Althouse: On the subject of anti-Semitism, "I'd like to speak not from the heart, but from the thesaurus...."/"And could you rephrase that in an even more academic way?"

December 10, 2023

On the subject of anti-Semitism, "I'd like to speak not from the heart, but from the thesaurus...."/"And could you rephrase that in an even more academic way?"

I like the freeze frame. All 3 have the same head tilt and arrogant smirk.

The actual sketch is hardest on Elise Stefanik though, unsurprisingly.

55 comments:

rhhardin said...: Tim Blair (Sydney Morning Herald) used to run daily "tilty" pictures of leftist head tilting.

He disappeared behind a paywall and hasn't been heard of for a long time.; 12/10/23, 4:50 AM
PB said...: Very weak sketch that misses the mark by a mile.; 12/10/23, 5:03 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: "The actual sketch is hardest on Elise Stefanik though, unsurprisingly."

Unsurprisingly, because she's so unlikable. As they all are. The skit is odd, all around, being about odd people, so has a lot of missed punch lines. As a side note, it opens with a Taylor Swift joke, who's music I had finally decided to check out, for the very first time, right before watching this. I found it boring, narcissistic and repellent. My favorite lyric, though, is from a song called Antihero: "I have this thing where I get older but just never wiser."

It's too obvious why she's so huge.; 12/10/23, 5:21 AM
BUMBLE BEE said...: "It is the classic fallacy of our time that a moron run through a university and decorated with a Ph.D. will thereby cease to be a moron."
H. L. Mencken; 12/10/23, 5:56 AM
Big Mike said...: Unsurprisingly, because she's so unlikable.

There is no sense of irony in commentator Crack Emcee.; 12/10/23, 6:30 AM
gilbar said...: congrads! you suckered me in, to watching nearly a minute of your propaganda crap.
it will be harder for you next time; 12/10/23, 6:31 AM
Bob Boyd said...: I wanted it to be funny, but alas...
I'm thinking it's not funny either because the writers have zero understanding of what they are trying to make fun of or, if they do understand it, they can't or won't go there. Political correctness is rarely funny and that's what comes first at SNL.; 12/10/23, 7:08 AM
Breezy said...: Lol figures SNL mocks Stefanik so nastily. Moral void alert.; 12/10/23, 7:11 AM
Bob Boyd said...: I've never heard Taylor Swift sing, but I found a rock that looks just like her and I swear it cured my lumbago.; 12/10/23, 7:12 AM
Jersey Fled said...: One down and two to go.

I’m taking the under that one of their successors will be a white male.; 12/10/23, 7:12 AM
Jersey Fled said...: Babylon Bee did a much better job.

https://babylonbee.com/news/ivy-league-presidents-say-their-new-mustaches-taken-out-of-context; 12/10/23, 7:18 AM
Jersey Fled said...: Babylon Bee did a much better job.

https://babylonbee.com/news/ivy-league-presidents-say-their-new-mustaches-taken-out-of-context; 12/10/23, 7:19 AM
Howard said...: Couldn't watch it past half way. The writing is dominated by a smarmy self consciousness. It sounds like they are trying to be just sufficiently edgy while not offending their "we" peer group at Politico, Vanity Faire, the Atlantic, etc.; 12/10/23, 7:22 AM
iowan2 said...: It has been explained.
Steffanik was not grilling them on free speech issues.
The only thing she focused on was IF calling for Jewish genocide violated their written policy.

The Deans, with multiple Phd's were stymied.

This whole revelation spot lighted the absence core values held by the people that consider them selves the elite.

Christians are smeared for their faith. Disagree with them, fine. But at least they profess to work toward a defined core of values. Where exactly do these elites profess to get their values from? Near as I can tell from their testimony, "it depends" is failing them.; 12/10/23, 7:35 AM
NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...: SNL has been dead since the Obama administration. Somehow the corpse manages to stay propped up, but..... yeah....; 12/10/23, 7:40 AM
michaele said...: "Unsurprisingly" they can't help themselves...because that is who they are.; 12/10/23, 7:40 AM
Randomizer said...: Give SNL credit for doing an sketch that anyone cares about enough to talk about. The head tilt at the beginning was a nice touch, but it was clear that SNL doesn't know how to poke fun at the university presidents. Making Stefanik giggly completely missed the mark. The University of Phoenix bit they tacked on was funny, but not at all relevant.; 12/10/23, 7:49 AM
Limited blogger said...: The actual hearing was much funnier.; 12/10/23, 8:11 AM
Aggie said...: It helps to be angry when you're writing satire comedy, but for it to be successful, you must first satisfy a couple of conditions:

1. Have talent
2. Have something favorable in mind to draw from, when playing off the comic foil.

In this case, the university presidents were the foil, so.... the writers decided to portray Stefanik with sarcasm set at '11', while the presidents were merely portrayed at a '3'. They chumped the audience, in other words. Had they reversed the target, it could have been a good skit.; 12/10/23, 8:13 AM
WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...: NBC(D-stalinist) can go to hell.; 12/10/23, 8:28 AM
WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...: NBC is a joke. NBC = democrat party corruption rakkkit.; 12/10/23, 8:28 AM
Gunner said...: The problem is that 99% of the country has no familiarity with Stefanik or why she is being made fun of.

Old SNL rarely if ever put the spotlight on random congresspeople.; 12/10/23, 8:30 AM
Lem the artificially intelligent said...: Top voted comment over there: “this cold open tried to please everyone and ended up pleasing no one”; 12/10/23, 8:30 AM
Temujin said...: Welp, I made it 1:47 into this thing and gave up. Apparently the evil one in this take is Rep. Stefanik. As you said, Ann, "unsurprisingly". They simply cannot wrap their tiny heads around the reality in front of them. There's so much rich material here that they could have done something with, but...there are simply no funny people working at that show. There hasn't been for years. And I don't think I'm alone in saying that there is no humor left on the left.

SNL has been, and continues to be, run by ill-informed teenagers. What breathing adult would continue to watch this?; 12/10/23, 8:30 AM
WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...: SNL used to be funny -
Now - all SNL can manage are crappy re-creations of current events. All spin for their masters in the democrat party $$$.; 12/10/23, 8:30 AM
planetgeo said...: It is impossible for SNL and leftists in general to really make objective fun of other leftists because you can tell that they flinch at the realization that "we" is the "them" they are portraying.; 12/10/23, 9:00 AM
Marcus Bressler said...: Was that supposed to be funny?

MarcusB. THEOLDMAN; 12/10/23, 9:07 AM
WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...: Crook Biden is 100% mockable - and yet they refrain.

NBC obeys their masters.; 12/10/23, 9:15 AM
WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...: Someone should create a late-night comedy show for TV that mocks NBC. (and all the obedient "talent" at NBC); 12/10/23, 9:17 AM
Sebastian said...: Temujin: "They simply cannot wrap their tiny heads around the reality in front of them."

I don't mean to be even more humorless than the SNL writers, but I suspect they have an inkling about the "reality." That's one reason Stefanik needs to be taken down harder.; 12/10/23, 9:37 AM
lonejustice said...: The University of Phoenix part of the sketch was the only part that made me laugh. Out loud.; 12/10/23, 9:45 AM
West TX Intermediate Crude said...: SNL and Crack's comments are 2 things that I once paid attention to but now just skip over.
I made an exception here due to Ann's recommendation and watched the clip.
I made it about a minute. It's just not funny, or amusing, or interesting.
It's part of a world that I once belonged to, but now completely view as foreign.; 12/10/23, 10:24 AM
michaele said...: There are quite a few provisions of the Trump tax cuts that are set to expire at the end of 2025. If Republicans win the White House and both houses of Congress, I suspect those provisions will be renewed. If Dems win, lots of us who make under $400,000 (for some reason Joe's magic number) will be paying more to the federal gov't.; 12/10/23, 10:28 AM
Joe Smith said...: This was really weak.

So Stefank exposes the gyno-dolts as nothing but empty foundation garments and she takes the hit.

Nice, if not unexpected...; 12/10/23, 11:08 AM
Original Mike said...: I watched the actual event. Magill's arrogant smirk was something to behold.; 12/10/23, 11:11 AM
Joe Smith said...: There's a reason I haven't watched SNL for the last 25 years.

And yes, I do stay up late...; 12/10/23, 11:11 AM
Maynard said...: I am too old to watch SNL.

It's on past my bedtime and I cannot identify with young, liberal, no nothings who have it all figured out.

You pretty much have to live in a blue bubble to watch that show. It has not been funny for 25 years.; 12/10/23, 11:12 AM
Jake said...: None of that was at all funny.; 12/10/23, 11:16 AM
Tina Trent said...: Hmm. Harvard University, high honors, Harvard Institute of Politics leader, Naval War College, child of small businesspeople, youngest person elected to Congress at the time, first Republican in decades to serve her district.

I'm referring to Stefanik, not those University Presidents. Liz Magill -- $1.2 million a year with much, much more in housing and benefits. Before the October attack occurred, she announced under pressure that she would do more to protect Palestinian students from oppression. Coincidence? No. Claudine Gay -- cousin of the execrable Roxanne Gay, which ought to say everything. Helped in a cover-up involving Harvey Weinstein. Co-chair of Inequality in America Initiative. Salary -- really hard to find, but in her previous chairmanship she made almost $900K a year, plus benefits.

Sally Kornbluth? Some years ago, as provost at Duke, she strongly criticized students involved in anti-Semitic activism. What a difference a decade makes, eh? This is coming fast, folks. Just wait for January 18.; 12/10/23, 11:28 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: Big Mike said...
Unsurprisingly, because she's so unlikable.

There is no sense of irony in commentator Crack Emcee.

Are you EVER going to provide that evidence I said I'm "cool with murdering babies/antisemitism" or is your lying ass just gonna stay a coward and harass me like I'm Jewish?; 12/10/23, 11:42 AM
Mea Sententia said...: They're attacking Stefanik like they did Sarah Palin in 2008. Same playbook.; 12/10/23, 11:49 AM
rcocean said...: Oh God, SNL. Yeah, I can see why they would be against free speech. After all, they're against comedy.; 12/10/23, 11:51 AM
rcocean said...: Elise Stefanik comes off as shrill and arrogant. But make no mistake, if she was charming and polite, SNL would still mock her because...Republican.; 12/10/23, 11:52 AM
Spiros Pappas said...: These people are usually praised for being racist, anti-Semitic jerks. Not this time.; 12/10/23, 12:02 PM
Joe Smith said...: 'Are you EVER going to provide that evidence I said I'm "cool with murdering babies/antisemitism" or is your lying ass just gonna stay a coward and harass me like I'm Jewish?'

Now you know how Sammy Davis Jr. must have felt : ); 12/10/23, 12:04 PM
J Scott said...: The University of Phoenix bit gives the whole game away.

The DINK (dual income no kids) and Ivy elites who are the core audience of the show can take a little drubbing about the Ivies, but then they have to add the class bit about the UoP. The upwardly mobile bougie UoP where a huge number of military people get credits and degrees from.

But they go to far, because the thing they want to criticize about the UoP is that's it's "online", i.e. they didn't get their credentials the "right" way, by going to a place with old brick buildings or alternatively, and more dangerously so, online education isn't "real" or valuable.

So to other progs that are watching, the ones that had to live with 3 years of online public school education... I guess the SNL writers don't realize what they are really saying.; 12/10/23, 12:22 PM
Joe Bar said...: How many Ivy League presidents are women? Is it a requirement?; 12/10/23, 1:02 PM
loudogblog said...: "The actual sketch is hardest on Elise Stefanik though, unsurprisingly."

Remember how I said a few days ago that we taught in acting class not to play it up for laughs?; 12/10/23, 1:26 PM
WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...: Christian Toto:

" Tuesday’s Capitol Hill testimony from University of Penn President Liz Magill, Harvard President Claudine Gay and MIT President Sally Kornbluth shocked the nation. Each downplayed the antisemitism raging across their campuses, refusing to punish calls for genocide against the Jews.

Earlier in the day, Magill stepped down under extreme pressure from the Penn board. Gay and Kornbluth could be next.

Enter “SNL.”

Except the NBC show’s hard-Left biases refused to hold the presidents accountable. Instead, the sketch mocked Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y. who did nothing wrong save expose the trio’s moral rot for all to see.

She’s a Republican, though, and a Trump supporter. So she became The Target.

“SNL” player Chloe Troast’s Stefanik screams her questions like a lunatic, for starters. The three college presidents appear poised in comparison.

It’s the satirical version of, “Republicans pounce!”

For the uninitiated, that’s the way the corrupt mainstream press frames stories that look bad for Democrats or liberals. Instead of reporting the facts, journalists suggest the GOP is “pouncing” or “seizing” on the problematic party."

---
NBC - they would make great Nazi brownshirts.; 12/10/23, 1:27 PM
rehajm said...: The actual sketch is hardest on Elise Stefanik though, unsurprisingly.

When Ann snarks at what you're doing it's just about over innit?; 12/10/23, 5:01 PM
hpudding said...: Are you EVER going to provide that evidence I said I'm "cool with murdering babies/antisemitism"

You said that Zionism, in advocating for the purchase of land from which Jews could defend their national existence, was wrong. So that makes you anti-Semitic. Big time.

or is your lying ass just gonna stay a coward and harass me like I'm Jewish?

“Like you’re Jewish?” You say that as if harassing Jews is a normal thing to you.; 12/10/23, 11:30 PM
The Crack Emcee said...: hpudding said...
Are you EVER going to provide that evidence I said I'm "cool with murdering babies/antisemitism"

You said that Zionism, in advocating for the purchase of land from which Jews could defend their national existence, was wrong. So that makes you anti-Semitic. Big time.

BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!; 12/11/23, 6:25 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: Joe Smith said...
'Are you EVER going to provide that evidence I said I'm "cool with murdering babies/antisemitism" or is your lying ass just gonna stay a coward and harass me like I'm Jewish?'

Now you know how Sammy Davis Jr. must have felt : )

Sammy supposedly lost his eye for marrying a white girl that one of Frank Sinatra's buddies had been dating. The gangster felt disrespected, and Frank negotiated an eye - as opposed to a limb - as payment.; 12/11/23, 6:30 AM
Tina Trent said...: Ugh. I never heard that story about Sammy Davis.

Interesting example of what we hear and don't hear, remember and don't remember. None of these people, including Davis, were model citizens, except maybe Dean Martin. I'm not doubting you, but is there a good book about it?; 12/11/23, 7:21 AM
Václav Patrik Šulik said...: I only got 2:22 in. This is boring; 12/11/23, 8:46 AM