Here's a link to the article, in The Washington Post, which I'm not even reading. I don't read articles that fall into this category. I'm just seeking a name for the category. The headline and the photograph do engage me. They're almost funny, but I feel some empathy for the people who the Washington Post seems to believe are out there hungering for whatever this is.
ADDED: One idea is "the news for women," which is a tag I began in 2011 but hadn't used since 2016. I just forgot about it, but it might express what I'm looking for here, though it has the obvious limitation. I think there are men in the (perceived) audience for this kind of emotional support.
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128 comments:
Mind reading Trump by people who can't read Trump.
Women do mind reading all the time, and any man can tell you that they're not good at it but just sure of themselves.
When you get tired of importing soldiers and paying them to attack our soldiers you have to find other ways to occupy the traitors that read your rag.
"Women do mind reading all the time...."
Do you know that from scientifically observing the outside of their head?
walls closing in.
Trump on his last legs
Depressed. Finished.
So it is, so it always shall be.
Over at Facebook, I see people who post photographs of Trump looking old and tired and speculate that he's going to die soon and express the wish that it can't be soon enough.
Women tell you what you're thinking. That's how you know they can't read minds.
It's like gf is mad at you for something you did in her dream. Same thing only waking.
Demoralizing spin.
There are other girls, rh. Don't just grouse that they're all alike. That's not scientific. That's misogynistic.
The economy is "shaky"? Really? Inflation at about 3%? Unemployment very low? Sky-high stock market?
Tyrus said last night on Gutfeld that men worry women are laughing at them, while women worry men are going to kill them.
So mind-reading a man is a survival skill for women. They get it wrong so often because postmodern Western men usually (as in 99.999 percent of the time) aren’t really thinking about killing them. CC, JSM
rhhardin does hint at a greater problem and that is the article was written by a woman. There is a measurable gender gap in TDS. Women especially—older women are obsessed with hating Trump. Why is that?
Trump was well received at the Army Navy game, so he has that going for him.
When you wish upon a star
Makes no difference who you are
Anything your heart desires
Will come to you
If your heart is in your dream
No request is too extreme
When you wish upon a star
As dreamers do
It's Doom Porn. They show grey skies, Trump looking down as if discouraged, slightly stooped as if weary of the fight, face obscured. We should all be depressed, except there's a ray of hope: Trump may die soon, or at least midterms are coming. It's timed to coincide with winter gloominess.
Wishful Thinking articles?
"Women especially—older women are obsessed with hating Trump. Why is that?"
A lot of them seem to be worried that he'll take away their right to have an abortion. I know that sounds like a silly thing for an older woman to worry about, but it is what it is.
"think of a term"
Not coming up with anything really good.
Maybe something about "handwringing over molehills."
It's just a worry-wart attitude laid over a couple of random tendentious assertions with the kicker that the insinuation that "pushback" against foreign things is somehow related. And the "redoubled" is trying hard to make it sound like something is actually changing when it just sounds like what he's been saying forever.
Another observation: Behind the man who loudly puts down Trump is a woman—usually a wife—who despises Trump even more. It’s like they (the men) are doing it to keep access to sex.
Propaganda.
I don’t think they invest all the time and effort and other people’s money just to help TDS sufferers sleep at night…
"think of a term"
It's kind of like a bad Victorian ghost story that is trying to generate a mood of dread and death. But not like Poe who generates dread like nobody's business. This story is trying to generate dread from bits of wet cardboard.
So we need a term that captures the fakeness of the underlying facts, the dread that is desired, and the sheer laziness of the whole thing.
It's a toughie.
Here’s a name for it Ann; Audience Reacquisition Framing.
This is what is now called “hopium”. A tag is in order if you haven’t yet created it.
Preaching to the choir that I used to sing in.
"think of a term"
Maybe something with "dreadful" in it: "Dreadful Sour Grapes"
"Soggy Recycled Dread"
"Wet Cardboard Journalism"
"Slow News Day Dreadful Article"
"Limp and Soggy Dread"
Propaganda would seem to fit
Democrat lying propaganda doesn't work?
It's like watching someone desperately pushing on a door that can only open by pulling outward. If you find a term, share it.
bendavid used to be at the chicago tribune, where they made the paper useless,
'Taint facts, 'taint opinion. So..."News taint."
"think of a term"
Maybe a "Damp Hanky Story"
"think of a term"
A "Slow News Day Damp Hanky Story"
Lucyball articles. Every time, Charlie Brown thinks that THiS will be the time he actually gets to kick the football. Every time, he is deceived because Lucy yanks the football away at the last second.
democrats’ hive mind
lots of sweat and buzzing but
there is no there there
The collective Soviet left want him dead.
Ne'erdowellative
Manurefacturing
Boredoom
Ennuibelieve
Drivelization and Its Discontents
Chickenshiteration
"think of a term"
Best I can do is a "Damp Hanky Story for a Slow News Day"
Or maybe a "Damp Hankie Non-News Story"
"Propaganda" is the word you are looking for.
Hallucinanews?
My theory is that Trump reminds women of a certain age of their first husband,. Just as Hillary reminds us old gentlemen of our first wife. Go figure.
"Limp and Soggy Dread"
I get that a lot. Unfortunately. CC, JSM
Circle jerk
As for a tem, there's always Schadenfreude. Except in this case it would be Freude for a fancied Schade.
Shared Delusion Tales.
Copium.
"ACME News."
Meep, meep!
It was a dark and stormy night. Bulwer-Lytton.
Do leftists pine for anything good. It seems they only dream of murder, economic disaster, and war. Trump sadness is actually them being compassionate for a change.
Maybe just the adjective "Peevish"
Well, Naftali is a guy, so...
“ There are other girls, rh. Don't just grouse that they're all alike.”
They are upside down.
Nope, it’s not propaganda.
I haven’t read the article, and I’m not defending the framing — it’s clearly a sales pitch. But dismissing it as “propaganda” misses something real. Trump is under pressure, his base is anxious about prices and immigration tactics, and he has never handled that kind of pressure quietly.
My concern isn’t “isolation” as a label; it’s what he might do to change the subject.
I let ChatGPT take a swing at it. Here’s their advice.
“ when an article is so detached from reality that only its most unhinged critics could believe it, the most accurate “tag” is often no tag at all—just quiet dismissal. Anything clever risks granting it more coherence than it deserves.”
You could call it "lying", but that implies they don't believe it, and I'm not so sure about that. Some I've talked to believe anything negative about Trump, and you ain't talking them out of it.
"Wishcasting."
...a kind of magical thinking, where just hoping for something makes it seem more possible than it actually is.
"It's like watching someone desperately pushing on a door that can only open by pulling outward."
https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.newsapi.com.au%2Fimage%2Fv1%2Ffee7122deef6b8e964ebc3fa6abeb1de&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=6f6ad0a084adb663430105427f372fa130c4cb429de19900e9e1ea9a03471673
WaPo isn’t in the first aid business they wake up in the morning to influence not to report. For whatever reason this Christmas season is a full court leftie press to try and move the needle. Someone must have a year end deadline or else…
A handmade tale with Diversity (e.g. minority report) adjuvants.
Thumb-sucking bummer.
Wishful Doomsaying
Malicious Observance
Its truthy with gleem
Help me think of a term to apply to articles like this
I think of the truth, and I take away reason and accountability.
There is a term that psychologists use called confirmation bias.
Here’s briefly how ChatGPT defines it:
“ Confirmation bias is the tendency to seek out, notice, interpret, and remember information in a way that confirms what you already believe, while ignoring, discounting, or explaining away information that challenges those beliefs.”
I like it because it brings it into the realm of a mental disorder. Most of us can change our minds if confronted by facts. Some can’t.
I do have a tag "the news for women."
Copium
I suggest the term "emotage": it's not reportage because they're not really reporting anything objective; it's a story about emotions -- mostly the writers' own, projected upon the world around them.
And it evokes the somewhat dated "emo" attitude.
It's the "big lie" technique. If outlets like WaPo and the NYT say something often enough and loudly enough, it gets absorbed by the more persuadable and ignorant in the population, which unfortunately is a large fraction.
Y'all are such a disappointment to me. The important and juicy part of Althouse's bleg is in the second line.
Entertain me. I have things to do that I don't want to do. I'm even commenting at instapundit* to avoid my chores.
They didn't get the joke. Not a surprise.
Observance vs Observation because of the ritualistic nature.
After reading through the comments, which do include several near misses, I think Michael P's "emotage" is a better tag than 'news for women'. That seems more than a bit like the rhardin comment you objected to in this context, and this certainly isn't meant only to appeal to women. I understand the suggestions of 'copium' or 'hopium' but those to me suggest more putting a positive or at least 'not so bad' spin on what is essentially bad news.
Maybe something like “news treats”? News for insatiable people yearning for a hit of info which strokes their righteous ego. Doesn’t matter if it’s full of empty calories, as long as it provides a high.
The angle of the photo probably hides that he’s surrounded by people and answering reporter questions.
It's preaching to the choir.
I think there are men in the (perceived) audience for this kind of emotional support.
News for women and girlie boys.
It only took nine years for Trump voters to figure it out. Truly astute observers—they never let anything slip past them.
Trump is gradually declining, and his tariff policy—as well as his constant flip-flopping—will likely impact the November 2026 elections. The question, however, is whether the Democrats will have a reasonably attractive leader to draw in those who've become disenchanted with Trump.
In my opinion, Trump wasn't elected in 2024 because of his popularity, but rather due to the unpopularity of Harris and far-left Democrats. Will the Democrats come to their senses and do better in 2026 and 2028?
"Doom Scribing."
“In my opinion, Trump wasn't elected in 2024 because of his popularity, but rather due to the unpopularity of Harris and far-left Democrats. Will the Democrats come to their senses and do better in 2026 and 2028?“
Embrace the power of and… And no, the democrats currently have no senses wrt doing the right thing for the discriminating American citizen. It mind-boggling how out of touch they are and keep doubling down on that. Seriously.
"It's like watching someone desperately pushing on a door that can only open by pulling outward."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvzaXrDzdLI
Grok suggested: pathography, cope journalism, psycho-fanfic
Other Grok suggestions (when I gave him the news for women prompt): Palace intrigue porn and feels-based reporting
Trump is gradually declining, and his tariff policy—as well as his constant flip-flopping—will likely impact the November 2026 elections.
Do you ever get tired of just being wrong, Rich?
You told us all repeatedly and loudly back in April that Trump's tariffs were going to tank not only the stock market but the entire US economy. How's that workin' out for ya?
Exactly where are tariffs causing issues that will seriously effect the 2026 elections? Not predictions (your predictions are always wrong)--what about right now?
i>"It's like watching someone desperately pushing on a door that can only open by pulling outward."
A classic scene.
Donkey Dope
So, we need a word for something like propaganda, but kind of illogical and mixed up. How about ‘gropapanda’, pronounced ‘grope a panda’? Very appropriate for something that’s likely paid for by China, if not by Russia or Qatar.
They're almost funny, but I feel some empathy for the people who the Washington Post seems to believe are out there hungering for whatever this is.
I have no empathy for any of them at all. Or to be more precise, I have as much empathy for them as any of them have for people (like me) who’ve had their formerly generous but fixed pension gutted by Joe Biden’s inflation. I have much empathy for them as they have for the long haul trucker who lives across the street and must compete for loads with illegal immigrants who got their CDLs without being able to read warning signs, understand traffic signs (e.g., “no U turn”), or even know the applicable laws and regulations. I have as much empathy for them as they have for the families of Katie Abraham and her friend, Chloe Polzin, killed by a drunken illegal immigrant.
Do you want me to go on, Althouse?
Sounds like wishful thinking to me. Is there a Latin tag?
Fantasy Sadism or Masochism take your pick.
The Trump silhouette reminds me of this:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/madtownguy/53231285318/in/datetaken-public/
The most apt term I can think of for this sort of article is PravdaGanda.
This is Inga fodder. And DD. Those guys will believe anything.
This is an impressive improvement. Just a few months ago they wanted a dead Trump. Now they are settling for sad Trump.
This is nothing but a bald-faced attempt to influence Santa just before gift delivery.
The end of your post made me think of an emotional support dog, so maybe "Emotional Support News". Or maybe "Emotional Support Stories", because yeah, it's not news.
If Donald Trump dies in office, as so many people hope, won't that confirm that he was "President for Life" as so many of the progressive/fascists are predicting?
Never any mention of FDR, of course, who really was president for life. Does anyone doubt that he would have run in 48 had he lived? Given his health at the time, and his sentience, he was even less qualified to run for re-election than Biden would have been.
He only managed to serve 84 days in his 4th term.
John Henry
Ann may be right. Women do not actually mind-read. They think they do, they act like they do, and us men suffer for thoughts that women imagine we are having. (Women suffer too, of course)
Not all women pretend to themselves to mind read. But many do. Many men, too.
John Henry
"Not all women pretend to themselves to mind read. But many do. Many men, too."
I knew somebody would say that.
Partisan thumbsucker.
"Bullshit On Stilts" works for the category.
I didn't have an answer to what category to put this in, until I skipped on down and read teh Oliver Sachs thing. And then it seemed to me that the same category applies to both. And that would be :
Narrative
Some folk prefer to spout and/or hear their preferred narrative, in preference to reality. It's more comforting. Until reality actually knocks on the door.
They sure did a good job picking out that sad, pensive, gloomy looking picture of Trump.
"Narrative changing?" " Change the subject?"
( Because too much news leaking out now about Minnesota Somalian fraud?)
In my opinion, Trump wasn't elected in 2024 because of his popularity, but rather due to the unpopularity of Harris and far-left Democrats.
Well, that would certainly explain why he increased his vote total across all demographics instead of those potential Harris/Walz voters choosing to stay home.
Just STFU for once.
I don't understand. Did Naftali Bendavid tell lies, and WaPo published the citations anyway, or did these incidents happen? If he lied, tell us how the incidents cited were untrue. Why would you ever worry about your category citations?
Wishful inking?
Articles of (bad) faith?
Schadenfraud?
'The (fake) news for women' tag fits this story better
gadfly said...
I don't understand.
we’ve noticed.
Did Naftali Bendavid tell lies … ?
Does he not write for the Washington Post?
"Trump is gradually declining" That's because the walls are finally closing in, right?
The post is pleased to report that the torch bearing villagers have chased the monster into the upper level of the burning tower. You see? Good journalism really works.
@ 0547, "Trump is gradually declining..."as are we all tbh. And so where the fuck was this penetraying insightfulness from the media when President Autopen was stumbling, mumbling bumbling, and fumbling through his one looooong term? FTP.
Liberal masturbation material
"think of a term'
Back to the issue at hand. What exactly is it about the article that offends the professor? I feel that my attempts to think of a term for this type of article was missing the boat.
Polls down and economy shaky = fake news. We can see that it’s so obviously fake that it doesn’t qualify as news, but, unfortunately, most liberals can’t.
I’ve always equated “Think Piece” with “Absolute Horseshit” so I nominate Think Piece.
Ann,
Here are some phrases that I think accurately describe the article you linked to...
Psychic Propaganda
Magic Eight Ball Reasoning
I've been saying for a while...
“The political left has shown its pattern of propaganda lies within their narratives so many times since 2016 that it’s beyond me why anyone would blindly accept any narrative that the political left and their lapdog media actively push?”
I think what you're looking for is "TDS inspired schadenfreude".
I’d go with “s*it sandwich.” The headline and picture are intriguing, but the article (the filling) is excremental.
Wishcasting News?
What comes to mind is "funditry" or "profundrity." The sort of stuff people make up when they want to appear to be serious political or cultural pundits. Sorry I can't do any better. "Wishcasting" does work quite well.
Does the author just stop at "isolation = bad"? It would be more useful to weigh the pros and cons, the possible good and bad consequences of such a move by the administration. That might also require more thoughtfulness than the author can muster.
"Slow-Day TDS B-Roll."
By the way, it's remarkable how many commenters paid no attention to what you asked them to do.
I don't know what to call it, but it reads just like the stuff the commenter "Kakistocracy" posts here on a regular basis. Even in this thread.
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