April 23, 2023

"I have never spoken to [Dylan Mulvaney], nor will I. I try to be, for the LGBT community, the adult in the room. She is not."

"She is bouncing around all over the place. I have nothing in common with her. The fringe is the worst thing that can happen to the trans community and the media only wants to report on that because of the sensationalization of it and honestly that’s got to stop."

Said Caitlyn Jenner, quoted in The NY Post.

Jenner also weighed in on Trump '24: "I think Trump is going to win this thing… He is a great man and he did tremendous things for this country.... We need an adult in the room and that adult right now is Donald Trump and that’s just kind of the way I feel right now."

She likes that word "adult." But that's a high level of generality. If you make looking for the adults your guiding principle, good luck finding your way around America.

I retreat to the OED. Here's the relevant definition, 2b: "Mature in attitude, outlook, behaviour, etc.; emotionally and mentally grown-up." There's a historical example from 1927 that I assure you I read only after writing the previous paragraph:

"It is a widely-held notion in Europe..that the American is not adult, that he remains all his life a child."

61 comments:

RideSpaceMountain said...

"I try to be, for the LGBT community, the adult in the room."

Finally. Proof the lgbt community is a movement filled with and aimed at children. Hey Jenner, your transvestite pervert adult ass in the room with anything OTHER THAN adults is the problem.

Have your people tried going back in the closet? Give it some thought...

tim maguire said...

A lot of the people on social media who like to talk about somebody being the adult in the room are immature; it’s just an empty phrase they use to prop up the person they like.

While I can understand someone still favouring Trump, it’s hard to see how he is the adult in the room. An adult, to my mind, is calm and reasonable. Respectful. Measured. Trump is none of those things. He’s a loose cannon who likes to keep his opponents off balance with outrageous statements.

Meade said...

I’ll bet that widely-held notion became less widely-held after Americans saved Europe from nazism and facism.

Crimso said...

Did the OED really misgender the US?

wild chicken said...

Yeah funny to see Trump described as the "adult" but his realism on entitlements and foreign wars ought to get him some kinda props.

Blastfax Kudos said...

Bruce Jenner said, "The fringe is the worst thing that can happen to the trans community and the media only wants to report on that because of the sensationalization of it and honestly that’s got to stop."

Is that real? Dude, you are the fringe. The media only wants to report on that because you crave the absolute worst aspects of infamy and behave like toddlers throwing a temper tantrum without sufficient attention paid to you. Drag quuens are dressing up as demons to read childrens books. At every opportunity the queer community works overtime to illicit disgust and revulsion.

You posed as an abomination on magazine covers. Kindly go fuck yourself.

Breezy said...

“the media only wants to report on that because of the sensationalization of it and honestly that’s got to stop.“

“He’s a loose cannon who likes to keep his opponents off balance with outrageous statements.“

Chicken and egg.

Iman said...

Meade at 7:59am… we’ll said, sir!

Drago said...

Tim Maguire: "An adult, to my mind, is calm and reasonable. Respectful. Measured. Trump is none of those things."

An "adult", in the political sense, instinctively "gets it" when it comes to recognizing fundamental truths and speaking for policies that reflect that truth.

Something the "calm, reasonable, respectful, measured" crew long ago abandoned on their way to completely corrupting our systems in order to profit themselves immensely.

Not to worry though. Both Jeb! and Mitt are tanned rested and ready to go for those who wish for a return to the recent past.

Political Junkie said...

Trump adult behavior - Killing the Iranian SOB (Soleimani) that plotted numerous attacks against American soldiers against the wishes of the elites. Robin Wright (reporter) worried the next day there would be World War 3. Boy was she wrong. Strong horse move by Trump. Ike might have done it. Reagan would not have, IMO.

Trump childish/immoral behavior - 50% of the time.

Drago said...

wild chicken: "Yeah funny to see Trump described as the "adult" but his realism on entitlements and foreign wars ought to get him some kinda props."

I'm afraid not since he wont stop tweeting mean things and he wont surrender to the globalists. When you tweet mean things and wont surrender to the globalists thats much more important than policy prescriptions to many.

Martin said...

It is interesting that the European considers the American never an adult.
The European is the one who's Health care and Retirement are guaranteed by the government.
The European is protected from bad ideas by only having freeish Speech. They are so adult they are not trusted to have a weapon. There are dozens of thing where Europeans are treated like children by their government. Our government would like to do that and does so in a lot of ways but in several ways they are prevented by a constitution that says we are adults and have rights.

boatbuilder said...

What is the OED definition of "woman?"

Michael said...

From a European point of view, Americans are indeed not entirely grown up. They (we) retain a childlike sense of wonder, optimism, and possibility that the ancient cultures have "grown" out of. But childlike is not childish, so be it ever so. Each stage of life has its wisdom, which should be brought forward, not supplanted.

Kai Akker said...

America was a lot younger a country a century ago in 1927. And Americans traveling abroad brought with them many of the youthful, hopeful, and optimistic attitudes that our society and its growing power and prosperity had engendered. Maybe there was a streak of naivete, a la Daisy Miller, too. To some that might seem a trifle childish -- their word.

That stood in stark contrast to the resignation of the Europeans. The consequence of which was inevitably cynicism, envy, and their offspring, resentment. A century later Europe as it existed then is on its way to extinction. Their mature destination.

John henry said...

He likes the word adult.

Caitlin Jenner is not a she and never will be. Unlike tootsie mulvaney, he is definitely the real deal believing and acting act if he is a woman.

Tootsie, like his namesake, is (probably) just an actor playing a role, like Rupaul.

I used to play along with the pronoun nonsense . I've had enough. No more. Especially for people like Caitlin and tootsie who are not even committed enough to chop their meat.

I have no problem at all with them pretending. My problem is with them wanting to pretend along.

"Shut up already. It's science!" - Dr Kiki

John Henry

Butkus51 said...

adults eat ice cream and caress little kids

who knew?

Dave Begley said...

Good one, Meade.

How did the adult Ann Althouse like it?

hombre said...

"If you make looking for the adults your guiding principle, good luck finding your way around America."

There are lots of adults in America, just not so many on college campuses or in college towns, which are Democrat/Marxist enclaves.

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

Martin said...

It is interesting that the European considers the American never an adult.
The European is the one who's Health care and Retirement are guaranteed by the government.


Let's call it what it is; it's not Europeans in general, it's the goddamn French.

Bob Boyd said...

I don't know about all that other stuff, but Ima guess Dylan Mulvaney's paying less for car insurance.

Bob Boyd said...

Also from the Post article:

The beef has been simmering for months and began long before Mulvaney’s string of brand-name endorsement deals. In October 2022, Jenner took issue with Mulvaney’s campaign to “normalize the bulge” — a reference to “women” who have male genitalia.

“Dylan …congrats you’re trans with a penis,” Jenner snapped in a tweet.

“I am glad the position I am at today that I can be a voice of reason about what is going on out there,” Jenner told The Post.


So Dylan Mulvaney is basically telling those who think they might be trans not to rush out and cut off their genitals? And Jenner, as "the voice of reason" is opposed to that?

Draw your own conclusions.

Bob Boyd said...

Mulvaney’s campaign to “normalize the bulge"

I do believe this Mulvaney character is more conservative than Romney or Cheney or anybody at the Bulwark. At least he can point to something he's actually conserving.

If keeping your package ain't conservative, I don't know what is.

Inga said...

To classify Trump as an adult is pretty damn childish.

Curious George said...

"Meade said...
I’ll bet that widely-held notion became less widely-held after Americans saved Europe from nazism and facism."

For a few years at best other than England. And it's more than WWII, they have lived under the safety of our military might for over seven decades.

Tofu King said...

How long are we going to keep talking about trans issues and people? Seems this is the dominant topic on Althouse and most other media. I think we've talked it all out.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

Tim Maguire said:
"An adult, to my mind, is calm and reasonable. Respectful. Measured. Trump is none of those things."

On top of that, Trump is a dick-stepping, trap-walking, ponzi-political televangelist ... Like never before.

Not to worry tho - according to Drag queen - Jeb! and Romney will soon announce their 2024 presidential bids.

AMDG said...

Ricky Gervais

“ "I’ve changed. Not as much as Bruce Jenner, obviously … now Caitlyn Jenner. What a year she’s had. She became a role model for trans people everywhere, showing great bravery in breaking down barriers and destroying stereotypes. She didn’t do a lot for women drivers, but you can't have everything, can you?"

Brian McKim and/or Traci Skene said...

Another widely held notion is that Europeans can go f*** themselves.

Sebastian said...

"The fringe is the worst thing that can happen to the trans community"

Isn't trans fringe to begin with?

"honestly that’s got to stop."

Fringiness is too useful to exploit in the culture war.

"We need an adult in the room and that adult right now is Donald Trump"

Funny, in a Trumpian way.

Michael K said...

The tranny thing has been beaten here for so long it ought to be dead.

Wince said...

Other than identifying in political rhetoric the actual crimes of his political opponents, did Trump ever actually weaponize law enforcement against his political enemies?

Did Trump have clear eyes on who are America's adversaries?

I think it's in those respects and others that Jenner sees Trump as the "adult" in the room.

JK Brown said...

Let us consider the America of 1927 in contrast to the bureaucratic Europe:

HIGH-BROWS turn up their noses at Horatio Alger’s philosophy. Yet Alger succeeded better than anybody else in stressing the most characteristic point of capitalist society. Capitalism is a system under which everybody has the chance of acquiring wealth; it gives everybody unlimited opportunity. Not everybody, of course, is favored by good luck. Very few become millionaires. But everybody knows that strenuous effort and nothing less than strenuous effort pays. All roads are open to the smart youngster. He is optimistic in the awareness of his own strength. He has self-confidence and is full of hope. And as he grows older and realizes that many of his plans have been frustrated, he has no cause for despair. His children will start the race again and he does not see any reason why they should not succeed where he himself failed. Life is worth living because it is full of promise.

All this was literally true of America. In old Europe there still survived many checks inherited from the ancien régime. Even in the prime of liberalism, aristocracy and officialdom were struggling for the maintenance of their privileges. But in America there were no such remnants of the Dark Ages. It was in this sense a young country, and it was a free country. Here were neither industrial codes nor guilds. Thomas Alva Edison and Henry Ford did not have to overcome any obstacles erected by shortsighted governments and a narrow-minded public opinion.
--von Mises, Ludwig (1945). Bureaucracy

On can see that the European buried in their ancien regime would consider the American less mature in their optimism for the future. Or course today, we have the strangling hand of managerialism crushing America as well.

hstad said...

"...An adult, to my mind, is calm and reasonable..."

Ah, I don't believe that "..An Adult..." is many times the opposite. All of us pushing such comments are living in fantasyland. We are after all 'Human Beings' who are anything but "...calm and reasonable.."

JAORE said...

Part of my trouble with Trump is he's got a (childish) need to win each and every situation in life then crow about his power.

Biden? He is deep into his second childhood...

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

The wankers are democrats like Dowd and Trump - bashing DeSantis.

Same team... those wankers.

TeaBagHag said...

Trannies for Trump is a lonely little club. MAGAts mostly think you are a revolting abomination.
You go girl!

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

If Trump would start acting like an adult, and stop crapping on his own team, I might come back.
I hold out no hope. Trump is team D, all the way.

Godot said...

'The adult in the room'

A phrase everyone instantly understands and often thinks of themselves.
I'd call that simple and relatable communication.


William said...

VP Cheney had tons of gravitas and always seemed older than anyone else in the room. That didn't stop him from being wrong about a fair number of things, but you got the impression that he was acting out his ponderings and not his impulses. I guess that's a plus. Trump was less wrong than Cheney about some issues, but you got the sense that he was acting out his impulses. It's probably better to be lucky rather than smart, and, for sure, it's better to be right than wrong.

Freder Frederson said...

Hasn't Caitlan Jenner spent many years hanging out with the Kardashians and appearing on their insipid television show? Which has done more to degrade the culture than the most outrageous drag show.

Her claiming the moral and adult high ground is just precious!

Indigo Red said...

I have never met an actual definitional adult. All those claiming adult status are larger, more dangerous versions of children pretending to be grown-ups. The major difference is that children are ignorant and eager to learn. Adults are just dumb as stumps and prefer life that way.

Drago said...

Political Junkie: "Trump adult behavior - Killing the Iranian SOB (Soleimani) that plotted numerous attacks against American soldiers against the wishes of the elites. Robin Wright (reporter) worried the next day there would be World War 3. Boy was she wrong. Strong horse move by Trump. Ike might have done it. Reagan would not have, IMO.

Trump childish/immoral behavior - 50% of the time."

I might quibble with the percentages, but the point is well taken.

JHapp said...

"... that’s got to stop." Bruce, please go to China.

Joe Smith said...

The LGB had better divorce themselves from the T ASAP or they will be tarred with the same 'insanity' brush.

tim maguire said...

hstad said...
"...An adult, to my mind, is calm and reasonable..."

Ah, I don't believe that "..An Adult..." is many times the opposite.


If you mean an adult as someone over the age of 17, but that’s not what people mean when talk about someone being the adult in the room.

I see my comment referenced by a lot of people, and not one gave much thought to what I was saying.

Daniel12 said...

Get off my lawn, 73 year old says to 26 year old.

Kevin said...

Children want an "adult" in charge who "saves" them from imaginary threats while fulfilling childish fantasies.

Real adults want someone in charge who enables them to meaningfully contribute while not adding to their burdens.

phantommut said...

Give the old decathlete credit; he's not afraid to take fire from both sides, because s/he's going to be RIPPED by the Righteous Left for leaving the plantation.

John henry said...

In February 2015 Jenner caused a 4 car crash with 1 death and several serious injuries. He was facing some criminal charges including iirc potential jail time.

He gave the victims $800m plus legal fees and medical expenses and the criminal charges went away.

In June 2015 in the midst of his legal woes he came out as a trans.

A cynic might think he used his pretend womanhood and trans victimhood to gain sympathy from the court.

I'm not that cynical myself. Most days, anyway.

So do people like mulvaney and Jenner get better car insurance rates when they legally claim to be women?

John Henry

Michael K said...

Blogger Wince said...

Other than identifying in political rhetoric the actual crimes of his political opponents, did Trump ever actually weaponize law enforcement against his political enemies?

Did Trump have clear eyes on who are America's adversaries?

I think it's in those respects and others that Jenner sees Trump as the "adult" in the room.


I agree but he has slipped lately.

Quaestor said...

"It is a widely-held notion in Europe..that the American is not adult, that he remains all his life a child."

Widely-held. I made a lengthy comment about weasel words recently and the trustworthiness of what follows them. I would like to have heard the honest opinions of those soit-disant European adults after surveying the wreckage in 1945. One would think adults could take a lesson from 1914-18.

"Trump childish/immoral behavior - 50% of the time" With Biden, Obama, any Clinton, and all of their parasites, it's closer to 100%.

Anna Keppa said...

Indigo Red said...
"I have never met an actual definitional adult. All those claiming adult status are larger, more dangerous versions of children pretending to be grown-ups. The major difference is that children are ignorant and eager to learn. Adults are just dumb as stumps and prefer life that way."

You absolve yourself of being like all those you've met.....amirite?

IOW In all the rooms you've ever been in, only YOU are the adult in the room.

I have to say, you speak very well of yourself!

Perhaps someone will introduce you to the Dunning-Kruger effect.

Estoy_Listo said...

In the late 60's / early 70's Walter Carlos bagged three Grammy awards for Switched On Bach. (What an album!) When Walter became Wendy in the later 70's, no one seemed to care. Economist Deirdre McCloskey wrote that after she went from being Stan to being Deirdre, some people cheered her on and wished her well; some people seemed a little uncomfortable around her; but most people didn't seem to care one way or the other. They had, she said, their own lives to live.

Doug said...

4/23/23, 10:49 AM
Blogger Michael K said...
The tranny thing has been beaten here for so long it ought to be dead.


Althouse wants to keep it alive so she can keep waving it in the face of normies. That's her desperate little schtick.

Richard said...

"The essential American soul is hard, isolate, stoic, and a killer. It has never yet melted." D. H. Lawrence

Yeah. That one.

Jamie said...

So Dylan Mulvaney is basically telling those who think they might be trans not to rush out and cut off their genitals? And Jenner, as "the voice of reason" is opposed to that?

Based on Jenner's having held off on giving in to his impulse to undergo transition until he was of quite mature years, and then having gone through his transition fully because he had the confidence that he really did want to live as a woman for the rest of his life, I'm willing to go with "Caitlyn" and "her" out of respect for the patience and commitment Bruce/Caitlyn demonstrated.

ISTM that Jenner's tweet was to point up the fact that "going trans" is now more like "going emo" than making a significant change in your entire life - that Mulvaney wants to be acknowledged as a "girl" (not a woman, I gather) without being willing to undergo therapy, self-examination, sacrifice, over years and years. Mulvaney just wants instant gratification of his impulses - not only of his own undeniable right, as an adult, to dress and present himself as he pleases, but of his desire that everyone go along with the gag at the peril of being called a bigot and suffering employment or other consequences if we refuse. (Mulvaney himself may not go around calling people bigots - he does seem sweet - but his actions put him squarely on the side of those who do.)

Also, I wouldn't be surprised to learn that Jenner actually meant, "You're not even trans. You're a femme gay guy doing cosplay because the kids these days think it's cool."

A trans friend of ours twenty-ish years ago was following the Jenner path, though started younger (mid-20s). The requirements of the time included living as a man (in this person's case) for years before any surgery could be contemplated. You had to want it, and you had to keep on wanting it for a significant chunk of your life, before any reputable surgeon would alter you physically.

All that said - I suppose I should be happy that a person urging young people to surrender to their unfettered id is not urging them to do so through immediate surgery. It's hard for me to be happy about people's being urged to surrender to their id, though...

Hey Skipper said...

Considering how much of a schlamozzle Dylan Mulvaney appearing on a Bud Light can caused, imagine the brouhaha if Bud-Light was to foreground Riley Gaines.

Leora said...

Europeans regard the Americans regard for equality under the law as childish as do our current Ivy League elite class.

Bob Boyd said...

Jamie said...ISTM that Jenner's tweet was to point up the fact that "going trans" is now more like "going emo" than making a significant change in your entire life

So Jenner's tweet was like: "Kids these days. They got it too easy. Why, when I started out in this game we had to walk miles to the gender clinic...in the snow...and it was up hill...both ways."

I suppose I should be happy that a person urging young people to surrender to their unfettered id is not urging them to do so through immediate surgery.

Yes, exactly, well said, unless we accept that Jenner and Mulvaney really are women and not men suffering from some kind of body dysmorphia and that surgery is necessary to get them squared away.

You're right, if one is determined to get the surgery, it's probably better to do it Jenner's way. But if you can be trans without the surgery, maybe that's better yet for the person's overall health long term.
Besides, how do we know Mulvaney isn't in a phase of the same, long term process Jenner went through? Should Jenner, an influencer in the trans community, one of "the titans of trans" as the Post names him, be putting out the message to confused young people that they aren't legit until they get the surgery?

Fen said...

"it's not Europeans in general, it's the goddamn French."

Once you visit Belgium you realize the French are acting on insecurity.
Very much like New Money vs Old.