POV: You died and went to hell pic.twitter.com/N6C5J1jSvr
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) January 14, 2025
You know, when you've made your mark in writing, as a columnist, you need to get some serious, unbiased advice about whether your material transfers well to audio and video. Jennifer Rubin is behaving on camera in such a ridiculously stilted, fakely enthusiastic manner that I have to assume she had no honest, competent adviser to help her build a social media brand.
And who's the guy? He seems like a character played by Phil Hartman on SNL years ago. He tells us he's Norm Eisen, and I look him up in Wikipedia and see he's "an American attorney, author, and former diplomat.... He was co-counsel for the House Judiciary Committee during the first impeachment and trial of President Donald Trump in 2020." He wrote a book called "Overcoming Trumpery: How to Restore Ethics, the Rule of Law, and Democracy." Why's he coming at us like a parody of a 1970s game-show host? Oh! Wait! This is fascinating:
Director Wes Anderson has credited Ambassador Eisen as an inspiration for the character of Deputy Kovacs in his 2014 film The Grand Budapest Hotel. Anderson told Jeff Goldblum, who played Deputy Kovacs, "that he should go to Prague and see Norm; this is your man… The character of the lawyer Kovacs in the film maintains the awareness of law and justice… the character is actually a kind of ethics czar for the whole film."
You can take a look at Goldblum channeling Norm Eisen here (at Facebook). That's not what Eisen is doing on camera with Jennifer Rubin. Maybe he could impersonate Goldblum's impersonation.
Anyway, there is room for everybody in social media, at least until the government "ethics czars" shut it down in the name of democracy and the rule of law. So jump in, Jennifer and Norm, and good luck finding favor in the algorithm.
Posts
113 comments:
We live in a great time where journos can jump ship to start their own brand - Sullivan, Taibbi, Greenwald, Weiss. They succeed or fail on their own merits.
That said, The Contrarian already has the stench of death.
Perhaps they can bring Taylor Lorenz on board to rescue them.
I’ve seen Eisen on CNN or MSNBC. He’s just another TDS whack job. Weird.
…as with The View, CNN and the rest of the why-are-they-still-arounds they will survive nay thrive via promotion in reposts- their side for the dopamine sound bites and normal people because of the absurdity. I didn’t know who they were two days ago. See, it works!
Didn’t mention Trump once. I guess “pro - democracy” means “anti-Trump.” War is peace.
I didn’t realize how much Rubin had aged. I guess I always saw her younger byline picture. I didn’t recognize her. Unfortunately, I’m running out of time in the day for the podcasters and blogs I already enjoy. You have to bring a big game to muscle in. I dropped Weiss, because she let people stereotype others without any probing or pushback.
62 seems like Pretty Old, to be starting a new career
Abrasive sonics, they fail on the audio portion alone. Gutfeld material.
I kept wondering why, if this is Jen Rubin’s big move, the nobody next to her is doing all the talking while she silently looks silly.
"We want your contribution$." I'll bet they do!
That woman is really, hellaciously ugly.
I was definitely expecting "Live! From New York! It's Saturday Night!" at the end.
Wow. That is shockingly bad.
Lack of self-awareness means lack of self-awareness. If they've been in a thick urban left bubble for their entire lives (highly likely), then what they say makes sense to them. It persuades others in their personal bubble, so it's good to go. No feedback = random weirdness and confusion.
There's also a lot of partisan misdirection that meant's to confuse and defuse challenges to party leadership. Consider that the ideologically timid and slightly non-conforming Bill Maher once had a show named "Politically Incorrect." Consider how often Obama's and Biden's actions were tagged to Trump. Finally, some people's thinking declines sharply and suddenly with age. See Neil Young's nutty Spotify actions regarding Joe Rogan. See Joe Biden.
Do we still analyze the backdrop bookshelves? That one’s weird. Gave up on the the organize-by-color scheme quickly, no other good place for the pie pans and Tupperware, are those dancing bear erasers?
A face for radio and a voice for newsprint. Quite a combo
…that nobody- he and dozens like him are the answer to the question ‘…then who has been running things?’
They've watched way too many public TV fundraisers.
It's got to be a lot more work building your own site rather than cranking out a few opinion columns each week. Her only brand recognition is as a hate read for certain very online people on the right, and they're not going to pay to read her. His role is presumably to scrape up some stories from his old colleagues, but they're all out of power, and how much mileage can they get from "Dem insiders plan opposition"? Hope they're up to the struggle.
I think the goofy awkwardness is supposed to communicate authenticity. We're supposed to think that these people are sincere and trustworthy because they aren't all botox smoothed and stretched and made up to look like theyre' getting ready to spend the weekend at Mar-a-Lago. It didn't really work for me because I was too distracted by her crooked glasses and how much he reminds me of Al Franken.
They look and act like college professors to me (no offense to anyone).
Hush your mouth. 62 is the new 35.
seriously, WHY wouldn't she just retire? she's 62.
IF anyone wanted to read what she wants to right; there's Probably some place Already built for that.
it's Bad Enough for her that she was fired from the WaPoo..
now she's going to fail at this.. Just Go Away
May the algorithms be ever in you favor - Effie Trinket
Jen Rubin, Joe Rogan.
Soon, they will be interchangeable.
Feel sorry for the pets.
gilbar said...
“62 seems like Pretty Old, to be starting a new career.”
Analogy: Maybe she’s just going from an office with a view on the east side on the 5th floor of the Ivory Towers at Liberal Plaza to an office on the south side on the 7th floor of the same building.
She’s one of the reasons WaPo readership is down 90% in the last year. This is a panic play and won’t last long, likely.
This looks like a Saturday Night Live joke. Sometimes, barriers to access are a good thing.
Has anybody told them that we’re a republic?
There’s no such thing as bad PR?
62 only seems old if you are a sloppy fat drunk.
They're mistaking Trump for someone else. They don't seem to realize the Biden Administration (no matter who was in charge) met the definition of "liberal fascist."
Some people do not surrender in life. She might be an idiot and have a cringe-worthy delivery but there she is putting herself out there trying to make it happen. You don't have to respect her views but you should respect her effort. Maybe look in a mirror and get off the couch and try to do something about your situation rather than wallow in self-pity and hatred.
The Contrarian = two DC insiders giving us the conventional MSM opinion
Conservative Jen Rubin = who votes for Hillary, Biden, and Harris
Ethical Lawyer = Unethical partisan hack who engages in lawfare.
LIke David Frum, David French, Jonah Goldberg, or Bill Kristol these sorts of people always have a rich person to finance them and give them jobs. Talent and wisdom are unneccssary. Just push the party line and pretend to be some sort of "Conservative".
The dude looks a little bit like the puppet character with gray hair from the mid 60's Thunderbirds TV show
Who?
Erick Erickson claims he has a face for radio and a voice for print.
I think he needs to turn that "handle" over to Rubin and Eisen.
Rubin looks and sounds like the "blah blah" school teacher from a 1960's Charlie Brown special.
Well, at least we can look forward to a good true crime podcast when one of them goes nuts and kills the other.
Walter Kirn says he's changing laundromats, moving to the Scrub & Tub... somethings in the air
In the bizarro universe
They promise to provide humor. That wasn't a threat. They were really sincere. I don't think that the humor will work out the way they intend......I bet if they wore big, bright red noses and wigs with lots of frizzy hair it would complement their delivery. Still, they do have to work on the timing and material.
He was the architect of most of thd lawfade against trump the indictmentd the civil trial the proscriptions on social media
He sits there like a child, reading the text scrawl while she delivers her portion. If they were split screen instead of side-by-side she wouldn't need those clunky glasses to read her script, and he could try to look more engaged. But they'd need to invest in two cameras, an editor, and real mics and headsets.
And her glasses are crooked.
He reminds me of Eugene Levy on SCTV.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p75sNu-bMZE
Howard, you're such a self-important dick. I'm 80 and I suspect I could still run circles around your worthless ass.
Two Jews walk into an oven..
Sounds like the blog template from Ace of Spades but pushed through a grinder first.
Some of these comments are hysterical. But the dynamic duo reminds of that famous New Yorker cartoon cover showing NYC in great detail and the rest of the country, there across the river, as an afterthought. Up till now their bubble has been imperturbable. Probably all their friends rooted for their new venture, and they think this translates nationwide. But the Great Reset is underway. I predict a couple of months, tops, for their career move trajectory to pass its apex, maybe a couple more for these chattering nincompoops to fade away.
Eisen for the reasons i stated above should have been deplatformed and jailed long ago
All that sexual tension.
"They're mistaking Trump for someone else. They don't seem to realize the Biden Administration (no matter who was in charge) met the definition of 'liberal fascist.'"
Felon Don Trump exemplifies the definition of "Moron Fascist."
Mental illness is a terrible thing. People so afflicted will always be among us.
"Felon Don Trump"
You know who else was a felon? George Floyd.
I don't think I could be any less interested in whatever passes for these two charisma-free morons thoughts.
Together they make a classic portrait. American Blueshevik.
Ridicule is all well and good, but these ridiculous people mean to lord it over us, to "defend democracy" no less. SNL-worthy Norm Eisen, impeachment lawyer, "diplomat." Fortunately, the patronizing by our inferiors doesn't work so well anymore.
Sally? Howard? did you WATCH Jen Rubin's video?
do y'all REALLY want to argue that she is in the prime of her life, and ready to start a new web platform? She strikes me as pretty long in the tooth (as am i)
Just looking at the picture, I immediately flashed back to the SNL "Delicious Dish" parody of every PBS show ever.
Playing the video changed nothing about my impression.
One side is for us, the other is for they/them.
i'm glad to be retired.. Tell me Again, WHY you define your lives as Work?
Does make one wonder what the budget of this sensational new platform will be?
I define my life as learning. Not saying I'm any good at it, but I'm not giving up.
Maybe that's what they're doing. They'll learn something in any event.
Stephen Kruiser has their number, and a lot of other people on the Left:
Democrats who believe that their politics make them permanent residents of the moral high ground are particularly galling. While I truly would like to get along better, I can't muster any patience to indulge delusions like that. Political beliefs don't make one a good person; being a good person makes one a good person.
Neverending TDS coupled with raw incompetence (e.g., LA burning, ictims of Hurricane Helene freezing, the withdrawal from Afghanistan) means maybe we just need to ignore the Jen Rubin’s and Whoopi Goldbergs and female Democrat politicians if we’re going to make genuine progress as a country.
You know who else was a felon? Stalin
That's it!
These two are the epitome of fashion. Let me go find my v-neck sweater.
The market place of ideas is going to determine real quick whether they are viable or not. Even Soros has only so much money and patience.
When I read about this new venture, yesterday, I laughed out loud at the name they picked. As others have said “the contrarian” will be all MSM Liberalism all the time. NYT “conservative” Jen Rubin saying all the same things. Didn’t expect I’d listen to or watch any of it (except when excerpted by others for mocking).
But seriously, what a horrendous first impression. I know she may be new to “video and social Media” but she must know (and the others around them must know) that you can stop, erase, and re-record, right? Did she write all her columns without ever editing anything? This just looks like a blooper real you find at the end of an old DVD. Wow…
I think it's safe to say The Contrarian has the clear potential to compete with the worst NPR has to offer, but will it be enough?
Mayor Karen Bass
@MayorOfLA
Thank you Ambassador
@NormEisen
for your continued support and mentorship in the world of ethics and transparency and to the ethics teams at the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and Metro for collaborating with us on an event solely dedicated to governmental ethics.
https://beverlypress.com/2024/04/bass-convenes-conference-focusing-on-government-ethics/
5:09 PM · Apr 21, 2024
Yes, that same Norm Eisen. I would have thought that the most important ethical questions for the Water Board would be assuring that there was enough water and that it got to where it was needed, but that's just me. Heck of a job, Normie.
Thank you @NormEisen for working with us to increase ethical excellence across city government! pic.twitter.com/LcNBH2aCiq
— Mayor Karen Bass (@MayorOfLA) February 10, 2023
The way things are going, "ethics specialists" are as much to be avoided as DEI or disinformation specialists.
That "Felon Trump" thing was just swill to feed to morons.
She's stopped taking care of herself. Not even the thickly applied lipstick anymore.
Every year (or more often) I assess our income and what we spend it on. Sometimes decisions are tough. IIRC this new venture is being offered to me at $7 per month. That is an $84 decision that will not be a struggle.
Joe Rogan can rest easy.
Keep running around in circles j-dub.
gilbar, you should ask the late 70s old man Donald Trump, your lord and savior, why work is so important.
It doesn't matter if she's in her prime or not. It doesn't matter that she's making herself look like a fool. She's in the game and has guts enough to keep going keep trying keep working the problem. That's what human beings do.
These people are a caricature of themselves. A parody of a parody. I love it. You could not write this better than the real thing. So full of themselves, so sure of their nobility and righteousness. Mr. Eisen is a full on lawfare guy. Jen Rubin is...ah...well...crazy. Perfect. Recipes and pet stories? Scattered around breathless Trump! stories? Who wouldn't subscribe to that?
I'm starting a pool on this. I give it 8 months.
I’ll take the under
Why are they using that silly background? And did Jen get fired from WaPo?
I got more of an "Earl Camembert" vibe than a "Bobby Bitman" vibe.
Norm and Jen are late to the party though. They're just playing Wrent-A-Wreck to the Bullfrog's Enterprise Rental (Hertz and Avis are now #3 and #2).
If they were still alive, Gildna Ratner and Fred Williard would be great doing this comedy sketch. It's all there - they wouldn't have to add any embellishments.
Both are total whack jobs. Speaking of whack jobs, Zuckerberg says he was only following orders.
Where have I heard that before?
mmmm Cooking with Pro-democracy flavors!
(these ideological morons don't understand that 100% pure democracy is authoritarianism)
Howard has a leftist soul. He cannot help deriding imaginary bullshit.
Cook - other than MSNBC talking points - we see you are unable to define "fascism" correctly.
"It doesn't matter if she's in her prime or not. It doesn't matter that she's making herself look like a fool. She's in the game and has guts enough to keep going keep trying keep working the problem. That's what human beings do."
And sometimes you need to know when your time is up and the torch needs to be passed. At any rate, she does not strike me as Teddy Roosevelt. She does strike me as delusional.
So, two commenters here are freely comparing Trump, repectively, with George Floyd and Stalin. I assume you guys favor the comparison with Stalin, a successful despot for many decades, loved by many of his countrymen, rather than with Floyd, a shabby drug addict who was murdered by the police.
"Ich habe nur Befehle befolgt" was the last thing a lot of Germans said after World War II as the trap door opened under their feet and the rope tightened around their necks
I have grown to respect and admire Howard. He has his wits about him. Long may he opine.
All backgrounds, huh? So MAGA, Ron Paul libertarians and BernieBros will be there?
Speaking of recipes, I would seriously consider listening to their podcast discussing the traditional "Schweddy balls" recipe during Christmas...excuse me... the winter holiday season.
He was Obama's "ethics czar". No, seriously.
From Wikipedia: "In Obama's autobiography, A Promised Land, he recalls an instance in which Eisen was asked which out-of-town conferences administration officials would be admitted to attend; Eisen replied, "If it sounds fun, you can't go.""
The only conclusion I can draw from this is that Eisen is a grifting idiot and Obama was good with letting everyone know it.
It would appear that they intend to take over the space currently occupied by "Democracy Now!". It'll be a bloodbath.
I can think of no worse punishment than to be trapped on a desert isle with Jen Rubin.
She just oozes sanctimony. And that voice.
Yes, it looks like Lisa Loopner and Todd have gotten old.
Eisen looks like a bobblehead in that video.
Agreed. No one cares about your voice if you write. When you're podcasting, voice is very important. This is a problem for her.
@Begley: I’ve seen Eisen on CNN or MSNBC. He’s just another TDS whack job.
He's worse than that, a lot worse. He's one of the guiding lights behind the Left's efforts to nullify the Sixth Amendment and get attorneys disbarred for representing Republicans or contesting rigged elections. He is a Stalinist scumbag and an enemy of all that is good and decent in America.
Who would have thunk that Cook would spend so much effort simping for a war monger like Biden, and then when a man comes along who is at least *trying* to make peace, and back us off from the brink of WW3, Cookie hates him. It should be plain to Cookie that the temp on WW3 has gone way down as Biden is eased out, despite his best efforts to throw gasoline on the fires he started, on his way out the door.
Jen Rubin knows that if you are not 100% trustworthy to the needs of the elites, nobody in government will talk to you, and you can't be a journalist. This includes repeating absurd narratives that they hope that we will believe, or at least that will throw us off the scent of what they are really doing.
Though I don't think I've ever heard her speak, it doesn't surprise me in the least that her voice is like that, nor that she comes off as very mentally disturbed.
I thought nothing could be more banal than Gail Collins and David Brooks having their fake conversations.
I was so wrong.
Someone needs to tell Rubin to look at the red dot, not the cue cards.
"You can take a look at Goldblum channeling Norm Eisen here (at Facebook). That's not what Eisen is doing on camera with Jennifer Rubin. Maybe he could impersonate Goldblum's impersonation."
When Bob Dylan was brought in to sing a few lines of "We Are the World," he famously wasn't sure how to do it -- so Stevie Wonder sang them to him in "Bob" voice to demonstrate how they should sound. So in the end, Dylan was basically doing a version of Stevie Wonder's Bob Dylan impression.
Your right!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVr82b6QVio
I'm seeing Jerry Springer and Frau Farbissina.
Ma and Pa Prattle
Bingo!
Robert. C'mere. Here's a buck. Go buy yourself a sense of humor.
Here is another brief video with Goldblum as Deputy Kovacs. Plus it shows what can happen when you include pets.
Maybe look in a mirror and get off the couch and try to do something about your situation rather than wallow in self-pity and hatred.
Go fuck yourself.
America shut its asylums, so shows like this are the next best thing.
Jim: Jen Rubin couldn't even be used for 2 meals. Maybe if you made soup out of her...
they each pronounced 'contrarian' differently > which should I adopt?
They will not be able to build much of a following. There's fierce competition in the anti-Trump commentary niche. I wonder if they are unaware of all the work it takes to build a following.
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