December 23, 2022

"In the weeks while the House select committee to investigate the insurrection at the Capitol was finishing its report, Donald Trump, the focus of its inquiry, betrayed no sense of alarm or self-awareness...."

So begins "The Devastating New History of the January 6th Insurrection/The House report describes both a catastrophe and a way forward" by David Remnick, in The New Yorker.

I'm not reading this article. (It would take a lot to get me to read a January 6th article at this point.) I just thought that was a very funny sentence.

What would it take for Donald Trump to "betray" a "sense" of "alarm" or "self-awareness"? Why doesn't David Remnick betray a sense of alarm or self-awareness? Are we, generally, supposed to betray a sense of alarm or self-awareness? Is that something good people do? I guess it's something guilty people do, if they're good people who are not good at being guilty.

But it's just hilarious to imagine a Donald Trump who: 1. Feels that he is guilty and 2. Cannot cover up his feeling. How would we even begin to recognize such a creature to be Donald Trump?

I'm considering becoming the blogger who finds articles that I refuse to read, then reading just the first sentence, and blogging that and only that.

83 comments:

Cappy said...

Bill of Attainder now! Because alleged feelings!

BUMBLE BEE said...

You're doing fine with your "new way forward" right now. Spearing pompous ass left and right.
What Would Monty Python Do? See Althouse Blog!

Achilles said...

I'm considering becoming the blogger who finds articles that I refuse to read, then reading just the first sentence, and blogging that and only that.

This might give you a chance to expand to some "trashy" stuff.

Stuff that has actually been accurate over the last 10 years and not just New York/DC political clique propaganda.

Michael K said...

Trump has been fending off ankle biters for years. Why would these cartoon villains be any different?

Enigma said...

The left 'disqualified' Trump multiple times in 2016. No different now.

Did they not learn the story of Chicken Little when young?

Did they not learn the story of The Boy Who Cried Wolf?

Ho hum. Trump Delusion Syndrome will be over only when someone on the left prosecutes someone on the left for something they admit to be wrong.

FleetUSA said...

Your proposal sounds like fun...for a while. Try it.

Virgil Hilts said...

I'm sure someone already posted this here, but loved this from Scott Adams a few days ago:

"The Jan6th Committee reminds America that we can never again allow a small band of unarmed protesters to conquer the largest military power in the history of human civilization by sauntering through the Capitol rotunda and taking selfies.
We were so close to losing everything."

RNB said...

Remnick is sure in his heart that Donald Trump is guilty of -- something -- and cannot imagine that Donald Trump has any differing opinion. (Remnick's imagination seems somewhat limited.)

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

An Insurrection without weaponry. Cool.

Dave Begley said...

I watched a bit of an interview with that worm Remnick on MSNBC last night. The MSNBC person was just sucking up to him so much. I think it was the detestable Ari Melber.

Melber and the equally detestable Chris Hayes are being sued in Nebraska federal court for defamation. I read the Complaint. Clear case of liability. The Plaintiff is a gay conservative named Brandon Stratka. He lives in Omaha now and leads the Walk Away movement.

The prayer is for $25m. I hope the jury gives him that. MSNBC needs to pay for its sloppiness and lies.

Case might get moved to NYC based upon the precedent of Higgins v. Kentucky Sports Radio, but I hope not. The cases are distinguishable.

Amadeus 48 said...

Thank you for NOT reading this article. Now, I don't have to read it either.



Charlie said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

“Devastating new history” is breathless yellow journalism and that writer should be ashamed to peddle such propaganda bullshit and call it “news.” The only news made this week regarding January 2021 is that on the 20th of that month Biden peacefully took office with a welcome letter of stunning graciousness from Trump, who peacefully transferred the office and his well wishes. That new news conflicts with this DNC hack’s old news that democrats still endeavor to blame Trump for an insurrection that didn’t happen, executed by unarmed tourists who have not been accused of insurrection. I’m having trouble deciding if this article is misinformation, disinformation or simply an unattributed FBI quote.

But really who cares what they say about Trump?

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

I endorse the new Althouse approach. Why not?

Dave Begley said...

Remnick and the MSNBC clown have a blood lust for Trump. They won't be satisfied until he's in jail.

JaimeRoberto said...

"I'm considering becoming the blogger who finds articles that I refuse to read, then reading just the first sentence, and blogging that and only that."

Isn't that what most bloggers do? It certainly applies to most tweeters and much of the news.

Rockeye said...

"I'm considering becoming the blogger who finds articles that I refuse to read, then reading just the first sentence, and blogging that and only that."

This is quite nearly my exact experience with almost all of modern media.

Narr said...

First sentence blogging sounds like a good use of all our time.

My impression is that very few commenters read the NYT or WaPo on their own, and only a few at the Prof's prompting.

Go for it.

Ron Winkleheimer said...

Someone like Trump is so far outside the experience of a writer for the New Yorker that he might as well be be an alien from outer-space. An arachnid formed alien who communicates using scent and dance, kind of like a hybrid of ants and bees.

JAORE said...

"... betrayed no sense of alarm or self-awareness."

Lot of that going around. A fair bit in the New Yorker.

Iman said...

As has been said much more eloquently, fuck these people.

Jeff Weimer said...

They are absolutely certain that all of this incontinent, breathless assertion actually means something to people who have eyes to see and their own judgement. They think that invoking all these emotionally charged word like "coup" and "insurrection" will magically make them real somehow and not only prosecutable, but no-questions-we-must put Him in prison.

typingtalker said...

Perhaps David Remnick was looking for something more like this ...

The Bible records many instances of rending the clothes after the news of death. When Jacob saw Joseph's coat of many colors drenched with what he thought to be his son's blood, he rent his garments. Likewise, David tore his clothes when he heard of the death of King Saul, and Job, who knew grief so well, stood up and rent his mantle.

Keriah - The Rending of Garments

retail lawyer said...

"I'm considering becoming the blogger who finds articles that I refuse to read, then reading just the first sentence, and blogging that and only that."

Good idea. I don't want you to burn out. After that article by Jong-Fast about Chlamydia I was wondering how much of this you were good for. The first sentence is all you need in most cases anyway.

ccscientist said...

How would the writer detect what he claims to detect? From trump's tweets? Or did he have breakfast with trump?
So the DOJ is now able to prosecute trump for...what exactly? orangemanbad? Is that in the penal code?

Lucien said...

Was there anyone on that committee who didn’t vote to impeach Trump after he was out of office? Was there anyone on that committee who would not have voted for a criminal referral on the first day it met? Trump knew that, but then he’s no David Remnick.

rcocean said...

Its incredible how many lies and half-truths you can pack into one sentence. The amazing thing about the Demorats and the MSM liberal/left is how they will adopt a "party line" and it doesn't matter if its a lie or a half-truth, or is unsupported by facts. They see it as a weapon to destroy their enemy, and will chant and repeat it endlessly.

Conservatives just don't have the energy (or the high boredom threshold) to keep pushing back and endlessly rebutting it over and over. So, the propaganda gets believed. I don't know how to solve this. what did citizens in the old USSR do?

JPS said...

Among our dogs we have a Shih Tzu. He is old, and missing many teeth. He is a loving dog now, but he had been abused and it took him a long time to learn to trust us. He particularly mistrusted me.

There were times early on when he tried to kill me. Don't get me wrong: I was never in any danger. But he was sincere, and he did his completely ineffectual best.

My family laughs now when I refer to his attempts to kill me. This is about how seriously I take references to The Insurrection. It was a disgraceful business, but it came about that close to succeeding. It was a tantrum, with a plan as well developed and thought out as the Underpants Gnomes'.

Kate said...

Trump didn't confess and beg forgiveness, in other words. Will these people ever recognize the pale religious imitation they're practicing? No, because that's something for the rubes. And they won't recognize that their religion has no absolution, which means they won't get, and shouldn't get, a confession.

Friendo said...

Subscribed.

Carol said...

I don't have cable but I do have streaming versions of the usual suspects. Which would be great but NBC, ABC, CNN just show these boring set pieces about J6 or climate change or race. All planned well in advance of course. We have something scheduled for this time slot, so no time for breaking news.

So it might as well be PBS for all I care.

At least Fox Live NOW shows things actually happening like disasters or press conferences etc.

M Jordan said...

Ann, you're reaching my stage where all I need is the headline. Who needs the drivel hackery that supports it? Not me. Not you either, anymore, it appears. Good.

Peglegged Picador said...

"I'm considering becoming the blogger who finds articles that I refuse to read, then reading just the first sentence, and blogging that and only that."

This would probably place you in closer alignment with the general audience you've cultivated...

Howard said...

I'm considering becoming the blogger who finds articles that I refuse to read, then reading just the first sentence, and blogging that and only that.

That's exactly my philosophy for the news of current events that are just sideshows to the main event. It helps you maintain an even strain. It can be difficult to accomplish, however, akin to fighting the urge to scratch a mosquito bite.

tim maguire said...

What would betraying a sense of alarm even look like? How does one betray alarm? Was alarm expecting you to do something? I suppose if we’re going to anthropomorphize alarm, then we could imagine alarm wanting you to feel it. If you don’t feel it, it feels betrayed. So, yeah, Trump is betraying a sense of alarm.

Or David Remnick is a shitty writer trying to manipulate his readers and their desire to condemn Trump.

gilbar said...

Our Professor said...
I'm considering becoming the blogger who finds articles that I refuse to read, then reading just the first sentence, and blogging that and only that.

I'd read that blog!!! But, if she didn't read any of the article; what would she blog on?

Joe Smith said...

Apparently, the name 'Wray' never appears in the report.

I wouldn't call that a thorough investigation...

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

Mike Wolf said ...

The only news made this week regarding January 2021 is that on the 20th of that month Biden peacefully took office with a welcome letter of stunning graciousness from Trump, who peacefully transferred the office and his well wishes.

Bolded - because that is very true and absent from any hack-D press reporting.

Iman said...

When hive-mind thinking and expression have so insidiously infected the Left, a one-sentence-read and dismissal becomes the order of the day.

Ann Althouse said...

“ This might give you a chance to expand to some "trashy" stuff.”

You really don’t get me. There would be no value in that. Only serious elite media is vulnerable to the form of amusement.

You seem to just want me to send clicks to bullshit you like.

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

The hivemind live in an alternate reality where armed insurrectionists stormed the Capitol, (after careful planning, mind you..) Then, these armed insurrectionists killed Nancy Pelosi and raped AOC - then hung Biden from a lamp-post. Trump never gave up his post, never left the White House, never wrote a nice letter for Biden, and Trump continues to reign terror! over our Dark Maga Nation...

(bonus - Trump kicks puppies and drinks Mikka and Joe's blood)

n.n said...

Audit the vote? Standing? Civil rights? Anti-American. Take a knee, beg, "donate".

One woman aborted in cold blood. Another kicked until she was no longer viable. A riot forced by Capitol and DC police with elements of Whitmer collusion. Hundreds of citizens held indefinitely following the American Spring.

Pelosi's poodles? Democrats are running an apartheid regime, the Mandela/Xhosa tribe of Western civilization in a bid to defeat their Zulu competitors. 50 shades of Kiev in a Slavic Spring.

who-knew said...

""I'm considering becoming the blogger who finds articles that I refuse to read, then reading just the first sentence, and blogging that and only that."
Just one step from this "We went right out there and refused to do acoustical versions of the electrical songs we that we had refused to record in the first place" Todd Snider - Talking Seattle Grunge Blues

narciso said...

It was animal house but the capital police killed at least two people

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

btw - I keep forgetting to ask/mention - when the Democrat Party press show images of J-6 - there's always lots of ominous smoke. Lots.. Anyone else think there was media photo-shop. would not be the first time.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
n.n said...

Only serious elite media is vulnerable to the form of amusement.

Irregularities, fraud, bigotry, cargo cult science? We are mortal gods and goddesses among the deplorables. Take a knee, beg for our handmade tales.

wendybar said...

Thomas Massie
@RepThomasMassie
January 6th committee to adjourn without fulfilling year old promise to release Epps transcript.

The one person on film telling people to go into the Capitol (multiple times) disappears from FBI list and is not even mentioned in the 845 page final report.

Rabel said...

It's a crowded field, but PJ Media has a spot waiting for you.

Narayanan said...

I have the impression that Trump's \/alarm for future of Nation/\ was quite explicitly vocal so why does this writer uses 'betray' to load Trump with guilt?

boatbuilder said...

Don't read just the first sentence! Then you'll be just like those of us who comment.

Yancey Ward said...

If someone had blown up the January 6th investigative committee with bomb, including all the staffers and media hanging on their every pronouncement, integrity and intelligence of the country would have been measurably increased by at least a few percentage points.

Yancey Ward said...

No, we just want you to stop reading bullshit yourself. You might be coming around, but you still feel the need to nose the ground in the pasture, though.

Lurker21 said...

This is the same David Remnick who was asked to compare Andrew Cuomo's COVID briefings with Donald Trump's and said simply "Truth versus mendacity." Is he aware now of how wrong he was then?

"Self-awareness" comes from encountering resistance or opposition. If you live in a self-contained bubble of like thinking people as the establishment media does and disparage and dismiss the views of those outside your bubble, you don't develop very much self-awareness.

boatbuilder said...

rcocean: "Conservatives just don't have the energy (or the high boredom threshold) to keep pushing back and endlessly rebutting it over and over. So, the propaganda gets believed. I don't know how to solve this. what did citizens in the old USSR do?"

A. Tried, as much as they could, to escape. B. Drank lots of cheap vodka.

PM said...

So last month. Trump is now Musk.

boatbuilder said...

Now the walls are really closing in! This time we got him! Really!

Liz Cheney, the designated spokesrep for this farce, made a BFD about the alleged claim that Trump did nothing but watch TV on 1/6. This after the committee's one major bombshell wall-to-wall coverage insider believe the woman witness testified that Trump tried to seize control of the Presidential Limo and drive up the Capitol steps or something, which was the worst thing ever, and which is the opposite of doing nothing.

One of these things isn't true. The evidence is that neither is true. But for chrissakes get your untrue stories straight.

boatbuilder said...

Also--a superhero is fully self-aware, but never betrays alarm.

Big Mike said...

You seem to just want me to send clicks to bullshit you like.

@Althouse, except it isn't bullshit. You might wish it was bullshit, but as John Adams once said, "Facts are stubborn things."

Big Mike said...

Shorter post: people who totally hate and despise Donald Trump do not understand why he is not bothered by their hatred.

Daniel12 said...

Here's hoping you don't do the not read thing, for so many reasons. That's what everyone does already. (Not least on this board -- "I don't read the NYT but am happy to comment on the paragraph from the article you excerpted!") It leads to exhausting negativity and snark -- and maybe a lot of cruel, not so much neutrality. It's kind of the opposite of one of your go-tos -- the extended, almost word by word analysis of some essays. And there's so much to read, so why is a little selection from the mountain of what you don't read worth digging in to regularly? (Especially if you're actually commenting on what you read -- which is the headline and one sentence.)

Owen said...

Ann: “… I'm considering becoming the blogger who finds articles that I refuse to read, then reading just the first sentence, and blogging that and only that.”

That’s a very crowded field, but I think you’d do well. In any case it would be fun to watch the trouble you’d stir up with your misreadings; which might be more accurate and perceptive than if you had gotten mired or seduced by the article in toto. We could lay bets on the way you got things right or wrong.

bobby said...

As I read the title here, I pictured a hulking rapist, towering over his intended victim, pulling out his tiny, infantile-looking penis and roaring "dammit, stop laughing!"

donald said...

“Serious”. Heh. “Elite”. The ones that will die the quickest.

Inga said...

“This might give you a chance to expand to some "trashy" stuff.”

We are already subjected to seeing your comments in these comments threads, that’s enough trashy stuff. We don’t need more.

Paddy O said...

"I'm considering becoming the blogger who finds articles that I refuse to read, then reading just the first sentence, and blogging that and only that"

You want to be like one of us Althouse commenters?

narciso said...

I read a fair amount of spy fiction and adventure stories this was a mishmash of homeland quantico scripts and discarded mitch rapp pitches possibly north patterson

Mr Wibble said...

Just one step from this "We went right out there and refused to do acoustical versions of the electrical songs we that we had refused to record in the first place" Todd Snider - Talking Seattle Grunge Blues

The she smashed her shit.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Basically, the first sentence says all you need to know 😉

Drago said...

boatbuilder: "This after the committee's one major bombshell wall-to-wall coverage insider believe the woman witness testified that Trump tried to seize control of the Presidential Limo and drive up the Capitol steps or something,..."

No no no!

According to our resident lunatic Inga, Trump "literally" grabbed the the Secret Service driver by the throat!!

LOL

The story gets better and better every time Inga opens her mouth!

I cant wait to see what the next embellishment/lie will be! It will almost certainly have to involve automatic weapons and grenade launchers!

Seriously, one does wonder where Inga picks up these idiotic details and how is it she lacks even a basic filter to not repeat them?

MadTownGuy said...

Seems to me it depends on the news outlet. With the NYT, WaPo, or LATimes, the headline usually sums up whatever propaganda is being served up. AP and Reuters, the same goes for the first few paragraphs, but the honest reporting sometimes shows up somewhere past the halfway point of the article. Sometimes. I've also seen the same AP article in two different newspapers with two different headlines, so it may be that the publisher writes the headline to its preference.

Howard said...

Lock him up.

tim in vermont said...

The problem with reading only the first few sentences is that the article often contradicts them later on; they count on you bailing. For instance that WaPo article with the headline “No conclusive evidence that the Russians blew up the pipeline,” when the article said that there was no evidence whatsoever, where the headline implied that there was some, just not enough.

tim in vermont said...

I call it twitterwashing, the summary presents a narrative friendly summary where the story may make some uncomfortable points. The article about Hillary illegally destroying records of her meetings with foreign officials sounds in the headline like she only violated protocols about burn bags.

It’s how they keep people like Howard on the reservation.

Lurker21 said...

I would be crueler, snarkier, and angrier if I actually read every article linked to here.

But I think you do give us something of an indication of which articles might be worth reading and which aren't. Sometimes, there's actual reporting and new information in an article, and sometimes the article is just opinion and a repetition of talking points. If there's no real substance to the articles, reading them through and taking more time to come up a response than the writers took writing the article seems like a waste of time. Sometimes people who do read the articles simply pick up on the little signs the writer puts out that attract people who agree and repel people who disagree and don't come up with anything truer or deeper than what the non-readers have to offer.

Sorting out the wheat from the chaff is not always a pleasant task, but I'm glad that someone is doing it.

Butkus51 said...

Kind of like how Lebron James reads books. Only the first few pages are interesting to the cameras.

Butkus51 said...

Kind of like how Lebron James reads books. Only the first few pages are interesting to the cameras.

But really, who is Ray Epps?

narciso said...

I first was introduced to remnick when covered russia in the yeltsin era how much of that narrative was true

Achilles said...

Ann Althouse said...
“ This might give you a chance to expand to some "trashy" stuff.”

You really don’t get me. There would be no value in that. Only serious elite media is vulnerable to the form of amusement.

You seem to just want me to send clicks to bullshit you like.


You really don't get me.

I just want you to get out of the bubble you have lived in your whole life.

That stupid little bubble we have all been forced to live in by a bunch of Oligarchs for the last 50 years.

There is a wide world out there. There is definitely some trashy stuff out there but there is also some real information out there and there is crazy shit going on outside the overton window you cling to.

You could also stop condescending to the people you don't know and don't understand.

But I don't want to ask too much.

Ambrose said...

I woke up his morning and wondered - "What does David Remnick think about Jan6 - there's a fresh perspective I'd like to read."

Tina Trent said...

David Remnick has so many published lies to hide, he really should watch what he says about other people.

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

The hivemind live in an alternate reality where armed insurrectionists stormed the Capitol, (after careful planning, mind you..) Then, these armed insurrectionists killed Nancy Pelosi, raped AOC - then hung Biden from a lamp-post. Trump then grabbed the steering wheel, zoomed the secret service limo up the Capitol steps and took out granny and little Peggy Sue, and hundreds of others, too. (thankfully - Roy Epps was spared.) Trump never left the White House, never wrote a nice letter to Biden, and he continues his reign terror over our Dark Maga Nation... (Tonight on PBS news/Trump-obsession report)

(bonus - Trump kicks puppies and drinks Mikka and Joe's blood)

John Sullivan who?

*updated.*