December 15, 2020

"I think 27 years of superb reporting and commitment to The New Yorker should have been weighed against an incident that horribly embarrassed the magazine but mostly embarrassed himself."

Said Tina Brown, the former editor of The New Yorker, quoted in "The Undoing of Jeffrey Toobin How a leading man of legal journalism lost his sweetest gig" (NYT). 

Malcolm Gladwell, an important New Yorker writer, said: "I read the Condé Nast news release, and I was puzzled because I couldn’t find any intellectual justification for what they were doing. They just assumed he had done something terrible, but never told us what the terrible thing was. And my only feeling — the only way I could explain it — was that Condé Nast had taken an unexpected turn toward traditional Catholic teaching." He then, we're told he took out his... ... ... "Bible and read to a reporter an allegory from Genesis 38 in which God strikes down a man for succumbing to the sin of self-gratification."

And Masha Gessen, "who initially found the incident 'traumatic'" said: "I think it’s tragic that a guy would get fired for really just doing something really stupid. It is the Zoom equivalent of taking an inappropriately long lunch break, having sex during it and getting stumbled upon."

That's all from the near the end of the NYT article. What follows is this:  
But Mr. Toobin may not want anyone’s pity. Amid the 2018 Supreme Court confirmation process for Justice Brett Kavanaugh, the journalist scoffed on CNN at Republicans who said white men, as a demographic, were being mistreated. “Garbage,” Mr. Toobin said. “All this whining about the poor plight of white men is ridiculous.”

Here's the Genesis 38 story, by the way. Not sure how what Catholics think about this story, but Gladwell and the NYT doesn't seem to care much about accurate textualism. It's not about "succumbing to the sin of self-gratification":

At that time, Judah left his brothers and went down to stay with a man of Adullam named Hirah. There Judah met the daughter of a Canaanite man named Shua. He married her and made love to her; she became pregnant and gave birth to a son, who was named Er. She conceived again and gave birth to a son and named him Onan.... Judah got a wife for Er, his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the Lord’s sight; so the Lord put him to death. Then Judah said to Onan, “Sleep with your brother’s wife and fulfill your duty to her as a brother-in-law to raise up offspring for your brother.” But Onan knew that the child would not be his; so whenever he slept with his brother’s wife, he spilled his semen on the ground to keep from providing offspring for his brother. What he did was wicked in the Lord’s sight; so the Lord put him to death also.

Boy, what a minor character Er is! Onan got to be the eponym, but he's an eponym for something he didn't even do. As for the wife, she got slept with by 2 men, and we're not even told her name. 

CORRECTION: Sorry! She has a name. Tamar. The story continues (and it's more interesting than the Tale of Toobin):

When Tamar was told, “Your father-in-law is on his way to Timnah to shear his sheep,” 14 she took off her widow’s clothes, covered herself with a veil to disguise herself, and then sat down at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah. For she saw that, though Shelah had now grown up, she had not been given to him as his wife.

Shelah is Judah's third son after Er and Onan. 

When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face. Not realizing that she was his daughter-in-law, he went over to her by the roadside and said, “Come now, let me sleep with you.” “And what will you give me to sleep with you?” she asked. “I’ll send you a young goat from my flock,” he said. “Will you give me something as a pledge until you send it?” she asked. He said, “What pledge should I give you?” “Your seal and its cord, and the staff in your hand,” she answered. So he gave them to her and slept with her, and she became pregnant by him. After she left, she took off her veil and put on her widow’s clothes again. Meanwhile Judah sent the young goat by his friend the Adullamite in order to get his pledge back from the woman, but he did not find her. He asked the men who lived there, “Where is the shrine prostitute who was beside the road at Enaim?” “There hasn’t been any shrine prostitute here,” they said. So he went back to Judah and said, “I didn’t find her. Besides, the men who lived there said, ‘There hasn’t been any shrine prostitute here.’” Then Judah said, “Let her keep what she has, or we will become a laughingstock. After all, I did send her this young goat, but you didn’t find her.” About three months later Judah was told, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar is guilty of prostitution, and as a result she is now pregnant.” Judah said, “Bring her out and have her burned to death!” As she was being brought out, she sent a message to her father-in-law. “I am pregnant by the man who owns these,” she said. And she added, “See if you recognize whose seal and cord and staff these are.” Judah recognized them and said, “She is more righteous than I, since I wouldn’t give her to my son Shelah.” And he did not sleep with her again. When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb. As she was giving birth, one of them put out his hand; so the midwife took a scarlet thread and tied it on his wrist and said, “This one came out first.” But when he drew back his hand, his brother came out, and she said, “So this is how you have broken out!” And he was named Perez. Then his brother, who had the scarlet thread on his wrist, came out. And he was named Zerah.

Rembrandt liked the story of Judah and Tamar: 

197 comments:

Ice Nine said...

"got slept with"

What an absurd way to say it. Jayz!...I hope my cat isn't reading that.

Geoff Matthews said...

I must admit surprise at how quickly indecent exposure in the workplace is now tolerable when it happens to one of their own.

Nonapod said...

Was this the guy that had an affair with his collegue's much younger daughter?

Wince said...

Gladwell said...
"I was puzzled because I couldn’t find any intellectual justification for what they were doing. They just assumed he had done something terrible, but never told us what the terrible thing was."

Althouse said (in previous post)...
"From the WaPo comments — this has a lot of likes:"

...the Trump administration who deserves credit for this remarkable achievement... Thank you Mr. Trump for Warp Speed as well.

Now, Mr. Trump, you can leave and we can set about repairing the massive amount of despicable damage you have caused our country and the world.

Geoff Matthews said...

Nonapod said:
Was this the guy that had an affair with his colleague's much younger daughter?

Yes, yes it was.

Sebastian said...

"a leading man of legal journalism lost his sweetest gig"

The fact that this preening second-rate prog hack might be considered a leading man in "legal journalism" is more embarrassing than anything he did.

But he is useful as evidence, and the comments on his misconduct supply more, that we are being patronized by our inferiors.

gilbar said...

The Moral of the Story IS: If GOD tells you to Do Something...FUCKING DO IT!
Nahum 1:2
God is jealous, and the Lord avenges;
The Lord avenges and is furious.
The Lord will take vengeance on His adversaries,
And He reserves wrath for His enemies;

The Lord is slow to anger and great in power,
And will not at all acquit the wicked.

He says, JUMP; your only question should be: How HIGH?

Freeman Hunt said...

"It is the Zoom equivalent of taking an inappropriately long lunch break, having sex during it and getting stumbled upon."

No, it isn't. It's the Zoom equivalent of jerking off under the conference table during a meeting and getting caught.

tcrosse said...

Dorothy Parker supposedly had a parakeet she named Onan because he spilled his seed.

rwnutjob said...

Even if his camera was turned off, he was choking his chicken during a work meeting.
GTFOH

Laslo Spatula said...

The (in)famous New Yorker cover of two coasts will a whole lot of nothing between them seems appropriate here.

In New Yorker World we find Toobin's compatriots lining up to excuse his behavior as a peccadillo, and the goalposts are moved from from the context to the isolated basic act.

In-between the coasts he is simply fired. In-between the coasts they don't understand nuance, dammit.

The elite do not have a Secret Handshake: closer to a Rusty Trombone.

I am Laslo.

Ann Althouse said...

Gilbar, I would thank you for the correction, the same one I made on my own, but you put it rudely, so I deleted it. I don't need that kind of ugliness. Stop it. Write your own blog. Never begin a comment "Um." It's like addressing someone as stupid. I'm not putting up with that, especially with the first comment that then everyone is stuck reading.

Fernandinande said...

There Judah met the daughter of a Canaanite man named Shua. He married her and made love to her;
...
Then Judah said to Onan, “Sleep with your brother’s wife ...


The KJV version reverses the marriage vs just fucking:

"And Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite, whose name was Shuah; and he took her, and went in unto her.
...
And Judah said unto Onan, Go in unto thy brother's wife, and marry her, and raise up seed to thy brother."

BarrySanders20 said...

Then MSNBC said to Redlener, “Sleep with the harlot Harris and fulfill your duty to her as a leftist to lie to destroy Trump for your fellow leftists.” But Redlener knew that lying to destroy Trump would look foolish when the vaccine came out; so whenever he slept with the harlot Harris he spilled his semen on the ground so he could plausibly deny his lie. What he did was wicked in the Lord’s sight; so the Lord put him to death also.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute...

Based on the story, he was right

Fernandinande said...

especially with the first comment that then everyone is stuck reading.

If you open the comments by clicking on the "N comments" link of the original post at althouse.blogspot.com, it automagically goes to the last comment.

Freeman Hunt said...

It's absurd to pretend that someone masturbating on camera in the middle of a meeting would be no big deal. Ridiculous! Of course you'd get fired. Huge legal liability.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

Toobin' Toobin is a democrat hack. All is forgiven!

Kevin said...

#MeToo was just an attempt to get Trump.

Now that it didn't get Trump, everyone is free to get their penises out at work again.

You can party like it's Biden-99!

Matt Sablan said...

Basically, just like with Fareed Zakaria's plagiarism, since they said the right things, can't we overlook their flaws? It's why Kennedy gets to be the lion of the Senate and not the murderer of Mary Jo Kopeche. People on the left are always filled with empathy and forgiveness for those who believe what they believe.

Kevin said...

I think 27 years of superb reporting...

Immediately assumes facts not in evidence.

daskol said...

Yeah, I don't see what Onan has to do with Toobin. Onan failed to impregnate his brother's wife and fulfill the mitzvah of Levirate marriage. Toobin actually knocked up his colleague's daughter. He did deny paternity, which seems a sin of a similar sort I guess to Onan's, if opposite.

I agree that the most embarrassing part of this spectacle for anyone besides Toobin is that he is indeed considered a leading light of legal commentary. Somebody once bought me one of his books, and I slogged through a bit because this was an intelligent person. After a few chapters, I asked him what the fuck? He said that's not a book for reading, just for displaying on your shelf. Obviously a re-gift.

daskol said...

Tamar, far from being regarded as a harlot, acted righteously by the standards of the story, and is considered an example of an empowered woman who took her fate into her own hands and prevailed in righteousness even though the men in her life were highly imperfect.

Kate said...

Rembrandt has given Tamar an opposite-mask.

Matt Sablan said...

"I must admit surprise at how quickly indecent exposure in the workplace is now tolerable when it happens to one of their own."

-- I mean, it makes you wonder exactly how long they'd have tolerated Lauer's rape button.

Mike Sylwester said...

The Toobin incident might be a good premise for a funny New Yorker cartoon.

MikeR said...

But Mr. Toobin may not want anyone’s pity... the journalist scoffed on CNN... “All this whining about the poor plight of white men is ridiculous.”
I have a feeling that it may seem different to him when it's him.

Mike Sylwester said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
BarrySanders20 said...

daskol said...
Somebody once bought me one of his books, and I slogged through a bit because this was an intelligent person. After a few chapters, I asked him what the fuck

I was given The Nine by a well-meaning relative. It was awful, but I did not tell my relative. Instead I donated it to Goodwill or some other book drive. I hope the Lord does not see that as wicked and strike me down.

John henry said...

Not mentioned in the story, Er's brother Um and sister Hun.

John Henry

5M - Eckstine said...

In the emerging surveillance society are the sexual boundaries tighter or looser?

The moral of the story seems to be. Women if you are on a zoom call with a man always ask him to keep his hands in the air throughout the call. The Zoom handshake.

Lloyd W. Robertson said...

Louis CK at least asked if it was OK to expose his dick. Maybe this should become part of the protocol of Zoom meetings: is it OK if I ...? or if I expose ..." All participants to complete a detailed questionaire before the meeting; majority rules or super-majority?
Yes, Onan apparently wasn't guilty of Onanism, and the reason this keeps coming up is that there may not be a clear Biblical text opposing masturbation. "Thou shalt not commit adultery" may imply no sex outside marriage (premarital? God commands the connection of unmarried Onan and widow Tamar), but David and Bathsheba suggest it is not the sex that is the problem, it is the law, justice, power, and honour/shame. Closer to coveting something that is not yours than to mere sex or masturbation.
I've been working on Gulliver's Travels for years. Lots of fun, I recommend it. In the early pages Gulliver says he works for a Master. There are actually a number of people or beings called Master in the course of the work. The name of this first one is ... Bates. Master Bates. Sometimes My Master Bates. Scholars with their lips pursed have said the word "masturbation" had not appeared in print before Gulliver, so Swift could not have had this in mind. Bzzzt. Wrong, elephant breath. (Suddenly borrowing from Johnny Carson).

John henry said...

Someone said that waxing one's rocket in a conference room meeting would be wrong.

Wouldn't that depend on the publication? What's wrong at New Yorker might be encouraged at Pornhub or Screw(rip)

John Henry

BarrySanders20 said...

Kate said...
Rembrandt has given Tamar an opposite-mask.

Good point. Have to call bullshit on Rembrandt because she would not be able to see out of that so-called veil -- it's a mask. Unless it is one of those visors that go under a football helmet. Tamar was kind of an Old Testament badass woman.

JaimeRoberto said...

"superb reporting"

I've seen him issue falsehoods that are either outright lies or pure incompetence. The only thing that could make it superb reporting is that he was saying what his audience wanted to hear.

Quayle said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Hunter said...

Matthew 1 and Luke 3 provide genealogies of Jesus Christ; both say he is a descendant of Perez, the son of Judah and Tamar. This is rather interesting, since it means that Onan could have had the Messiah come from his line -- in actuality at least, if not in name -- but in his selfishness threw away that opportunity.

Onan's motivation was to get the first-born's inheritance, which would be his if his brother was dead and had no heir. It also seems as if taking advantage of Tamar (a childless widow!) for his own pleasure was a bonus.

Christ was to come from Judah; the plan was not and could not be thwarted, it just happened in a different way, skipping a generation of wicked men.

Quayle said...

I have a suggestion for us all, here in the Althouse comment section.

Let's stop being surprised that unprincipled people don't have any principals. I'm not condemning anyone at all. They look at life and pick the world view they most desire.

What I am saying is that if a person picks a world view where there is no God and no absolute right and wrong, and they espouse a world view where all morality is a construct, let's not be surprised if they decide to reconstruct morality to suit themselves and their allies. Why would you trust the advocacy or application of equity from a Darwinist?

William said...

This sleeping with your dead brother's wife is a big deal. This Biblical passage enjoins you to marry her, but there is another passage that forbids it. Henry VIII had married his dead brother's wife, but he wanted the marriage annulled because of the second passage. The Pope went with the first passage. This Biblical passage changed the life of many here. ...On the plus side, Toobin never drugged and raped any children. You can do that and get a standing ovation in some circles.....Toobin committed a grotesquely stupid and self indulgent act. I wouldn't define it as an evil act....I've got to admit that I've never given much thought to what the appropriate punishment should be. I would think that what with the shame involved, Toobin want to keep a low profile, but I'm not so sure if someone who wanks off during a zoom meeting has all that much shame.

BarrySanders20 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
BarrySanders20 said...

I get the coveting commandments mixed up. I caught my neighbor taking a long stare after my wife walked past him and reminded him that the Lord says thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife's ass. He admitted his guilt and then told me I out-kicked my coverage.

Quayle said...

"Christ was to come from Judah; the plan was not and could not be thwarted, it just happened in a different way, skipping a generation of wicked men."

But Christ did come through David, who wrongly took Bathsheba from her lawful husband, and arranged to have that husband killed. Apparently Christ wasn't opposed to truly taking on a human form, with real human weakness and even failing in his ancestry.

Mike Sylwester said...

Brent Kavanaugh had been a judge for 12 years when he was subjected to Dianne Feinstein's and Kamala Harris's public assaults on Kavanaugh's reputation in 2018.

How did Toobin himself "weigh" Kavanaugh's prior 12-year service as a judge when Toobin commented on television about the attempted public destruction of Kavanaugh's reputation?

In other words, how has Toobin himself used his public platform to treat and defend other people who are being publicly humiliated?

tim maguire said...

Practically every private sector employee everywhere: What's the matter with this guy? Of course he got fired. I would have been. Anybody would, and would have expected to.

Journalists at first: Oh my god! What for? Isn't the embarrassment enough?

Journalists a short while later: Oh my god! What for?

tcrosse said...

The Toobin incident might be a good premise for a funny New Yorker cartoon.

...with the caption “I want to kill myself.”

tim maguire said...

The bible's a crazy document. Especially the old part. Lotta sex. Lotta violence. God was quite the tyrant till he settled down and had a family.

Michael K said...

No, it isn't. It's the Zoom equivalent of jerking off under the conference table during a meeting and getting caught.

New standard. Try not to squirt any of the attendees.

tim maguire said...

BarrySanders20 said...
I get the coveting commandments mixed up. I caught my neighbor taking a long stare after my wife walked past him and reminded him that the Lord says thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife's ass. He admitted his guilt and then told me I out-kicked my coverage.


Doesn't he mean you punched above your weight? Outkicking the coverage is a bad thing.

PM said...

Toobin's problem will be the Snicker Effect. And media companies - laughably - don't like to be laughed at.

Churchy LaFemme: said...

I believe it was incumbent on you up through the time of Josepheus to marry your brother's widow -- whether or not you were single. (I don't know if there were multiple brothers whether one who was unmarried got priority).

Hunter said...

To understand what Onan has to do with self-pleasuring, you have to understand the church's view of the human body, going way back to the first few centuries (which is why it's common to the Catholic and Orthodox churches).

The very short version is that this and contraceptive sex are the same sin. Sex is meant always to be open to creating life, because it is part of the joining of two flesh into one, which is linked to how we understand the Eucharist and the notion of the church being the bride of Christ. There is an extensive work on this subject from Pope John Paul II, called Theology of the Body.

John henry said...


Blogger Lloyd W. Robertson said...

Louis CK at least asked if it was OK to expose his dick. Maybe this should become part of the protocol of Zoom meetings: is it OK if I ...? or if I expose ..."

Terrific idea, Lloyd.

How about we take it a step further. Remember the childhood game "Mother may I?"

Instead of Mother may I, it will now be "Moderator, may I". And if you fail to say "moderator may I" you don't just go to the back of the line or lose points, you agree to be sued until your legal fees completely bankrupt you.

For added excitement, we can make a rule that if the moderator does not like the question, even if you asked "Moderator may I", she can impose the penalty.

And no hints beforehand about what she may or may not approve. And approval can be contextual. She might approve me because I am cute but when you ask the same question, including "Moderator may I" she imposes the penalty.

And the moderator may give only two answers. She must either say "yes" or condemn you to the lawyerly pits of Hell. No middle ground at all. Not even "No"

John Henry

John henry said...

Rusty,

If there is a secret handshake for people like Toobin, I'm not interested in learning it. Not unless I have rubber gloves and a can of Gojo handy.

John Henry

narciso said...

Cue george costanza.

Joe Smith said...

@AA

This is Old Testament.

Sure, ask Catholics for an opinion.

But maybe talk to the Jews first...

Marco the Lab said...

Come on man. We all know what the deal was. He thought it would be titillating rubbing one out with a partners who would never agree and then to not get caught. Almost like drug addiction. You got to know the stakes are high, and the price you'll pay expensive, but worth it. It's a monotonous compulsive behavior that controlled him. Jeffery, get control of your dick. Quit taking your wife and family for granted and get your house in order. You never know when time is up. Side note: God used the scandalous linage of Tamar for the Savior of the world. Sex sins are a normal part of most people's life that need to be repented of and forgiveness sought for. It's not like Toobin committed the unforgivable sin. The problem is we shoot the wounded.

tommyesq said...

Female staffer: "Men are evil and misogynistic and his taking his penis out during the Zoom meeting traumatized me and he should be immediately pilloried and fired."

Conde Nast: "The Catholic church agrees, and so do I."

Female staffer: "uhh, wait a minute you bunch of prudes..."

BarrySanders20 said...

tim maguire said...
Doesn't he mean you punched above your weight? Outkicking the coverage is a bad thing.

In addition to being an envious lech, he ain't that bright neither!

Rusty said...

I'm always surprised at other supposedly adult peoples lack of self control.

Curious George said...

Freeman Hunt said...
"It is the Zoom equivalent of taking an inappropriately long lunch break, having sex during it and getting stumbled upon."

No, it isn't. It's the Zoom equivalent of jerking off under the conference table during a meeting and getting caught."

LOL it is literally the equivalent.

Lurker21 said...

But Mr. Toobin may not want anyone’s pity. Amid the 2018 Supreme Court confirmation process for Justice Brett Kavanaugh, the journalist scoffed on CNN at Republicans who said white men, as a demographic, were being mistreated. “Garbage,” Mr. Toobin said. “All this whining about the poor plight of white men is ridiculous.”

That sort of thing applies to other white men, not to Jeffrey Toobin himself. He wouldn't mind having some of your pity because he thought he was one of the good guys and on the right side and thus entitled and exempt from the complaints of ordinary white guydom. But if you want to be a shark, you swim with the sharks, and you can expect to get bit or even devoured.

Joe Smith said...

'...superb reporting.'

Now she's just fucking with us : )

rcocean said...

We all know these people would be full of mockery and cries of "Hang 'em high" if a Conservative or even a white man (they didn't know) had done what Toobin did. With these Lefties its always "who, whom".

And their excuses are ridiculous. Oh, Toobin just "made a mistake". Hey, don't we ALL masturbate during business meetings? And "accidently" show it on camera for everyone to see? Isn't that SOP for US business and Government?

well, no it isn't. Every Fortune 500 corporation would fire anyone who did it, on the spot. Even putting the masturbation aside, Toobin was a horrible person. A liar, and an adulterer who felt he could attack everyone else as "Immoral".

rcocean said...

The next person (that the Left dislikes) who is found doing this will be crucified by the same people defending Toobin. Then others will point out the hypocricy, and the Leftists, will just say "So, what?" or "That was different".

Trump and the pussy tape - he must withdraw, we can't have POTUS doing this!
Clinton on Epstein island? No big deal
Biden sexual harassments? No big deal

And so it goes...

Rob said...

“Where is the shrine prostitute who was beside the road at Enaim?” “That's Dr. Shrine Prostitute, pal,” they said.

Robert Cook said...

"I must admit surprise at how quickly indecent exposure in the workplace is now tolerable when it happens to one of their own."

This succinctly sums up Toobin's offense. Intentionally or not, he exposed himself to his work colleagues. That should be a firing offense.

I can feel bad for Toobin's humiliation, but termination of his job should make clear to all that there is no credible reason why an intelligent and responsible adult should not be able to defer self-gratification until after the workday is ended or why that said responsible adult should be excused for being ignorant of how to exit completely from his or her remote meeting completely before engaging in any personal activity.

rcocean said...

Jfk banging interns in the white house. Reaction of babs walters? why did the intern feel the need to bring this up? What's she out for attention?

Drago said...

Nonapod: "Was this the guy that had an affair with his collegue's much younger daughter?"

Yes, and threatened her and demanded she get an abortion.

And yet, thats not the worst of it by a long shot.

Toobin is also s***heel who wrote, in 2015, that his mother had a son (Jeffrey), that she loved very much.

1 problem: Toobin actually has a brother with Down Syndrome that had been institutionalized that Toobin pretends never existed and never mentions.

Similar to the Bidens who pretend Hunters child he had after engaging in a coked up/crack-piped session with a stripper does not exist.

Which is still not as bad as all the democraticals praising EU nations and Iceland for "curing" Down Syndrome....by executing those children in the womb.

Yes indeed, its certainly A Brave New Lefty World that awaits us all.

Lee Moore said...

Poor old Al Franken - must be the unluckiest guy on the planet. What did he ever do to lose Democratic privilege ?

tommyesq said...

Then Judah said to Onan, “Sleep with your brother’s wife and fulfill your duty to her as a brother-in-law to raise up offspring for your brother.” 9 But Onan knew that the child would not be his; so whenever he slept with his brother’s wife, he spilled his semen on the ground to keep from providing offspring for his brother. 10 What he did was wicked in the Lord’s sight; so the Lord put him to death also.

The SloJoe said to his second son Hunter, "Sleep with your brother's wife and fulfill your duty to her as a brother-in-law to raise up offspring for your brother." But Hunter knew that the child would not be his, and anyways there were tons of hot strippers who were way more amenable to the kinky stuff, so he spilled his semen on the ground to keep from providing offspring for his brother and instead knocked up one of said strippers. What he did was wicked in SloJoe's eyes, so SloJoe made him be the bagman in some of SloJoe's hairbrained bribery schemes.

tommyesq said...

Poor old Al Franken - must be the unluckiest guy on the planet. What did he ever do to lose Democratic privilege ?

He kept his pecker in his pants,, the weirdo.

donald said...

What’s so damned important about Malcom Gladwell?

Ficta said...

One of my favorite insanely elaborate David Foster Wallace in-jokes is in Infinite Jest. He creates the Organization of North American Nations (ONAN, ha ha, get it). But JUST IN CASE some erudite reader might imagine that he (DFW) doesn't know what Biblical Onanism really is, he has Hal collect Byzantine Erotica that deals with Levirate Marriage and thus presumably depicts Onan's actual transgression. I know, I have an odd sense of humor.

Earnest Prole said...

My thoughts on Jeffrey Toobin are similar to my thoughts on Anthony Weiner:

1. He did the thing

2. He’s a vile prick and was for years before he did the thing

3. He’s named Toobin fer Chrissakes

h said...

I can't believe that another commenter hasn't already posted this, but "to Er is human".

Harsh Pencil said...


Blogger Ann Althouse said...
Gilbar, I would thank you for the correction, the same one I made on my own, but you put it rudely, so I deleted it. I don't need that kind of ugliness. Stop it. Write your own blog. Never begin a comment "Um." It's like addressing someone as stupid. I'm not putting up with that, especially with the first comment that then everyone is stuck reading.

12/15/20, 12:24 PM

I really don't understand the rudeness to our hostess. Among other things, she provides a place for those she obviously disagrees with to converse with each other. That should inspire a bit of gratitude, not mockery or contempt. Well, except of course, SHE'S A COWARD WHO DIDN'T VOTE!!!!

If you don't like someone's party, don't accept their invitations. It's a lot more polite than showing up and defecating on the carpet.

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

Trump and the pussy tape - he must withdraw, we can't have POTUS doing this!
Clinton on Epstein island? No big deal
Biden sexual harassments? No big deal

And so it goes...


Social justice. It's a PC (e.g. Pro-Choice, politically congruent "=") thing. Progressives, liberals, and left-of-center moderates are eager to sustain Planned Parenthood (e.g. selective-child, cannibalized-child), wars without borders, catastrophic anthropogenic immigration reform, progressive prices (e.g. Obamacares), diversity (not limited to racism) and exclusion, the Green blight, the Urban jungle, domestic spying and harassment, Water Closet (e.g. influence peddling), etc. The Transgender/Rainbow symbolism exclusive of black, brown, and featuring the shredded remains of white. The Democrat-affiliated neo-KKK/fascist Some, Select Black Lives Matter and anti-civil rights Antifa. Collusion with the Chinese communists, fungible funds to support Iranian transnational terrorism (e.g. Obama/Biden's Iraq War 2.0), etc. Progress is unqualified monotonic change: one step forward, two steps backward.

Ralph L said...

For some years, the Cummings diesel engine repair shop in Greensboro NC had a big, lit sign above the office entrance and visible from Business 85: ONAN.

n.n said...

Exactly. Toobin followed the liberal (i.e. divergent) quasi-religious/ethical code. He's the very model of social progress. Biden, him too. Harris, her too.

Laslo Spatula said...

Blue Balls Matter.

I am Laslo.

Anonymous said...

John henry said...
Not mentioned in the story, Er's brother Um and sister Hun.

John Henry

12/15/20, 12:45 PM


Poor bastid didn't see the Er of his ways so the Lord struck him down. God was a vengeful guy back then. I'm glad he's mellowed out some.

Readering said...

Married former colleague had sex in work elevator with unmarried subordinate. Of course it had a security camera. She found another job. He was asked to leave. Of course.

Churchy LaFemme: said...

ONAN is a brand of portable generator.

Kirk Parker said...

Rob comes outta nowhere at 1:32 PM to win the thread!

h said...

A local laundromat has the name "Laundry World" but the L, a, and r have broken bulbs, so the sign reads "Undy world".

Rusty said...

Cook said, "This succinctly sums up Toobin's offense. Intentionally or not, he exposed himself to his work colleagues. That should be a firing offense."
How do you unintentionally rub one out?
Asking for a friend.

daskol said...

I think what people are expressing now about Toobin's firing is not remorse for his firing, but rather for those decades of building him up, sucking up to him, giving him awards, etc. until he had become a pretty useful arm of the propaganda machine. The remorse is over all that investment gone to seed.

Curious George said...

He still works at CNN though. But I'm sure they're like we have Fredo on the air, so what's one more jerk off?

Temujin said...

For all his brilliance, Malcolm Gladwell apparently doesn't understand the concept of standards. For society at large, and for individuals making up that society. Without a standard, there is no society. Just a mass of Onan's jerking off in front of their fellow employees and having others of high society around them twist themselves up to make sure we know that it's AOK to do so. And yes, for Western Civilization, the best of the best standards came out of the Judeo-Christian worlds. It's what made us, us. It's when we ignore those standards that our society has problems.

Christ. What happens to people who stay in New York too long?

Speaking of which, I've got a new neighbor who just moved down from NYC. We're getting more and more people from New York and New Jersey moving in to the Gulf Coast of Florida and over time they'll change the voting demographic here, just like a flood of Californians will do to Texas. It'll turn our beautiful area into another Miami. Ucch. But I digress...Anyway, she seems like a nice person, but why is it that she has to end every paragraph with "you know, I'm from New York". Or, starts with, "Well, I'm from New York, so blah, blah, blah this or that." Do they think that no one else has any life experience? That we cannot think and thank God there's a New Yorker around because, hell...you know everything up there just looks great and we need to know how we can turn our city into one of those?

Sorry. Had to get that off my chest. What is it with New Yorkers having to let everyone know that they're New Yorkers? We know. We could tell the instant the stupid shit came out of your mouth.

Joe Smith said...

"Married former colleague had sex in work elevator with unmarried subordinate. Of course it had a security camera. She found another job. He was asked to leave. Of course."

Otis? Is that you?

Give the phrase 9 to 5 a whole new meaning...

Michael K said...

What is it with New Yorkers having to let everyone know that they're New Yorkers? We know. We could tell the instant the stupid shit came out of your mouth.

It could be worse. She could be a vegan.

Joe Smith said...

"It could be worse. She could be a vegan."

Q: How do you know if somebody went to Harvard?

A: They'll tell you

: )

Bill Owens said...

Toobin. A regular ol' cock of the walk.

glenn said...

Besides, Jeff is gonna go blind.

exhelodrvr1 said...

Not putting his best foot forward

Dr Weevil said...

Many years ago (40ish) I worked for a company that measured air pollution from moving trucks and airplanes. (Sometimes for the EPA, sometimes for companies defending themselves from the EPA: we were the scientists, not the lawyers.) The trucks had gas-powered generators to run the measuring equipment, either on a shelf hanging on the back (the VW bus) or in a compartment under the fender (the GM motor home). The generators were made by the Onan corporation, apparently the gold standard in generator manufacture.

Anyway, the larger vehicle's generator had a problem: when we parked it would often blow off the oil cap and leave a puddle of oil on the ground. I could tell exactly which employees had been raised in church-going families and which hadn't (it was about 50-50) by making jokes and seeing who laughed and who said "Huh?". Jokes like: "Looks like ol' Onan has gone and 'spilled his oil upon the ground' again" or "Onan generator? Wasn't what he did the opposite of 'generation'?"

As I recall, the mayor of Peoria back then was a guy named Joe Onan, so the generators were presumably named after someone with the same name. How the first modern bearer of that name acquired it is a question that probably won't bear looking into. I suspect Peoria has more church-goers than most American cities, though I suppose most of them were too polite to laugh openly at their mayor's last name.

Lurker21 said...

And Masha Gessen, "who initially found the incident 'traumatic'" said: "I think it’s tragic that a guy would get fired for really just doing something really stupid. It is the Zoom equivalent of taking an inappropriately long lunch break, having sex during it and getting stumbled upon."

I guess so ...

If you spend your lunch hour in your cubicle ...





Masha must have found out that Jeffrey was thinking of her at the time.

Leland said...

My thoughts are a combination of Mike Sylwester and Freeman Hunt. Toobin was more a propagandist than a journalist, thus his participation in a conference call to game the election. Journalist don't need to game a future event. Toobin's propaganda often lead him to destroy people's reputation, and thus there career, based an innuendo. Yet Toobin was caught with his pants down, pleasuring himself, during a meeting with female employees. The pass people are trying to give him is because the meeting was by teleconference. This guy's career is communicating via a camera. If he can't be professional in front of one, then he shouldn't have a professional's job.

chuck said...

Of course he should have been fired. Eat your own dog food, kid. How does it taste?

BUMBLE BEE said...

Invoke the "Hillary Consequence Rule". No consequences cause he's a (D). And that only maybe Deviant Dickhead. Everybody in New York masturbates in public you unsophisticated yokels. Why 30,000 emails scrubbed from a felonious server. Happens all the time. Hinky voting machines in democrat jurisdictions, too.

DanTheMan said...

For all of those saying what Toobin did was no big deal...Do you leave your camera on and masturbate during video meetings?

If not, why not?

Jupiter said...

There seem to be two schools of opinion among the commenters. One is that Toobin should not have been masturbating during a work meeting, and the other that he should not have gotten caught masturbating during a work meeting. I'm afraid I can't regard either one as particularly awful. Then we have the Leftist view, as provided by Masha, that his offense lay in allowing her to see his dick. Again, so what? Has she never seen a dick before? He clearly did not intend to show poor, traumatized Masha his dick. What if he had attended a Zoom meeting with a hole in his pants? Really, I think the fuck-ups here are the shitheads who witnessed the performance, and made a big deal about it, instead of just politely saying, "Jeff, put your fucking dick back in your pants."

DanTheMan said...

For all of those saying what Toobin did was no big deal...Do you leave your camera on and masturbate during video meetings?

If not, why not?

BUMBLE BEE said...

Anybody follow that perv around the office with Clorox Wipes? EWWWWWWWWWW!

Chris N said...

Honestly, despite their relative influence, if you listen to such people, you're a moron.

Just as not going to school for humanities might actually make be better, reading such folks might only inform as what not to be and do.

Jupiter said...

Blogger Robert Cook said...
"... there is no credible reason why an intelligent and responsible adult ... should be excused for being ignorant of how to exit completely from his or her remote meeting completely before engaging in any personal activity."

OK, Cookie, we'll cut off one of his heads. Now, what should we do about people who appear in public with their adverbs doubled?

Chris N said...

'actually be better.'

Big Mike said...

Feminism is dead. Masha Gessen and other lefty women killed it, though in my estimation the murder started with Nina Burleigh's infamous offer to provide Bill Clinton with a blowjob (her own term) because he kept abortion legal. If a man can get away with abusing women by exposing himself or by demonstrating his clout through getting handsy with young women while on national TV (e.g., Joe Biden), then the obvious conclusion is that abusing women is perfectly all right as long as one is a sufficiently powerful Democrat. What this article is all about is whether Jeff Toobin is in the category of "sufficiently powerful."

You can stop telling us what the "feminist" position it on various issues, Althouse. It is pointless to care.

Ron Winkleheimer said...

Based on the story, he was right

I don't think a lot of people understand the context of the story. Tamar needed to have children so that they could provide for her in her old age. The only legal way that could happen was if one of her dead husband's brothers stepped in as a proxy. The reason Onan didn't want to get her pregnant was because the kids would be considered his older brother's. Which meant they would have had precedence regarding inheritance over his own children. Judah was failing in his duty to his daughter-in-law by not having the next brother father children with her. She was in a desperate situation and therefore resorted to desperate measures. So she outwitted Judah. One of the reasons this story is included in the OT is that King David is a descendant of Judah and Tamar.

MadisonMan said...

Now that Trump is on the way out, people on the Left can just behave as abominably as they want. That seems to be the argument for those defenders of Toobin.
In the real world, when you embarrass your employer, you get canned.

I'm Full of Soup said...

What Sebastian said way way upthread at 12:18PM.

JK Brown said...

People have been fired for the CA equivalent of exercising their free political speech by donating to ballot initiatives. Toobin sexually harassed everyone on that call by forcing them to be part of his exhibitionism, even if by accident.

Ron Winkleheimer said...

The bible's a crazy document. Especially the old part. Lotta sex. Lotta violence.

I don't know why people find that surprising. The Bible, especially the OT, is a mix of various genres. Among those are stories and histories concerning people. People are violent and lustful. The Bible is not a collection of stories about plaster saints.

Ron Winkleheimer said...

The story of Judah and Tamar is mild compared to some of the other stories in the Bible. Nobody raped their half sister and some woman's body wasn't cut up into little pieces which were then sent via messenger to various people.

mccullough said...

Doesn’t say what Er did that was wicked enough for God to kill him.

Onan wouldn’t have sex with his dead brother’s wife.

So God killed Onan, too.

Judah fucked his daughter-in-law in disguise as a prostitute.

God didn’t kill Judah.

Jeff Brokaw said...

Everyone who tries to defend this guy thinks they are helping him somehow and simultaneously not damaging their own reputation and credibility.

Wrong on both counts. But do go on, it’s entertaining to watch the mental gymnastics, and it adds people to my list of those to never take seriously again — and that list is getting awfully long these days!

madAsHell said...

I think 27 years of superb reporting and commitment to The New Yorker should have been weighed against an incident that horribly embarrassed the magazine but mostly embarrassed himself.

The guy was masturbating the entire time, and laughing at his readers.

Jeffery "Sticky keyboard" Toobin.

mikee said...

The University police obtained night vision optics when I was a grad student. Talking to them about this new gear, I was told there wasn't a shadowy place on campus, indoors or out, that wasn't used by amorous couples. Usually the campus cops would observe only long enough to determine that the behavior was consensual, or so they said.

The point being that there is always a lot more sex going on than anyone ever wants to admit, or think about, or investigate. Getting caught, of course, deserves sanctions. That's what you're supposed to learn sneaking around in college to have sex.

Lurker21 said...


The New York Times
@nytimes
How the journalist Jeffrey Toobin went from respected New Yorker writer to hashtag, punchline, and subject of debate. https://nyti.ms/37jKw3E

Laura Bassett
@LEBassett
I’ll save you some time: it’s because he took his dick out on a work zoom call

YoungHegelian said...

I seem to remember that the general view was that the Catholics read the story of Onan as a cautionary tale against birth control, while the Protestants read it as one against masturbation. I think that from the viewpoint of the original authors the great sin was failing to fulfill one's family & dynastic duties.

What I find interesting about the story is the identification among the Israelite men of the "roadside" prostitute as a "shrine" prostitute. This casts Judah's transgression as not only sexual in nature, but also idolatrous as well. Sacred prostitution was quite well known in the ancient Middle East. For a man to avail himself of the services involved not just "getting his rocks off", but also "communing" with the local goddess of fertility in the person of the prostitute, and also a donation to the pagan temple as payment. This is by definition "idolatrous".

Now, it's clear from the Old Testament that LOTS of pagan customs survived into the Israelite community, and the prophets routinely inveighed against them. Sacred prostitution seems to be one of them. But, the link between prostitution as an analog of idolatry is common in the OT, as the prophets routinely decry the Israelites "whoring after false idols".

madAsHell said...

Married former colleague had sex in work elevator with unmarried subordinate. Of course it had a security camera. She found another job. He was asked to leave. Of course.

This could only happen to a complete idiot!........oh, never mind.

bonkti said...

Joe Biden attributes the Onan story to the Book of Palms.

YoungHegelian said...

Is blogger eating links now? I'll try another link on Middle Eastern Sacred Prostitution.

madAsHell said...

Married former colleague had sex in work elevator with unmarried subordinate. Of course it had a security camera. She found another job. He was asked to leave. Of course.

It seems that Readering has their own Jeffrey Toobin story.

Jupiter said...

"This could only happen to a complete idiot!........oh, never mind."

I can think of jobs I've had, and women I've not had, and I would have been quite happy to reverse both circumstances simultaneously.

daskol said...

Close reading of the OT as a young person provided many a cackling moment. Considering that local religions had lots of gods to choose from and also sex was part of worship, you have to wonder, just what was it the Israelites were selling that sustained their religion in such a competitive environment? It's not in keeping with Judaism's matrilineal tradition, but still understandable that allowing a little whoring or at least looking the other way once in a while was just the cost of doing religion in the olden days.

daskol said...

Or I guess you could say due to the matrilineal tradition, which may well have arisen because of men being men, this posed little threat to the community: as long as any children weren't acknowledged in the community, no harm and no foul, I suppose.

Jupiter said...

DanTheMan said...
"For all of those saying what Toobin did was no big deal...Do you leave your camera on and masturbate during video meetings?"

Yes, of course. Doesn't everyone? Christ, it's the only thing that makes video meetings tolerable. First thing I learned after I got out of college was how to type one-handed.

Martin said...

Those people live in a bubble so tightly sealed, they have no idea how depraved and despicable they are.

D.D. Driver said...

27 years of superb reporting and commitment to The New Yorker...

but you fuck one goat!

Daniel Jackson said...

My first introduction to chapter 38 was in a course on the Bible in college. The professor, a protestant minister, made some sly jokes about this being the source of the Church's teaching on the withdrawal method of birth control.

Later, after eight years in rabbinic seminary, I came to a different understanding of WHY son number two of Yehudah got zotzed. Three points of interest.

First, while sexual relations between brother and sister-in-law are prohibited in Leviticus, the Mitzvot regarding LEVIRATE marriage are explicit. The brother is commanded to sire a child with his brother's widow if (and only if) there was no issue from that marriage before the demise of the brother in order to produce an heir to the dead brother's name. Unless the widow refuses, the brother, or the nearest male relation to the deceased, must fulfill the duty. This is the story of Ruth and Boaz in the Book of Ruth. Onan objected because the offspring would not be his (Genesis 38:9; the Oral Tradition suggests he wanted her in a regular marriage) so he pulled out.

Second, Levirate marriage is well known: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levirate_marriage. There are rules and duties that have consequences for the communities where duties are not to be taken likely. Onan denied Tamar's rights to inheritance and to continue the name of her dead husband.

Third, Yehudah wanted to protect the third son (Genesis 38:11); he lost two sons who made love to her and feared for number three. So, he deceived Tamar by sending her back to her parents' house keeping the third son in seclusion away from his sacred duty. The rabbis might ask, "how do we know it was the Third Man's duty?" Why, from his name: SHELAH in Hebrew means HERS.

Yehudah deceived her; she deceived him; and the duty was done.

For some of us, the phrase Old Testament should be replaced with The Tanakh or The Bible, which is not old. Perplexing yes. Old (as in out of date) never.

As for masturbation or intercourse, all can agree that these are actions best done behind closed doors.

Youcef H-B said...

The guy was masturbating the entire time and laughing at his readers.

MadTownGuy said...

Kevin said...
"#MeToo was just an attempt to get Trump."

This. We have been living in the Era of Political Stunts. Even without Trump in the White House, I expect the stunts to continue apace since they have been at least mildly effective, despite the collateral damage to some of the favored ones.

YoungHegelian said...

@DJ,

For some of us, the phrase Old Testament should be replaced with The Tanakh or The Bible

Well, yes, for a believing Jew. But, as a believing Catholic, I choose my words carefully, including the now out-of-favor "Old Testament".

Th Tanakh consists of the Hebrew books of the Bible recognized as canonical by the rabbinic tradition. The problem I have with the Hebrew books of the Bible as the only canonical works is that it leaves out the contents of the Septuagint that survive only in Greek. This is also why I don't like the phrase "the Hebrew Bible".

Now, there's really precious little historico-textual reason to privilege the Hebrew texts over the Septuagint. The surviving Hebrew manuscripts are muuuch later, but the Septuagint we can date with great accuracy. The Septuagint was created by Alexandrian Jews, after all, and if it was good enough for them, it's good enough for us. The Rabbinic tradition wants to kick the Alexandrian Jews to curb, i.e. they don't read Philo. I see no reason to follow in that distaste.

Narr said...

Link working good, YH. Thanks, very refreshing.

Narr
Give me that old time religion!

Ron Winkleheimer said...

Then all Israel from Dan to Beersheba and from the land of Gilead came together as one and assembled before the LORD in Mizpah. 2 The leaders of all the people of the tribes of Israel took their places in the assembly of God’s people, four hundred thousand men armed with swords. 3 (The Benjamites heard that the Israelites had gone up to Mizpah.) Then the Israelites said, “Tell us how this awful thing happened.” 4 So the Levite, the husband of the murdered woman, said, “I and my concubine came to Gibeah in Benjamin to spend the night. 5 During the night the men of Gibeah came after me and surrounded the house, intending to kill me. They raped my concubine, and she died. 6 I took my concubine, cut her into pieces and sent one piece to each region of Israel’s inheritance, because they committed this lewd and outrageous act in Israel.

Judges 20

Ron Winkleheimer said...

21But Jael, Heber's wife, picked up a tent peg and a hammer and went quietly to him while he lay fast asleep, exhausted. She drove the peg through his temple into the ground, and he died.

Judges 4:21

jeremyabrams said...

If I saw my coworker's Shnutzengloupher during a Zoom call as a result of an accidental camera angle, I'd pass over the incident in silence and expect others to do the same. The death of manners causes everything to be subject to rules.

Greg The Class Traitor said...

I always knew Tina Brown was a pathetic hack. But now I know Malcolm Gladwell is one, too.

Thanks for clearing that up, Mal!

Robert Cook said...

"Cook said, "This succinctly sums up Toobin's offense. Intentionally or not, he exposed himself to his work colleagues. That should be a firing offense."
How do you unintentionally rub one out?
Asking for a friend."


The presumed "unintention" was in masturbating in view of his work colleagues on Zoom.

Robert Cook said...

"OK, Cookie, we'll cut off one of his heads. Now, what should we do about people who appear in public with their adverbs doubled?"

I should have one eye plucked out for careless proofreading.

Greg The Class Traitor said...

Ron Winkleheimer said...
I don't think a lot of people understand the context of the story. Tamar needed to have children so that they could provide for her in her old age. The only legal way that could happen was if one of her dead husband's brothers stepped in as a proxy. The reason Onan didn't want to get her pregnant was because the kids would be considered his older brother's. Which meant they would have had precedence regarding inheritance over his own children.

I could see his wife, if he had one, complaining about this.

But I can't see why HE would complain. Doesn't matter what you call the offspring, they ARE his. So HIS child would still be getting the inheritance.

No?

Oso Negro said...

Jupiter said...
There seem to be two schools of opinion among the commenters. One is that Toobin should not have been masturbating during a work meeting, and the other that he should not have gotten caught masturbating during a work meeting. I'm afraid I can't regard either one as particularly awful. Then we have the Leftist view, as provided by Masha, that his offense lay in allowing her to see his dick. Again, so what? Has she never seen a dick before? He clearly did not intend to show poor, traumatized Masha his dick. What if he had attended a Zoom meeting with a hole in his pants? Really, I think the fuck-ups here are the shitheads who witnessed the performance, and made a big deal about it, instead of just politely saying, "Jeff, put your fucking dick back in your pants."


Jupiter, however you get by in the world, this would be evidence that it is not in a modern American corporation. It's a joyless, sexless world if someone feels "offended". In June of this year, the Supremes expanded Title VII of the Civil Rights Act to include sexual orientation and transgender status. So, if your enterprise falls under this legislation, I can waltz into your establishment as an employee, sporting a Gandalf beard, high heels, and a tight-fitting dress, demand to use the "Women's Room" and sue your ass if you as much as roll your eyes.

daskol said...

YH likes his postmodernists, and he likes his Apocrypha. Educated in the Jewish tradition, we used the Hebrew, but I always loved the story/legend of the creation of the Septuagint. Getting 70 Jews to agree was a historic feat.

daskol said...

But I can't see why HE would complain. Doesn't matter what you call the offspring, they ARE his. So HIS child would still be getting the inheritance.

Primogeniture: it makes strange bedfellows. If Onan had done his duty, he would be disinheriting himself and all his children, in effect. Any child he had with his brother's wife would be known as his brother's child, and precede him in inheriting his father's estate and in handing it on to his own children. Onan may have taken some parental pride, but he would have none of the gold.

Jeff said...

Not putting his best foot forward
Probably not even half a foot.

Robert Cook said...

"Speaking of which, I've got a new neighbor who just moved down from NYC. We're getting more and more people from New York and New Jersey moving in to the Gulf Coast of Florida."

And I'm a "First Coast" Floridian who became a New Yorker!

(Actually, I was born and spent 8 years in Indiana before we moved to Florida.)

By the way, the term "First Coast" was created to describe several counties of the Northeast Florida coast encompassing Jacksonville, St. Augustine, and other environs as part of an advertising campaign created by William Cook Advertising to promote tourism in the Jacksonville nearby areas. William Cook was my uncle. He just died last year, aged 95+. Cook Agency did all of Winn Dixie's advertising for decades starting back in the early 60s continuing up until sometime in the 90s.

How many brags is that?

Fandor said...

The New Yorker died when Clifton Fadiman took leave.
Now, it's a left fanzine.
The cartoons stink too.
They don't have that Peter Arno pizzazz.

Mark said...

Here's the Genesis 38 story, by the way. Not sure how what Catholics think about this story

Actually Catholics don't think about it much at all. There is not a whole lot of authoritative discussion on Onan. Pope Pius did mention him in an encyclical on marriage, but even then he only quoted Augustine 1500 years earlier, who himself seems to have mentioned Onan only in passing. Protestants seem to have made a much bigger deal out of this guy who is mentioned in only a few lines in the whole of the Bible.

Skeptical Voter said...

To paraphrase one about Lucky Pierre---"27 years of journalistic excellence, and spank one monkey in public and they'll call me monkey spanker forever".

Earnest Prole said...

Toobin is a tool.

DEEBEE said...

Ahh! Ann, you and your fetish with the NYTabloid, which perhaps for some supercilious reason tied to your auto-aura of extreme neutrality you continue to “Jeffery Toobin” 0n us.

Nancy said...

I like this painting of Judah and Tamar better.
https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ferdinand_Bol_-_Judah_and_Tamar_-_17.3268_-_Museum_of_Fine_Arts.jpg
Btw the Hebrew passage has a wordplay in it which gets lost in translation. When Judah gets his stuff back from Tamar as evidence of whom she slept with, he exclaims "Tzedakah mimenu!" which means both "She is more righteous than I" and "She's right! These things are from me!"

Michael K said...

I notice that Ann did not blog on the NYT hit piece on "The Right Wing Bubble." which attacks Mark Levin by a writer who never spoke to him. He is pretty unhappy about it.

Yet six weeks after his defeat, the aggressive campaign by Mr. Trump and his media boosters to insist with each new setback that the election is far from settled isn’t letting up.

Inside this bubble, the president’s allies present virtually impossible outcomes as completely plausible. They raise expectations of victory in unwinnable lawsuits and battles over electors that state legislators are unwilling to have. They bolster the credibility of questionable witnesses and advocates whose most important qualification is an unequivocal conviction that Mr. Trump won in November, despite all available evidence.


Sounds like lefty Althouse commenters who wanted Biden installed on November 4.

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

include sexual orientation and transgender status

That's true, whether trans/homosexual or a victim of social indoctrination and medical corruption, or just collateral damage in rape... rape-rape for social progress, the transgender spectrum is politically congruent ("="). Throw another baby... Fetal-American on the barbie, it's over.

Robert Cook said...

"Ahh! Ann, you and your fetish with the NYTabloid...."

Technically, the NY Times is a "broadsheet," not a "tabloid" like the NY Post (or The National Enquirer). The terms refer to the physical formats of the publications, as well as to the general style of each.

Freeman Hunt said...

These commentators claiming that he's in trouble for masturbating are being totally disingenuous. That would be like defending someone who got fired for shitting on the floor of the office by saying, "Everyone has to use the bathroom, you prudes!"

boatbuilder said...

The scandalous part is that for 27 years he wrote and spouted dishonest hack bullshit which the lefties treated as "legal scholarship," and it took his jacking off in a work meeting to lose the gig. And now they are going to bring him back. Because it's Bidenworld; Trump is out and anything and everything goes with the "in" crowd.

Marcus Bressler said...

madAsHell said...
Married former colleague had sex in work elevator with unmarried subordinate. Of course it had a security camera. She found another job. He was asked to leave. Of course.

I'm sorry, but it's not clear to me: which person is the female and which is the male? TIA (It does make a difference in the result I would think)

THEOLDMAN

Ken B said...

"got slept with"

Garnered sleeping accompaniments.

Banjo said...

Was Toobin whacking off as he reads these stories and comments?

boatbuilder said...

With the full knowledge and understanding that men are pigs, I nonetheless have had a difficult time understanding just what the hell this guy was thinking about here. Not to put too fine a point on it, fantasizing about Masha and the other women on that call seems...I dunno...

An incisive commenter on another blog had a theory that I think makes some sense. Recall that Jeff who is married had previously knocked up his colleague's much younger daughter; this was obviously a somewhat sore point in the Toobin household. The incident occurred during the height of the lockdown in NYC; it was just Jeff and his wife in the apartment. Jeff (pre-lockdown) had another piece on the side, but during the social distancing/quarantine regime he was stuck at home with the wife. So--video virtual sex. But the only time he could get away--no interruptions--was "work video conferences--very important." So his side honey was on another screen; Jeff was on mute with the video off, whooping it up. He hit the wrong key. The rest, as they say, is history.

Makes more sense than "doesn't everybody whack their peepee during boring video meetings?" NO!! Jeez!

He couldn't just scroll the Althouse comments on his cell phone, while pretending to pay attention, like a normal person?

Michelle Dulak Thomson said...

The incredible parsing and over-parsing of this! It reminds me of nothing so much as Isaac Asimov's Solaria, where you can do anything you want while "viewing," but "seeing" is horrifically traumatic. "Seeing" being, of course, being with someone in the same physical space, while "viewing" is looking at another's image from afar, even though it might be exactly as realistic as the "real thing."

Was Toobin's schlong actually present, or only virtually present? Does it matter whether the doctor you're having a televisit with is getting off to you remotely, or only if he's actually in the room with you? I'm inclined to ban trouser snakes from all meetings, virtual or otherwise; if you can't keep it tamped down there on Zoom, how do we know you haven't been letting it raise its scaly head all along?

And, of course, obviously Toobin wouldn't get all this head-scratching (err . . . make of that what you will) if he weren't a prominent Democratic commentator. You have to be of a certain ilk to get this sort of protest on your behalf. Just like Dr. Jill, in fact.

Buford Gooch said...

Why should i care about this jerk off? ;)

madAsHell said...

Bible study in the Methodist church was NEVER this elucidating.

madAsHell said...

I should have one eye plucked out for careless proofreading.

Ya' know.....I gotta believe he'd buy the second beer!!

ken in tx said...

Onan was expected to impregnate his childless bother's widow and therefore preserve his brother's family line. He didn't want that, but he didn't turn down the sex. He just pulled out at the end. God struck him down & people took a lesson from that. It was a different time then.

Daniel Jackson said...

"Bible study in the Methodist church was NEVER this elucidating."

Bible study in Yeshiva is a contact sport.

Iman said...

You can’t gnarfle the garthok on a Zoom meeting and not expect major consequences of that action.

You can’t do the Toobin Slide either.

madAsHell said...

Bible study in Yeshiva is a contact sport.

I have a close Jewish friend. We went to grade school, Cub Scounts, Boy Scouts, Jr. High, Roosevelt high school, and UofWashington. together. Today, we live together just a few house numbers apart.......cuz, this is where we grew up!!

He invited me to his son's bar mitzvah.

I have never seen so many beautiful young girls trying to jiggle out of their blistering tight clothes.

I wanted to stay, and watch, but......yeah, my wife had to drive home.

Mike Feehan said...

"gave birth to a son, who was named Er. She conceived again and gave birth to a son and named him Onan"

My Bible is slightly different.

The first son was indeed named Er. But the second son was named Oops.

That would make Onan the third.

Iman said...

Toobin is a prime example of the absolute mediocrity of most leftwing males.

bagoh20 said...

What do we have to look forward to in the continuing saga of Democrat lowering of standards of decency, fairness and legality? I can hardly wait to see how bad it gets, but there isn't much more room to fall. It should be coming along soon where murder is excused as necessary, or have we already gotten there with the riots an occupations. Why yes, yes we have. So what's next, genocide? Tell me why not with an argument that you feel confident would stand up to the mindless push of progressivism. Some of you brought us here, and will continue to support the decline, all the while thinking yourselves righteous or innocent as you stand by clapping for the parade. The proud vanguard of nihilism.

Bill said...

I'm ashamed to admit I've never seen that Rembrandt before. It's so beautiful.

bagoh20 said...

I find what Toobin did far less offensive than people justifying or excusing it. I don't blame someone for taking a shit either, unless they do it during a meeting, and let's face it, taking a shit is a lot more necessary.

If you were told to attend a meeting, and warned that attendees may masturbate or shit during the meeting, are you going to show up? Would you have a case for a hostile work place? Not according to these people. The only thing about the whole episode that has any redeeming value is that he got fired. That's the thing that makes the rest of the people there not complete suckers and captives, as if they were slaves or prisoners of some perverted monarch or ISIS chapter. You don't do that to civilized people you even nominally respect, or let it happen to them without consequence.

bagoh20 said...

Maybe I'm just old fashioned with crazy outdated standards from the early 2010's

The Vault Dweller said...

Honestly what Toobin did by having the affair with the coworkers much younger daughter was worse. I don't know what happened, but the level of egregiousness of what Toobin did depends on the circumstances. If he wanted to wack-off during the zoom meeting, but got caught that is pretty nasty and he deserves to be cashiered. If he thought the meeting was over and mistakenly thought the camera was off and he was in privacy. Then it is less bad. Still might worth cashiering but not as clearly if he was doing it during the meeting intentionally but got caught. Now if for some reason he knew the camera was on and wanted to expose himself to everyone, which I doubt, well then that would the be worst of the situations. But again all these are not as bad as knocking up a worker's younger daughter.

Douglas B. Levene said...

Bagoh20 wrote, "The only thing about the whole episode that has any redeeming value is that he got fired." I concur. Who, male or female, would ever want to get on a conference call with him again?

madAsHell said...

I would open every call with "Jeffrey, are you masturbating??"

Anonymous said...

" a world view where there is no God and no absolute right and wrong"

The non-aggression principle doesn't require your imaginary friend, and frankly, I have little reason to trust you if your morality is based on superstition. History is full of heinous crimes committed by true beiievers like you.

stephen cooper said...

There are lots of really really good Rembrandts out there, and you would have to be a Rembrandt scholar to have seen and remember them all.

Most people have seen the self portraits, which are interesting, but the paintings of his wife Saskia are out of this world (the only one I have seen in person is the one in DC and it is literally as good as any painting I have ever seen - and I have seen lots of Mozart-level paintings). The portrait of Rembrandt's wife in DC would be worth a trip to DC even if it were the only painting in DC (obviously, it isn't the only Rembrandt in DC, there are around a dozen really good ones, most of them usually on display).

Aristotle contemplating the Bust of Homer is great (NYC).

St Petersburg, London, and Paris have some really good Rembrandts, including the famous ones and some that are not so famous.

There are many landscapes in various countries, several of which are disputed, but whoever painted the ones accepted as genuine (in other words, the ones everyone thinks were mostly by Rembrandt) and the ones considered only probable Rembrandts (sometimes called school of Rembrandt, sometimes called by Rembrandt, depending on the level of candor at the museum you see them in), they are all eerily and charmingly wonderful - as if the painter saw the way the world should look at the same time as the painter saw the way the world looks, and painted the world in both aspects, at the same time.

C.S. Lewis used to write about this phenomenon - this world, as flawed as it is, is an echo of what it could have been, if not for the sad events described in the later Adam and Eve chapters in the book of Genesis ---but more importantly, every beauty in this world is the seed of a greater beauty in heaven.

There are a few Western European painters who paint religious subjects in a way that shows the Beauty of God's world in a way that nobody else in their generation could have imagined - Raphael, Bellini (there are three famous Bellini's, I am talking about the best of the three), later on Titian (see, for example, the Virgin and the Rabbit from his youthful years) and Lorenzo Lotto (Sacra Conversione) and Poussin - Rembrandt was sort of like that, but in his own uniquely humble way, in a way that makes humility look like the powerful force it is.

you might not think of Rembrandt as a Christmas card type of painter, but, when you think of the main players in the Christmas holiday - the baby Jesus, Joseph, Mary, the shepherds, the animals in the stable, the Angels singing their song of glory - there are passages in multiple paintings, many of them not well known, of Rembrandt that portray them all in an almost angelically inspired way.

By the way, almost all the historical evidence we have indicates he was not a good man, he was not kind to his neighbors or his friends or his family. So there's that. I imagine that, in his old age, he would have preferred to be a better man than he was, and would have traded all of his painterly skill in exchange for having been someone who was a good friend and a good husband and father. I imagine that because I know lots of old people, and I know what they regret (or at least I think I do. I could be wrong. Maybe some of them wish they had led a more selfish and unempathetic life, and had enjoyed themselves more. I doubt it though).

Oh well, nobody's perfect.

stephen cooper said...

C.S. Lewis used to write about this phenomenon - this world, as flawed as it is, still retains clear echoes of what it could have been, if not for the sad events described in the later Adam and Eve passages in the book of Genesis ---- but more importantly, every beauty in this world is the seed of a greater beauty in Heaven.

Hammond X. Gritzkofe said...

Alternative rendering:

Upon returning his arm into the womb and finding the red ribbon, the first boy turned to his brother and said: "Look! I stuck my arm out and got this nice wrist band. Here - take it and put it on. I am going out to see what else I can score."

Earnest Prole said...

What do we have to look forward to in the continuing saga of Democrat lowering of standards of decency, fairness and legality?

Personally I'm looking forward to Joe Biden banging a porn star.

Rusty said...

Blogger jeremyabrams said...
"If I saw my coworker's Shnutzengloupher during a Zoom call as a result of an accidental camera angle, I'd pass over the incident in silence and expect others to do the same. The death of manners causes everything to be subject to rules."
Really? Wouldn't the good manners be to not polish your bishop while on line with a business meeting?
My polite reaction would be to remind him where he was. Not being all that polite to people who abuse my good, forgiving nature, I'd laugh at him and tell him he's never gonna live this down. And he won't.

Rusty said...

Has this been brought up yet?
Onan The Barbarian!!!!!
Sorry, sorry. Couldn't resist. Punchline to a joke or something.

Lurker21 said...

Jeffrey, Jeffrey, Jeffrey ...

We'll always have OJ ...

Before it all went to hell with you ...

tokyov said...

On the plus side, "Toobin" is that much closer to becoming a verb.

Todd said...

Rusty said...

How do you unintentionally rub one out?
Asking for a friend.

12/15/20, 2:22 PM


I don't know, jogging in really tight pants?

Rusty said...

Todd said...
"Rusty said...

How do you unintentionally rub one out?
Asking for a friend.

12/15/20, 2:22 PM

I don't know, jogging in really tight pants?"
Heve you seen that guy? The only place he's running to is the buffet.

tokyov wins

Todd said...

Michelle Dulak Thomson said...

Just like Dr. Jill, in fact.

12/15/20, 8:05 PM


Sorry, just for clarification, would that be "Doctor of Education Jill" to which you refer?

Marcus Bressler said...

I don't know about unintentionally rubbing one out, but when I was 17 I would just look at a woman and instant pointer. Now I'm lucky to get a tingle up my spine

SensibleCitizen said...

Maybe Gladwell/Brown would be ok with sitting on the toilet while participating in a zoom meeting. After all, we don't want to deny a basic human function.

The woke glitterati can never seem to make up their minds. Are we concerned about workplace sexual behavior or not? Or is it solely the politics of the offender at issue.

The question answers itself.

Bill said...

It was a Toobin,
not a Lewinsky...

Tina Trent said...

I still can’t understand how anyone could get aroused during a New Yorker editorial meeting.