July 30, 2024

"These guys are just weird. That's where they are.... The fascist depend on fear. The fascists depend on us going back, but we're not afraid of weird people. No, we we're a little bit creeped out, but we're not afraid."

Said Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, in audio played in the new episode of the NYT "Daily" podcast, "The V.P.’s Search for a V.P."

The podcast host observes that the message — "Republicans are... just too weird for America" — "does seem like it's sticking a little bit."

Is it "sticking" or is it just the word that's getting said by people who say the same word at the same time. I'm thinking of those people who all used the word "selfless" when Biden accepted getting ousted.

“These guys are just weird,” Mr. Walz said on Saturday of the Republican ticket. He was talking to a crowd of canvassers for the Harris campaign in St. Paul, but the “weird” line of attack, which he has been using for months, went viral. (Ms. Harris herself used the words “just plain weird” over the weekend to describe the ways in which Republicans have chosen to criticize her.)

Weird is not a word most people would use to describe Mr. Walz.... Mr. Walz is seen as offering a steady, down-to-earth, everyman persona....

Well, good for him. We need plenty of conventional, normal people. They contribute a lot. But whatever happened to inclusiveness and "Keep [Your City] Weird"? I thought America had turned away from sneering at nonconformists and calling them "weird."

They're playing a mind game on JD Vance, trying to trip him up worrying about whether every spontaneous word or gesture might mark him as weird. It's an old game. I remember when they did it to Gary Hart in the 1988 campaign, which is memorably recounted in the book "What It Takes: The Way to the White House" (commission earned):

Hart could do nothing without reporters reminding us: they thought Hart was weird.... This was such standard Washington poop, so well known by people well known to be in the know, that they didn’t even need to trot out the garbage source-codes (“political observers,” or “campaign staffers,” or “Capitol Hill sources,” or other lunch-buddies) that pass for attribution in the daily political smegma. 

No, everybody knew Hart was weird. 

Wait—who was everybody?...

Lots of commentators, all looking to score points by taking out Hart. 

Not only was he weird, he was four-to-one over the next guy in the polls—and the next guy was black! It’s a year to the first convention and there’s no horse race! This thing—their thing—could be over! Unless they could ... somehow! ... write the weirdness. 
But they couldn’t, you see—couldn’t just come out and say, this guy makes me uneasy.... So what they’d do, they’d take a wise guy to lunch, and quote him on why Hart was weird.... So what happened was, the stuff would seep into stories as code, phrases that attached to Hart, whatever he did, wherever he went—because everybody knew them....

Much more in the book.

Anyway, characterizing a candidate as "weird" can work. I know I used the word "weird" in thinking about Trump and choosing to vote against him in 2016. 4 months before election day, I wrote:

Trump is tempted to appease those who think he's too weird, but whatever he chooses will be portrayed as a new dimension of weirdness. There's no getting to the illusion of normal. The trick, I think, is to be weird in the right way, the way that doesn't make us think: Why would we want a weird President?

Looking back on my archive — I need to add my tag "weird" to a lot more posts — I see that they stuck "weird" on Mitt Romney. And remember when George Bush said "That was some weird shit" (after listening to Trump's inauguration speech)?

Anyway... weird. Are you weird? Do you worry about weird? Do you worry about the people who say "weird"? Do you worry about the weird people who will have more difficulty feeling included when they really are weird? Did you ever help "Keep Austin Weird"? What do you think is a better slogan — "Keep America Weird," "Make America Weird Again," or "Keep America Weird Again"? I think "Keep America Weird Again" is best, but I'm weird.

173 comments:

Paddy O said...

So now all those Portland and Austin bumpersticker owners are feeling a little awkward. Stay Weird, be a Republican

mezzrow said...

I've been weird from birth. So many ways.

Paddy O said...

It is odd. The Democrats are actively positioning themselves as the popular kids clique. Which fits what I've read about Kamala's rise in influence, hanging out with the society class in NorCal. But it also means giving Rs a countercultural vibe. That may backfire.

Dave Begley said...

This Right has already meme'd this to death. Laura Ingraham was good on this last night. The party that embraces cross dressers and mutilating children is not weird? The people who still wear masks to this day? The Dem party is the home of the freaks, dopes, weirdos and idiots. The Dems constantly project.

narciso said...

He let the Capital in his state burn down, right, he lets Hamas militants operate freely in his state, so yeah hes all wet

Narr said...

I don't think I've encountered the word 'smegma' at Althouse before.

Paddy O is correctomundo--the strategy is pure middle-school mean girls (and girlie boys). Which means it will be effective with most Dims.

Darkisland said...

This is a test
I can't comment at all on my android phone using the Samsung or Brave browsers. I get a blue "sign in with Google" prompt, click it and all it does is refresh the page since I am already signed in with Google.

This seems to work fine on my desktop using he Firefox browser.

It scrolls normally not giving me a tiny comment box as others have complained of.

Other than mobile, I think I am OK with this new format

John Henry

Ampersand said...

Using the word "weird" is an excellent propaganda tool because the word really means "strange and unpleasant in a way I can't readily articulate". It gives anti-Trumpers a broad Rorschach in which to project, and call for agreement with, their poorly understood negative emotions.

Dave Begley said...

Nebraska state senator Megan Hunt called me a "weird pervert" last night on FB. She's a bisexual who currently dates a guy who is covered in tats and she was previously in favor of her daughter getting her breasts chopped off so that she could "become" a boy. Doesn't get much weirder than that.

mikee said...

For at least 50 years, the unofficial motto of Austin, Texas, has been "Keep Austin Weird." And now all of a sudden "weird" is a bad thing? Try again, Dems, this dog won't hunt, this bird won't fly, this otter won't swim, this rock won't fall due to gravity.

I, of course, live one county over from Austin itself. That place is too weird.

tommyesq said...

Of course, they also think married Catholics who lovingly raise their children and are concerned with what those children are being taught in school is "weird."

MT said...

Sam Brinton isn't weird? Drag queen story hour isn't weird? Hunter Biden isn't weird?

doctrev said...

"SJWs Always Project" is also a major book from Vox Day. The left can't meme, and reducing the struggle to "weird" like dopey Rachel Zegler types only reinforces the fact that the sorority rejects are simply not ready for any serious work.

Limited blogger said...

The Mean girlz call people WEIRD

Ann Althouse said...

"Sam Brinton isn't weird? Drag queen story hour isn't weird? Hunter Biden isn't weird?"

It's like children saying "You're weird"/"No, you're weird" to each other.

Quaestor said...

I associate weird with a clique of 9th grade mean girls whispering and giggling about the new girl.

Just an old country lawyer said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
CJinPA said...

Not a bad line of attack. But it depends on how voters define "weird."

Democrats are proud of their Coalition of the Fringes.

William said...

This highlights a big problem that Republicans face now, in the past, and forever in the future. It's simply very hard for a candidate to wipe himself clean after the propagandizing class takes to crapping on him. A while back, I read the Chernow bio of Grant. Grant, while he was an occasional binge drinker, was not a sodden drunk. The record shows that he was a better strategic thinker than Lee and a brilliant tactician during the Vicksburg campaign. His presidency was not unduly corrupt and he was on the right side of most issues of his day.. But he was a Republican. It took some 150 years for historians to restore his reputation.....History is written by historians, and current events are narrated by "journolists". It's hard to break through. The Democrats have an advantage in this arena. They throw a lot of sand.

RCOCEAN II said...

I've always had a problem with the word "weird" when used by Adults. What does it mean? It seems to be an emotional reaction to something. And it can mean anything. He/She is "weird". Weird how? In what way? Its like calling someone "icky".

Attributing it to POTUS candidate or VP Candidate denotes a lack of seriousness. Its something a teenage girl would say about a girl/boy they didn't like. "Ewww l don't want her at the party, she's so weird".

I find the use of the word fascist to describe a centrist Republican in the 21st century is "Weird". It makes as much sense as someone calling Vance a Stalinst. Which is what Republicans should do. Or call them neo-pedophiles. Any word that hurts. But of course, the R's wont, because they dont really want to win. They want to be liked by the D's and just wish they'd be nicer and more reasonable.

RCOCEAN II said...

Its really sad, that sensible adults can't vote on policy and leave the personality stuff behind. It doesn't matter that Harris is "weird" or Trump is "Weird". What matters is what they will do as POTUS. Restricting the franchise seems to be the only way to improve things. Which will never happen.

Dave Begley said...

Kamala was 29 when she started her affair with 60-year-old Willie Brown. That was weird.

Darkisland said...

You know what is really wierd? Identifying Kamala with a coconut meme. See for example the current cover of New York Magazine. https://nymag.com/ (Scroll down to see the July 29 cover)

It features Kamala sitting on a giant cocoanut. Nancy Pelosi flashing the thumb and forefinger sign for white superiority.
Coconut used to be an insulting term for some hispanics and other brown people meaning Brown on the outside, white on the inside. It was pretty much the equivalent of calling a black person an Uncle Tom.

Now they are identifying Kamala as, or at least with, coconuts? Now THAT is weird.

John Henry

Daddy Binx said...

"When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro." - Hunter S. Thompson

Yancey Ward said...

On this issue, such that it is even serious issue, Trump and Vance can just let the pictures of Democrats speak for themselves.

Darkisland said...

Trying the reply feature

rhhardin said...

Weird, Scott Adams reports, is a young women dismissal word. Men fight directly.

Peachy said...

Kamala and her handlers are changing all of her former radical left options.

from defunding the police - to Biden's wide open border that let in 11.5 million over the last 3+ years.

Peachy said...

@Elon Musk
@elonmusk

"The legacy media engages in the mass synchronization of emotion for political purposes.

They are a de facto arm of the DNC."

Peachy said...

Lock-step obedient leftist media in action. "Weird" it the word of the week. What will be next?

Humperdink said...

Looking at the Commie-Pinkos's collection of Antifas, racists, trannys, purple haired, fully tattooed, cross dressers, traditional religion mockers, anti-Semites, I am honored to be labelled weird.

narciso said...

there isn't even a proper cognate in spanish for the word,
estrano, doesn't quite cover it,

Humperdink said...

Weird? Whatsamatter, didn't deplorable age well? Or fascist?

gilbar said...

one thing is FOR SURE.. democrats and leftists AREN'T Weird!
It's NORMAL self castrate, and hack off your breasts, and dress up in costumes.. While sexually molesting little kids..
That's Normal?

Darkisland said...

Grant, while he was an occasional binge drinker, was not a sodden drunk.

From Andrew Carnegie's autobiography (A great read as are his other books, Esp on James Watt)

The story is told that during the trials of war in the West, General Grant began to indulge too freely in liquor. His chief of staff, Rawlins, boldly ventured to tell him so. That this was the act of a true friend Grant fully recognized.

"You do not mean that? I was wholly unconscious of it. I am
surprised!" said the General.

"Yes, I do mean it. It is even beginning to be a subject of comment among your officers."

"Why did you not tell me before? I'll never drink a drop of liquor
again."

He never did. Time after time in later years, dining with the Grants in New York, I have seen the General turn down the wine-glasses at his side.


As someone who realized that he had a problem with the booze in 1984 and has been dry since, good on him. Definitely not weird.

John Henry

John Henry

Michael K said...

To see the party of Sam the baggage stealer describe others as "weird" is just hilarious.

Darkisland said...

Supercut of newsies and fascists calling republicans weird.

https://x.com/i/status/1818083579445866884

John Henry

Static Ping said...

The "weird" thing is one of those coordinated talking points. All the cool kids are saying it, because they have all been instructed to say it. If it does not stick, Walz will be saying whatever else he has been instructed.

Personally, I find letting your state's largest city burn as extremely weird, but maybe that's just me.

Kakistocracy said...

Trump’s been imitating Triumph the insult dog since the 2016 primary. Trump has normalized name-calling and lying.

Pot meet Kettle.

Commie Videos and You a Law Professor said...

Actively facilitating the destruction of national borders seems pretty weird....well past amusingly quirky.

Two-eyed Jack said...

The problem with Vance is not that he is weird, but that he has cooties.

Amadeus 48 said...

Let me get this right. People who say they believe biological men can get pregnant are calling anyone weird? That's weird.

hombre said...

Musk has a great post with numerous clips of the mediaswine doing the "weird" routine. Like the Borg hivemind. I'm not a Republican, but I'm into faith, family, country of laws, and hard work. Weirdisme!

Quaestor said...

Weird derives from Old English wyrd, meaning fate. Shakespeare uses the Old English meaning in his description of the witches of Macbeth because they make predictions to seal his doom, and thereby linking them to a shared Germanic culture, exemplified by the Norns, the three weird sisters of the Norse mythology who decree the fates of men and gods. We shouldn't ban weird because of its cultural significance, but it should seldom be used by thoughtful adults because it refers to that which is not.

Nothing is weird. I challenge anyone to cite me an example of objective weirdness. As for subjective weirdness, I'm inclined to take that as a defect in the beholder rather than a defect in the beheld.

Peachy said...

Leftwing fascists want to control and destroy.

Roger Sweeny said...

My wife and I, who don't feel comfortable with the rhetoric of any successful politician, or any well-paid commentator, call each other weird. We say it like it's a good thing :)

Mark said...

"I thought America had turned away from sneering at nonconformists and calling them "weird."

America has, but the GOP has not. We have been hearing about how Portland is a shithole country from Republicans, who never wanted to 'keep Portland weird' the Republican counties have been trying to secede.

If you look at how hard the right is trying to push back on this term, it clearly has them spooked.

Kakistocracy said...

When blogger pundits say calling Trumpalos "weird" will be off-putting to working class voters but then don't think calling Harris a "DEI hire" is worthy of comment, that sort of says a bit about who folks think are important for elections, and which people the commentator thinks can be safely alienated.

MadTownGuy said...

Ann Althouse said...

"Sam Brinton isn't weird? Drag queen story hour isn't weird? Hunter Biden isn't weird?"

It's like children saying "You're weird"/"No, you're weird" to each other.
"

Actual weirdness and projected weirdness aren't the same thing.

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

The problem with their tactic is that next to Trump, who embraces his weirdness by dancing by joking about his combover, Vance looks so normal. And so without ever answering the epithet -- why bother? -- Vance skates through unscathed. As Libs of TikTok has documented, the people parroting the word of the day are among the weirdest damned people ever to be elected or appointed to this government.

It's laughable they are even floating this "attack" given the clown car admin in charge. Is it weird that the press secretary never answers the press questions substantively? Is it weird that Kamala cackles so much she can't finish a sentence at times?

Yes and yes and that's why Republicans can just laugh off this weak and pointless "attack" from the DNC and DNC-Media. It's one weird trick that WON'T win any votes.
[2nd try]

Amadeus 48 said...

Mark at 10:46.
It is the Demmie media hivemind that has brought "weird" into the conversation. Have you been paying attention? Your comment is weird.

Hassayamper said...

Is that a coconut? To me it looked like a dung beetle rolling a giant ball of elephant poop.

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

@Althouse: Just an FYI, but I have not been able to make the new comments section work with Safari, even after multiple logouts/logins to Google. Currently posting from a temporary Firefox install. Just letting you know as others may be in the same boat and cannot comment.

Hassayamper said...

Raro?

tcrosse said...

The proverbial True Scotsman must dree his weird.

Hassayamper said...

We have been hearing about how Portland is a shithole country from Republicans, who never wanted to 'keep Portland weird' the Republican counties have been trying to secede.

Shithole cities and countries aren't weird. They are all too common, and exist anywhere and everywhere leftists hold unchallenged power.

unknown said...

"Stay Weird" is a popular slogan in college and art towns. This is how one group describes it: "Stay Weird is to always follow your own will without feeling the pressure of having to conform to any social norm to fulfill others' expectations."

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

When blogger pundits say calling Trumpalos "weird" will be off-putting to working class voters but then don't think calling Harris a "DEI hire" is worthy of comment...

First, the Insane Clown Posse reference is weird considering the clown car Biden has in his admin. Second, Harris is a "DEI hire" because Biden specifically said choosing her would "bring Diversity, Equity and Inclusion" into his cabinet.

Most importantly, and third, is DEI a good or bad thing? Because you seem rather psychotic about a term the Left has been pushing relentlessly for years and insisting it makes everything better. Isn't saying she's a DEI hire implying she made his cabinet better?

If not WHY NOT? [I know he won't answer any of this but please, other Lefties, help the brother out]

Mr Wibble said...

The whole "weird" meme is about scaring younger women that they'll be ostracized if they support him, or even just fail to support Harris. I suspect that it's in part because they know Harris has to flip flop on a lot of progressive issues in order to appeal to blue clar whites, and they don't want to lose progressives who might otherwise be demoralized.

chuck said...

I prefer "eccentric", it is weird with a college degree.

tcrosse said...

Trump is wired.

Hassayamper said...

But DEI is a good thing! Its successes ought to be celebrated! What are you, some kind of RACIST?

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

I LOL at your brief hits.

Kakistocracy said...

To allow third-party cookies in Safari on an iPhone, you can do the following:
Open the Settings app
Scroll down and select Safari
Under Privacy & Security, toggle off Block All Cookies and Prevent Cross-Site Tracking
Restart Safari for the changes to take effect

Select Safari > Settings > Advanced and deselect Block all cookies. You can also open the Safari drop-down menu, click Preferences, and then click Privacy. Make sure Prevent cross-site tracking and Block all cookies are both unchecked. For macOS 10.12 Sierra and later, you can also select Always allow from the Privacy menu.

Big Mike said...

I was not able to comment using my iPhone. There was a large blue icon that said "SIGN IN WITH GOOGLE," but when I clicked on that icon it refused to let me sign in. It said "Unable to sign in" (duh!) and then it gave me a link to check my browser setting. Except when I followed that link it gave me directions as though I was the blog administrator. Which I am not, obviously.

Hope the above description helps square this all around.

Anyway, my comment is that the party that named biological male Rachel Levine "woman of the year" and that gave an extremely sensitive position in the Department of Energy to cross-dressing luggage thief Sam Brinton has not business trying to suggest that the candidates selected by the party of the Normal people are in any way "weird."

Kakistocracy said...

Projection, projection, projection.
If they accuse the other side of exactly what they're guilty of, then it distracts and deflects blame.

Similar to when Vance accused the Democrats of “incendiary rhetoric.” Guy must not own a mirror.

Kakistocracy said...

It’s weird that Vance wiped away all references to abortion off his website.

Tina Trent said...

Althouse, cruel neutrality dictates that drag queen story hour is weird. And pathetic. And perverse. And forcing politics and misogyny down young childrens' gullets. As their parents puff and preen at the openess of their minds.

What's weird are the ways fascism creeps in on their tiny cat feet these days.

Darkisland said...

Rich7/30/24, 10:48 AM

When blogger pundits say calling Trumpalos "weird" will be off-putting to working class voters but then don't think calling Harris a "DEI hire" is worthy of comment,

So are you saying that Harris is NOT a DEI hire? At least in the Vice-Presidency

Could you explain how you get to that conclusion, Rich?

John Henry

Michael K said...

Lots of "wisdom" from "Rich" today. Did you sample Biden's drug stash ?

Quaestor said...

Rich write, "Guy must not own a mirror."

Rich must not own a memory.

J Melcher said...

Psychologists sometimes joke that their discipline is the study of the minds of college freshmen; and that therefore the psychological baseline of normal behavior and thought is "W.E.I.R.D." Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic. Some swap Western for Wealthy and Rich for Romantic (in the sense of the European inheritance of the Roman Empire). But in any case, "W.E.I.R.D." is not all that harmful a label.

Aggie said...

I think it's weird when a group of people, especially a group connected by politics, especially a leadership group that enjoys frequent 'talking-heads'- type appearances on left-leaning 'Network News' programming, I think it's just weird when they all start saying the exact same thing, all at the same time, on all the channels.
Isn't that passing strange?

It's almost like they've been programmed to think the same way and express themselves identically, all at once - like pod people. When you think about it, that 1950's Don Siegel movie with King Donovan, the Invasion of the Body Snatchers - it's a perfect portrayal of the modern Democrat propaganda techniques: Direct, insistent persuasion through repeated phrases from different mouthpieces. Before you know it, whammo, you're mother is saying weird things about normal people. I won't say, 'they only look human'.

If there were 'memo's' being distributed, one probably would have been leaked somehow. No - my mom was a schoolteacher, and I know some things about call lists. When a teacher got a call from the Superintendent that there was a 'snow day', that teacher had to turn around and notify 5 or 10 other teachers. And so would they. You'd be surprised how far just a few layers of that kind of thing can reach, how many people, and quickly, too. And no written record.

That's why it's always just a few simple words, or a short phrase.

Hassayamper said...

The difference is, the people on the Right who are using the "stop them by any means necessary" rhetoric are anonymous nobodies hiding behind a computer screen, while on the Left, they are all the leading lights of the Democratic Party right up to the President Emeritus himself, not to mention most of the news media, Hollywood, and academia.

They WANT assassinations and a civil war, because they think it will provide a perfect opportunity to exterminate their opposition and turn this country into a gigantic left-wing gulag.

They must be stopped by any means necessary.

Achilles said...

I agree. Sam Brinton and Hunter Biden are criminals. Drag Queen story hour(to kids in public school) it unacceptable social behavior.

Quaestor said...

Wet work. Only an idiot would not know that's a KGB euphemism for assassination. Carville is many things, but idiot is not among them.

Achilles said...

I add my support to this interpretation. The word Weird is a really poor way to get your point across.

Republicans that are trying to do the "no you are weird" thing are falling into a trap.

Achilles said...

No, it was quite standard. Kamala was a mediocre person with no political talent. She used her body to get ahead of more talented and skillful competition.

Saying someone is weird is something adults should grow out of. Particularly when it is a clear misuse of the word like this.

Michael Fitzgerald said...

Sure, normies are real weird. On the other Democrat Party members are queers.

Achilles said...

It is the the tendency of women to use social ostracization against social rivals.

I am sure there is a word in every language like Weird that women use to attack each other.

Achilles said...

According to the party that thinks Mike Johnson is dead on arrival and tried to kill Trump in broad daylight.

Achilles said...

It isn't a federal issue. There is no reason at all for it to be on his website.

Michael Fitzgerald said...

Bullshit. Cry more 😢

JIM said...

Democrats have embraced Fascist ideology. A partial definition of Fascism includes this : In many ways, fascist regimes are revolutionary in nature. They advocate for the overthrow of existing systems of government and the persecution of political enemies. However, such regimes are also highly conservative in their championing of traditional values.

And although fascist leaders typically claim to support the everyman, in reality, their regimes often align with powerful business interests.
Obviously Democrats are not "conservative" in any way, shape, or form. However, they certainly want to "fundamentally transform" America and our sacred institutions. Now the Supreme Court is in their crosshairs. They threatened religious liberty using the FBI.
They have considerable influence with the media, corporations, and Academia creating a mass movement centering on a central dogma of 'progressivism" that the individual cannot dissent from lest they be cancelled in a very public manner.
So please spare us your baseless attacks Governor until you take a cold hard look in a mirror.

Bob Boyd said...

It's weirdophobic. As a weirdo, I resent it.

Achilles said...

Democrats aren't weird.

They are corrupt and they are evil.

You all need to stop falling into this trap.

deepelemblues said...

I just don't see how this line is sticking with the electorate. Polls show the same. What is weird is this amateurish politicking being treated as some kind of great tactic of a great strategy.

Jamie said...

I dunno; if I were running for public office in hopes of representing all Americans, I might decide that my personal and/or regionally popular positions were less applicable. For instance, I'm also pro-life personally, but I consider that to be my privately held moral position and inappropriate for legislation, especially at the federal level, because of our shared system of governance. You know, like Trump.

Or, presumably, our current devout Catholic president.

ndspinelli said...

I live in the Twin Cities area. Although I know VP is not that key, Walz is a target rich environment; from DUI, to shirking going to Iraq, to multi-million $ fraud w/ Covid funds and more.

Bob Boyd said...

Labeling somebody as weird is a mean girl tactic. Most everyone has felt like the weird one at some point in their lives.
It could backfire. People might feel sympathetic.

Old and slow said...

Much as I hate the stupid use of the word "weird", I've got to say that Hunter Biden is about the most normal, not weird thing about this administration recently. That's really saying something!

tcrosse said...

Trump is much more imaginative with his insults. He knows how to make them stick and he knows how to make them hurt.

William said...

Vance definitely has an unusual back story, and he certainly doesn't fit into any stereotype. In most of the ways, he's unusual, it's because he exceeded expectations. He has a really impressive backstory. Weirdness is in the politics of the beholder.....Trump is an out sized personality. If Dickens had created a billionaire real estate developer, he'd be someone like Trump. Trump tries and frequently succeeds in being a caricature of himself. He's definitely like no other politician we've seen before or will ever see again, but I wouldn't describe him as weird. Maybe if he got some metal piercings for his nose or a Maori facial tattoo, he'd pass over to the weird side of things, but, at this moment, he hasn't......Anyway, looking on the bright side of things for Dems, it's an easier lift to depict Trump as weird than to portray Biden as sharp.

Marc in Eugene said...

I had a RNC-sponsored 'survey' in the mail last week. No mention anywhere of any of the 'life' issues, not even e.g. as a choice in the printed list of rankable priorities. I was going to mail it back to them with 'restore...' etc scribbled on it but then realised that they expected me to use my own postage stamp.

Hassayamper said...

I'll never get a tattoo, but if I do, it will likely be "ƿyrd bið ful aræd", in the language of my Anglo-Saxon forefathers. It's from the classic Old English poem "The Wanderer".

Minus the obsolete letters, it's "wyrd bith ful araed", and a trivial translation into early modern English cognates around Shakespeare's time is "Weird beeth full a-read." The modern derivative of "wyrd" in this phrase is the noun "weirdness" rather than the modern adjective "weird", but its meaning has shifted, and it is more properly translated nowadays as Fate, as you said. We would now use "is" and "fully" (or "completely") instead of the "beeth" and adverbial "full" of Shakespearean times. The past participle "a-read" signifies that the reading is done, so we can use past-tense "read" or might clarify it by saying "read out" for this, although this would have carried a supernatural connotation in Anglo-Saxon days, along the lines of "prophesied" or "foreordained."

In current English the closest word for word translation would be something like "Weirdness be fully read", but it would be much closer to the original Old English sense as understood by our remote ancestors to say "Fate is inexorable."

For me, and presumably for the ancients, it is a memento mori to keep in mind that we are all doomed to die, and we must live in a manner that ensures us a seat in Heaven (or Valhalla).

Meade said...

I’m so normal that everyone else feels weird to me. Maybe I’m just a creep. That must be it.

https://youtu.be/48QPsLx9tqs?si=PNUQTWB3vE9mkj72

Sebastian said...

Weird is a call for female Dem conformity. Silly as rhetoric but it can work with the target audience.

The more subtle Dems want to have it both ways: appeal to the normal norms of normies to put the icky Republicans beyond the pale while at the same time invoking new transnormal anticisheteronormative prog standards to satisfy the prog base.

Saint Croix said...

What's super-weird is how the press adopts the attack word and uses it over and over.

Rosalyn C. said...

Comments now working for me. I think. Thanks!
Democrats want to run on identity politics. Race, sex, gender, and now weirdness which is another way to talk about image. They want to avoid discussing policies and records.

Lawrence Person said...

Sorry, I refuse to hear lectures on "weird" from a party that thinks drag queens telling kindergarten children about anal sex is "normal."

Narr said...

Back to the older comments format. Not complaining, just noting.

bleh said...

The "weird" thing is clear reaction to what happened in the month of July. With Trump surviving a bullet and becoming the odds-on favorite to win the election, it was becoming more and more acceptable for low-info normies to support him, even publicly. Guys like Musk and Ackman came out to explicitly endorse him, and Zuck, a known lib, admitted it was "badass." And yes, normies were duly impressed with Trump. Then the RNC happened, and the message was clear: the Republican Party was now a big-tent populist party, a comfortable place where war heroes and religious conservative (of any creed) can co-exist alongside OnlyFans models and retired pro wrestlers.

Trump's odds of winning were at or above 70%. It seemed that a "preference cascade" was forming, and Biden was toast. So the Democrats forced Biden out and tried to steal the spotlight (forget about Trump, there was no assassination ... now look at Kamala!) and the microphone (Trump and Vance are weird ... only weirdos would vote for them!).

That's what this is about.

mccullough said...

Trump is rich. Rich people aren’t weird. They’re Eccentric

phantommut said...

Labeling somebody as weird is a mean girl tactic.

Totally in keeping with the Karens for Kamala theme. (They're also trying to make being a Soy Boy cool.) Almost makes me think whomever is really in charge has decided to just run with all the flaws the Presumptive Nominee brings with her.

Michael K said...


Blogger Lawrence Person said...

Sorry, I refuse to hear lectures on "weird" from a party that thinks drag queens telling kindergarten children about anal sex is "normal."


Exactly !

Iman said...

Weird are the people who have been running election interference ops all around the globe. They’ve done it for years and one would have to be daft to think they wouldn’t do it here in the USA.

Fuck Walz and all lefty weirdos.

Tomcc said...

The comment section is weird today. For a period of time, the option to "reply" was available.
Democrats and Progressives have a strong desire to redefine "weird" as they have with "criminal activity".

Iman said...

These election interference creeps are neocons, they support Democrats and QueMala and whichever poor SOB is selected to run as her VP ARE the neocon candidates.

Kate said...

I like being weird. As someone else mentioned, it can be a term of endearment.

Trump and Vance should repurpose weird and own it. This is how the Dems turned "nasty woman" into a campaign slogan. Let's sell shirts!

walter said...

Remember the 2020 online DNC?
Weird.

Inga said...

Ha, I’ve been saying Trumpists are weird for years now in these very comments sections, I would even occasionally have to ask “What is wrong with you people?” I don’t bother asking anymore, not interested, don’t care.

Butkus51 said...

Fascists manipulate search engine results.

Crickets

Leland said...

This "weird" thing reminds me of the Rachel Zegler interview on Snow White calling the romance in it "weird". That pretty much ended production that had already begun shooting, and also ruined the Hunger Games movie she had coming out. I'm not sure renewing this thing, which became an internet meme is a good strategy for Democrats, but I'll be happy to keep watching the results.

Prince Hal said...

The "weirding way" is very powerful.

narciso said...

https://x.com/hale_razor/status/1818369630525849607

traditionalguy said...

It’s the oldest political trick in the book. The branding slander done the second the opposition introduces a new man. Trial lawyers have used that trick forever, introducing the Plaintiff or the Defendant (we do either side) to the jury in the Opening Statement as not really one of us. That wins most cases in the first 5 minutes because the Jury wants to understand at the beginning to who is the good guy and who is the bad guy.

The wife asked me yesterday what was all the fuss was about J D on cable News suddenly.
I told her it’s a branding attempt of an unknown new man introducing him as such a dangerous character that even if is innocent he should be put in jail or punished anyway.

It reminded me of elementary school. Everybody would agree that a certain student was “ a queer”,
for having some oddity or other. And it never meant homosexual. It Just meant odd.

But J D is as standard issue an American as they come. Kamala is actually the weirdest Candidate ever seen in the USA.

Bart Hall (Kansas, USA) said...

The core problem of Democrats these days is that hard-lefties are about 15-20% of the total population, but 60% of the party, and possibly 90% of the party activists. Yet, at most, Democrats are 33% of the total population.

Nevertheless, because they so totally dominate the party these days -- neither JFK nor Truman could be nominated today -- Democrat activists believe, and sincerely so, that they are "mainstream", and, basically, two-thirds of the population are "weird", "dangerous", and "out of touch".

It is a remarkable form of dissociative delusion.

GRW3 said...

Journolist word of the day: "Weird"

Iman said...

Blogger Inga said...
‘Ha, I’ve been saying Trumpists are weird for years now in these very comments sections, I would even occasionally have to ask “What is wrong with you people?” I don’t bother asking anymore, not interested, don’t care.’

Projections
She just keeps making
Projections
All she wants to do
Is slingin’ some poo


She’s a clown doing a clown’s work.

Mike of Snoqualmie said...

The memo has gone out, use "weird" to describe Republicans. The clone media and clone Democrats will obey with a cheerful "Yawohl!"

Clyde said...

"Weird" is what the DNC has told their flying monkeys in the mainstream media to say, and they are following orders to the letter. Also Walz and various other stray Democrats who get in front of a microphone. Bless their hearts!

Mason G said...

Achilles said...

"It isn't a federal issue. There is no reason at all for it to be on his website."

It's the leftist Gollums' precious. They will never let go of it, even in situations where it's not relevant.

Clyde said...

And let's be honest, the Democrats are the party of Drugs, Deviancy and Disorder, and are "glass houses" people when it comes to throwing stones at weirdos!

M said...

The party that have people who sexually mutilated themselves flashing their fake boobs on the White House lawn, a high ranking government employee who stole and wore women’s clothing and was very open about his gay dog fetish and support drag queens in elementary schools are calling anyone else weird?

Mark said...

"But J D is as standard issue an American as they come."

Yep, standard issue venture capitalist, just like Joe the Plumber. Friends with childless billionaire Peter Thiel while complaining about childless women. So relatable! So average!

Why does Kendrick's song 'Not Like Us' keep playing in my head?

Former Illinois resident said...

When they don't have a legitimate platform to run on, when they don't have a legitimate track-record of accomplishments, the candidate's team resorts to name-calling and slander. An honest person knowledgeable of USA governance over past four years would not be able to demonstrate competence nor accomplishment by Biden administration, or by its border-czar VP, so the slanders and ridicule continue.

Many of my friends are still staunch "do or die" liberal democrats, despite significant personal setback during past three years, still rabidly "orange man bad", but not fairing well under Biden administration. Not financially, Not health-wise. I've five dear friends now dealing with major post Pfizer-vax neurological disorders and/or strokes, complete with hospitalizations, brain surgeries, and horrendous medical bills. Yet they hold firm to their liberal-democratic-woke beliefs, even while prematurely-retired, financially-strapped, and permanently disabled.

Drago said...

Inga: "Ha, I’ve been saying Trumpists are weird for years now in these very comments sections,.."

All psychotic leftists have been. Why would you be different?

Aggie said...

@Inga said 14:44: "Ha, I’ve been saying Trumpists are weird for years now in these very comments sections, I would even occasionally have to ask “What is wrong with you people?” I don’t bother asking anymore, not interested, don’t care...."

That's funny, I don't think I can recall ever reading those words from you, 'Trumpists are weird' although your sentiments do seem to fit this criticism. Tell me: How would you characterize Democrat leaders from various national and state sectors, all showing up on various news and entertainment programs, all within a day or two, all using the word 'weird' or identical combinations of that word with others, in precisely the same context or with the same understood meaning - all, in interviews, where they're offering an opinion or as part of a panel discussion? All within a day or two, remember. Would you call that: 'Normal' ? Would you call that: 'Coordinated' ? Or would it just be a 'coincidence' ?

I think it's a 'weird' tactic to saturate the airwaves with Same Speak, a heavy-handed Propaganda technique that has its basis in authoritative societies - like Nazi Germany, under Goebbels, or the Stalinist Soviet Socialist Republic. I think it demeans its audience, to act so openly in a way that degrades, and is contemptuous of, independent thinking - by making it clear they are intended to respond idiotically to such heavy-handed, rote suggestions. But that's just me, a weirdo.

Drago said...

"But J D is as standard issue an American as they come."

Dumb Lefty Mark: "Yep, standard issue venture capitalist, just like Joe the Plumber. Friends with childless billionaire Peter Thiel while complaining about childless women. So relatable! So average!"

Dumb Lefty Mark claiming the Hillibilly Elegy dude is not a standard issue American!!

Vance, raised in poor, rural, struggling America, survives his difficult upbringing circumstances, joins the Marine Corps, attends college on the GI Bill, does well enough to get admitted to Yale Law where he struggles with family issues and financial hardship to complete his degree studies, falls in love with the daughter of immigrants and marries, clerks for a judge and then makes his way to San Francisco to work in the tech/investment space and finds success there, publishes his story and the nation eats it up...so much so that it becomes the basis for a successful movie....because the story is so real and raw and hits home with the American public.

Vance and his wife have 3 wonderful children and then he rises to become a Senator and now VP candidate, and all this, THIS, is somehow NOT a standard issue American.

LOL

Well, Dumb Lefty Mark ain't Dumb Lefty Mark for nothing, is he?

Blair said...

This is a very calculated attack, and it has cut through, not because it's true, but because a) nobody knows much about Vance, so they can define him how they want; and b) Vance may not be objectively weird, but he is weird "for a politician" in somewhat the same way Trump is, so it can stick in that way. It's classic Obama psychological campaign tactics too. Very clever, and hard to combat. Probably humor is the best way to disarm it. Trump does this incredibly well, but Vance is going to have to learn fast.

Drago said...

Dumb Lefty Mark: "Why does Kendrick's song 'Not Like Us' keep playing in my head?"

Because you are accustomed to getting everything wrong and this discussion is no different in that regard...primarily driven by what your political masters need you and your fellow New Soviet Democratical NPC's to believe.

Iman said...

Mark asked…

“Why does Kendrick's song 'Not Like Us' keep playing in my head?”

Probably a leftover from your last serial killing spree.

Quaestor said...

Inga grunts, "Ha, I’ve been saying Trumpists are weird for years now in these very comments sections..."

Four grandchildren. Everyone, meet Inga, the world's most ancient 9th-grade mean girl.

(Well, back to the old comments site, complete with the typical blogger whoopsies.)

Linda said...

I believe in God, but I don't go around proclaiming it or chastising people who don't believe - I go to a Lutheran church but don't call myself a Lutheran and don't really care what other people believe - I often vote for conservative candidates, but do not call myself a Republican and I don't care if you are a Democrat or a liberal and support Harris - but you know what?
"I am proud to be called weird"!

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...


"Weird is a call for female Dem conformity. Silly as rhetoric but it can work with the target audience."

Who are already voting Democrat. It's a strange campaign that speaks only to the true believers.

Mason G said...

Google Trends for "weird" over the past year here:

https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?geo=US&q=weird&hl=en

Pretty much flat until recently. Now, up about 25% over what it was a week or so ago. I wonder what caused *that* to happen?

FullMoon said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Richard Dillman said...

We went to the Trump rally in St. Cloud, Minn. on Saturday. It was exciting, energetic, and entertaining, to say the least.
Several attendees were wearing tea shirts that read “My Governor is an Idiot.” Quite accurate.

Jim at said...

If you look at how hard the right is trying to push back on this term, it clearly has them spooked.

Push back? We're laughing at you.

Iman said...

Speaking of weird - and incredibly moronic - QueMala’s bragging about her work to ensure "every transgender inmate in the prison system" has access to taxpayer-funded gender reassignment surgeries.

Jim at said...

Guy must not own a mirror.

It's obvious you don't.

Michelle Dulak Thomson said...

chuck,

I prefer "eccentric", it is weird with a college degree.

I knew "eccentric" a very long time before college, but perhaps the average person doesn't go through as many books as I did.

Anyway, what your comment suggested to me was from "Yes, Prime Minister." Bernard speaking: It's one of those irregular verbs, isn't it? "I have an independent mind; you're eccentric; he's gone round the twist."

Inga said...

“I think it's a 'weird' tactic to saturate the airwaves with Same Speak, a heavy-handed Propaganda technique that has its basis in authoritative societies - like Nazi Germany, under Goebbels, or the Stalinist Soviet Socialist Republic.”

Make America Great Again! Same Speak, etc.etc.etc. Kind of like Deutschland Uber Alles!

walter said...

FullMoon said...
Does Walz have enough gravitas to be considered for v.p.?
--
Under Kammy?
It's a Feelz ticket.

walter said...

What's really weird is Inga parroting every dumb Dem talking point, claiming she was there first.

Christopher B said...

Fat White Guy sez whut?

Aggie said...

Waltz brings the same Old White Guy party-hack-with-baggage vibe that Tim Kaine brought to The Hils ticket, in 2016. He might be attending try-outs, but I doubt he's impressing the coach.

Christopher B said...

FullMoon .. every seen a picture of him? Gravitas like a boat anchor.

Mr. D said...

FullMoon said...
Does Walz have enough gravitas to be considered for v.p.?


I live in Minnesota. He's a carnival barker who never gets contradicted by anyone in the state media complex. He's a target-rich environment, though. He wins because Hennco and Ramco are 80% DFL these days and they outvote the rest of the state, plus they can manufacture all the extra votes they need. He was once a congressman from a semi-rural district but he's largely hated everywhere outside the metro, which he said was full of "rocks and cows." If he had to face only the voters in his old district now, they'd kick him to the curb in a heartbeat.

Aggie said...

@Inga said: "Make America Great Again! Same Speak, etc.etc.etc. Kind of like Deutschland Uber Alles!"

To be direct: That's just stupid, Inga. Only one man says that, Trump, and he's made it the signature of his campaigning. He has hats made with the acronym. There are other politicians that occasionally reference it but: How many talking heads have you seen crowing about it all over the networks in the same day? None. Is that really the best you can do for riposte, call Trump 'Hitler'?

And I notice that you didn't answer the question, which is: How do you characterize it when Democrat leaders are all doing it? What do you call it?

Inga said...

“Only one man says that, Trump, and he's made it the signature of his campaigning.”

Oh brother. “Only one man” says Make America Great Again? Are you serious? It’s a great example of Same Speak and propaganda and that you didn’t recognize it before you posted your comment is, plainly speaking, dumb…or weird.

Another old lawyer said...

I started telling our children at a young age that everyone's weird.

John henry said...

Narciso,

Estrano works.

I think down south here we might be more inclined to say "raro"

But we use both.

John Henry

Michael K said...

The dullard presents more evidence of her intelligence by objecting to the obvious fact that Trump made that slogan the heart of his campaign from the first day. People who support him tend to repeat it, sort of like "Remember Pearl Harbor."

Drago said...

For Inga The Parrot....

The O'Keefe Media Group strikes again!

“I don’t think Kamala Harris would win this year,” reveals Joyce DeCerce (@JoyceDecerce) (he/him), Compliance Manager for the Democratic National Committee (@DNC) and Kamala Harris' (@KamalaHarris) Campaign.

DeCerce adds, “She doesn’t have any accomplishments to speak of,” suggesting that Harris’s lack of popularity stems from her underachievement while in office.

Regarding Harris’s approval amongst voters, the DNC Compliance manager states, “She's weirdly unpopular."

DeCerce describes his role within the DNC as “an accounting function,” explaining, “It’s kind of like where accounting and legal meet.”

DeCerce admits that the DNC’s engagement with donors is little more than a façade. He explains, “You just put on a performance for them, a little show, right?” implying that the DNC merely tells donors what they want to hear in order to receive donations. He further claims that the DNC’s approach is to fuel donors’ fantasies with empty promises, emphasizing, “They want their fantasy to be, you know, fed.”

LOL

Aggie said...

@Inga, now there are two questions:

1. How do you characterize the phenomenon of Democrat talking heads all appearing on network news and entertainment shows, parroting the same talking points, or specific words (like 'weirdo') or identical combinations of words in phrases, on virtually all of the channels, within the space of a day or two? How do you characterize this: Is it 'normal' broadcasting happenstance, 'coincidence', 'coordination', or some other description? I call it planned propaganda.

2. Can you point to examples of conservatives doing the same thing about Democrat subjects? So far, you've come up with the word 'MAGA', the slogan 'Make America Great Again', which are heavily used by Trump, but you haven't provided any examples of Same Speak, as I've termed it: Exact same words or phrases parroted by conservative leaders, across the media in the space of a couple of days.

There, as plain as it can be.

Clyde said...

Iman said...
Speaking of weird - and incredibly moronic - QueMala’s bragging about her work to ensure "every transgender inmate in the prison system" has access to taxpayer-funded gender reassignment surgeries.


Ha ha! Everyone knows those dudes aren't there to get their dicks whacked off, they're there to put them to use on the real women.

Christopher B said...

Inga said...
Oh brother. “Only one man” says Make America Great Again? Are you serious? It’s a great example of Same Speak and propaganda


It's a slogan. "A chicken in every pot." "Happy Days are here again". "I'm with Her".

Drago said...

This has been known for quite some time, backed up with lots of data behind it, but its always good to revisit when the New Soviet Democratical Parrots start in with their typical lunacy.

"(Per Pew) 80% of white liberal women have been diagnosed by a medical professional as having a mental health condition. Over 50% of liberal women of all races under 30 have. What is going on ladies?"

https://x.com/amuse/status/1818254924448145494?t=9P5W9FOgBxP3z7Qv-3Rk0Q&s=19

Mason G said...

"It's a slogan. "A chicken in every pot." "Happy Days are here again". "I'm with Her"."

In the immortal words of Crash Davis, "Having a conversation with Inga is like a Martian talking to a Fungo."

walter said...

It's a slogan. "A chicken in every pot." "Happy Days are here again". "I'm with Her".
--
Yes, we can.
and..
I know you are but what am I?

boatbuilder said...

Tim Walz, the creepy funeral director guy, is calling people weird? Really?

Trump is sui generis. It is not news to anyone on the planet that he's not your ordinary politician.

Howard said...

What's weird is how triggered you all get in response to a middle school mean girl meme

Drago said...

Howitzer Howard: "What's weird is how triggered you all get in response to a middle school mean girl meme"

LOL

More projection from Howitzer Howard.

The pathetic "middle school mean girl meme" is the official campaign strategy of your islamic supremacist-aligned groomer-enabling New Soviet Democratical Party.

I can see why you would be desperate to change the subject...but then as James Carville said so eloquently:
"What went wrong is just stupid wokeness. Don’t just look at Virginia and New Jersey. Look at Long Island, look at Buffalo, look at Minneapolis, even look at Seattle, Wash. I mean, this ‘defund the police’ lunacy, this take Abraham Lincoln’s name off of schools. I mean that — people see that.

It’s just really — has a suppressive effect all across the country on Democrats. Some of these people need to go to a ‘woke’ detox center or something. They’re expressing a language that people just don’t use, and there’s backlash and a frustration at that.”

That's you Howard...and all your little wokey leaders that you follow around like a puppy dog. And you lecture others on "low T"!

Too funny.

Justabill said...

What do you say, let’s assume that all politicians are weird, and get weirder the higher they climb, and move on to examining the policies and solutions that they propose.

Lazarus said...

Hart wasn't weird. Jerry Brown was weird. Hart was just a bit off. He wanted to be the Robert Redford candidate or the next JFK, the nation's idol, but he wasn't quite that. The press mocked him either because they knew he wasn't perfect or because they feared he was.

Walz is too colorless to be weird - or charismatic. Maybe buried deep down inside of him there's an AOJ or an Ilhan Omar or maybe someone like bicycle-mad Earl Blumenauer, but he's too afraid or too square to let his freak flag fly.

If Kamala Harris picks Tim Walz as her running mate, it will be a replay of 2016: Superwoman breaking the Glass Ceiling and her sidekick, dull and dim white Tim.

Jon Ericson said...

https://tinyurl.com/2dzw2nv4

effinayright said...


Inga: "Ha, I’ve been saying Trumpists are weird for years now in these very comments sections,.."

***********

Inga apparently doesn't realize she's the inmate in the asylum depicted in "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari".

"We'd like to know a little bit about you for our files
We'd like to help you learn to help yourself
Look around you, all you see are sympathetic eyes
Stroll around the grounds until you feel at home"

Iman said...

“Walz is too colorless to be weird - or charismatic. Maybe buried deep down inside of him there's an AOJ or an Ilhan Omar or maybe someone like bicycle-mad Earl Blumenauer, but he's too afraid or too square to let his freak flag fly.”

I’ve read that Walz is ginormously fat, but does he have a square head, as well.

walter said...

My overweight, recently divorced Facebook fwiend (I filmed their wedding) is really leaning into the catlady bit.
While she frames every selfie so her face fills the frame, she yesterday marveled at the still hot abs of Anthony Herpes 'stache of RHCP at recent concert.
Before her husband she had two boys with, she lamented how disinterested men were therefore deficiently manly.
She's with Her.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

I kinda miss when “sharp” as in sharps as a tack was Word-of-the-Day amongst the DNC-Media hoard. Good times!

What? It was only two weeks ago? WTF!

Greg The Class Traitor said...

So socialist wiedo Waltz is going to be Harris' running mate

Guess she really wanted a VP who wouldn't be better than her