there: I remember 2 of my own quotes, but none of theirs.

51 comments:

rhhardin said...

Women get more skeptical than men when they get old, Nietzsche says. But the dem market is women nevertheless. Men don't notice the yelling and bad hair, just that they're nuts. Women don't notice being nuts, skeptical or not.

David Begley said...

They yell because they are desperate.

Trump landslide resulting in a collective Nervous Breakdown by the Fake News.

Danno said...

Are those aliens saying what Althouse and Meade are thinking in the morning?

rhhardin said...

On the bright side, I found out last night that a Chicago rivet (1/4", on order) can repair a Croc strap. A twisty tie doesn't do it properly. Something to look forward to in the day.

Wilbur said...

Strange Planet sound like Bizarro Superman planet, Htrae.

Me thirsty, me drink glass of sand.

Jeff Brokaw said...

I don’t know how anyone can take debates seriously any more, after Trump showed us all how it’s done in 2015.

Plus there is the manipulation thing. How do you *not* feel manipulated watching these things?

Rob said...

"The mottled, reanimated corpse of Joe Biden"--that was no fever dream, I'm afraid, it was all-too-real life.

The Bergall said...

Nominally watching that would give one bad dreams anyway............./s

Shouting Thomas said...

I know you need a little suspense to keep promoting the blog, but prof...

We have a very successful president, succeeding for reasons that you don't understand or value I admit, but incredibly successful nonetheless.

The Democrats are a mess of commies and identity politics loons.

Why not just endorse President Trump and skip all the BS?

Tank said...

Watched a couple of episodes of Jerry Seinfeld’s coffee show then switched to the debate. I made it one minute. I just couldn’t make myself watch.

Sally327 said...

I don't watch any of the debates, I read about them later at places like this blog. I did the same in 2015/16 when the focus was on the Republicans and the cast of thousands running for the GOP nomination. There was always something interesting about those debates mostly, perhaps exclusively, because of Donald Trump and his performance. How devastating he was, how he knocked them off one by one. So dismissive, so cruel, so effective. With the Democrats, it's a war of attrition, no one's really winning, they're just waiting for others to lose.

Tank said...

Watching these debates is the kind of slog you hire a paralegal to do.

Iman said...

So... a measure of Truth can be found on the upstairs TV.

rehajm said...

High definition television changes who becomes a star. In the low res days you could have bad skin and exaggerated features.

Nichevo said...


rhhardin said...
On the bright side, I found out last night that a Chicago rivet (1/4", on order) can repair a Croc strap. A twisty tie doesn't do it properly. Something to look forward to in the day.

11/21/19, 7:22 AM

The soles wear through on mine, and yours I thought; what are you doing about that?

Nichevo said...

Also a nut and bolt might have done.

Michael K said...

The Democrats and lefties here are wasting their time.

Meanwhile, Gallup found that Trump’s approval rating is at a near high of 43% for the year. The last time he was at that level was before the Ukraine phone call emerged.

Most importantly, Republicans still have strong support for the president, at 90%.

Said Gallup, “As President Trump battles the impeachment inquiry, 90% of Republicans approve of his job performance, while 10% disapprove. These assessments by his fellow Republicans remain statistically unchanged from the previous reading of October 14-31. This implies that despite the heavy focus on the impeachment process and the underlying claims being brought forth by members of Congress, Republicans overall seem unmoved in their assessments of Trump's job performance.”


Schiff will go soldiering on in this farce but Nancy has to decide if she wants those 31 Democrats to walk the plank.

Tank said...

Is it possible that Tulsi Gabbard could work in a Trump administration in the foreign policy wing? Or have we devolved so far that that is impossible?

AllenS said...

I didn't watch the debate, but I watched a video of Biden's opening remarks. He really looked bad, and slurred a lot of words. He isn't Presidential material, and if he becomes the nominee, Trump is going to embarrass the fuck out of him.

gilbar said...

Randall Munroe (if XKCD fame) wrote a book called:
Thing Explainer: Complicated Stuff in Simple Words

explains the function and mechanics of 54 subjects using only the 1,000 most commonly used words in the English language. The book covers a wide range of topics, including pencils ("writing sticks"), cameras ("picture takers"), and microwave ovens ("food-heating radio boxes"), airplane engines ("sky boat pushers"), and atom bombs ("machines for burning cities").
The book challenges its readers to figure out what the technical name is of the subjects it describes, and was described by Jack Schofield of ZDNet as a "puzzle game."

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

They all think Trump should be impeached over Biden's actual crimes.

Hilarious, really.

rhhardin said...

Croc strap physics requires pretty exact seating in the hole - a tiny bit too much slack and it won't work right. It has to have just the right friction against your ankle or sock, light but not zero. A bolt and two nuts would fix it probably but would be too big to wear, snag on stuff.

The soles are about to wear through but haven't actually done so yet.

Once the tread wears off they're pretty dangerous on smooth wet surfaces because they slip easily. Hydroplaning I guess. Okay for bike days because those days are dry.

Ann Althouse said...

"Strange Planet sound like Bizarro Superman planet, Htrae. Me thirsty, me drink glass of sand."

Quite the opposite. The "Strange Planet" people are doing completely normal things, but they are using different words in their speech. They're not using strange words, but regular English words that accurately describe the various things and actions that they are doing. There's nothing stupid or irrational happening at all other than the use of different words.

Ann Althouse said...

"I know you need a little suspense to keep promoting the blog, but prof... Why not just endorse President Trump and skip all the BS?"

Just the other day somebody was telling me they knew if Buttigieg gets the nomination I would be for him.

rcocean said...

THey need to stop having long debates with so many candidates. THe next one needs 5 people tops and be 90 minutes.

rcocean said...

Women will love Buttigig. He's cute, young, and Gay.

rcocean said...

He's a non-threatening, seemingly competent, Ken Doll.

Lucid-Ideas said...

So, Yellow-man-bad now?

michaele said...

I feel embarrassed to admit how superficially fascinated I was by Amy Klobuchar's shaking head and hair bangs. The combination made her sooo tense with almost ready to burst anger. It was not reassuring.

Fernandinande said...

revisualizes ordinary life on earth with different words.

"I find you unacceptable! If I did not fear incarceration by human authority figures, I would terminate your life functions by applying sufficient force to your blunt skull so as to cause its collapse!"

I guess that's "ordinarly life" <-- nice typo, dude!

Limited blogger said...

Yes, I was troubled by Klobachar's tense trembling. Was that nervousness? or some bad health condition?

It ended with Biden screaming at us to get up or something.

Kevin said...

For example — watching the Democrat Debates would be:

Person 1: Tonight we partake post star in an unrelenting show of partisanship.

Person 2: What a regrettable agreement.

Howard said...

Strange planet seems to be a that of a rif or rip off if you prefer of the Saturday night live skit characters known as the coneheads

rcocean said...

I have no idea why Sen. Klochblob is running. She's bland and boring. Probably make a good Secretary of Labor or Transportation. Chance of being POTUS? Zero.

Howard said...

Of course Hardin wears Crocks. All is right again in the Universe.

narciso said...

Shes looking for salad, and out of combs.

gilbar said...

revisualizes ordinary life on earth with different words.

it looks like hollywood has tried the same sort of thing
They took something Renowned for it's three angelically beautiful women...
And re shot it with dried out hags
Surprisingly; no one went to see it

MAYBE, the Next remake of Charlies Angels will use attractive women?

Anne in Rockwall, TX said...

I thought the same thing Howard, Coneheads.

Howard said...

Charlie's Angels is dead as a franchise... Unless they reboot where the girls are three gorgeous lipstick lesbians in a soft porn extravaganza.

Howard said...

Consume mass quantities of food and drink. Fried Chicken embryos fermented grain beverage

Freeman Hunt said...

We enjoyed the Strange Planet book at our house.

AllenS said...

Just watched a clip of Klobuchar and her hair shaking. Someone should have reached up her dress and shut the vibrator off.

J. Farmer said...

@rcocean:

I have no idea why Sen. Klochblob is running. She's bland and boring. Probably make a good Secretary of Labor or Transportation. Chance of being POTUS? Zero.

Agree. And then there is this:

"This is a first-tier quality answer, and I wouldn't be surprised to see a Klobuchar surge in the next two months up towards the first-tier. Ultimate Democratic ticket: Klobuchar-Buttigieg or Buttigieg-Klobuchar? Either's fine with me."

-Bill Kristol on Twitter last night

AllenS said...

Bill Kristol?

Sebastian said...

""Why not just endorse President Trump and skip all the BS?" Just the other day somebody was telling me they knew if Buttigieg gets the nomination I would be for him"

Keeping the opportunities for last-minute, "serious" vote-rationalization open, I see.

And so, knowing their customers, Dems will continue their clowns shows, both in Congress and in "debates."

rcocean said...

-Bill Kristol on Twitter last night

I thought he was dead. After all, his brain died in November 2016.

gilbar said...

Klobuchar-Buttigieg or Buttigieg-Klobuchar? Either's fine with me."
-Bill Kristol on Twitter last night

(okay, here we go again!)
Serious Question (though sorta rhetorical )

IS there a democrat pairing that WOULDN'T be "fine with" Bill Kristol


{J Farmer, i'm Not stalking you; it just LOOKS like i'm stalking you :}

Rick.T. said...

AllenS said...
Bill Kristol?

I think he's the one that the AEI didn't invite this year to the dinner for the award named after his father. Could be wrong.

Ann Althouse said...

I too thought it was like Coneheads, but it’s also different because Coneheads were really aliens and they were trying to seem normal but getting many things wrong including the names for things. The were trying to fit in and failing . The Strange Planet people are completely normal and not aliens, not hiding anything, just being ordinary and using different words.

Wince said...

Althouse said...
The Strange Planet people are completely normal and not aliens, not hiding anything, just being ordinary and using different words.

Oh, they come from France?

Doug said...

Althouse said:Just the other day somebody was telling me they knew if Buttigieg gets the nomination I would be for him

And I'm right, aren't I?