November 17, 2019

"Oh, this is civility bullshit. That's how you know they know they've lost."

I can tell you the exact second in this video where I said that out loud. It was 2:07:



"Civility bullshit" is my longstanding tag for calls for civility that are bullshit because they're not really about the value of civility, the neutral principle. People are seeking a partisan advantage, and these calls come when the harsh speech is helping the other side and they want their opponents to tone it done. When they think incivility is working for them, they forget all about civility.

By the way, I love the neutral principle, civility. I oppose the hypocritical, partisan invocation of the value, and I call bullshit.

224 comments:

1 – 200 of 224   Newer›   Newest»
Roy Lofquist said...

I can remember when I'd get my mouth washed out with soap for saying the things I now hear from supposed adults on national TV. Civility - n. archaic.

Charlie Eklund said...

I think you may be right about this, Althouse. I hope that you are right about this and, in fact, I PRAY that you are right about this.

Michael K said...

There is a great essay on Quillette today that addresses the Maher tone.

Human beings become more preoccupied with social status once our physical needs are met. In fact, research reveals that sociometric status (respect and admiration from peers) is more important for well-being than socioeconomic status. Furthermore, studies have shown that negative social judgment is associated with a spike in cortisol (hormone linked to stress) that is three times higher than non-social stressful situations. We feel pressure to build and maintain social status, and fear losing it.

It seems reasonable to think that the downtrodden might be most interested in obtaining status and money. But this is not the case. Inhabitants of prestigious institutions are even more interested than others in prestige and wealth. For many of them, that drive is how they reached their lofty positions in the first place.


The whole thing is worth reading and gives insight to people like Maher.

rehajm said...

I didn't make it past the Lena Dunham joke that fell flat. Apparently we still like Lena Dunham. And what's the we stuff from Maher? I thought he self identified as a libertarian?

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

Yeah - Ok. I get it. I never wanted Trump as the nom. But he won in part because the LEFT, - YOU guys, dear Bill -- thought he'd be easy to beat. So YOU manipulated the system to get what you want, and you got Trump.

btw- that clip of Trump mocking the media, so often taken out of context,... yeah - that's great. Now take clips of democrats saying and doing and promising stupid stuff out of context. Oh right - never gonna happen.

Now you're attempting to reverse engineer all of it using a total liar and a hack named Adam Schitt. He's your burn the king down mega liar. 3 years of "I have direct proof that Trump colluded with Russia!" all while Hillary and Bill profited from.... Russia... While she was re-setting Obama's buttons as his Sec of State on a Private Server.

So you can call us all names, just like Trump does at his rallies, and your names and your attitude towards we horrid deplorable sister-fuckers with nuts on our trucks are not different than yesterday. Have fun with that.
In the mean time - your side has Hunter Biden. and Hillary Clinton.

an no apologies for excusing that mega-tax payer funded corruption.

and up next - we will get a nut job socialist as president. A punitive liar out to tax-rape the masses for deep state bureaucratic waste. They all dream of achieving the Clinton-Biden level of money grub.

Ron Winkleheimer said...

He lost me when he said "anti-intellectualism on the right." Apparently he hasn't been paying attention to what's been going on on college campuses lately.

Women don't have penises and Epstein didn't kill himself.

mockturtle said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
mockturtle said...

Neutrality and civility were never intended here. Maher's playing to his audience: They will forever have to put up with us 'knuckle draggers' who refuse to be enlightened. What a prick!

Ken B said...

Since it comes from Maher, it is indeed civility bullshit. He has been too relentlessly uncivil for too long. And as the turtle says, it isn’t even a *polite* fake call for civility!

Kay said...

While I do admit that I’ve entertained by his shows in the past, I also think that Bill Maher has never landed a funny joke in his life.

Original Mike said...

"And what's the we stuff from Maher?"

I was put off when he used 'we' and 'they' when referring to the Civil War. We owned them? Their cities?

Rory said...

It's not necessary to live with the crazy people - they can be vomited out into a dozen city-states where they can whale on each other forever, while the rest of us enjoy our turkey.

JAORE said...

"Half of the people have their taste in their ass".

well, he DOES seem like a go-to level guy on that subject.

Seeing Red said...

The trouble with our Liberal friends is not that they're ignorant; it's just that they know so much that isn't so.

Ronald Reagan

Skeptical Voter said...

Ms.Althouse needs a new "civility bullshit" tag. Substitute "Maher" for "civility". There, I've fixed the tag.

tim in vermont said...

Thanks for the link, Doc.

tim maguire said...

That is a remarkable example of someone pleading for tolerance while showing none himself. But then, it is Bill Maher.

tim in vermont said...

Meanwhile #TrashyStefenik is trending on Twitter.

Francisco D said...

What annoys me about Maher is that he is a moderately intelligent man who thinks he is the smartest guy in the room. His interactions suggest that he desperately needs to prove that at every opportunity.

He is sadly ignorant of the fact that there are a LOT of people on the Right, Left and Center who are a LOT smarter and more accomplished than he is. Most of the Althouse Hillbillies seem much brighter and more accomplished than Maher.

The Crack Emcee said...

I don't get lectured to by anti-vaxxers.

I Ain't The One

chuck said...

It is a nice day and far too early for Bill Maher.

Original Mike said...

I'm sorry, Bill. I remember how the left treated W. You were doing the same damn thing you're doing now.

Breezy said...

If he truly feels that way he should call for the impeachment inquiry to be halted and expunged, “Let it go”. He should show us his nuts.

NCMoss said...

If ripping into people with such ease is how progressives establish common ground, just imagine how they'll behave if they gain political power.

tcrosse said...

Meanwhile, Hillary and Chelsea are touring the UK to beat the tub for H>er Book of Gutsy Women. The fact that the list of gutsy women does not include Margaret Thatcher has raised a few British eyebrows. As one can imagine, Hillary explains why not, i.e. guts misapplied.

John Borell said...

Bush should have pardoned Scooter Libby.

rcocean said...

Bill Maher is talking about Civility. Has he no shame? And what's with all this talk about political discord at Thanksgiving? Why do all these media types feel the need to lecture us on how to behave? Or having stories - aimed at leftists - about how to deal with "Right wing Uncle Joe" over Turkey.

We don't need your advice Media. Shut up and let us eat our Turkey.

Bay Area Guy said...

Yes, this is civility bullshit writ large.

But am I crazy to think Maher is one of the better liberals?

1. He hammers Muslim terrorists and tells the left not to coddle them.

2. He is pro-Free Speech and often invites Ann Coulter and Ben Shapiro and Dennis Prager on his show.

Wince said...

Maher's paean to W at the end particularly disingenuous. Not because of what Maher previously rejected about W, but the uni-party wrong-is-right falsehoods Maher ostensibly embraces now in order to malign Trump.

Who actually used the powers of the government to sabotage an incoming administration?

Who actually enriched themselves while in public office?

Who actually imprisoned political opponents and obscure film makers?

Who actually has corrupted and surveilled the press?

Gahrie said...

By the way, I love the neutral principle, civility.

Except for splooge stooges...fuck them.

rcocean said...

This reminds me of the NYT's editorials on inauguration day.

-If the R's Win: "The President must bring us together and be the aPresident of *all* the people"
-If the D's Win: "The R's must cooperate with the President. He won - they lost".

rcocean said...

When has Bill Maher been civil to Trump? LOL!

TJM said...

The left continues to engage in projection, accusing others of what they are practicing. There is no moral equivalence, Ann. The left is uniformly uncivil

Temujin said...

I made it through 4 minutes waiting for a sign of the civility. I threw up in my mouth when that other person was shown smugly smiling and snapping her fingers (instead of clapping), but I hung in there hoping for some sign of anything other than high school name calling.

Forget it, Jake. It's Bill Maher.

He is the epitome of smug civility bullshit.

tim in vermont said...

OK, I am going to admit to some hypocrisy. I enjoyed watching the shoot-‘em-up movie Angel Has Fallen because of the purely political plot line, that the deep state/military industrial complex was trying to bring down a President Trum...ble and plant fake evidence to make it look like the Russians were behind the hero, when I generally dislike shoot-‘em-ups.

Meanwhile I always claim that I dislike politics in movies, turns out it’s not true, I don’t like the other side’s politics in movies. Still it doesn’t seem unreasonable to ask that politics be left out of movies, same as it would be nice to have it left out of Thanksgiving Dinner, you know, for the same reason, so that we can have some common ground as a family, or a nation.

tim in vermont said...

BTW, the Angel Has Fallen movie had a 93 rating with fans and a 39 rating with critics. LOL

Karen of Texas said...

Hey, Crack is back.

gspencer said...

The left is nothing but vicious.

"People are seeking a partisan advantage, and these calls come when the harsh speech is helping the other side and they want their opponents to tone it done. When they think incivility is working for them, they forget all about civility."

"Muslims are seeking a military advantage, and these calls [from the Palis, from the EU, from the UN, lefties all] come when Israel's harsh actions are helping Israel get control of the situation and they want Israel to tone it done. When they think incivility is working for them, they forget all about civility."

Howard said...

I'm calling bullshit on the civility B's tag. My impression is that he's calling for an end to TDS.

Big Mike said...

My thoughts, repeated from yesterday’s thread regarding Adam Schiff’s head:

“I see that Bill Maher now, belatedly, realizes that Civil War II is perfectly possible, and he wants his side to learn to get along with Trump followers. He also acknowledges that the people from flyover country are not motivated by ignorance after all, though he continues to err by claiming that we’re motivated by “hate.” Almost right. The emotion is anger, and perhaps once he realizes why people are angry ... who am I kidding? He’s spent his whole career pissing off people from flyover country. He’s not going to change.”

I infer that Althouse agrees.

buwaya said...

Trial balloon on the next party line.

Althouse is right.

I wonder who was doing the focus groups on this.

Maher is just a mouthpiece.

Matt Sablan said...

"But he won in part because the LEFT, - YOU guys, dear Bill -- thought he'd be easy to beat. So YOU manipulated the system to get what you want, and you got Trump."

-- This is the part that blows my mind the most about Clinton's loss. It is the perfect set up to a comedy movie. The entrenched oligarchy picks an upstart to give behind the scenes help to thinking he'll be easy to beat -- it's like that scene in the Rainmaker where the corporate lawyer stands in for the inexperienced newbie to swear him into the bar so he can try the case. And then, the newbie somehow, pulls out a win.

If Clinton had been an -R, and Trump a -D, the biopic "Overcoming the Machine" would already be in theaters and Netflix.

gilbar said...

The Crack Emcee said... I don't get lectured to by anti-vaxxers.
I Ain't The One


Thanx for posting that glass pipe link, that was bitchin!

rhhardin said...

Locking them up depends on what sort of opposition they're engaged in. Illegal kinds should get you locked up.

Fernandinande said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Matt Sablan said...

"I also think that Bill Maher has never landed a funny joke in his life."

-- I laughed at the blender line; the problem is that too often his goal of scoring political points gets in the way of just telling a good joke.

Fernandinande said...

People were a lot more polite back when nearly everyone wore a hat.

Or not.

William said...

I've read that we share 90% of the same DNA as fruit flies. Among humans the variations is about one tenth of one percent. Between liberals and democrats, I don't think there is any difference at all. I know that I was somewhat liberal in my youth and that nowadays I'm conservative enough to vote for Trump. If, as might very well happen, a Democrat wins in November, my life will not be irredeemably blighted.

Matt Sablan said...

The general gist I get from listening to part of this is that Maher, generally, just thinks it isn't worth arguing with stupid people.

Conservatives realized that long ago, and that's why it is not usually conservatives you see writing things about cutting your family out for not appreciating vegan turkey options at Thanksgiving or displaying other signs of wokeness. Just celebrate Thanksgiving, don't try to win it, has been what I've seen Conservatives/Republicans saying *for decades.*

Matt Sablan said...

(Also: Bill Maher trying to tell people to be nice to each other is like a fat man telling me I shouldn't eat bread because there's too many carbs in there.)

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

Most Say Media Working With Democrats to Impeach Trump

Matt Sablan said...

(The fun point is that Maher isn't TRYING to be nice. He's just saying, "Hey, wait to be a dick until we have a better opportunity to win.")

Xmas said...

I'm pretty sure Obama had a bunch of reporters and whistleblowers locked up...

Matt Sablan said...

Note: Only Barrack Obama ACTUALLY has locked up political opponents and reporters; Bush and Trump have done neither.

Matt Sablan said...

It is beautiful the #StrangeNewRespect for Bush. I can't wait until Trump gets it.

Matt Sablan said...

And: I have no doubt, in 8 years, Trump WILL get #StrangeNewRespect. Bush, who was literally Hitler, a war criminal who lied us into war is now getting it. McCain, who was literally Hitler, a war criminal and who was a racist warmonger now gets it. Romney, who was literally Hitler, a capitalist pig and homophobic hair cutting racist now gets it.

So, in about 8 years or so, when there's a new Republican needing to be slimed, they'll get: "Man. This guy is worse than Trump! Trump offered compromises on immigration and signed funding for disabled kids! This person is Literally Hitler." And then, the cycle will be complete.

William said...

By most objective standards, Trump has had a successful Presidency. It's not the tweeting or the rhetoric. It is his success that infuriates them.

Michael K said...


Blogger Skylark said...

Thanks for the link, Doc.


Isn't that a great essay ? I'm going to look for more from that writer.

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

A snide word turns away wrath

narciso said...

Civility and maher, doesnt compute, he sees no faith as antidote to wahhabism but also orthodox christian belief as well.

Lyle said...

How many on the right actually "support" Putin's Russia? Even while making a decent point, Maher rocks out in ignorance. Oh well. Four more years!

narciso said...

In bolivia the incoming leader miss anez, is strong in the word, over the native ristrums morales has encouraged over the bakers dozen of years, and has a firm hand.

rhhardin said...

The objectionable thing about Maher is that he's pandering to his audience, not that it's civility bullshit.

Accuracy is funnier than pandering and he's skipping it.

narciso said...

I imagine putins embrace of russian orthodoxy wrankles him as much.

The Crack Emcee said...

Karen of Texas said...

"Hey, Crack is back."

Hey, Karen. Yep - back in the house.

gilbar said...

"Thanx for posting that glass pipe link, that was bitchin!"

Righteous. I put the lyrics on everything for you guys, specifically, so look in the details area to keep up. Did you catch the song about Kanye? Or the little number about France? I've got a million of 'em.

66 said...

I don’t think I understand civility bullshit. To me the video was Maher admitting that he can’t stand Trump or Trump’s supporters, but suggesting that in spite of his hate (maybe because of his hate) he will try to find a way to coexist with them. I thought Maher was remarkably honest. I doubt he will change in any meaningful way, and Maher’s tone suggests he doubts it as well, but he was at least recognizing the problem and accepting it in part as his problem. He would like to not hate half the country, but he is not equipped with the tools to change. Change comes through self awareness. His monologue suggests he is grasping at self awareness, but that it remains far out of his reach.

narciso said...

I have seen how he treated palin, who was more civil then he deserved.

narciso said...

I think one can be forceful and civil, but what they really dont want is the former. I strive for the latter, but 'long suffering has a limit,

Gunner said...

Maher thought Halliburton and Bush’s Christian cabal were corrupting and stealing shit from America all the time. He is lying now about how Trump is different.

Matt Sablan said...

"To me the video was Maher admitting that he can’t stand Trump or Trump’s supporters, but suggesting that in spite of his hate (maybe because of his hate) he will try to find a way to coexist with them. I thought Maher was remarkably honest."

-- It is civility bullshit because none of us believe Maher. It was like if someone says they want to have a ceasefire, but before doing so, they shoot your bodyguards, burn your village and drop a bomb on a nearby hospital. He is not coming across as sincere because he could have just said: "Hey, we disagree, let's try to get along," instead he said: "Man, those assholes are too stupid to reason with, and you've got to deal with the morons, so, hey, try not to offend them because they might go crazy and kill some people." The problem is that he WAS honest: He doesn't actually WANT civility. He wants to be able to say the sort of stuff he just said, but with the veneer of, "oh, but we should get along, you sister-fucker," and then expect NOT to suffer consequences for his final moments of assholeness.

Yancey Ward said...

I watched entire monologue, and I more or less got to the same point as Althouse did at pretty much the same point in the monologue- 2 minutes in. In the beginning, I thought Maher was doing OK giving what should be pretty obvious advice about getting along with family, but he kept sliding and sliding into the civility bullshit mode as it became less about getting along with family.

Not completely off topic, but I saw headline (I didn't bother clicking to read it) at RCP along the lines of a complaint about people tuning out the impeachment hearings because they aren't entertaining. I call this civics bullshit (and I write that as someone who actually bothers to read the transcripts).

Yancey Ward said...

And just to make it clear why I got to the civility bullshit moment- it became clear about 2 minutes in that Maher was doing exactly the thing he was trying to warn against doing. In short, he revealed the hypocrisy.

Ice Nine said...

>>I can tell you the exact second in this video where I said that out loud. It was 2:07<<

That's curious, since the fact that it was just an anti-Trump diatribe rather than a civility lecture wasn't plainly revealed until shortly after 2:07.

66 said...

@Matt Sablan, I agree with your post. And I bet Bill Maher would agree with your post, with one small exception: he would like to not be a hater, but has no idea how to. Rather than tag the post civility bullshit, I would tag it: Sad!

Matt Sablan said...

66: Do you honestly believe that Maher doesn't know that maybe he shouldn't call people sister-fuckers? I mean, do you really, truly think he doesn't know how to get along with people? That's interesting; see, I just think he's a disingenuous jerk like most media personalities. But you must think he has some sort of neurological dysfunction to not get what being polite is.

66 said...

@Matt Sablan: of course Maher knows how to be polite. But on his show, he gets paid to be provocative. The primary way he provokes is to express hatred for half the country (which the other half enjoys). I think he was admitting in his monologue that he is part of (or at least a reflection of) the hate that is dividing the country. But I also think he believes he is incapable of being provocative in any way other than stirring hatred. he is in a sense trapped by his own hatred. Which to me is sad.

Pianoman said...

I completely agree with his main point about letting the holidays just be holidays.

But then he goes off the rails smugly insulting the Deplorables.

What's wrong with putting marshmallows on sweet potato pudding?

And yes, Jeff Dunham + Peanut is funnier than Lena Dunham + Whipping Off Her Top.

Maher is a dick. But at least he's aware of the intersectionality / Wokeness brigade and is trying to stop them from destroying the Democrats.

hstad said...

AA, I disagree with your view on "Civility" it is not neutral - it is a false equivalency. Here's an article from another Professor who also debunks this thinking.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2019/02/27/centrism-moderation-no-thanks/

Dr. Martin Luther King was hardly neutral or moderate in his fight for rights. But he was always civil. He ultimately succeeded not by name calling, seducing, trivializing, bullying and the other flags of polarization. He succeeded by eloquent, passionate but still civil rational discourse.

Pianoman said...

@hstad: Imagine a world in which the SJWs used MLK's tactics to achieve their political and social change.

Instead we get paramilitary-wannabees in the form of Antifa, and pussy-hat wearing freakshows.

The Crack Emcee said...

hstad said...

"Dr. Martin Luther King...succeeded"

This is as I'm reading an article about fighting racism in the 1970s - long after King died.

So I'm wondering: If King called for reparations - which we didn't get yet - and racism's still going on after his death, did he "succeed"?

Or do you define success differently from the act of acheiving stated goals?



The Crack Emcee said...

Pianoman said...

"We get paramilitary-wannabees in the form of Antifa, and pussy-hat wearing freakshows."

I mention pussyhats here.

And, yeah, but that's in-part because the opposition is so intolerant itself. The left's at it's wits end. I find no racial harmony on the right, just as I can't on the left, so what kind of MLK-inspired rhetoric would resolve white's historic obstinance to change? And who's got decades - of death, like MLK, Malcolm, Medger, and all the rest suffered - to wait for it anyway?

The right deserves as much blame for what occurs in this country as anyone - even when they're not the actors onscreen at any given moment. Their constant focus on the left's weaknesses is almost as worthless as theirs on Trump now.

Matt Sablan said...

"Or do you define success differently from the act of acheiving stated goals?"

-- He did achieve several of his goals, but obviously not all of them. Overall, I'd say he was more successful than not, especially since his good works continued after he was murdered.

Michael K said...

I see Crack has learned nothing while he has been away.

Rabel said...

"I’m glad he’s dead and I hope the end was painful.”

- Mr. Civility the day after David Koch's cancer related death.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

Maybe Maher had a 3AM epiphany about where he’d be on the list if shit gets ugly. Now he’s trying to back away without cracking his rice bowl.

FullMoon said...

John Borell said...

Bush should have pardoned Scooter Libby.


Obviously. Libby got fucked
Now, Trump should do it. Get everyone talking about what really happened..

buwaya said...

Whites are actually extremely proactive.

There probably isn't an ethno-racial group with a greater degree of, I suppose, general aggression, though that may not be the proper word. Something more like a combination of initiative and enterprise, not restricted to proper channels.

This was historically so. The white conquest of the world, post 1492, is unique in scope and significance, and it happened as a full spectrum explosion, in all fields, not just the sword-in-the-gut of Cortez and Albuquerque. Though that sword-in-the-gut business was very important. Europeans were the most efficient, most effective killers in world history. In that only the Mongols came close, but the Mongols lacked the rest of the European dominance spectrum.

This European explosion is the main subject of modern history, even of any non-European peoples, all of which were profoundly changed by it, as even those who weren't actually subjugated and colonized. Most of what is still going on everywhere is reverberations of this explosion. Or rather the explosion is ongoing.

Earnest Prole said...

By the way, I love the neutral principle, civility. I oppose the hypocritical, partisan invocation of the value, and I call bullshit.

I’m glad to see you’ve dropped the absolute version that a preference for civility is always bullshit.

The Crack Emcee said...

Michael K said...

"I see Crack has learned nothing while he has been away."

Sure I did: Logic. If we're fighting racism in 1979, and King died in 1968, I'd say we'd made progress, but hadn't reached his "Promised Land" - a pillar of which was reparations. I'd also say Matt Sablan got it right.

I'd also also say, if we keep up this insane way of going about things, we're never going to congeal as a nation because whites keep it a competition - and one they can't win - not in the long run. White men already feel like they're becoming our nation's blacks now. Even to many whites. Nobody wants anything to do with conservative white men beyond, say, Dave Chappelle's ruminations on gun ownership. That's why they need Trump to reassert the ol' white manhood again. Put everybody in their place. But who's behind him? Trump is Trump. Trump used to hang out in Rap Clubs in the '80s. After him, it's back to being the same old shit that everybody really hates. Always looking to pick a fight if we don't toe the line, etc.

That said, as a chief representative of such a man, deciding to greet me in this manner, I'd say, Mickeal K, it's you who hasn't learned anything.

Trump's bought you a little time. But he's just one man.

And you'll never be of his quality.

No go train your Somalis or whatever. I got shit to do.

Roughcoat said...

Pshaw. Whites are mere puppets of the Jews. Or the Freemasons, I forget which.

Rabel said...

"On April 13, 2018, President Donald Trump pardoned Libby."

YoungHegelian said...

@Roughcoat,

Pshaw. Whites are mere puppets of the Jews. Or the Freemasons, I forget which

Oh, you & your white trash Althouse hillbilly conspiracy theories!

Every edjumacated person knows us honkies are puppets of the Club of Rome! Get with the program!

Roughcoat said...

@YoungHegelian,

The Club of Rome is controlled by the Elders of Zion. I know this for a fact.

narciso said...

why would you think that, Israelites still had to fight the philistines, Amalekites, Babylonians for centuries later

I would say punk, certainly was fighting against standards, and if you read marlon james, seven killings, about Jamaica, that was a tortuous exercise, similarly it's about rebelling against institutions,

Roughcoat said...

Also: Crack is in reality a bald 102-year-old Jewish rabbi who owns a candy story in the Bronx where the Elders of Zion gather once every month at the full moon to ritually sacrifice Negro Baptist children.

FullMoon said...

"On April 13, 2018, President Donald Trump pardoned Libby."

Well, he should do it again, for fun.


Guess I was busy that day..

Roughcoat said...

I don't read Marlon James. His writing is too genteel for my tastes.

narciso said...

the skydragon high priests insists they exist,

https://www.steynonline.com/9762/michael-e-mann-loser-and-liar-and-scofflaw

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

Yes - white dudes are controlled by hillarywoodland. Our thoughts must filter thru - music and "what does hollywood think?" and then we go from there.

Skin check! what colo schitt you wearin?

narciso said...

in some parts, but the patois is hard to get to, the posses really did a number on that country, marlon's view is it was an external force,

Roughcoat said...

Um ... narciso?

narciso said...

the novel, I really got through about half of it, booker prizes aren't worth the investment,

Roughcoat said...

Clearly what I have here is my failure to communicate ...

narciso said...

elaborating on emcee's point, this era after say 1968, was more like the time of judges, where there were bad kings in the land, and many did what they wished, that was true of whites as well as blacks, we throw off every standard, and what do we end up with, a world that is largely 'nasty brutish and short, where the law abiding must fear, but the criminal the scofflaw runs rampant,

narciso said...

the general point about discretion being mistaken for repression, and standards regarded as oppression, the Good Book shepherded our country through good times and bad, but now where are the buoys, the sign posts,

YoungHegelian said...

@buwaya,

@Buwaya,

Something more like a combination of initiative and enterprise, not restricted to proper channels.

There is a word that Thucydides uses for the state of the Athenian mind before & during the Peloponnesian War: polypragmosyne (πολυπραγμοσύνη). It covers all sorts of sins: enterprising, but meedlesome, curious & open-minded, but a busybody, the sort whose syncretic ways make them all the more adept at imperialistic endeavors.

Yeah, I know. Not exactly a word that rolls off the Anglophone tongue. But, while the joke may be that the Germans have a word for that, the Ancient Greeks often did!

The Crack Emcee said...

Roughcoat said...

"Also: Crack is in reality a bald 102-year-old Jewish rabbi who owns a candy story in the Bronx where the Elders of Zion gather once every month at the full moon to ritually sacrifice Negro Baptist children."

Bwaaaaaaaaaaaa-hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!

The Crack Emcee said...

narciso said...

"elaborating on emcee's point, this era after say 1968, was more like the time of judges, where there were bad kings in the land, and many did what they wished, that was true of whites as well as blacks, we throw off every standard, and what do we end up with, a world that is largely 'nasty brutish and short, where the law abiding must fear, but the criminal the scofflaw runs rampant,"

1979 was a time when I was still being locked out of white partes for being black, having my music dissed for being black, etc. Yes, black guys wre learning to take over hallways, here and there, but generally speaking whites were in their (shall we say) anti-bussing mood, and that defined the times better than fans of The Brady Bunch remember.

Iman said...

Maher is a drug-addled, Playboy mansion lizard who beats his girlfriends. Hit with the proverbial ugly stick at birth, his opinions carry no weight with adults.

Sebastian said...

"I love the neutral principle, civility."

The principle, honestly invoked, is not neutral. It is a conservative principle: it respects the conventions of civil society, it recognizes the other as a valued member of that society, and it rejects elite condescension and coercion.

Progressivism disdains the conventions of civil society, derides deplorable others as backward, and thrives on condescension and coercion by the anointed. See Tom Sowell on the conflict of visions.

The leftist motto since 1789 has been: F*** civility. Conservatives have finally caught on. Hence Trump.

Iman said...

http://thesmokinggun.com/file/bill-maher-hit-palimony-suit

John Borell said...

FullMoon said...

Obviously. Libby got fucked
Now, Trump should do it. Get everyone talking about what really happened..

He did back in 2018.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

Nancy is offering Trump to testify. Trump should insist the "wistleblower" go first.

narciso said...

I was making a wider point, about how the social revolutions unmoored society, and we're left with the debris from that skirmish,

Known Unknown said...

How dare he impugn sweet potatoes with marshmallows.

Michael K said...

That said, as a chief representative of such a man, deciding to greet me in this manner, I'd say, Mickeal K, it's you who hasn't learned anything.

I've learned that the people who really think whites are superior are American blacks, who are paralyzed by their inferiority complex, and leftist whites who are determined to put the proverbial thumb on the scale for blacks who everybody knows can't make it on their own. Why else do leftists support affirmative action, support grade inflation and oppose the SAT that was invented to give poor kids a key to higher education ?

I taught African blacks and Caribbean blacks and they have none of this reparations complex bullshit. They also do fine in medical school and are often poorer than the American blacks that flunk out.

The Crack Emcee said...

narciso said...

"I was making a wider point, about how the social revolutions unmoored society, and we're left with the debris from that skirmish"

But did they? Was society "moored" for blacks? Or was/is this society pathological and blacks have been trying to do something about that - to massive resistance? Imagine having to convince someone to stop hitting you. That's what a "moored" America is.

It's the resistence to common sense that's, still, got this nation as whacked out as it can get. Or do you think Kanye "finding God" - a man conservatives, and even a President of the United States, recently called a "Jackass" - is America really coming up finally in the Intellect Dept?

Give me a break.

I don't think most Americans, ultimately can even conceive of a vision of Americans, ever, as anything but hyper-religious imbeciles. And that goes for the so-called "smart" ones as well.

The Crack Emcee said...

Michael K said...

"I've learned,..."

No you haven't.

The Crack Emcee said...

Michael K said...

"I've learned,..."

There's a great moment in Bill Burr's "Paper Tiger" special on Netflix, when he talks about looking at an Elvis documentary, and he mentions it being a white story, about white people, doin g white things, and how he takes it in with his white eyes, and his white experiences, and his white life.

But - and this is a biggie - he's got a black wife, who's willing to check that shit and show him all the bullshit the "King" sold white people at black's expense.

Micheal K, you ain't even the man Bill Burr is, much less Trump. You've been dishonest as fuck about blacks, as long as I"ve known of you, and I know this because - ta-dah - I've been one a long, long time.

David Duffy said...

I went through a phase where I became fascinated by the Civil War. I read a few books, visited the battlefields, talked to people who were steeped in its history. Maher has nothing in common with the culture and solders of the Union Army. It's not "we," Bill.

The "we" in fighting Nazi Germany, or Imperial Japan for that matter, and then resisting the Soviet Union were more likely to be Southerners than clowns like Maher. Taking credit for being on the winning side was the best joke of his idiotic monologue.

mockturtle said...

Micheal K, you ain't even the man Bill Burr is, much less Trump. You've been dishonest as fuck about blacks, as long as I"ve known of you, and I know this because - ta-dah - I've been one a long, long time.

But, being a physician, I'll bet he knows an asshole when he sees one. ;-)

lonetown said...

What ever happened to "nobody is above the law"?

The Crack Emcee said...

mockturtle said...

"Being a physician, I'll bet he knows an asshole when he sees one. ;-)"

Really? I got a doctor who's Pakistani. He trie to bond with me every visit. How? By riding Trump's ass the whole time I'm there.

He's a specialist, so I need this asshole, so I have to endure his nonsense - about Trump, about me, about everything - because HE'S A DOCTOR.

BTW - I don't have ugly racial conversations at other places. Race comes up, we talk. Here - it's always adversarial. And that's not my doing.

It's your hero's this time.

Francisco D said...

BTW - I don't have ugly racial conversations at other places. Race comes up, we talk. Here - it's always adversarial. And that's not my doing.

LOL!

You are still playing the same games, Crack.

Drago said...

Same Old Crack: "You've been dishonest as fuck about blacks, as long as I"ve known of you, and I know this because - ta-dah - I've been one a long, long time.

The idea that you have anointed yourself spokesperson for blacks is hilarious.

You couldn't get a half-dozen blacks nor anyone else to follow you anywhere.

More importantly, you never will.

I would say that is something you ought to think about, but, given you are you, thats not really possible.

In the meanwhile, there really does seem to be something "happening" on the ground with blacks in the US driven by individuals with compelling arguments and ideas.

Still, I wish you great success with your music career if for no other reason than it would be fun to watch you deal with success in this most horrific of all nations that has ever existed.....to which everyone in the world is fighting to come.

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

cartoon in Cosmo decades ago

woman in Hell, standing in front of Satan seated at the front desk, with a look of contrition:

Caption: "Oh! So now you want to pay off your Visa!!"

Bill Maher, with his red shoes and Kid Love Productions, knows what's coming.
It's not a 'civil war', but more like a peasant revolution. Soon these fuckers wont be able to walk down the street.

Drago said...

Same Old Crack: "Here - it's always adversarial. And that's not my doing."

Actually it is your doing.

But only every single time.

You could no more avoid making every conversation racial anymore than Michael Moore could avoid saying yes to any and all buffets.

You are a walking racialist Trigger that requires zero force to pull.

The Crack Emcee said...

Francisco D said...

"You are still playing the same games, Crack."

No, you guys are the same collection of freaks and misfits you've always been. I was here fo just a few days befoe the attacks started the first time and it's never changed. I want one thing - reparations - not socialism, not to radically reorganize the country, not overthrow it for blacks, or anything wild:

Just fullfill Martin's dream.

And you assholes act like it's not only a major request but a slap in the face.

Sorry, but not everybody reacts that way.

You assholes - and that's what some of you are - are, as the French say, special.

Drago said...

Same Old Crack: "I want one thing - reparations - not socialism, not to radically reorganize the country, not overthrow it for blacks, or anything wild:"

Another pathetic lie.

You want Reparations 1, Reparations 2, Reparations 3,...., Reparations N, Reparations N+1, etc etc etc

You just know you have to lie about the first iteration so as not to freak everyone on the left out.

You have every intention of establishing a permanent and continuous reparations supply chain and your intentions are transparent.

Drago said...

Same Old Crack: "You assholes - and that's what some of you are - are, as the French say, special."

It is fitting you use the French as your example.

Couldnt be more fitting really.

gadfly said...

Bill Maher makes his money offering comedy not civility. He likely would not be funny without attacking absurd notions.

If Maher is wrong, it is because he somehow believes that Republicans are conservatives which, of course, is no longer the case.

narciso said...

that wasn't the purpose of the exercise,

https://www.takimag.com/article/slavery-reparations-movement-founder-hated-jews-loved-neo-nazis/

Lewis Wetzel said...

Gadfly wrote:
. . . If Maher is wrong, it is because he somehow believes that Republicans are conservatives which, of course, is no longer the case.
When were the Republicans "conservatives"? Back in the first half of the 20th century when they were isolationist and protectionist?
Remember when a democrat like Maher was a person who believed in the rule of the people, and not the rule of un-elected judges and bureaucrats?

Drago said...

Lewis: "When were the Republicans "conservatives"? Back in the first half of the 20th century when they were isolationist and protectionist?"

It's pointless engaging the mindless and LLR C****-less gadfly in dialogue. He/she/xe simply regurgitates whatever the latest hot take is from Media Matters or similar crew.

narciso said...

it's a wider point, the sds in particular, the student activists, in general, saw one social condition and applied it to all institutions, bette Freidan, a practicing Marxist, planted her flag with her view of feminism, the anti war activists, used Vietnam as a pretext for the criticism of the state in general,

Inga said...

“No, you guys are the same collection of freaks and misfits you've always been. I was here fo just a few days befoe the attacks started the first time and it's never changed.”

Well...yes of course.

narciso said...

then you add the economic dislocations, partially due to the first wave of offshoring of American industry, competition from Asian circles, the turn toward automation,

narciso said...

now this was true generally across western Europe, with the influx from the former colonies, north Africa for the French, equatorial Africa and the subcontinent for the English, the assault on institutions, the family the church, the nation, note maher much like the not ready for primetime players, has a disdain for all three,

narciso said...

and python was the predecessor, but there were other cultural bulldozers, along with the wave of 'reformist' legislation that dissolved most everything that England respected in a decade,

cf said...

Yes, Michael K at 3:17, a similar experience: back when we had great local newspapers, mine had a visiting journalist from Ghana in some exchange program that worked with us for a year.

It was stunning to experience his clear and unmarked psyche, his grounded, easy comfort with anyone, his un-self-conscious eye-contact and intellect -- remarkable as a contrast to what I had come to expect in my every day relations with African Americans.

His lack of encumbrance haunted me, because it contrasted too dramatically with his American counterparts.

godspeed to all americans in this 21st Century, that we each find our way.

Michael K said...

Micheal K, you ain't even the man Bill Burr is, much less Trump. You've been dishonest as fuck about blacks, as long as I"ve known of you, and I know this because - ta-dah - I've been one a long, long time.

I would ask you for examples but I know you are lying.

cf seems to have had a similar experience. Victimhood is not impressive.

rehajm said...

Did your internet thing fail, Crack?

Francisco D said...

No, you guys are the same collection of freaks and misfits you've always been. I was here fo just a few days befoe the attacks started the first time and it's never changed

I am laughing, dude. Thanks.

This is pretty good low comedy and you are somewhat funny.

Fuck with the White guys is always a kick. Seriously. I am down with it.

The Crack Emcee said...

rehajm said...

"Did your internet thing fail, Crack?"

Everything fails if you don't have the resources to maintain it. The site got hacked - Japanese text everywhere - and, even though I had a bunch of kids in India doing my tech, the problem got beyond their pay grade, so I had to shut it down.

It was a good idea. Made for these times, but, money is money, and I ain't got enough.

The Crack Emcee said...

Francisco D said...

"Fuck with the White guys is always a kick. Seriously. I am down with it."

See how this "works"? Michael K comes after me, and - viola! - on the Althouse site, I "fuck with the white guys". Let me ask you something:

Here's where I've been putting my work - what I am into when left to my own devices - see any racial provacations there?

Or is it just the assholes, being assholes, who do it?

I think all the reasonable people hear see it - they always do - which is why I hang around:

These dickheads provide us all with a valuble service.

Pianoman said...

Where's Mick when you need him? Who among us wouldn't pay Amazon Affiliate bucks to watch Mick and Crack argue over The Usurping Lightbringer?

For dessert, Ritmo can stroll in and question everyone's heterosexuality.

After dinner mints would be a classic Inga copy-n-paste job.

Good times. Nice to see y'all back.

The Crack Emcee said...

'I've can do anything I want, I'm a police officer': White cop's shocking rant after 'racially profiling' two men in mall parking lot - and chief fires him immediately after seeing video

Without cameras, it's just another day in America - and he would still be working.

Doctors operate in much the same manner.

buwaya said...

Every small town in this region has spawned its great men, most of whom went off to conquer in foreign parts, one way or another, with the sword, with the cross, with the pen, or the peseta. It really something - every five miles or so is a hometown of someone or several, who presumed to change the way of life of a bunch of distant foreigners. The almost-epicenter of that European explosion.

OK, so you do have to go to Portugal for the origin.

Maillard Reactionary said...

"By the way, I love the neutral principle, civility. I oppose the hypocritical, partisan invocation of the value, and I call bullshit."

Very well stated, Althouse, and a principle that I adhere to as an ideal of civilized behavior.

One advantage that the first actor to go outrageously uncivil has is just the shock value. I've been mau-mau'ed that way in the past and been temporarily rendered speechless. Not enjoying the experience, I have lowered my expectations accordingly when interacting with people whom I don't know well.

Then there are those people who can "think on their feet", as they say, and are rarely if ever seen caught on their back foot. Like Trump, for instance.

For the rest of us, we must sometimes be content with l'esprit d'escalier.

Drago said...

Inga: "Well...yes of course."

Inga still believes Brett Kavanaugh raped 5,000 women.

FullMoon said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Drago said...

Inga: "Well...yes of course."

Inga still believes the hoax dossier is completely true and verified.

Drago said...

Inga: "Well...yes of course."

Inga still thinks Michael Avenatti speaks the truth and is going to bring down Trump.

Drago said...

Inga: "Well...yes of course."

Inga still thinks Trump is somehow "scared to death" of Robert Francis O'Rourke.

Drago said...

Inga: "Well...yes of course."

Inga still thinks there are no islamic supremacist crimes in Europe (psssst: Denmark just closed their borders to Sweden due to islamists crossing the border and, you know, blowing things up)

mockturtle said...

Really? I got a doctor who's Pakistani.

So do I. So far he hasn't said a word about our esteemed President.

Drago said...

Inga: "Well...yes of course."

Inga still thinks every single Trump voter (and in particular, military members and retirees) are treasonous traitors and nazis.

mockturtle said...

Drago, you just can't resist, can you?

Marcus Bressler said...

Jeez, the return to commenting by three specific people makes me want to take a hiatus from Althouse. I thought moderation was bad, but this is worse.

THEOLDMAN

Carry on.

Drago said...

mockturtle: "So do I. So far he hasn't said a word about our esteemed President."

Something tells me there is some other dynamic at work with Same Old Crack when it comes to human interactions and the seemingly out of the blue racialist conversations.

I mean, there is Same Old Crack, just minding his own business just like he does every single day when, all of a sudden, without any warning, others start talking race!

Why, its inexplicable.

Poor Same Old Crack.

He just can't escape it.

Drago said...

mockturtle: "Drago, you just can't resist, can you?"

Context is important.

So is fiber.

Get both.

mockturtle said...

The almost-epicenter of that European explosion.

Speaking of European explosions, are they still having rioting in Spain?

Drago said...

Inga, have you made up your list of presents you'd like to get for Mueller-mas?

Nobody knows what Mueller knows about what Inga wants for Mueller-mas!!!

mockturtle said...

Context is important.

So is fiber.

Get both.


So you just enjoy feeding the trolls? I suppose you've really missed I*ga and are delighted to see her return. Personally, I'd rather have Fen back.

Iman said...

“Without cameras, it's just another day in America - and he would still be working.”

There will always be bad cops, but they are outnumbered in a big way by the cops that do their jobs as they should be done.

Our youth need to be taught to follow certain procedures and use common sense when interacting with law enforcement officers. Follow commands, don’t run, don’t resist. Treat others as you’d like to be treated. Again... common sense.

The Crack Emcee said...

mockturtle said...

Really? I got a doctor who's Pakistani.

"So do I. So far he hasn't said a word about our esteemed President."

You're not "the black guy" in his office, with all the assumpsions that go along with that, held by not only him but most (not all) of the people I encounter. Meanwhile, me and the other blacks are nodding to one another, checking to make sure we're safe from those same assumpsions, which I'd guess you don't have to engage in, either.

Reparations, People. For depriving us of lives unencumbered.

It's all I ask.

Iman said...

And that goes for ANYONE interacting with police.

Drago said...

Same Old Crack: "Reparations, People. For depriving us of lives unencumbered.

It's all I ask."

No its not. And it will never be all that you ask. Ever.

And everyone knows it. And I mean everyone.

So the answer is: No.

The Crack Emcee said...

mockturtle said...

"Drago, you just can't resist, can you?"

Nope. I made this point about people like him earlier. Our lives, our nation, our politics, it's all a competition to them. Not an actual project we're trying to perfect, but it's more like their porn for competitive masturbation.

Like the liberals who have to be told not to be crazy in an Election Year, these certian types of right-wing white guys are just everyone's worst enemy, because they just can't get their heads out of their own asses long enough to see what shitty people they've become.

mockturtle said...

You're not "the black guy" in his office, with all the assumpsions that go along with that, held by not only him but most (not all) of the people I encounter. Meanwhile, me and the other blacks are nodding to one another, checking to make sure we're safe from those same assumpsions, which I'd guess you don't have to engage in, either.

I do understand. My younger daughter who is biracial frequents only black conservative websites because she was totally fed up with people, white, black and Hispanic, making assumptions about her political views because of her race. Is that not real racism? And as a woman who supports Trump I have had 'friends' become enemies when they found out. They just couldn't believe a woman they knew well could do that.

The Crack Emcee said...

Drago said...

"Same Old Crack, just minding his own business just like he does every single day when, all of a sudden, without any warning, others start talking race!"

This is why I'm not engaging this idiot. The issue isn't discussing race - we're Americans: it's practically unavoidable as a topic and not a problem elsewhere - the issue is HOW these white assholes talk about it and what they bring to the table, which is ALWAYS a bunch of racist bullshit.

If numbnuts can't follow a discussion without getting the fucking issues incorrect, he's not worth talking to.

The Crack Emcee said...

Iman said...

"There will always be bad cops, but they are outnumbered in a big way by the cops that do their jobs as they should be done."

I got three white friends who became cops. I don't need a lecture. But you know what? They don't patrol their neighborhoods, they patrol mine, and that makes all the difference in how shit goes down. I know their assumpsions. These are guys who used to hang out in restaurants to harrass the Mexicans working in the kitchen. Great guys, right? Now with guns and impunity.

You guys live in a dream world, I think, sometimes.

Drago said...

I see Same Old Crack remains very very upset that his same old schtick remains just as transparent as ever.

Hey Crack, stop projecting your lifetime of dysfunction onto me. Go sell that snake oil somewhere else cause nobody is buying it here.

The Crack Emcee said...

mockturtle said...

"They just couldn't believe a woman they knew well could do that."

Exactly. I got it coming from all sides, because I'm not toeing anyone's line, and I resent it - because my white friends just go about their lives as people should, left, right, or green, or whatever.

But I MUST be something - or I will be made to pay.

A lifetime of that is worthy of reparations. Generations of it is definitely worthy.

Milwaukie guy said...

I've only known three Africans sort of well. We were involved with a Loyola of Chicago program where young adults, mid-to-late twenties, came to America for year-long professional internships. For the first six weeks they lived with an American family before moving into a Loyola-owned apartment. Over the years we had a Ghanan, a Nigerian, a Tanzanian and two Argentines. Actually, all of them thought that AAs were a bunch of whiners and losers, but especially the Africans.

Drago said...

Given the posting trajectory of a certain poster, I would guess we are just weeks away from breathless media reports regarding a solitary black male on his way to a San Fran falafel house being attacked by MAGA-hat wearing Pakistani doctors waving AlthouseBlog flags.

mockturtle said...

Actually, all of them thought that AAs were a bunch of whiners and losers, but especially the Africans.

Some are but many are not. We just don't hear them in the media, as they are busy just going about their daily lives.

The Crack Emcee said...

Milwaukie guy said...

"Actually, all of them thought that AAs were a bunch of whiners and losers, but especially the Africans."

Like their being from Africa gave them some great insight into the perils of American style slavery, and it's related issues? And wasn't it we "whiners and losers" who helped free South Africa when they and their white "friends" either opposed it or couldn't?

Like I said, living with people with no appreciation for issues surrounding American slavery - the single most long-running issue in this nation - is worth reparations. If only because slavery leaves in it's wake the impression we live with clueless strangers, deprived of the facts of this country as much as blacks were deprived of educations in previous centuries and decades. You look like fools, too.

I hate that feeling when thinking about Americans.

mockturtle said...

Drago, I inferred from Crack's post that his doctor is attempting to 'bond' with him by bashing Trump, assuming that, because he's black, he must hate Trump. Racist, no? My daughter has experienced the same thing and it really pisses her off. And because I'm an 'educated woman', I'm assumed to be a political Progressive and that pisses me off, too.

Drago said...

Mockturtle: "Drago, I inferred from Crack's post that his doctor is attempting to 'bond' with him by bashing Trump, assuming that, because he's black, he must hate Trump. Racist, no?"

My suspicion is that Same Old Crack is incapable of encountering another human being without immediately projecting his racialist issues into conversations and this Pakistani doctor, trained in and experienced with San Francisco lunatics simply plays along with what he KNOWS Same Old Crack wants to hear.

You know, to keep everything calm....

The Crack Emcee said...

mockturtle said...

"Some are but many are not. We just don't hear them in the media, as they are busy just going about their daily lives."

What about the uneducated, God-fearing, impulsive, slightly-paranoid, "normal" black person who we rarely hear from, rarely see, even on TV, and generally ignore? Meaning, my friends? What do you guys think they deserve from the country that betrayed them? They struggle under an almost unimaginable burden just to function in society - they're ignorant - and y'all are like "losers", when it was America's Frankenstein ambitions that created generations of these "monsters".

It's hard to believe the party of Lincoln would shrink so willingly against it's mandate.

That's another way Trump at least has the Republican Party beat in a lot of ways. Not to the extent I want, but his outreach makes the rest of the party look as lame as it is.

Milwaukie guy said...

I'm constantly reminding my favorite amigo, who is a Mexican nationalist and anti-black, that only about a third or a quarter of blacks are in the lumpen proletariat. Which, of course, is a big problem and often swept under the rug.

He needs to see the over 50% of blacks who have adopted American bourgeois values. But, it's the lumpens who get the most news. I'm still working on him.

mockturtle said...

Not always 'bourgeois' values. My black second husband was a longshoreman who also had a small landscaping business, in which most of his workers were Mexican. He worked pretty much all his life. At ten he was a--gasp!--shoeshine boy and in his teens he worked part time for his uncle's janitorial service. He didn't have time for political whining. When he found time off, he'd take his boat out fishing. When I became 'political' in the 60's, I was unable to persuade him to join the 'black power' movement. He was right and I was wrong.

Drago said...

Same Old Crack: "What about the uneducated, God-fearing, impulsive, slightly-paranoid, "normal" black person who we rarely hear from, rarely see, even on TV, and generally ignore? Meaning, my friends?"

Grow up.

"the mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.”
-Thoreau

And if it means that much to you crank up a non-profit dedicated to illuminating the stories of just those sort of folks and have those stories represented more in popular culture.

Shouldnt be too hard. You live in White Guilt (But lots of Cash!) Central.

richard mcenroe said...

Skylark... I officially fell in love with Angel Has Fallen when Butler picks his handcuffs with parts he scavenges from an AR. Is there NOTHING those can't do?

FullMoon said...

Nobody knows the trouble I've seen
Nobody knows my sorrow
Nobody knows the trouble I've seen
( in the San Francisco Bay Area)
Glory, Hallelujah

wildswan said...

You know what I wish, I wish Crack would just directly comment on the topic - what is Bill Maher trying to do? Is he saying be civil? or is this civility bullshit? and why is he talking about Civil War right now? I mean, be who you are, and regardless, I'm glad to have a link to your work. But I know your opinions on all of us, we all do, and why not say what you think about Bill Maher for a change of pace.

FIDO said...

I disagree.

For the most part, BM is speaking to the LEFT!

Because he knows things are getting dangerous

Because he knows he can no longer be listened to by the Right and if they won’t listen, he can’t negotiate.

Because he sees the Left eating itself and he is on the menu.

Some of it is civility bullshifft and he does the usual ‘old Republicans are great but this Republican is awful’ crap

But I still don’t listen to him. I give him no credence and offer no detente.

BM realizes they tacked to leftward and they need to course correct. He has no idea of how high a bill he needs to pay to get close to square.

He is trying to get the rest of the Left to at least try ‘grace on the cheap’.

He is the bully who beats someone bad enough to hospitalize him, and hopes a hearty handshake and a heartfelt apology will get the victim to drop the charges. Does that ever work outside Hollywood?

The Crack Emcee said...

mockturtle said...

"He was right and I was wrong."

It sounds to me like you both were right. I don't begrudge blacks trying to have normal lives in this turmoil. I wish more had the luxury. Even just mentally. But, sincerely, how can anyone expect that with Dragos nipping at our heels, Michael Ks putting his asshole ideas and inappropriate African comparisons on us, and all the rest? It's never-ending.

America began in war. And then did so again. We learn so little.

The Crack Emcee said...

FullMoon said...

"Nobody knows the trouble I've seen
Nobody knows my sorrow
Nobody knows the trouble I've seen
( in the San Francisco Bay Area)
Glory, Hallelujah"

Blacks Hit by Housing Costs Leave San Francisco Behind (2001)

The African-American Exodus From San Francisco (2016)


San Francisco's Black population is less than 5 percent, exodus has been steady
(2016)


AFRICAN AMERICANS SEEM TO BE LEAVING SAN FRANCISCO IN DROVES
(2018)

'The Last Black Man in San Francisco' is an elegy to home and family, destroyed by gentrification (2019)

See, I don't know if you guys think you're being funny, or if you're really as ignorant of your own country as you seem (like Hillary Clinton-level ignorant) but - either way - it doesn't reflect well on how white conservatives "think". You embarrass yourselves in every way but one: you outnumber everybody, so that shit washes off in your collective, uneasy laughter.

Blacks have been suffering in San Francisco a long time.





The Crack Emcee said...

wildswan said...

"You know what I wish, I wish Crack would just directly comment on the topic - what is Bill Maher trying to do? Is he saying be civil? or is this civility bullshit?"

Bill Maher's an anti-vaxxer. That's so insane, civil or not, I don't even know how he's allowed on television, except I saw Oprah promote that shit for almost a decade on her old show (starting waaay back with Jenny McCarthy) and nobody did anything about it then, either, so the crazy's baked into the American cake now. We're France. No level of insanity gets you disqualified from taking up our brief but valuble lives. It'll just be ignored as we discuss this OTHER point your crazy ass made LATER.

America's a trip.



We're France

mockturtle said...

There is no way I could afford to live in SF, either. Maybe your notion of how white folks live is skewed by your location.

Drago said...

Same Old Crack: "But, sincerely, how can anyone expect that with Dragos nipping at our heels,..."

Same Old Crack has decided to go Full Hillary with his excuse mongering.

Next up: Same Old Crack cannot get a real record deal because of PUTIN and Macedonian bot farms!!!

There are an infinite number of people responsible for Crack's failures....except one:

Crack

The Crack Emcee said...

mockturtle said...

"There is no way I could afford to live in SF, either. Maybe your notion of how white folks live is skewed by your location."

I left San Francisco years ago - I'm not stupid - and traveled all around the United States, before returning to California, but outside major cities. I know white people. Some of my BFFs are white, and one's mother considers herself my own, so there's no lack of love.

But there is Martin's dream - how you guys miss that is amazing to me - you act like it's some imposition on you, as you constantly suck the man's dick, specifically, as a Republican legacy (Since the man's been revealed as a rapist, I find that just as amazing).

Just finish the damn dream and get it over with. Damn.

Birkel said...

A point of solidarity!
I also observe that Leftist Collectivist policies are bad for the poor and not-plugged-in politically.
So of course San Francisco is a shithole city.

Reparations?
Get the fuck off my continent, interlopers.

The Crack Emcee said...

Birkel said...

"Get the fuck off my continent, interlopers."

MLK was an interloper?

Milwaukie guy said...

So the white urban gentry are pushing blacks out of SF. The white urban gentry are the mass base of the Democrats. Maybe more urban blacks should vote Republican, the party that opposed slavery, Jim Crow and promoted civil rights for all. It couldn't hurt.

Birkel said...

Damned straight.
If you cannot trace your roots back to before the Europeans came, get the fuck off my continent.

The Crack Emcee said...

Milwaukie guy said...


"Maybe more urban blacks should vote Republican, the party that opposed slavery, Jim Crow and promoted civil rights for all. It couldn't hurt."

Maybe the the party that opposed slavery, Jim Crow and promoted civil rights for all should start acting like a party that opposed slavery, Jim Crow and promoted civil rights for all - and specializing in being assholes to black ambitions - and maybe they would.

I was a Republican once. Right here on this blog. You guys talked me out of it. Just being who you are.

Birkel said...

I mean, if we are going to do collective guilt based on ancestors, all you SOBs owe me rent checks.

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