Meade gave a 1-word response — "eyeliner" — to this longish quote I'd texted him:
"Harry Truman, with bipartisan support, militarized the economy so that we might be forever at war. It was just decided that we were going to stay in the war racket -- that's how we went broke. Now we have an enemy-of-the-month club. If it's not Noriega, it's Bishop in Grenada; Qaddafi, whose eyeliner is very ominous; Saddam, just like Hitler. When they get into their bunkers they always find a copy of 'Mein Kampf,' a portrait of Hitler, women's underdrawers — which they wear — a couple of dead Boy Scouts and three mistresses, because they do both terrible things."
Is "eyeliner" what jumped out at you in that feast of words — "Qaddafi, whose eyeliner is very ominous"? Who speaks like that and drops in a phrase as apt and poetical as "whose eyeliner is very ominous"? It was Gore Vidal, in a 1995 NYT piece called "Gore Vidal Receives a Visitor," which I'm reading because... it doesn't matter why I'm reading that! It's full of great stuff. I just wanted to give you those 3 sentences."
Anyway... eyeliner. Are you up to speed on the subject of JD Vance wearing eyeliner? Let me help:
"Couches, dolphins and eyeliner: Debunking and confirming JD Vance rumors" (Cincinnati Enquirer), "SNL’s Cecily Strong mocks Donald Trump running mate JD Vance for ‘Panic at the Disco’-style eyeliner" (Independent), "Is J.D. Vance Wearing Eyeliner? I tried to find out the hard way" (Slate), "JD Vance wearing eyeliner" (Reddit), "Here’s why the internet is convinced JD Vance wears eyeliner/Donald Trump’s running mate has found himself at the center of an ongoing investigation: Does JD Vance wear eyeliner?" (Independent), "JD Vance's 'smokey' eyes get TikTok scan makeup tutorials, 'Does he wear eyeliner?'" (Hindustan Times), "Maybe it's the dark black part of his soul/Maybe it's Maybelline" (Daily Show on TikTok), "JD Vance is hit with bizarre rumor about his face after he was accused of having sex with sofa: Can you see what people are talking about?" (Daily Mail). Can you see what I am talking about?What's happening there? Is it some highly processed homophobia that's somehow supposed to be okay because it's coming from the left?
Looking back into my blog archive, I see eyeliner on a male politician was an issue 10 years ago, when eyeliner on a man was called "guyliner," and there was a website — now defunct — that presented men with a set of 10 questions to ask yourself if you're a man considering wearing eyeliner. Fortunately, I have preserved the 10 questions in my 2014 post, where I applied the questions to Andrew Cuomo (because Cuomo was asking if some other male politician was wearing eyeliner).
I guess we could apply the 10 questions to Vance, who might have that genetic mutation — distichiasis — that Elizabeth Taylor had. Perhaps Vance grew up as one of those little boys who had to hear old ladies exclaim "Those eyes are wasted on you! You should have been a girl!" That used to go on quite a bit. And perhaps it still does.
I gave Andrew Cuomo a 7 out of 10 on the questions. So let's see. I give Vance a 2 out of 10. He got a yes on #1 and #8.
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44 comments:
Democrats can’t talk about anything even close to what they are doing or what they want.
They can’t compare the US under Trump to the US under their regime.
So we get stories about eyeliner and weirdness.
And there are some people stupid enough to vote for them. Not many but a few.
"which I'm reading because... it doesn't matter why I'm reading that!"
Althouse channeling The Rock over here.
I think Vance gets more than 2.
What a great quote from Gore Vidal. BTW, did Vidal wear eyeliner? Anyway, i liked the bit about every Super-villian we have to fight having a copy of Mein Kamp and 3 mistresses and 3 dead boyscouts.
Did Vidal get the "found with a live boy or a dead girl" meme mixed up or did he deliberately reverse it?
Just the other day, in a random wandering of trying to find a show to watch or rewatch, I was looking at the IMDB page for the show Lost. (Which I sort of liked, but it exemplified JJ Abrams tendency to be like an unmoored yacht in a storm--it looks great, and has wonderful features, but tends to drift and get messed up by the end). Anyhoo, in the trivia section there was an entry about actor Nestor Carbonell (also in Suddenly Susan and his best role of Batmanuel in the Tick):
After the character of Richard Alpert was first introduced on the show, a furious internet debate arose about whether or not Nestor Carbonell was wearing eyeliner onscreen. Carbonell revealed on the fifth season DVD extras that not only does he not wear eyeliner, mascara, or makeup of any kind to make his lashes and eyeline appear as dark as they do, but also the makeup artists for "Lost" actually use concealer on his lashes and under his eyes to try to tone down the natural darkness of his eyeline. He also said that the unusual appearance of his eyes caused him to get teased and bullied when he was a child. The writers, amused by the intensity of the debate, placed a reference to it in the series when Sawyer, who frequently applies nicknames to various characters, calls Alpert "eyeliner."
As an actor, I always wore eyeliner on stage. I'd be willing to bet that they hired a makeup person to make him up and they just naturally applied eyeliner because that's SOP for going on stage and television.
"Is it some highly processed homophobia that's somehow supposed to be okay because it's coming from the left?"
If by "highly processed" you mean triple-distilled and then benzene-extracted before being infused into Hillary's daily adrenochrome cocktail syringe, then you're about half-way there.
Here's the thing about homophobia, nobody hates gay people like they hate themselves. Nobody. Because they feel they own this self-hatred, it is definitely okay for them because it's coming from them.
Yes. They don't just see the double-standard, it is ok for them.
Gore Vidal was a idiot when it came to the Soviets, and a scoundrel when it came to Israel,
now Vance happens to be a critic of how these wars have been fought with no clear objective, with terrible rules of engagement,
First, focus on something unimportant and universally understandable. Use it for mockery. Avoid all questions of ideology and policy.
Have lots of colors and lights, and happy music. Dance!
Have an old white guy show up to play the affable uncle VP.
Repeat. Hug the uncle for being a poor dancer.
Woo!! Excitement!!
because he's been in one, well the engagement happened 21 years ago,
MacArthur wanted to go to war and settle it, and Arthur Herman would argue, he had the right side of the argument,
Truman didn't even really understand who we were fighting in Korea, as Johnson was in Vietnam, as W in Afghanistan
and yet Vidal groveled before Castro, Mao, Sukarno probably Ho Chi Minh, because he hated our countrymen as much as the other enemies, the brain dead derivative of Vidal is Michael Moore,
who railed about Florida, and celebrated as Americans were being cut to pieces by what would become the Islamic State, 'austere Moslem scholar' Bagdadi's gang,
If Vance does wear eyeliner, nowadays that just makes him seem more piratey, à la Captain Jack Sparrow.
Are we talking the Princess Di raccoon effect or something subtle. Perhaps it appeals to women.
It makes women look like they're wearing makeup, on women.
Listen you pinko queer - Wm F Buckley to Gore Vidal in some interview, or words to that effect.
no he was a stupid jackass that hopped off to Ravenna, when NATO protected his property,
he was with Wallace who was a soviet stooge, like Norman Mailer another jackass, the one who let a murderer go free, (that he did share with Buckley)
if you don't have enough children you don't have a country, of course if you want to replace it with the rest of the World, you no longer have your own country,
Keep saying Vance is wearing eyeliner and he’ll sock you in the goddamn face and you'll stay plastered…
What's happening there? Is it some highly processed homophobia that's somehow supposed to be okay because it's coming from the left?
No, I think it's more like Toxic Masculinity from the left. (Which is equally ok when they do it.). This is just their way of calling JD a girlie-man while the AWFL's sit in the back grinning and nodding.
They think that all Repubs are homophobic and that JD will be embarrassed by people accusing him of wearing make-up. They think they're fighting the righteous battle of calling out those h8trs in the GOP.
In reality, as suggested, JD has probably been bullied about this his whole life and is now immune.
One set of rules.
If cat lady comments and eyeliner are important, then a potential drunk driving incident is.
The MSM needs to give us all the details and explain how speed in excess of 35 mph over the speed limit is because he can’t hear (?). Did that really happen? Or will the MSM ignore it until Walz makes a statement?
are not eyeliner gateway to becoming drag queen? may be there is hope for JDV yet?!
Killing babies isnt such a big deal after all
eyeliner is
Vidal served in WWII and had his eyes opened then about his country.
STFU casting stones from the sidelines.
More toll-like comments from "Derve." Hmmm
troll like, of course.
I had eyeliner put on as a lark at a makeup store in the mall. It really freaked my wife out.
Paddy O: yes, Batmanuel is quite possibly the greatest character on TV.
Carbonell is a Harvard man - you have to be smart to present a believably reIdiculous character.
He also was excellent but almost unrecognizable as a Portuguese merchant sailor in the new adaptation of Shogun.
JSM
militarized the economy
This part jumped out at me.
"That message got lost when he hopped on his soapbox trying to convince American women to have more babies for the State..."
Stupid commie pinko shows up in comments and pretends to understand plain English. Vance said nothing about having kids for the "State".
Maybe try reading for comprehension next time, pinko.
JSM, yet he was excellent in Shogun! I didn't recognize him at all, but his voice finally got me checking if it was him.
My favorite Batmanuel line.
yes that was a patently ridiculous line, the ecnonomy was still geared to consumers unlike the Soviets who were actually a War economy,
I seriously doubt Vance wore eyeliner for his official Marine photo, which ought to settle the issue.
Vance can wear Ohio State face paint as far as I care, as long as he promotes sound policies.
"I seriously doubt Vance wore eyeliner for his official Marine photo, which ought to settle the issue."
JD's USMC photo is typical and dignified. Well...about as dignified as a crayon-eater's photo could be Lol. Photos don't define Marines, piles of dead enemies do, and JD's photos then or now have no bearing on the man's internal thought process.
I was looking at ride space mountains new Avatar and it first couldn't tell if it was the comedian who does Dr Phil on Kill Tony impersonating Joe Biden it turns out he's still married to Ric Flair.
My wife, at the time a semiconductor process development engineer, had her eyeliner tattooed on. (No makeup allowed in the clean room.)
How is putting eyeliner on JD "Larry Mondello" Vance any different from putting lipstick on a pig?
"I was looking at ride space mountains new Avatar and it first couldn't tell if it was the comedian who does Dr Phil on Kill Tony impersonating Joe Biden it turns out he's still married to Ric Flair."
Are you making fun of my religion Howard? Most of woo don't know this but I'm a Rastaflairian. I firmly believe in filling our boots, being the world champion. Riding Space Mountain changed my life. Maybe it can change yours too. We're looking for converts.
Woo Woo
I'm a Flairian
I'm a Rastaflairian
I'm a Rastaflairian on this blog
They think that all Repubs are homophobic and that JD will be embarrassed by people accusing him of wearing make-up.
You win the thread!
Paddy O: That one does encapsulate the whole Batmanuel philosophy, but my personal favorite is when he says “Yes, I, Batmanuel, am the arbiter of all that is cool,” and then the Tick rushes up to ask him, “Am I cool!?”
JSM
Howard, Nixon found out the problem of going on TV without makeup. Maybe the eyeliner.is only for TV.
s dignified as a crayon-eater's photo could be
Just when did he realize he had the brains to go to college and Yale Law, or did someone have to tell him? Though I suspect the mean Corps enlisted IQ rose a bit between 9/11 and 2005, he must have noticed a difference.
@Ralph L
Some of the smartest and most decisive people I have ever met are Marines. The crayons are just some friendly inter-service rivalry hyuck hyuck🤠
Friendly rivalry with Marines is always advisable because actual rivalry will get you killed 5 times before you hit the ground.
"Friendly rivalry with Marines is always advisable because actual rivalry will get you killed 5 times before you hit the ground."
Well, not if the Marine in question is Howitzer Howard...his tactics are likely limited to Round The Clock Drag Queen Story Hour(s).
My biggest takeaway from today is I need to rewatch The Tick, first live-action not the new one which was lacked any of the whimsy of the cartoon and the first live action
It should have been called the Zack Snyder Tick
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