December 7, 2019

Narcissist or self-deprecator? Trump talks about light bulbs that give you "an orange look. I don’t want an orange look. Has anyone noticed that?"

Ha ha. I love the twisted way he reconfigured what is used against him — his supposed narcissisism and his very real orangeness. I love the comedy of "Has anyone noticed...?" about something that everyone is always noticing and talking about.

The quote is everywhere, but I'm reading "Trump jokes that energy-efficient light bulbs make him look orange" (NY Post). It was a small business roundtable:
“They got rid of the light bulb that people got used to. The new bulb is many times more expensive and I hate to say it, it doesn’t make you look as good,” he said at the White House event. “Of course, being a vain person that’s very important to me...It gives you an orange look. I don’t want an orange look. Has anyone noticed that? So we have to change those bulbs in at least a couple of rooms where I am in the White House”...
The NY Post article doesn't include the railing against low-flow faucets and toilets, but that's included in this clip:


72 comments:

wendybar said...

President Trump is funny. He has a great sense of humor, unless you are a hater...then anything he says pisses you off. It's one of the reasons why SNL, and the Late Night Shows suck....he is funnier than they are!!

Sally327 said...

I assume Donald Trump has enough money that he can get whatever kind of light bulbs he wants. Specially made in some factory that he built just for the purpose. I don't believe people with his kind of money abide by any laws they find inconvenient. But the rest of us can't do that, we're stuck, and this is where he is so good, at identifying and speaking about things that non-billionaire types have to put up with. Like he's one of us.

And I do think he is making a joke, about himself.

Marcus Bressler said...

Self-deprecating humor works best.

THEOLDMAN

rehajm said...

The light from some of them bulbs is too cool. Which ones is he using?

I got one of those hue programmable color bulbs for the living room. It was okay and settled on a pleasant ‘hue’. They are expensive though. A photographer came to take pictures and thought the bulb was broken so threw it out.

So much for the cost savings...

Mr. Forward said...

“How a Strong Job Market Has Proved the Experts Wrong
Conventional wisdom seems to have been too pessimistic about how much the economy could grow before setting off inflation. In hindsight, a costly mistake.”. The New York Times

Word not found: Trump.

David Begley said...

I figured out the Green and global warming scam when I heard the CEO of WalMart talk at Davos. He said the normal WMT customer wasn’t in favor of buying Green stuff, with the new EPA regs they are forced to.

The light bulbs cost more money and therefore WMT makes more. And that’s what WMT is about.

GE was able to close its US factory in VA and move the whole operation to China. Way more money for GE.

And for what? Saving the planet? Nope. Making more money for WMT and GE.

tim in vermont said...

I thought he made a good point about easing regulations on new cars to save $3500 per car and compromise slightly on emissions, meanwhile you have a heavier, safer car and people can afford to replace their old cars with the new ones, which are an emissions improvement.

rehajm said...

Growth doesn’t cause inflation. The Phillips curve isn’t dead but it isn’t useful either.

David Begley said...

This Global Warming scam is about money. Follow the money.

David Begley said...

Davos is the World Economic Forum where the globalists get together every winter. I’m a regular.

tim in vermont said...

"WMT customer wasn’t in favor of buying Green stuff, with the new EPA regs they are forced to. “

Which is why GE bought a money losing news network.

I stopped buying GE when I saw the CEO in an interview saying that GE never competes on price and I noticed that wherever the bulbs were for sale, the store would *only* carry GE bulbs. I am not your average consumer, I admit, but I would hold off buying the bulbs until I was in a place that had multiple brands. Home Depot, Lowes.

David Begley said...

Skylark

Trump made an excellent point about the extra expense of cars. That’s why normal people now have 6-7 loans.

But the Fake News will only discuss the orange comment. This is why America hates the Fake News.

Why doesn’t 60 Minutes do a segment on how government regulations add $3500 to the cost of a car?

SeanF said...

rehajm: A photographer came to take pictures and thought the bulb was broken so threw it out.

So much for the cost savings...


Is this a true story, or are you just making a joke?

I would be furious if someone who came into my house to work for me took it upon themselves to throw away my property.

And there wouldn't be any loss of cost savings to me, because they would be buying me a replacement.

Ann Althouse said...

"The light from some of them bulbs is too cool. Which ones is he using?"

I know.

Maybe he meant, with the new bulbs, I'm the only one who still looks orange. In the old days, everyone looked orange.

rehajm said...

True story. I wasn’t there but the woman was mortified when I explained. I’m rich so I let it go. It’s all good...

Mark said...

"But the Fake News will only discuss the orange comment."

He says on a blog post about the orange comment. It ain't just fake news that noted the stupid comment that stood out.

If he didn't have the verbal diarrhea we would be talking about cars, but go ahead and blame someone other than the guy who had to bring up looking orange.

Quayle said...

Mark, So called news is now 7 x 24 by multiple channels; hours and hours of broadcast time that must be filled with taking no matter what is or isn’t going on in the world. We could all be extremely well educated if those networks chose to use that time talking about all the events that are taking place in the world, but they’re too profit driven to do that because they know that would bore their watchers in America. So we get 7 x 24 x multiple channels of garbage- nonsense-talk.

But you think it’s excessive that one guy - Donald Trump - has a verbal diarrhea?

tim in vermont said...

"It ain't just fake news that noted the stupid comment that stood out.”

It serves to show how petty and unserious you Democrats and your allies in the MSM are.

tim in vermont said...

The orange comment could have been treated as a throwaway joke but you guys are drawn to it like a moth to a flame, as if you are blinded to anything else that was said by him. Of course the fact that liberals don’t want to hear about the costs of their regulations is also incontrovertible, so this gave you guys an out to not discuss the harms of your policies to average Americans.

Democrats tend to be richer than Republicans, so Democrats don’t care about things like extra costs in cars.

tim in vermont said...

Neither do Democrats want to talk about the jobs numbers. So “Orange Man Bad” wins the day in media coverage every time.

Mark said...

Funny, the first time I read about the light bulb comment was here. Apparently your survey of what the news is covering this morning left off most media sources.

Keep commenting on this post, it really proves how unserious you think the issue is.

tim in vermont said...

Every time you guys go apeshit on your “Orange Man Bad” routine, more independent voters roll their eyes and accept that Trump is the only serious man on the political scene right now.

tim in vermont said...

If it’s just the NY Post, Mark may have a point.

Chris of Rights said...

Has anyone noticed that he looks far less orange lately? And not just under White House lighting, but out on the campaign trail.

Lucid-Ideas said...

Trump is not white. He's orange. And this prejudice against orange dudes won't stand man, I mean wtf.

Stay strong my brotha. Orange power. Vitamin C my brotha.

Lucid-Ideas said...

Althouse, "everyone looked orange"

Oh oh so I guess we all look the same to you huh? I knew you was a closet honky. I bet you think oranges and grapefruits all look alike too.

Orange power.

Chuck said...

Of course, the absolute avatar of the media that all of you love to loathe — Anderson Cooper on CNN — acknowledged this extremely rare bit of minor Trump self-depreciation. Cooper mentioned it specifically.

But good lord what general weirdness from Trump! More of “what people are saying.” More “we’re looking at it very strongly.” WTF. What is the nature of Trump’s dementia such that his vocabulary is so bizarrely stilted.

https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2019/12/07/trump-toilets-comment-ridiculist-ac360-vpx.cnn

Andrew said...

"Why doesn’t 60 Minutes do a segment on how government regulations add $3500 to the cost of a car?"

John Stossel used to do that sort of thing when he was on 20/20. I always loved his segments. Barbara Walters would stare daggers at him during the follow up.

Anonymous said...

Cuck thinks someone else is demented, it's just precious

Andrew said...

Trump has a peculiar strategy of giving the news media a bunch of irrelevant crap to talk about. Meanwhile he accomplishes things behind the scenes. Maybe it's deliberate, maybe it's instinctive. But it is very effective. And most people enjoy a politician talking in normal-speak.

They say Trump is a juvenile, self-absorbed narcissist. Maybe, but I think he is incredibly thick-skinned, and exercises superhuman self-control. Who else could withstand the onslaught against him, and maintain his serenity and sense of humor?

Ray - SoCal said...

CFL (fluorescence spiral bulbs) are what he’s speaking of, plus many of them have mercury in them, so if you break / shatter them, you should hire people in bunny suits to clean your toxic site up. And they are a headache to recycle. Home Depot will take them back. And they take time to come on.

Incandescent bulbs are more pleasing to the eye.

Halogen is even better, but uses more energy. They were used a lot in stores and restaurants.

Leds have fallen so much in price, last so much longer, and have good color they are replacing cfl and incandescent bulbs, saving a huge amount of energy in the US. Plus they are instantly on.

Edison in California had a program for 99 cent leds, so I replaced all the bulbs in my house and parents. And Costco sells fluorescent tubes led replacements (t8 and t12) that go on sale regularly at a good price. End result was no more fluorescents. My house and parents had the old magnetic fluorescent ballasts, so we had the annoying hum and flickering. That is now gone.

Ray - SoCal said...

His comments about stupid regulations affecting products we are forced to buy was my initial reason for supporting Trump.

Finally, a candidate talking common sense!

Dishwashers that don’t wash is another pet piece of mine.

David Begley said...

Ray

The dishwasher problem is all about the soap. Oregon banned one chemical and it flipped the whole industry. The Weekly Standard had the story.

Mid-Life Lawyer said...

I saw this quote, last night, as part of a longer quote Malcolm Gladwell tweeted with the caption,"This really should be set to music."

Equipment Maintenance said...

As a Clemson fan and a Trump fan, I like orange.

Fernandinande said...

I got one of these 3.5 watt lamps for $6.88 and it puts out the light of a 60 to 75 watt incandescent bulb and barely gets warm.

And it makes Trump look orange.

n.n said...

Diversity writ large.

Orange you glad that kumquats are in season.

Lurker21 said...

That fly buzzing around your head my drive you crazy but you don't remember it tomorrow. Or your roommate's cat can be maddening, but eventually you learn how to toy with the cat, play little tricks on it (or on your roommate) and what was tormenting can be pleasurable.

It's like that with Trump and his adversaries. "Thick skin" or "thin skin" don't really come into play. He's very irritated in the moment and lashes out, but he doesn't have hard feelings the next day, or he's learned how to toy with his opponents and make a game out of the conflict.

Nixon is the paradigm some people have. People were mean to him and he became determined to get back at them in any way he could. Irritation and resentment poisoned his life. He "went dark" and eventually ruined his presidency. But Trump doesn't hold grudges - not in that way. He won't love his enemies or bow down to them, but he's not plotting their downfall either. The attacks sting at the time, but Trump gets his own back with the joking and teasing. He's not Richard III. I don't know what the right Shakespearean analogy would be, but there's more than a touch of Falstaff in him.

It's another case of the "taking Trump seriously but not literally" versus "taking Trump literally but not seriously." A lot of what he says is part of the game. It's not wholly a joke, but it can't quite be understood in the way what another politician says could be.

Is Trump a narcissist? Most people in politics (and in showbiz) are narcissistic. They choose that field because they want attention, and they stay in it because their egos are so inflated that they don't crumple under the blows and stresses. If somebody who isn't narcissistic makes it into politics they soon change. If you're selling, you don't necessarily have a deep personal concern about the feelings of your customers, and if the product you're selling is yourself, it can really go to your head.

The ideas that psychologists formed on the basis of close personal relationships don't work very well in high-stress, performance-oriented activities, or in work that deals with crowds. In politics, people low in narcissism are the exception not the rule. But truly malignant or pathological narcissists aren't as common in politics as people like to think: they usually flame out early because they can't control their behavior.

I'm sure we'll have more to say about narcissism and how it relates to Trump and other politicians, but for now, an article from Politico:

Trump Pokes Fun at Himself. Why Do Only Some People See It?

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Trump is funny and self-deprecating. The left are Nazis.

Chuck said...

“Leds have fallen so much in price, last so much longer, and have good color they are replacing cfl and incandescent bulbs, saving a huge amount of energy in the US. Plus they are instantly on.”

You make a bunch of good points. Add to them; Led light technology has come so far in recent years that the coloration issues are now a thing of the past. I too was offended by the incandescent “ban” (although I never seemed to have any trouble getting the bulbs I wanted) just like a lot of old-school conservatives.

For me, the relevant points have always been made in the pages of Reason, and National Review and the Wall Street Journal in ways far more convincingly than Trump’s bizarre, dated rambling rants.

rcocean said...

Trump has taken more abuse, and held more press talks and conferences than anyone else. Yet, he's "Thin skinned". LOL.

rcocean said...

The only thing I've noticed is that light bulbs seem to last longer than they used to.

n.n said...

The left are Nazis.

Quite literally the communist-social-fascist axis. Diversity (i.e. color judgment) and exclusion. Jew... White privilege. Redistributive change (e.g. the Jews have too much). Social justice in lieu of justice. Pro-Choice religion including life deemed unworthy of life (e.g. selective-Jew, clinical cannibalism a la Planned Parenthood). Secular and progressive (i.e. monotonic) liberal (i.e. divergent) ideology.

Anonymous said...

Cuck mentions old-school “conservatives” who never preserved a goddamn thing. Worthless articles in his “conservative” mags didn’t do anything either–they loved McCain though. Thanks for the reminder Cuck!

Michael K said...

Nixon is the paradigm some people have. People were mean to him and he became determined to get back at them in any way he could. Irritation and resentment poisoned his life. He "went dark" and eventually ruined his presidency. But Trump doesn't hold grudges - not in that way.

Good point. Nixon was a ruminator and would stew over old insults. Pat Buchanan's book, "Nixon's White House Wars" describes it.

One of the guys in the administration attributed Watergate to Nixon's tendency to lash out, then think better of it in the morning. He said Nixon ordered some outrageous action, like Watergate, and "Some dumb sonofabitch went out and did it." Buchanan said he would often get such an order, then Nixon would call in the morning and cancel it.

Trump blows off steam on Twitter,

chuck said...

First, emigration, now light bulbs, and low flow toilets and faucets. The Democrats are pushing hair shirts, Trump is selling the comforts of civilization. He has an eerie connection to the hidden concerns of the public. Next up, vents for gas cans.

Maillard Reactionary said...

Well, Trump has a point. Metamerism is a bad thing, sometimes, and LED lights are guilty of causing it.

I won't have them in my house. Our eyes evolved to deal with blackbody radiation, like we get from the Sun or incandescent lamps. Fluorescent lamps are even worse than LED lamps are in that regard, BTW.

I do have LED floods on the side of the house, but that's only to help me find the trash can in the dark.

mockturtle said...

Of course he was displaying self-deprecating humor. Most of us get it. The media, not so much.

Birches said...

As long as we're bagging on environmental regulations can we mention washers that don't get your clothes clean?

You notice how they're selling extra, special detergent for your workout clothes now? Completely unnecessary twenty years ago.

Chuck said...


Blogger Giovan Pietro Bellori said...
Cuck mentions old-school “conservatives” who never preserved a goddamn thing. Worthless articles in his “conservative” mags didn’t do anything either–they loved McCain though. Thanks for the reminder Cuck!


I love the poorly educated!

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

Syr'accuse! Orangemen Bad!!

...actually, Trump isnt orange, though he is made-up somewhat for photos.

His hands arent small, and his corpulence is partly due to extra-thick body armor. He is genial, as is his wife.

Yancey Ward said...

I am guessing that if you met Trump in the flesh, he would look what used to be described as ruddy- not orange.

Bilwick said...

I keep hearing that Trump is a narcissist, and he may very well be; but who could be more narcissitic than your average "liberal" or "progressive"? "I know what's best for you, peasant, and I'm going to force it on you whether you like it it not."

wildswan said...

I got a beautiful Himalayan salt lamp for my birthday. One corner of my living room now has a glow whenever I want it - an orange glow. I sit in that glow and meditate on Trump's last tweet until I levitate. And that's OK for me.

But, now that Trump has brought it up, what I thought as as I sat in my salt lamp glow is this: Isn't it true that a few years ago (2016?) it was decided that orange-hued light is better for us than blue-hued light. So that our computers turn orangeish after dark unless you turn that off? and up-to-date lighting especially in liberal homes is orangeish? Is't it true, my TDS-afflicted friends, that in your heart you think orange is better? Haven't you been buying orangeish bulbs and turning yourself a little bit orange and - admit - the more liberal you are, the more you have been thinking - "yes, orange does make me feel better." Yes, you have. And isn't this a thought crime? I think so. Yes, I think so.

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

@Yancey
The ruddy hue of resolution!
(not sicklied o'r with the pale cast of second-guessing!)

No- he's Average White Person 'white', but did learn something from the Nixon/Kennedy debate. Trump and Flotus are camera-ready.

Lewis Wetzel said...

I hate low-flow stuff.
I get my water from a catchment tank that collects water from my roof. My water is not a public resource, My water use does not affect the amount of water used by others. When my tank is full (as it often is) the excess water just dumps onto the ground.

Howard said...

Low flow toilets saved California's bacon during the 4-year drought of the mid 2010's. The new ones work fine unless your sewer fall is too shallow.

Lewis Wetzel said...

Blogger David Begley said...
. . .
The dishwasher problem is all about the soap. Oregon banned one chemical and it flipped the whole industry.
. . .

There is an economics PhD thesis in this. How, in a commodity market, economies of scale allow a small, localized group of politicians to dictate product content to consumers across the country.

mockturtle said...

As long as we're bagging on environmental regulations can we mention washers that don't get your clothes clean?

Birches, it's not the washers, it's the detergents. Prior to 1993, phosphates were used in laundry detergent but in 1993, Congress passed a law banning them due to 'environmental concerns'. Detergents have been ineffective ever since.

Daniel said...

If you want to improve the efficiency of your dishwasher and washing machine, just add a bit of trisodium phosphate to every load. You. Hey it in the paint department of your local hardware store

mockturtle said...

As a Winter [only women who lived through the 1980's will understand this], bluish light is supposed to be more flattering for me. Trump is a Spring, so yellow or orange lights should be more flattering for him.

Big Mike said...

Back in the day a professional photographer once told me that incandescent lights gave off an orange-ish glow. @Althouse, I take it that your comment at 6:47 confirms what he told me?

Big Mike said...

As dangerous as a broken CFL bulb is, I just find it very hard to accept that the EPA didn’t push back more strongly. I understand the politics of it, but the mercury in those bulbs is a very dangerous substance, especially for children.

Birkel said...

These are winning fucking issues.
People hate that government control bull shit.

Big Mike said...

In 1996 the wife and I bought a new home with low-flow toilets. Two of the three toilets were very prone to blockage, and I got to be damned good at using a plunger. Had to replace them later, when Toto came along. Sold that house three years ago, and retired to another, relatively new, house. No problem with these toilets (hope I didn’t just jinx myself).

I would say that the people who pushed 1.6 gallon flush toilets had a problem with verb tense — using present tense when future perfect would have been more appropriate.

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

I understand the politics of it, but the mercury in those bulbs is a very dangerous substance, especially for children.

Our kids love it! And we can easily tell if they're running a fever!

Little Willie, from the lightbulb shards
Licked the mercury all off;
Thinking, in his childish error
It would cure the whooping cough.
At the funeral Willie's mother
Said to Mrs. Brown,
"'Twas a chilly day for Willie
When the mercury went down."

Most of these come from a little volume from the 1890's called
"Ruthless Rhymes for Heartless Homes"

FullMoon said...

Dave Barry refers to"number two" as "an act of Congress".
Funny shit..

NEW WONDER TOILET WINS PLACE OF HONOR - Orlando Sentinel

FullMoon said...

"Unfortunately, the new toilets have a problem. They work fine for one type of bodily function, which, in the interest of decency, I will refer to here only by the euphemistic term "No. 1." But many of the new toilets do a very poor job of handling "acts of Congress," if you get my drift. They often must be flushed two or three times, and even more if it is an unusually large act of Congress, such as might be produced by a congressperson who attended a fund-raising dinner sponsored by the Consolidated Bulk Food Manufacturers. The result is that these new toilets were not only annoying, but in some cases seemed to be using more water than the old ones."

Chuck said...

Althouse loves transcripts like I do. Right? Trump transcribed. Who said, “Read the transcript!”?

https://mobile.twitter.com/MrDanZak/status/1203055010118094851

Marcus Bressler said...

I buy TSP and add it to my laundry and occasionally my dishwasher loads. Screw them, I want clean stuff.

THEOLDMAN

Marcus Bressler said...

Low-flow toilets do NOT work. I have to flush twice to get as much waste removed as I do with a single flush on the older toilets. And I even do courtesy flushes as taught by my old man

THEOLDMAN (now)

Ray - SoCal said...

Weekly Standard Article that was mentioned:


Another Triumph for the Greens