I'm reading that because it comes up in the dialogue between Gail Collins and Bret Stephens, a regular Monday morning feature in the NYT. Collins brings up the crocodile story because it reminds her of the GOP presidential candidates who are stuck fighting Donald Trump.
Collins, like a lot of people in elite media these days, are pushing the idea of Nikki Haley as the one who ought to take on Donald Trump. But why?
The Collins/Stephens dialogue begins with Stephens saying he's been "devoted almost entirely to outrages and tragedies in the Middle East:
But I couldn’t help smiling for a second when Nikki Haley called Vivek Ramaswamy “scum” at last week’s G.O.P. debate, after he raised the subject of her daughter’s use of TikTok.
It's somehow delightful when Nikki Haley called Vivek Ramaswamy "scum," but Trump got clobbered for calling his political antagonists "vermin." What's the rule here? It's certainly not respect the humanity of all human beings.
Stephens continues:
Aside from the deep truth of the remark — I wouldn’t have faulted her if she had thwacked him — it also made me think there’s life in this primary yet....
So outright physical assault is fine... if your side is winning? This is what gets my "civility bullshit" tag. Why is Trump hated so much? Don't tell me it's because of his hateful rhetoric. You blithely indulge in it yourself and don't even notice.
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Althouse:
Collins brings up the crocodile story because it reminds her of the GOP presidential candidates who are stuck fighting Donald Trump.
Christ, I pity those people who can't think of anything other than politics.
It's insanity to see every-friggin-thing as some sort of political cartoon. Take a walk through the woods.
"Blithely..."
Of course they notice. They are literally rubbing our faces in the idea that they can use such language, but their opponents are not allowed to.
The idea of the word "scum" bringing a smile to Stephens' lips says a lot about how weird he is - and the culture of reporters. It's not a particularly witty or insightful thing to say. It's just mean and low and cutting. Reporters like that kind of thing. Bret Stephens seems, like a lot of people, to be under the mistaken impression Nikki Haley's daughter is a child. Which, if true, even makes him a BAD reporter, too.
We are not being served well by these people.
It is a difficult thing to realize that you are not a good person by your own standards.
No, it's because elective demonization on a purely subjective basis can be seen as a sign of raw power and influence. The legacy mainstream media thinks that they can leverage their preferred opinions into shaping public perceptions, at will. They are not completely wrong, but they're wrong to think they can't be confronted on their civility bullsh*t.
The game of "how about you and him fight" is a favorite of abusive older siblings everywhere. Having two other people fight each other at your request hurts two of your opponents and costs you nothing. The media love playing this game with 2 or more Republicans. But ask Dems to break their ranks, heaven forfend!
Quite typical in progressive hypocrisy land.
I had a knock down, drag out with a large dog once. I'll pass on doing it with a croc.
Although, if it happens, I'll try to remember the eyelid trick.
Why is Trump gated do much(primarily by the Left)…?
B/c he swapped saddles midstream. And he stuck to his guns.
Translation: Trump wasn’t/isn’t a conservative. I have no idea why he ran as one- why he decided to go the American Patriot route; but, he appealed to us(me &my pet mouse, plus…)he won the nomination, he truly tried to get the things he ran on accomplished- &he supported the deplorables(of which I must be one).
How dare he?
Be best …
America first.
They wanted Nikki to swing her purse at Vivek and beat him over the head with her parasol. "Scum!" she screeched with each thwack, driving the miscreant away from his betters.
They're pretending Vivek attacked a minor child of his opponent for using TikTok, but he didn't. He uses it himself.
Haley had attacked Vivek for using TikTok. He defended his use of it by pointing out Haley doesn't have a problem with her own daughter using it.
Does anyone think Haley, Collins and Stephens don't know all that? Of course they do. They're all lying about it. So who's scummier?
Do crocodile eyelids taste like chicken eyelids?
Asking for a friend.
These guys, who see themselves as the real power, like to use women or minorities as their front.
It used to be Condoleeza Rice or Colin Powell. Get the white GOP guilt vote - FTW!
But voters have this weird way of choosing who they like on their own.
"There are none so blind as those who will not see" English proverb.
Farmgirl is correct: Trump wasn’t/isn’t a conservative.
In fact the same interview (by Clay Travis) where Trump mentioned Tucker Carlson as a running mate includes he direct quote: "I'm not a conservative. They call me...they call you and me conservative. But we're not."
But he governed like conservatives want because it is good for America. I think he thinks of himself as a Classical Liberal and/or a pragmatic. He did of course donate across the political spectrum before he started running as a Republican.
She's a Bush-Romney Republican.
A good kick in the didgeridoo would straighten that croc right out.
If your croc eyelids are too leathery, let them marinate in scum overnight and they'll fry up real nice.
I will venture to say that both Vivek and Nikki have some fine high-caste dentition. I wonder if they're real.
Why is Trump hated so much? I dunno. Let me ask my wife. Yikes!
Bob Boyd has it correctly. Halely mocked Vivek for using TikTok, and Vivek pointed out that Halely's daughter uses it.
How is this an attack from Vivek?
What's the rule here?
That's easy. Call a Republican/Conservative Scum and get praised, especially if it is own goal. Call a Democrat/Progressive/Authoritarian anything negative and you get the "2nd coming of Hitler" treatment. If you lack power to be a Hitler, then you'll just be called a "white supremacist" and/or "insurrectionist".
Of course, they want Nikki Haley instead of Trump. She polls well against Biden as some generic Republican would, but within the party, she polls much like Kamala Harris did among Democrats in 2019.
Vivek is now selling merch that says “Rebel scum since 1776”.
"Collins, like a lot of people in elite media these days, are pushing the idea of Nikki Haley as the one who ought to take on Donald Trump. But why?"
Well, I see two possibilities. Either they are deeply unserious people, too blinded by their hatred of Trump to grasp that Nikki Haley might appeal to shitheads like them but poses no threat whatsoever to Donald Trump, or they are lying shit-weasels who think Trump is the most beatable Republican, and they are trying to get him the nomination, just like they did in '16.
I don't see how it could be both, but maybe they are so duplicitous that they lie even to themselves. In fact, I suppose that's a given.
Collins, like a lot of people in elite media these days, are pushing the idea of Nikki Haley as the one who ought to take on Donald Trump. But why?
Because she is someone they feel the Left can subvert, walk-over, shame into submission or generally boss around. They feel the same way about the little fat kid Chris Christie.
Crikey!
Did he go waltzing afterward?
World class advice from Marlon Perkins......
"I'll stand over here while Jim wrestles the alligator!!!"
"Trump wasn’t/isn’t a conservative. I have no idea why he ran as one-"
That's a good point. Trump's views on a lot of things are very far from the conservative mainstream. But he is a lifelong adherent to the principle of "getting things done". And he could not help but notice that the Left -- which is the tail wagging the modern Democrat Party -- doesn't want to get things done. It wants to make things worse, so that the entire system can be shit-canned, and replaced with their preferred solution.
Speaking of blithe indulgence, I note the Nooyawk Times merrily appropriates Jewish language while not giving a rat's ass about the genocide of the Jews... Oh, well, No Jews is good Jews, as they say.
On the plus side, the self destruction of the chattering class of political one-upmanship is engaged in a crocodile death roll with each other.
This quote is a bit long but it seems that Collins was gloating about the civil trial in NY and Stephens pointed out gently that it is all BS and Collins didn't appear to grasp the significance of what he said. Is that an example of epistemic closure?
"Gail: Really wondering. On the one hand, good Lord — 91 felony counts and a civil suit in New York that might just wipe out any semblance of proof that he really has the money he always claims to have. Who could possibly win an election with that kind of record?
Bret: Well, Trump could.
I haven’t delved too deeply into the particulars of the civil suit filed by Letitia James, New York’s attorney general, but I have my doubts about the strength of a case that rests on the theory that it’s unlawful for a real-estate developer to overstate the value of his assets. The market value of any asset is determined only at the point of sale, and real estate is often a classic Veblen good, in which demand increases as the price goes up.
Gail: None of this can possibly be a surprise to his die-hard supporters, and they’re still with him. They just see it all as persecution. But once the campaign is really underway and voters keep hearing Biden ads reminding them Trump is a crooked underachiever, do you think the swing voters could keep ignoring it?"
The "scum" remark leads me to wonder whether an unwelcome camel of Indian religious rivalry is poking its nose into the big tent of GOP politics. Ramaswamy is a Brahmin. Haley hails from a Sihk household. There's historic bad blood there. The British thought they had a handle on the pitfalls of Indian diversity with the Raj keeping the jealousies at bay with a characteristic stiff upper lip. Nope. It persists even now.
Some may dismiss the "scum" incident as a tempest in a teapot. However, that particular teapot could easily boil over, staining the rich carpet of Republican reticence and calling for professional cleaning services and brand-new under-matting. Will the stain prove indelible? Will the matting be lumpy? Will the carpet cleaners finish on time? Will the odor of their detergents and solvents stink up the National Convention? I for one wish not to explore that uncharted shore.
(Please forgive my Cuisinarted metaphors. So what's a big tent with camels inside? A circus. And what else has a circus? Clowns like me -- honk-honk! -- though I prefer to think of myself as the high-wire artiste, treading my thin but exceedingly taut line of logic far above the earth without a net.)
It's somehow delightful when Nikki Haley called Vivek Ramaswamy "scum," but Trump got clobbered for calling his political antagonists "vermin." What's the rule here? It's certainly not respect the humanity of all human beings.
Oh I think we can divine the rule.
Why is Trump hated so much? Don't tell me it's because of his hateful rhetoric.
Trump is hated because he has been designated supremely hateable by his hateful opponents.
I'm watching The Wire, a 2003 on series and every time I get off from watching it and then post online, I'm in a rage.. I guess everyone is feeling angry these days but it doesn't help. But, anyhow, The Wire is a great show, much better than I realized the first time around. The human consequences of the great manufacturing sell-off to China by our @#$$ elites %&&^& - I simply missed that as a significant storyline at the time. I thought that the whole harbor/manufacturing decline was local color and probably exaggerated. It doesn't seem exaggerated now - instead I wonder why others haven't used the storyline. Of course now you could not imagine that story without Trump appearing as a savior from the uppermost echelons - the one thing that never happens in original story. No government person, no high police official, no Federal investigator, no journalist has any idea what is real or cares at all about Baltimore's decline. The whole business as usual among the upper echelon police and government while the groups closer to the declining harbor, the rising drug problem and the new technologies writhe about like Laocoon is so clear now and was so obscure back then.
Bob Boyd:
Do crocodile eyelids taste like chicken eyelids?
Dunno. For what it's worth, hen's teeth are my favorite scrimshaw medium.
Static Ping said...
It is a difficult thing to realize that you are not a good person by your own standards.
Something about the mote in the crocodile's eye?
So many worthwhile things to worry about other that politics--like Big Ten politics.
May we please have some order here! (I am a UM fan). Will no one stand up for due process? Could we have some facts here?
I thought UM would easily get a TRO because of the cowardly timing of delivery of the suspension (clearly intended to upset the players before the PSU game) and the admission that the investigation showed no involvement by Harbaugh--most likely he had a rogue employee, one who has a 600 page manifesto on taking over the UM football program. The judge went to UM. Yay! She was in the art department. Uh-oh. She wasn't ready to grant a TRO, I suppose because she needed more facts, which the parties will give her on Friday.
I always support any Big 10 team in one of these ruckuses (except those entitled Bozos at OSU). Let us hope we get some due process here.
Quaestor,
An entertaining number of metaphors. Particularly "the rich carpet of Republican reticence ..."
Did Gail Collins really say that Biden would run ads in 2024 deriding Donald Trump as a "crooked underachiever". Sweet Josephine! If he's an "under achiever" because he's only worth say $5 billion instead of $10 billion--well Joe Six Pack isn't going to be swayed by such an ad. When you're middle class or less those figures simply don't mean anything to you.
Now as for Bret Stephens--a sometime member of the WSJ editorial staff who's gone over to the dark side at the NYT. I think Stephens has simply lost his way. He doesn't know who he is anymore, so will say anything. There's a lot of projection in the pundit class. It seems to be an occupational disease. Probably the only cure for it is to send them all off to a modern day sort of Molokai--a place where in the old days, you isolated sufferers from leprosy. They could all project on each other and thus contain the intellectual infection.
Gail Collins says “But once the campaign is really underway and voters keep hearing Biden ads reminding them Trump is a crooked underachiever, do you think the swing voters could keep ignoring it?"
Does she even grasp that Joe Biden is an openly for sale, corrupt, non-achiever? Talk about an example of Matthew 7:5?
saying he's been "devoted almost entirely to outrages and tragedies in the Middle East
outrages and tragedies, not attacks by Hamas on Israel and the war that inevitably resulted therefrom that is bringing destruction upon Palestine.
An example of "mistakes were made" - as though no individual person actually made those mistakes.
When I see the word 'billabong,', I think "Waltzing Matilda." Shove the jumbuck in your tucker bag!
The two deer humping in my driveway this morning are more in touch with GOP politics than these two.
I can foresee a bit of a problem should Nikki Haley become President. She may want to get into all sorts of wars, but today’s army is short-staffed, and is taking people it would formerly have rejected out of hand in bygone years. The army as built by Mark Milley and Lloyd Austin is not the army as created by Colin Powell, David Petraeus, and Stan McChrystal.
Nikki Haley reminds me of a Stepford Wife, prim, polite, and off-putting, a hectoring soccer-mom meme. Vivek absolutely nailed it, when he referred to her as "Dick Cheney in heels". Not just the warmonger aspect, but the entire unpleasant person ick factor too.
I'm a white woman, college-educated city-dweller. Haley has zero appeal; Vivek is amusing, spot-on truth-speaker, but unknown, and a non-politician, unlikely to place well in primary, but may get picked to be Trump's running-mate. Choice would be genius, and entertaining.
Why aren’t these partisan hacks in media concerned about their own party? Could it be that they know that Joe Biden will win no matter what by any means necessary?
Why is Trump hated so much? I dunno. Let me ask my wife. Yikes!
It’s straight up misandry. Perpetuated by feminists.
Q out of time, else shorter comment.
Trump is hated because he was a New York democrat for 40 years and then switched sides. So he's a traitor...an apostate.
I might vote for the croc.
farmgirl said...
"Why is Trump gated do much(primarily by the Left)…?
B/c he swapped saddles midstream. And he stuck to his guns.
Translation: Trump wasn’t/isn’t a conservative. I have no idea why he ran as one- why he decided to go the American Patriot route; but, he appealed to us(me &my pet mouse, plus…)he won the nomination, he truly tried to get the things he ran on accomplished- &he supported the deplorables(of which I must be one)."
That's something the lefties don't seem to grasp. Trump is a New York liberal who knows how the sausage is made. He is not and has never been a conservative. You don't have to be a conservative to go the patriot route. Our founding principals are enlightenment liberal principals. He seems to have grasped why they are important and timeless. I think he is worried that the progressive left vigorously wants to abandon those principals.
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