July 24, 2022

The stunning ignorance of Matt Gaetz — smugly palming off completely sexist bad comedy. Does he think he's Andrew Dice Clay... in the 80s?

At least "look like a thumb" is an original image. But he's using a very old idea about feminists: They're the women who are so unattractive that they can't succeed in the traditional feminine way, which is by partnering with a man. And it's creepy to use the words "Nobody wants to impregnate you" when the format of your humor suggests that you're trying to say "Nobody wants to fuck you."

I'd like to hear some real stand-up comedians — Joe Rogan? — lambaste him for adopting the style of a stand-up comedian and doing it so badly and not getting real-life feedback because he's not in a comedy club with real people in the audience. He's in the political arena where no one tells him how bad it is.

Why would a politician want to disrespect unattractive people? A large percentage of voters are either unattractive, believe (or fear) they're unattractive, or feel empathy toward people who are — or fear they are — unattractive. I just defined a huge category! I'm going to guess that it includes 90% of voters. So Matt Gaetz is just such an idiot. It's almost funny.

IN THE COMMENTS: tim maguire said:
“Looks like a thumb” was a phrase used to describe Kenneth Parcells (played by Jack McBrayer character) on 30 Rock.
I said:
I'm seeing a lot of examples of "looks like a thumb" on line. Don't know if "30 Rock" came first. Everything I'm seeing, though, refers to men. I presume the men are bald (and maybe with fat necks or undefined chins).

So I withdraw the (tiny) credit I gave Gaetz for originality. And I'm going to add a demerit for using the description on a woman when it's more about how men look. Here's a photograph that was viral on the internet — circa 2014 — of a man who really does look like a thumb. And here, from 2016, is "People Who Look Like Thumbs: Do They Really Exist?" There's a lot of japery, posing at an angle that emphasizes thumbliness (which you will never confuse with comeliness).

MORE IN THE COMMENTS: JPS said: 

Actually Gaetz both stole and inverted an old line from George Carlin: 

“Have you ever noticed that most of the women who are against abortion are people you wouldn’t want to fuck in the first place?”

Not endorsing the line by quoting it. Carlin was brilliant. He could also be a nasty piece of work sometimes.

Ah, yes. I remember that.  It was in his 1996 show, "Back in Town." I remember watching that at the time and thinking he was basically telling an old, sexist joke. 

But notice there's a big difference between Gaetz's joke and Carlin's — and I don't mean that Carlin's was a quarter century earlier and I don't mean Carlin's forthright "fuck" and Gaetz's creepy "impregnate." Carlin did not say why you wouldn't want to have sex with those women. Gaetz was explicit that he was talking about looks. Carlin might have been referring to personality, to intelligence, to religion, or to the way they speak and behave (as well as to looks).

Now, Carlin really couldn't harp on looks, because his looks weren't too good. Gaetz, on the other hand, probably believes he's good looking. Of course, that makes him more of schmuck.

111 comments:

rehajm said...

Why would a politician want to disrespect unattractive people?

Maybe Gaetz has internal polling that tells him he’s never going to garner the thumb vote?

gilbar said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
traditionalguy said...

Gaetz and company of speakers are competing for best insulters at a Roast. He gets the Don Rickles Award.

MayBee said...

I believe Matt Gaetz is running against Rebecca Jones and I do not know what the fine people of that FL congressional district did so wrong to deserve that.

PB said...

I don't think he's offending anyone that would possibly vote for him, under any circumstance.

Plus, it's likely the truth.

Kevin said...

Jerry Seinfeld:
Elaine, what percentage of people would you say are good looking?

Elaine Benes:
25 percent.

Jerry Seinfeld:
25 percent, you say? No way! It's like 4 to 6 percent. It's a 20 to 1 shot.

Elaine Benes:
You're way off.

Jerry Seinfeld:
Way off? Have you been to the motor vehicle bureau? It's like a leper colony down there.

Elaine Benes:
So what you are saying is that 90 to 95 percent of the population is undateable?

Jerry Seinfeld:
UNDATEABLE!

Dave Begley said...

Ann Althouse just told Gaetz how bad - and stupid - he is.

tim maguire said...

This is why Matt Gaetz was so susceptible to that sex trafficking smear a few years ago—he's a genuinely sleazy person. How he thinks it’s a good idea for a politician who pretends to be a god-fearing family-values man to talk like this is beyond me.

tim maguire said...

“Looks like a thumb” was a phrase used to describe Kenneth Parcells (played by Jack McBrayer character) on 30 Rock.

wendybar said...

Have you seen some of the women that display signs saying "No abortions, NO SEX"?? They don't have to worry. It's not bad considering some of the things the left says about Conservative women. WHERE is the outrage about that? What's worse than calling half the country DEPLORABLE?

Wince said...

"Who'd want to rape you anyway?"

JPS said...

Actually Gaetz both stole and inverted an old line from George Carlin:

“Have you ever noticed that most of the women who are against abortion are people you wouldn’t want to fuck in the first place?”

Not endorsing the line by quoting it. Carlin was brilliant. He could also be a nasty piece of work sometimes.

gilbar said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Leland said...

If that's sexist, then the arguments used by pro-abortionist are sexist. If being sexist means you lose the argument, fine. Otherwise, I don't see the reason for unilateral disarmament.

rhhardin said...

It's not meant as humor but as an insult to feminists, who have not been making themselves pleasant for the last 50 years. He's just calling them out. If you're with him on that (100% of men and 50% of women) you might vote for him.

rhhardin said...

If you worry about being attractive, stop nagging.

Beasts of England said...

‘Maybe mix in a salad.’ was the best line…

R C Belaire said...

Why? Because it's humorous, and we all know that.

n.n said...

Gender-neutral? Maybe. Ugly, as in character: denying women and men's dignity and agency; enabling rape... rape-rape in darkness of underage girls in closets and women on couches; alleging male diversity, masculine toxicity; conducting witch hunts and warlock trials; throwing a pie at granny, mothers, and daughters; etc. Playing fast and loose with a double-edged scalpel when politically congruent. Throw another baby on the baby on the barbie, it's over.

jim said...

2 thumbs up.

But seriously, he should have tried "look like a big toe".

RMc said...

A large percentage of voters are either unattractive, believe (or fear) they're unattractive, or feel empathy toward people who are — or fear they are — unattractive. I just defined a huge category! I'm going to guess that it includes 90% of voters.

Nope. Everybody thinks they're above average, whether it's in attractiveness, intelligence or driving ability.

RideSpaceMountain said...

"Why would a politician want to disrespect unattractive people?"

Hint, a lot of them are unattractive on the inside too.

West TX Intermediate Crude said...

Not exactly ROFLMAO, but the morbidly obese, fully tatted, studded, and obnoxiously loud community is overrepresented in the pro-abortion movement. Especially in the segment that identifies as female.
Enough to make a meme, at least.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Rogan hasn't been the same since the mob almost threw him off his horse.

mezzrow said...

Returning serve in the contempt Olympics.

Yes it's stupid, but it feels so good when you're doing it, though. Human nature.

Inside Gaetz's circle dance, this is hilarious. Outside, it's like telling jokes about people from Tennessee with missing teeth and family trees that don't branch to a scientist living in Oak Ridge.

Cringe is in the eye of the beholder.

Carol said...

Well, besides the fact that a horny man will screw anything.

If a young girl can't get herself knocked up by 18 she's not really trying.

Ann Althouse said...

"“Looks like a thumb” was a phrase used to describe Kenneth Parcells (played by Jack McBrayer character) on 30 Rock."

I'm seeing a lot of examples of "looks like a thumb" on line. Don't know if "30 Rock" came first.

Everything I'm seeing, though, refers to men. I presume the men are bald (and maybe with fat necks or undefined chins).

Andrew said...

I don't like Gaetz, I consider myself unattractive (as a man), and I still laughed at the line. It's the same reason I laughed at Trump's insults. Maybe they're in poor taste, but they hit home.

Maynard said...

We should never judge people by their looks, except for the Orange Doughboy.

Bob Boyd said...

Tip for Republican speakers who aren't Trump:
Don't try to be Trump. You're not Trump. What works for Trump won't work for you. You only come across as an asshole.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

what a dope. I did laugh though.
Is he wrong?

robother said...

"Looks like a thumb?" What's Gaetz got against the human opposable digit? I don't get how the, say, pinkie is any more attractive than the thumb. And when it comes to sexual relations with the hand, surely the thumb plays a major, some would even say dominant, role.

However, Feminists should respond with humor to Gaetz, engage mano-a-mano. "Is that a thumb drive in your pocket, Matt, or are you just glad to see me?"

Temujin said...

Matt Gaetz is one of those politicians who could have been great, but he got too infatuated with himself. And not from anything other than too many mirrors in his viewing space, and too much free air time on Fox News and righty media. He's a guy who mixes some good things with a lot of crap, which makes him much like most of your political representatives. He just gets more air time- both from his 'friends' and his enemies. He is clearly one of the handful of Repubs that the Democratic Media (which is to say 98% of them) likes to follow and use space to comment on.

That said, his comment about who represents 'Abortion Rights' at many of these protests is pretty spot on. Frankly, most of the lefty protests are populated by people who start at a bad look, and add multiple nose, lip, and ear piercings, along with tattoos up to their earlobes, cyan/mauve/emerald hair color, and either t-shirts 2 sizes too small or all black something-wear. They start low on the looks scale and, amazingly, seem to work at making it worse. On this- Gaetz is not wrong. He's just not the right messenger.

A thing is what it is. Calling it what it is can sometimes get you in trouble.

The reality is that Matt Gaetz has much in common with Aaron Rupar. They are cut of the same cloth. Both annoy the crap out of me. Rupar is lower than whaleshit, not very bright, and nothing if not a self-promoter. Gaetz will be forgotten 2 days after he leaves Congress. We could do better on both the political leadership end and the political opinion end than these two and I will not get into a defending of either of them. If they both vanished tomorrow, we'd all be one step closer to a sane country.

cassandra lite said...

A man whose head has his own zip code ought not be commenting on someone's looks.

Gusty Winds said...

Why does 73-year-old feminist Elizabeth Warren want to close crisis pregnancy centers that don’t offer abortions, but help young women bring babies to term? How is that good for young women and young families?

I agree with Althouse here, Gaetz should temper these types of comments. They don’t help. But he is a fighter and resists the bs of the J6 committee and the voter fraud of 2020 so we need people like him. He was also needed at the first sham impeachment hearings which were simply to protect US politician money laundering, and their desire for perpetual war.

However, feminists Elizabeth Warren are ugly on the inside. Grifting their wealth through young people’s debt in the College Education scam. Using false affirmative action status to promote herself as a Native American.

When she retires, Warren could be a Wal-Mart type greeter at a Planned Parenthood facility in Wash DC where you can abort in the third trimester. I’d imaging the pain of that type of procedure is something a young woman would carry with her the rest of her life. Warren seems like the type of woman that would enjoy showing them to their room.

Guy said...

One out of every three people is ugly. Look to your left, look to your right. If those people aren’t ugly, guess what?
One of my favorite Gallagher jokes

n.n said...

Orange Doughboy

Person... uh, Dough of Orange, and DoughX to be equitable and inclusive.

n.n said...

Rogan hasn't been the same since the mob almost threw him off his horse.

Rogan didn't carry a whip. He's Biden (sic) his time in darkness.

Sally327 said...

Oh, give me a break. A man will f*ck anything. A man will f*ck a snake if someone hold its mouth open. The idea that men will only screw attractive females, that may be true for billionaires and celebrities.

Even with those men it may not always be the case either because as some football star is reported to have said when explaining why he picked up some bar broad and took her home for the night, "It's 2 AM and Miss America ain't walking in..."

A man will f*ck anything. Otherwise the vast majority of them would never get laid.

baghdadbob said...

"Looks like a thumb" is a phrase directed at bald men.

Perhaps a derivative of Fred Mertz's self-assessment of his passport photo: "I look like a fist with eyes."

Skeptical Voter said...

Who knew that success in the traditional feminine way was finding a male partner? I'm not knocking the concept--I was just surprised to see it expressed here.

n.n said...

He has his thumb on the interesting times we live in. Abort him. Abort him NOW, and his little dog, too.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

The Roe victory signal the ok to send in the clowns... or something.

Gusty Winds said...

Blogger Bob Boyd said...
Tip for Republican speakers who aren't Trump: Don't try to be Trump. You're not Trump. What works for Trump won't work for you. You only come across as an asshole.

You're right. In the first GOP debate in 2015 when Trump countered Megyn Kelly’s attack with, “Only Rosie O’Donnell”, the audience and America cracked up. You knew the game was on.

Rosie is ugly on the inside, and it must have shaken her to realize at least half the country thought so too. It was also the start of Megyn Kelly’s downfall. She never recovered. Her question was planned, and she was assigned to take Trump out that night. Trump’s response was spontaneous.

Although Megyn Kelly is smart, successful, and a good communicator, her looks are part of what put her on top. Being a phony and betraying here core audience is what has made her a joke.

n.n said...

Thumbs have all the secondary characteristics of a naive girl, with allusions to granny. He's calling out the enablers with a nuanced metaphorical gesture.

MadTownGuy said...

Gusty Winds said...

"Why does 73-year-old feminist Elizabeth Warren want to close crisis pregnancy centers that don’t offer abortions, but help young women bring babies to term? How is that good for young women and young families?"

That's because the anti-life movement has never been about reproductive choice, unless you want to call it 'reproductive Hobson's choice;' it's about controlling overpopulation of the deplorable set.

Mary Beth said...

The first "looks like a thumb" reference I remember is someone online saying that about Howard Dean. I think it was around the time of the scream. I haven't been able to think of him in any other way since.

The photos of sex strikers that get shared online are of women whose threats seem like they will only affect a very niche target group. If we're making guesses based on looks, I'm sure there are lots of actual thumbs that see more action. I'll add that I think the photos that get the most views are probably not fairly representative of the protesters any more than the ones the Left shares of protesters on the Right.

Wilbur said...

Do I hear a cry for civility in the distance?

Temujin said...

I'll agree with Bob Boyd and Gusty Winds on this one.

"Blogger Bob Boyd said...
Tip for Republican speakers who aren't Trump: Don't try to be Trump. You're not Trump. What works for Trump won't work for you. You only come across as an asshole."


A handful of Republicans and new wannabe Republicans are trying to 'be like Trump' to gain Trump's voters and backing. What they're missing is that the best thing about Trump was not what he said and how he said it, it was what he actually did while in office. Stunning in it's breadth and creative vision. Trump could mostly get away with what he said because, Trump is Trump. He had always been a blowhard, shooting from the hip, and not taking prisoners. Not many can do that, and most should not even try. The reason Trump is not in office is because of what he'd say and how he'd say it. He'd still be the President if he had shut his mouth even 25% more often. Even if it was funny- it did not work for enough people to remove him from office.

I wish they'd focus on getting things done, cleaning out the swamp instead of just working on one-liners. I can't take Republicans seriously until they day comes when I see them actually doing things outside the box. Lip service every 4 years got old in the 80s.

Aggie said...

But Matt Gaetz has always been a snotty, entitled, annoying, arrogant frat boy. Why would this boorish, not-very-creative riff be particularly noteworthy? Especially when every protest story over the past month seems to bear it out, especially the interviews, not just the pictures? Not only because the protestors are unattractive, but because many of them seem a bit unhinged as well, as if that's going to help their cause.

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

I'd like to hear some real stand-up comedians — Joe Rogan?...

Didn't you have a post a while back where someone described Joe Rogan as a "muscular thumb"?

Gaetz is an asshole. Aaron Rupar is an even bigger asshole.

CWJ said...

Aaron Rupar pounces.

Lurker21 said...

Gaetz is an idiot. He's what you get when you elect a frat boy, whose dad is always getting him out of trouble.

He's also a precursor or a harbinger. Whatever you believe in politics, if it becomes popular it attracts idiots, kooks, phonies, pseuds, hacks, fraudsters, time-servers.

«Tout commence en mystique et finit en politique.»

It's why we can't have nice things.

But do you ever get the idea that all these antics by kooky, publicity-hungry Congresspeople -- Gaetz, Cawthorne, MTG, AOC, Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, Schiff, Swallwell, Waters -- are just picked up to distract us from what's really going on?

n.n said...

Take your metaphor and shove it.

The first victims of civility bullshit are the laughs. Won't anyone save the comedy?! A roast, perhaps.

Gusty Winds said...

Sally327 said...
Oh, give me a break. A man will f*ck anything.

You do have a point there Sally.

n.n said...

The Car Reservation

See, you know how to take the reservation. You just don't know how to hold the reservation.

h/t Andrew "dish" Clay... a metaphorical sex... gender-neutral allusion

Iman said...

Under my thumb…

and loving it, Jerry!

Smilin' Jack said...

“ Why would a politician want to disrespect unattractive people? ”

It’s my thumbs that feel disrespected. And you can’t vote for someone if your thumbs won’t allow it.

Maynard said...

I cut off the tip of my thumb Friday night using a mandolin on a red onion.

It hurts to use my heavily bandaged thumb. I never realized how important opposable thumbs were. Try buttoning a shirt without them. Or signing your name.

Thumbs are important!

Andrew said...

"What works for Trump won't work for you. You only come across as an asshole."

That's one of the reasons Trump won the Republican primary leading up to the 2016 election. Establishment politicians tried to change their rhetoric and personalities to counter Trump. Jeb tried to be more energetic, Cruz tried to be more down to earth, and Rubio tried to be more vulgar. But they couldn't get away with it.

Amadeus 48 said...

There should be an Aaron Rupar tag. What a sad piece of work he is.

Bender said...

I think I warned of the huge danger of hack politicians doing what politicians do and try to pass themselves off as pro-life for political advantage.

Narr said...

I love some good mockery and derision of ugly people who insist on enhancing and displaying their ugliness. The only thing wrong with Gaetz in his matter was his delivery.

In "The Death of Stalin" Svetlana tells an underling that he looks like a testicle.

As for men fucking anything, maybe. Otherwise the vast majority of women would never get laid.

Jupiter said...

"But he's using a very old idea about feminists: They're the women who are so unattractive that they can't succeed in the traditional feminine way, which is by partnering with a man."

He didn't say anything about "feminists". He said something about women who are "worried about abortions". And having seen numerous videos recently, of women who seemed to be very worried about abortions, very few of them looked like they had much to worry about. Many look to be well past menopause, like Fauxahontas. If it isn't any of my business, because I can't get pregnant, why is it any of hers?

Amadeus 48 said...

“Megyn Kelly’s downfall”

You obviously haven’t been paying attention. She is financially set for life, she is raising her three children, she has a great show on Sirius and YouTube, and she does great long-form interviews. All from her homes in Connecticut, the Jersey shore, and Montana.
As to Trump, she has moved on.

Nice work if you can get it:

rcocean said...

The comments show why the Center-right always loses. Boy, do Republicans love to punch right, and make it clear they're the RIGHT SORT who have CONTEMPT for whatever Righwing person the media has decided is declasse and beyond the pale.

The left rarely (if ever) does this. And when they do punch left, they always include a comment saying the Right is even worse.

Anyway, this Republican said something crude or whatever. Big whoop. He's not going to get the NYT's Althouse voter no matter what he says or does. Besides he's just telling the truth, most feminists are lesbians, or very low on the attractive meter.

Yancey Ward said...

Bob Boyd nails it as usual- someone trying to be Trump without the ability to pull it off is bad form.

Lucien said...

How come there’s no “that’s not funny” tag? Isn’t that the . . . thrust of the post?

Ann Althouse said...

Trump praises beautiful people but he doesn’t disrespect the unbeautiful.

He makes the unbeautiful feel included and loved.

deepelemblues said...

Merely a pithy response to soon to be Mrs. Ocasio-Cortez's incessant taunting that anyone criticizing her simply wants to fuck her and is mad they cannot.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

An “Andrew Dice Clay in the ‘80’s” comedian would be a wildly popular underground figure these days. Social media and the Internet make guerilla comedy easier to censor but, of course, one person’s condemnation is another person’s recommendation.

Beasts of England said...

‘Oh, give me a break. A man will f*ck anything.’

Maybe you should surround yourself with more discerning men.

Joe Smith said...

Stereotypes are true for a reason...

Will Cate said...

George Carlin, during his later "cranky old man" years, would make virtually the same joke about right-to-life folks.

Rabel said...

"...not getting real-life feedback because he's not in a comedy club with real people in the audience..."

He was in front of a live crowd of college students at the 2022 TPUSA Student Action Summit.

The feedback sounded highly positive as well as real-life to me and the comedy was appropriate for the venue.

Here's the whole thing.

Big Mike said...

Good tactics. If Gaetz is against a group of disgusting people then a portion of the left of center feel compelled to embrace them. But these are toxic people, and embracing toxic people can only lead to the toxins spreading into the formerly non-toxic. Winner: Gaetz, by appearing to be the less toxic.

The contrast between these harridans and my beautiful daughters in law when they announced their pregnancies is quite remarkable. Would any of you care to defend the notion that these women would make good wives and mothers?

Michael K said...

Back when I was racing sailboats we used to compete with an obnoxious guy who was bald as a cueball. My crew called him "The prick with ears."

He's not going to get the NYT's Althouse voter no matter what he says or does. Besides he's just telling the truth, most feminists are lesbians, or very low on the attractive meter.

Yup. Those abortion demonstrators look like the tavern in Star Wars.

Rabel said...

Also, Gaetz may not be as stupid as he seems. The "mix in a salad" line was well delivered and didn't fit with the broader, cruder, shoutier humor he was using.

It had a touch of Woody that clashed with the Dice.

FullMoon said...

Coincidentally I earlier saw a photo of a mob of pro-abortionists and most looked pretty normal to me, except for the angry wide open mouth thing.

Seemed familiar, then I realized they left the pussy hats at home.

Does anybody think the pussy hats have been discarded, or put away in the closet with other trophies?

Or, are they on display in glass cases where visitors can admire and as reminder of glory days?

Achilles said...

Ann Althouse said...

Trump praises beautiful people but he doesn’t disrespect the unbeautiful.

He makes the unbeautiful feel included and loved.


How often does Trump "Punch down?"

I will admit to not listening to him much but my intuition is he doesn't go after the the meek.

The people that Trump insulted were generally the Beautiful People that Ann wants to join. Most of those people have very thin skin and are bullies. People like Joy Behar and Whoopi Goldberg and Rosie Odonell. People elevated above their talent level by the Oligarchs that control the media.

Achilles said...

Sally327 said...

Oh, give me a break. A man will f*ck anything. A man will f*ck a snake if someone hold its mouth open. The idea that men will only screw attractive females, that may be true for billionaires and celebrities.

Even with those men it may not always be the case either because as some football star is reported to have said when explaining why he picked up some bar broad and took her home for the night, "It's 2 AM and Miss America ain't walking in..."

A man will f*ck anything. Otherwise the vast majority of them would never get laid.



Really the same goes for women.

Eventually the need to pass on genes will take over. But women are much more committed to the act of procreation so they start out necessarily more picky.

But men and women both end up doing the same thing. Men go for physical attractiveness and settle for what they can get.

Women try to lock down the male with the highest status in society. Often they can only get a high status male to have sex with them. They often fail to get him to help raise the kid and settle for a "thumb" low status male to be the provider.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Most people don't realize - The Flaming Lips top hit.

Narr said...

The "men will fuck anything" trope is interesting. Besides the fact that it's not true, it sounds like the complaint of a woman scorned, and/or one who resents having to compete against other women.

I turned down a quite attractive grad student, for one. She was wiry, athletic, dark, and intense (the opposite of my wife in all respects) but she lived with cats and I politely declined her offer of a drink after giving her a ride home one afternoon. I could barely breathe or see with her in the car, she carried so much dander on her clothes.

To be honest, every guy does know guys who will fuck anything, and they are generally treated as jokes.

effinayright said...

Sally327 said...
Oh, give me a break. A man will f*ck anything. A man will f*ck a snake if someone hold its mouth open. The idea that men will only screw attractive females, that may be true for billionaires and celebrities.

A man will f*ck anything. Otherwise the vast majority of them would never get laid.
************************

Thing is, Sally, it wasn't that long ago when actually getting a woman into bed was a real challenge.

Men haven't changed, but it's the women who have gone Full Skank.

Never go Full Skank.

Gusty Winds said...

Althouse said...He [Trump] makes the unbeautiful feel included and loved.

You're right. He does. And he loves the "poorly educated " too. Was mocked for that one.

This must be why the self proclaimed "beautiful people" and the credentialed hate him so much.

Ampersand said...

The abortion "debate", like some other current political controversies, brings out the worst in quite a few people. Honest people can disagree. I put the word debate in scare quotes because, in contrast to a debate in which a line of argument is supposed to be opposed by another line of argument, we have skew lines of emotionalism that encounter no opposition as they zoom outwards toward infinity.

One question that should be asked, and that is subject to empirical analysis, is this: how many women who want abortions in the prohibitionist states will be unable to obtain an abortion elsewhere? I suspect that the number is very small. A related question, and one that is harder to answer, is, how many women have been or will be influenced to not have an abortion by the moral climate in the prohibitionist states? Quite a bit of the advocacy around this issue seems to center upon the contrasting cultural/moral visions of those who wish to normalize fetus killing, and those who wish to stigmatize it. The people seeking stigmatization are trying to influence women's "voluntary" choices.

Jason said...

Oh, lighten up, harpies!



We all remember Trigglypuff, and I'm tired of pretending we don't.

Jason said...

Say, do you think libtards ever make shitty remarks about overweight MAGA in flyover states? Any at all?

Maybe something about the Olive Garden, perhaps?

n.n said...

Performing human rites to relieve voluntary "burdens" is an ethical imperative for social, redistributive, clinical, political, and fair weather causes.

Michael K said...

The people that Trump insulted were generally the Beautiful People that Ann wants to join. Most of those people have very thin skin and are bullies. People like Joy Behar and Whoopi Goldberg and Rosie Odonell. People elevated above their talent level by the Oligarchs that control the media.

Yes, I can't recall anyone that he attacked, or even criticized who had not started the argument. The John McCain exchange began with McCain calling Trump supporters "Crazies" Trump's response was correct about McCain's battle record but excessive considering that McCain could have been released by the NV and refused so as not to embarrass his father.

Jim at said...

If you look at the pictures of the ones doing the screaming, it's hard to argue he's wrong.

Ann Althouse said...

"the Beautiful People that Ann wants to join"

What's that about? Achilles is doing a lot of "mind-reading" that really only reveals something about himself.

What "beautiful people" could I be trying to join? The beautiful people I want to know are already close to me in my life.

Mark said...

Sally is not that far off. Neither is Seinfeld.

Look around and you'll see a lot of not particularly attractive people -- ourselves included. Yet look a bit longer and you'll see them lugging around kids.

Then again, one's idea of attractive changes over time. Still, there are very few truly "beautiful" people, at least in human estimation. Lots of unattractive, some pretty, some cute, some lovely, some sexy (some frankly rather unattractive but still have some animal sexual magneticism about them - reds are often that way), some stunning, and just a few beautiful.

God sees those same people we call ugly and beholds the beauty of all creation. We need to learn to see as God sees.

Mark said...

One question that should be asked, and that is subject to empirical analysis, is this: how many women who want abortions in the prohibitionist states will be unable to obtain an abortion elsewhere?

The bigger question that should be asked - but rarely is - is how many women do NOT want abortions, but who get them because they feel that that is their only practical option? Who get ZERO support from friends, family, job, school, society, government if they would rather have/keep the baby? (Of course, pro-life pregnancy centers try to provide some measure of financial/material/emotional/spiritual support, but they too are dependent upon others supporting them.)

Tom T. said...

Joel McHale on "The Soup," his old show making fun of reality TV, referred to Mama June, Honey Boo-Boo's mother, as looking like a thumb.

https://images.app.goo.gl/ACfze4FfZ5Pzmu988

baghdadbob said...

Narr...

C'mon man!

You know that absent your allergies, you would have been in there for that "drink," and all that that implies.

Greg The Class Traitor said...

But notice there's a big difference between Gaetz's joke and Carlin's — and I don't mean that Carlin's was a quarter century earlier and I don't mean Carlin's forthright "fuck" and Gaetz's creepy "impregnate." Carlin did not say why you wouldn't want to have sex with those women. Gaetz was explicit that he was talking about looks. Carlin might have been referring to personality, to intelligence, to religion, or to the way they speak and behave (as well as to looks).

Gaetz was explicit that he was talking about looks. Carlin was pretending that he wasn't.

FIFY

What Gaetz is talking about is the vast number of pictures form pro-abortion rallies where the women doing the "protesting" are all people that normal people look at and think "you don't need to worry about that".

Now, he could be the kind of bigot who assumes that women who are ugly on the outside are also ugly on the inside.

Or he could simply assume that everyone who disagrees with him is ugly on the inside.

But instead he goes with what can easily be observed

Which I think makes him better than Carlin.

Mikey NTH said...

I'm sort of the anti-Adonis these days so I know I am not the great catch and would be lucky to score a six, but from the pictures of protesters I have seen I would have to be near black-out drunk to procreate with the bulk of the female-presenting protestors I have seen.

The Tangerine Tornado said...

I'd say "leave the comedy to the professionals", though with a few notable exceptions the professional comedians today aren't that funny either.

Mikey NTH said...

Narr at 12:42

That is true. Despite my usual desperation I have turned down some women just because the sense that something was way off.

farmgirl said...

Yeah, I don’t think Gaetz is good looking.
Did we agree weasel was the word to use?

I’m sure good people have had an abortion- I’m sure they thought they had to. No other choice…
I wish those people would, if they could find it in their heart- advocate the use of proLife centers.

Narr said...

Some people get it. Without the allergies, yes, it was quite likely--but one of the points is that she was pretty hot, not easy to refuse. There were others who were very easy to dismiss.

I hasten to add that she was NOT my student. I was running the library at the highly-rated audiology and speech pathology graduate program and clinic, and a grad student myself (history) at night.



What's emanating from your penumbra said...

Sally327 said...

A man will f*ck anything. Otherwise the vast majority of them would never get laid.


lol at the own goal

Inga said...

Matt Gaetz looks like Butthead from Beavis and Butthead.

effinayright said...

Blogger What's emanating from your penumbra said...
Sally327 said...

A man will f*ck anything. Otherwise the vast majority of them would never get laid.


lol at the own goal
***********

You moron! You just told us that every woman is willing to screw to let anyone, including LOSERS.

But a definition of a loser is a guy who can't get any woman to have sex with him.

My spidey Sense tells me you are in that latter category.

veni vidi vici said...

"...a very old idea about feminists: They're the women who are so unattractive that they can't succeed in the traditional feminine way, which is ... to say "Nobody wants to fuck you.""

For someone who watches a lot of Tik-tok as you evidently do since you've recently started a daily "Best of" feature about the platform, you sure seem ignorant of the fact that so many of the most vociferous "feminists" online look like extras from unaired episodes of "The Unfuckables".

Where the hell have you been? It might be "a very old idea" but it's still got a lot more currency than politesse might suggest is proper to notice. That is emphatically not Gaetz-putz's fault. He's only saying what anyone unwed-to-The-Narrative who's watched a few "Libs of Tik-tok" tweets is probably thinking.

Rusty said...

You know what makes a woman attractive? Attitude and a sense of humor. You see those screeching broads protesting? She could look like a ten but I wouldn't fuck her with your dick.

Tina Trent said...

Gaetz is a dirtbag in a 20+ R district with lots of socially conservative retired veterans. From his cocaine parties to his powerful political daddy to his indicted inner circle, he is the GOP version of Hunter Biden. He has two primary opponents, both decorated veterans. Too bad it isn't just one. Two will split the serious voters, and Gaetz's non-resident followers may help push him over the top.

M Jordan said...

I know humor is subjective and all but is Joe Rogan really a stand-up comic? Because I don’t find him funny at all. Not even a little bit.

In other news, Samantha Bee’s program got canceled. Now there’s a woman who was never, ever funny. She makes Joe Rogan look like Steve Martin. Hell, she makes John Bolton seem like Groucho Marx.

Rollo said...

Gaetz is worse in the audio than on the printed page. Even if you don't mind his comment, his delivery is cringeworthy. You can slip in things in an understated way, but when you go as far over the top as Gaetz did, it's hard to take.

Rusty said...

You know what makes a woman attractive? Attitude and a sense of humor. You see those screeching broads protesting? She could look like a ten but I wouldn't fuck her with your dick.