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Sick of political blogs? Too bad! The 2008 campaign is unavoidable; if you know what superdelegates are, or who said God damn America, youre already a victim. Thanks to the curse of modern technology, youll be hearing what top Internet buffoons are saying about the candidateswhether you want to or not. So you may as well prepare yourself. Herewith, a rundown of 10 conservative Web scribblers who, by virtue of their high readership or annoyance factor, are likely to invade your casual conversations until the gruesome finale of our Celebration of Democracy drives us all back to our blessed, customary ignorance.
JAMES LILEKS (The Bleat; lileks.com)
ORIENTATION: Suburbative
TONE: Nostalgic
FUN FACT: Briefly lived in Washington, D.C. (where I heard every voice on the globe, and also the worlds crossroads of disease), in a blaring trash-strewn enclave where he lived in a constant state of nervous dread. Currently resides in a house he calls Jasperwood, complete with water feature (i.e., fountain), in a Minneapolis neighborhood that he describes as urban.
CANDIDATE: Undeclared, leaning toward George Wallace
STUPID/EVIL RATIO: 60/40
HISTORY: Writer for various papers, including The Washington Post; longtime employee of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, for whom he blogs and supplies columns. Books include humorous, affectionate tweakings of ads, recipes, and photographs from the mid-20th century, which also comprised the centerpiece of The Bleat when it started in 1997, along with scrupulous coverage of Lilekss daily routine (dog-walking, conversations with daughter, unsatisfying encounters with store clerks). Conservative themes emerged tentatively at first, with grumpy-old-man swipes at graffiti (When I see that thicket of cryptic squibbles plastered on a sign, I want to bring back the chain gang) and Monica Lewinsky (I no more care how she feels about Ken Starr than I care how Al Capone felt about Eliot Ness). September 11 exacerbated these tendencies to an hallucinogenic degree. Predicted New York would be nuked, compared a Chock Full ONuts Coffee can to an urn from Atlantis, and imagined his daughter attacked by Osama bin Laden (Give me a gun; show me the cave) and feminists (I cannot possibly think of any good reason to ever strike a woman, unless its the one in the uniform who wants to pry my daughters arms from my neck because the state has decided all men must leave the household for the good of the People).
MODUS OPERANDI: The Bleat remained thick with such fist-shakings until the 2006 elections, which seem to have thrown Lileks for a loop. Now, he mainly weaves weird culture-war demurrers into his ripely worded chronicles of shopping and child-rearing. So far hes been quiet about McCain and even Hillary, but he refers to Obama as Cool Brother, which, given his longstanding antipathy to The Boondocks, is dispositive. Also: Hillary and Obama; put them together, and what do you have? White. Male.
WHAT TO EXPECT: Long, maudlin reminiscences of Ye Olden Tymes (croquets lawns, village greens) contrasted with fantasies of the Brave New Worlds affected by Hillary (forced repatriations of girlchilds and slut-servicings of Bill) or Obama (forced integration of Target, Wal-Mart).
GLENN REYNOLDS (Instapundit.com)
ORIENTATION: Glibertarian (sex, drugs, guns, endless wars)
TONE: Gnomic
FUN FACT: Self-described transhumanist: Once human technology passes a certain threshold . . . human beings will potentially enjoy the kind of powers and pleasures traditionally assigned to gods or beings in heaven.
CANDIDATE: A transparent mystery (see Modus Operandi)
STUPID/EVIL RATIO: 5/95
HISTORY: Law degree from Yale. Currently a professor at the University of Tennessee. Many books and papers, mostly legal perspectives on firearms (Kids, Guns and the Commerce Clause) and outer space (International Space Law: Into the Twenty-First Century). Began online career as commenter A.G. Android at Slate (The groupies Ive seen backstage at rock shows are generally not especially attractive), where he was praised as the Pride of the Fray. Founded Instapundit in 2001, with a stance both libertarian (GLOWSTICKS AND BOTTLED WATER: DRUG PARAPHERNALIA?) and pro-Bush. September 11 boosted his circulation (thanks in part to publicity from Fox News) and dramatically reduced the libertarian content. Reynolds cautioned citizens against being stampeded into giving up their freedom, but also intensified his identification with Bush (Its clear that adults are in charge) and denounced leftists with increasing frequency and anger (more than a little in common with Osama bin Laden). As anti-war sentiment grew, he attacked Big Medias bias in favor of the left, calling for a guerrilla media of bloggers to combat it.
MODUS OPERANDI: Expresses overt support only rarely, mostly in reviews of cars and consumer goods. Otherwise cites other (mostly right-wing) writers, adding a few wordsor one word (usually heh, indeed, or ouch)to denote approval. This style is, probably purposely, hard to engage. For example, after a lengthy quote in defense of the 1980s Salvadoran death squads, Reynolds adds this: makes me wonder if making comparisons to Central America will help the Left, or simply bring up a lot of things that a lot of people would rather gloss over today. Inquiries as to meaning are likely to go unanswered, as Instapundit has no comments feature.
WHAT TO EXPECT: Quotes denunciatory of Democratic candidates, followed by snotty asides involving Walter Mondale, Robert Heinlein, and Osama Bin Laden. Also, heh.
ROD DREHER (CrunchyCon; blog.beliefnet.com/crunchycon)
ORIENTATION: End-times conservative
TONE: Cheerful when discussing food or sluts; otherwise, grimly millenarian
FUN FACT: Claims to suffer from Sensory Processing Disorder, which makes it difficult for him to shop at Wal-Mart. May also be said to suffer from a religious form of attention-deficit disorder, having in the past 15 years moved from the Methodist faith to Catholicism and thence to Eastern Orthodoxy.
CANDIDATE: McCain in 5, 4, 3, 2 . . .
STUPID/EVIL RATIO: 50/50
HISTORY: Reviewed movies at New York Post (Runaway Bride is a runaway bore!); at the National Review Online, began promulgating Crunchy Conservatism, a mix of Christian conservatism and small-is-beautiful slow-food doctrines (also the topic of his book). Supported the invasion of Iraq, which he has since denounced; also denounced homosexuality, which he still denounces. Now a columnist at the Dallas Morning News. At CrunchyCon blog, Dreher vacillates between anger at Islamofascists and sympathy for Islamic fundamentalism, at least insofar as it resembles Christian fundamentalism. Outraged by a little-seen indie documentary about zoophilia, Dreher asked: What do you say to Muslims abroad whod genuinely wonder why, if this kind of decadence is the fruit of American liberty, they should welcome what we have to offer? Though originally angry at Jerry Falwells post-9/11 statements, Dreher later decided that God will judge America, and judge it harshly. And perhaps is judging America . . . Despite this, he strongly denounces Obama pastor Jeremiah Wright for his God damn America commentswhich would seem inconsistent, were we unaware of Drehers feelings on race, as seen in his frequent denunciations of black racism and reminiscences of how he was once denied a job in favor of a woman or a minority. In lighter moments, Dreher regales his readers with moral judgments (e.g., calling a bride who displayed a tattoo on her wedding day a slut) and his praise of artisanal cheeses and meats.
MODUS OPERANDI: Despite anti-war stand, he is typically ChristyCon on most issues. Criticizes capitalistic excesses (How Wal-Mart Harms the Free Market); however, his preferred method for reversing this problem isnt social policy but embracing Jesus. Culture war (This is how the left works: yell bigotry to silence critics) excites him far more than economics.
WHAT TO EXPECT: As always, will vote Republican because of the fetuses, and agitate for the McCain administration to support sustainable yogurt farming.
HINDROCKET, THE BIG TRUNK, THE DEACON (Power Line; powerlineblog.com)
ORIENTATION: Grassroots Establishmentarian
TONE: First-draft-of-right-wing-history important
FUN FACT: Named Blog of the Year in 2004 by Time. (I dont put much faith in anything that comes from Time magazine.Hindrocket, 2003)
CANDIDATE: McCain
STUPID/EVIL RATIO: 30/70
HISTORY: Powerline was founded in 2002 by lawyers John Hinderaker, Scott Johnson, and Paul Mirengoff, all fellows of the right-wing Claremont Institute and contributors to conservative publications. The genesis of their cognomens is unknown, but theyve been widely mocked (Assrocket) and were eventually soft-pedaled by the authors, who favor lengthy dissertations on moral and political topics (the Clinton-Gore lack of seriousness about issues), personal essays (Being a child of the 50s, I dont recall a time when Sammy Davis was not a celebrity . . .), and the occasional attempt at investigative journalism, some of which were howlingly unsuccessful (Bin Laden is dead. More leaks are starting to come out . . .July 27, 2002). Sometimes they struck pay-dirt, however, including the Rathergate controversy over George W. Bushs alleged military service, which figured in the blogs 2004 Time award. Thereafter, Powerline sometimes attempted to recapture the old magic, most notably by unsuccessfully debunking the damning Schiavo memo from Senator Mel Martinezs office, which was laid to rest with the admission Real Memo, Fake Story (While [it] . . . didnt turn out to be a Democratic dirty trick, the medias treatment of the memo was misleading at best). Mostly covered other peoples reporting from a right-wing Republican perspective, like Fox News with a scroll bar.
MODUS OPERANDI: Having built their reputation and traffic sufficiently, the authors appear to be coasting (Will Bush Rebound in 2008?). They do sometimes attempt to hold John McCains feet to the fire (Those of us who want to preserve the interrogation device that apparently caused Khalid Sheikh Muhammad to break down in minutes . . . remain free to punish McCain and/or Graham at the polls for their underlying efforts to ban waterboarding categorically), but their heart obviously isnt in it (Stop attacking McCain for his impurities ).
WHAT TO EXPECT: Pro forma boosterism, with frequent breathless dispatches on whatever scandal the GOP is pushing in October.
MEGAN McARDLE (The Atlantic Online; meganmcardle.theatlantic.com)
ORIENTATION: Lipstick libertarian
TONE: Self-referential
FUN FACT: Very concerned with diet; talks at length about her experience of vegetarianism and veganism, while denouncing the veggie-vegan dogma of free-lance preachers in the hemp shoes.
CANDIDATE: Obama, for the moment
STUPID/EVIL RATIO: 60/40
HISTORY: Began posting at Live From the WTC (later Asymmetrical Information) as Jane Galt shortly after 9/11, with Randian tropes and denunciations of Lefty Idiocy. Advocated patriotism, war, the execution of John Walker Lindh, and the beating of noisome war protestors with a two-by-four, the uproar over which made McArdle briefly quit blogging (-30-), only to return a week later, accusing her opponents of incivility. Struck libertarian themesfor example, opposing subsidized health care that would treat the guy whos been overeating for the last thirty years the same as worthier sick peoplebut frequently played both ends against the middle, as when she chided Phillip Morris for introducing a Christmas holiday cigarette while asking: What the hell is the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids doing complaining about this . . . Of course, we all knew that the kids were a smokescreen for the fact that these activists dont like tobacco, period. Also refrained from endorsing gay marriage, advocating humility from libertarians on social issues and quoting G.K. Chesterton. Enlivened her output with posts about the problems of being tall (Ive decided to start my own guerrilla movement, designed to force the world to accommodate larger size people) and other puckish subjects. These increased in frequency as Republican policies became less popular, even among her readers. Eventually abandoned her previous affection for the Iraq War while complaining that the wars opponents were trying to make her look bad (Do you get credit for being right, or being lucky?). Worked briefly at The Economist; later picked up by The Atlantic, for whom she blogs now under her own name, but in a similar (though apparently more heavily edited) manner.
MODUS OPERANDI: As an Atlantic blogger, McArdle still complains about statism, but half-heartedly (I just cant get that excited about the complaint that the Bush administration wants to spend taxpayer money on people with bad mortgages. The government spends amazing amounts of money on amazingly stupid things). Continues to assert that government health-care programs unfairly favor the old and sick. Has endorsed Obama while complaining: I wish he wouldnt tell me things that I cant possibly believe.
WHAT TO EXPECT: Will renounce Obama when it is revealed that he once laughed at a Richard Pryor routine with anti-Semitic content.
ANN ALTHOUSE (Althouse; althouse.blogspot.com)
ORIENTATION: "Moderate" Democrat who disapproves of nearly everything the Democratic Party does
TONE: Free-associative
FUN FACT: Reduced to tears at a libertarian conference at which libertarian issues were frankly discussed: "I am struck by how deeply and seriously libertarians and conservatives believe in their ideas." Later, a liberal blogger defended Althouse, who then attacked the liberal blogger ("you obviously believe I simply fail to believe strongly enough in liberal and left-wing principles").
CANDIDATE: No coherently stated preference
STUPID/EVIL RATIO: 80/20
HISTORY: University of Wisconsin Law School professor; author of numerous articles and papers, including "Thelma & Louise and the Law: Do Rape Shield Rules Matter?" Began blog in 2004 with posts about law and reality-TV shows; denunciations of Democrats, including John Kerry ("boring us to death over the next 8 months"); and praise for Bush ("I feel a strong connection to this man and what we've been through together"). Complained that Democratic campaign literature was "always trying to scare me about things that are about to happen." Over time, Althouse's style has become more eccentric. She analyzed at length a Hillary Clinton video, finding vaginal significance in its use of onion rings. She noted the prominence of a large-breasted woman in a group photo of bloggers posing with Bill Clinton, and suggested that readers puzzled by her mention of this revealed a "willful blindness to the criticism of Clinton." She also began frequently posting her drawings and photographs. Voted for Obama in Wisconsin primary because his "growing power allowed me to cast off my resignation," but has since posted quotes and cites mostly critical of Obama.
MODUS OPERANDI: Favors piquant reversals, e.g., complains about sexism mainly when she perceives it among liberals ("Atrios managed to summon up worse misogynists [in his comments section] than [anti-Islam blogger] Charles Johnson did"). Defended Justice Alito: "Where are the passionate, Brennanesque liberals of yore, who really believed we have rights?" Frequently posts comments at unsympathetic websites ("Really, why are you writing for [The New Republic] when your diligence and comprehension are at such a low level"). Gleefully attributes baffled reactions to the power of "the Althouse vortex."
WHAT TO EXPECT: Something—a news photo, a quote, a gum wrapper on the sidewalk—will annoy her and she'll go to McCain, especially if he runs with Romney. ("I think they look great together. They seem to loosen each other up.")
CHARLES JOHNSON (Little Green Footballs; littlegreenfootballs.com)
ORIENTATION: Anti-Islamo-everything
TONE: Unrelenting
FUN FACT: Coined the terms idiotarian and anti-idiotarian for, respectively, people who don't think like him and people who do.
CANDIDATE: None, but prone to close late and reliably anti-idiotarian (i.e., Republican)
STUPID/EVIL RATIO: 40/60
HISTORY: "fixed my flat from this morning and got out on the bike. riding for 15 minutes and pow! fss--fsss--fss--fsss. yes. another flat." This kind of lower-case personal reminiscence, interspersed with media and tech reviews, were Johnson's bailiwick at LGF until 9/11. A week later, considering a National Review denunciation of Islamic terrorists, he wrote: "I agree totally—something I never imagined I would say about an article in the National Review." Quickly outstripped the Review in conservatism, denouncing the Johannesburg Earth Summit ("generated between 300 and 400 tons of garbage"), the "NEA's pomo multiculti agenda," and "the left-wing extremism that dominates U.S. college campuses." But he's really a single-issue voter whose bugbear is terrorism, and who will support any foreign adventure purporting to fight it. Was an early supporter of the invasion of Iraq ("Stability Is the Last Thing Iraq Needs") and has his eye on Iran ("Iran's Manhattan Project Still On Track"), and on America, too: was pleased by a 2004 poll that showed 44 percent of Americans believed the U.S. government should restrict the civil liberties of American Muslims ("that's not going to make the moonbats among us feel very good"). Johnson was delighted by the results of the 2004 election ("Moonbats . . . packing your bags and heading to Canada to escape the evil Cowboy Chimp's imperialistic regime"), but was dismayed by the returns in 2006, especially when Muslim Keith Ellison was elected to Congress ("They'll be celebrating in Gaza tomorrow").
MODUS OPERANDI: For this election cycle, Johnson has interrupted his traditional Muslim-watch more often than usual to run pieces critical of Obama ("Obama Fools Mississippi") and Clinton ("I doubt the crying tactic will work very well with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad"). Fairly quiet on McCain, but insists that "I know who I want to vote against: the Hillary-Obama Appeasement Complex."
WHAT TO EXPECT: More reverse jihad, a late McCain endorsement, then still more reverse jihad.
JONAH GOLDBERG (The Corner/Goldberg File/Liberal Fascism blog, National Review Online)
ORIENTATION: Legacy-pledge conservative
TONE: Self-amused
FUN FACT: Son of Lucianne Goldberg, the Republican operative who got Linda Tripp to wear a wire in the Lewinsky affair; helped Mom spread the word in multiple TV appearances.
CANDIDATE: McCain, duh
STUPID/EVIL RATIO: 90/10
HISTORY: Worked for wire services and produced TV projects and documentaries prior to joining National Review in 1998. Shortly thereafter, Goldberg launched the National Review Online (NRO). Writes for the Review online and off, and for other publications. Themes and style were evident from his earliest NRO "Goldberg File" contributions. Prefaced a post on Bill Clinton's Kosovo intervention with a quote from The Princess Bride (which remains one of his cultural touchstones, along with Animal House, Star Trek, and Battlestar Galactica) and took a breezy attitude toward matters of life and death ("We should kill Milosevic . . . Stalin moved populations like I play Risk on my computer"). Later, welcomed "the opportunity to wax Swiftian and offer my modest proposal for saving the rainforest," resulting in a wan P.J. O'Rourke rip-off proposing to "sell the rainforest to Disney" (which "is becoming an incredibly liberal company anyway"). His muddled, heedless style often necessitated a lengthy "Corrections" section, with errors mostly belligerently defended or blown off ("my crack team of researchers is unavailable to me, and I will have to get back to that one at the end of the week"). In January 2002, he created the Corner, where the short-form posts suited his lighter side ("Okay, I just tried to take a follow-up nap"), leaving Goldberg Files for longer examinations of single topics with a pretense of seriousness, e.g.: "It's so depressing that 'people of color' has replaced 'colored people' . . . the practice is just one small sign of how completely the racialist Left has abandoned the moral juggernaut that was Martin Luther King's original argument: that everyone should be judged by the content of their character . . ." Breezily acknowledged his own non sequiturs: "Like saying violence never solves anything, people understand what I mean even when in reality what I'm saying isn't true." In 2007, Goldberg published Liberal Fascism, expanding his NRO method to book length, alternating accusations of fascism against liberals such as Hillary Clinton with insistences that he was saying nothing of the kind.
MODUS OPERANDI: Goldberg's comical persona—once pretty much all he had—is now mainly a fallback position in his attempts at serious commentary. For example, he begins one Goldberg File with the observation that "God, unlike, say, North Dakota, has an uncanny gift for staying in the headlines"; then launches into an incoherent but apparently earnest defense of religion based on the obnoxiousness of scientists and Penn Jillette; then wraps up with a philosophical assertion—"whatever electrochemical signals my brain may be receiving, my awareness of their existence doesn't diminish the fact that I love my wife or that I think love is something more than mere electrochemical signals"—and a joke about a turkey sandwich.
WHAT TO EXPECT: Comparisons of the Democratic candidate (whoever he or she happens to be) to amusing inanimate objects and Nazis.
MICHELLE MALKIN (michellemalkin.com)
ORIENTATION: Nativist
TONE: Very, very angry
FUN FACT: In 2004, attacked Wonkette's Ana Marie Cox and her protégée, Washington call girl Jessica Cutler, as "the female Beavis and Butt-head" and "skanks"; was thereafter subjected to years of mercilessly mockery by Wonkette scribes, including doctored photos of Malkin frolicking in a bikini, which were strenuously debunked by her ("updated: tracking the source of the bogus Flickr photos . . . Wonkette editors demonstrate further malice . . .").
CANDIDATE: None—McCain's too liberal
STUPID/EVIL RATIO: 97/3
HISTORY: In the early '90s, reporter and editorial writer for the Los Angeles Daily News; later wrote for the Seattle Times, became a Fox News commentator, and joined Creators Syndicate, which currently distributes her columns. Has published books about the internment of Japanese-Americans in World War II (pro), illegal immigration, and "Liberals Gone Wild" (both con). Columns have focused on culture-war subjects ("Voices From the Womb") from a more-right-wing-than-thou perspective (e.g., citing "President Bush's cave-in on government funding of embryonic stem-cell research"). Illegal immigrants get special attention, as do nefarious nonwhite Americans, be they of Asian ("Asian-Americans milking 9-11"), Arab ("myth of the Muslim hate crime epidemic"), or African ("Sept. 11 brought home the lesson that vile ideas have bloody consequences—no matter how 'daggone funky' they may sound to mush-headed music critics") descent. Began blogging in 2004, mainly bringing Internet-response speed to the usual subjects, plus a few new tropes, including frequent accusations of "dhimmitude" against parties insufficiently hostile toward Muslims, including YouTube ("JihadTube").
MODUS OPERANDI: Parses news feverishly for offenses to her worldview. Has been enraged by the D.C. networking group Professionals in the City (for holding an event at the Cuban embassy), Jessica Alba (for "making pro-assimilation remarks"), and Google (for bias in news-site affiliate selection, logos, and search results). Doesn't spare conservative outlets ("P.C. at the Washington Times") or the Republican Party ("Is the GOP Lost?") when they run afoul of her on doctrinal matters, especially regarding immigration. Attacks McCain on this subject, often without the benefit of hyphens ("I don't want another George W. Bush open borders type in the White House").
WHAT TO EXPECT: Barring a dramatic reversal on immigration by McCain, will wash her hands of the whole election and concentrate on everyday liberal- and foreigner-bashing.
ACE OF SPADES (Ace of Spades HQ; ace.mu.nu)
ORIENTATION: Fratboytarian
TONE: Retarded
>FUN FACT: Scrupulously conceals his true identity, but accepted the Blogger of the Year award from 2008 Conservative Political Action Conference in person, looking rather less butch than advertised. Recently celebrated in Time magazine's "First Annual Blog Index" as the "conservative/libertarian answer to the Daily Kos," with sample quote about how "large segments of the black population" are anti-Semitic.
CANDIDATE: Undeclared
STUPID/EVIL RATIO: 99/1
HISTORY: Begun by Ace as a blogspot site in 2003 with off-hand political commentary ("Can you imagine a President who thinks like Al Gore?"). In April 2004, promised a transfer to the new address "right after we figure out how to make our site-design look less, what's the word? ah yes: faggy." New blog quickly mutated into rowdy multi-author scrum specializing in schoolyard taunts, e.g.: "Yeah, Bryan Singer is gay, but that's not really what I mean by 'art-fag,' " "John F'n' Kerry attempts to claim that only non-military pussyboys are attacking him," etc. Nancy Pelosi became "Granny Rictus McBotoximplants." Site contributors and readers became "morons," but affectionately, e.g.: "There's Hope For You Morons Yet: Woman Takes Out Ad To Lose Virginity Before 30th Birthday." Throughout good times (2004: "I don't plan on doing anything except gloat until Thanksgiving") and bad (2006: "Islamist Enemies Take Great Relief in Democratic Win"), contributors keep their spirits high with "not safe for work" links, often accompanied by moral dudgeon ("Something has seriously gone wrong in this culture . . . Ten years ago? Virtually impossible to get a young girl to do this.")
MODUS OPERANDI: Not much changes with Ace. Believes the Wright scandal "belies Obama's appeal to those of us who wish black folks well but honestly would prefer to be left the fuck alone to live our lives in peace"; disdains Clinton ("Seven Year Bitch"); agnostic on McCain ("he would rather lose a war than a political argument"). Has threatened to sit out the election unless McCain goes anti-immigration.
WHAT TO EXPECT: In the eleventh hour, will remember that McCain is running against a woman or a black guy. Then, porn and car-crash videos all around!
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Check it out, baby!
http://oldjoel.blogspot.com
Reason: Thoughtless misuse of word.
Relevant rule: A touchstone is something used to test whether something else is genuine. It is NOT a milestone, a keystone, a capstone, a catalyst or an inspiration.
Subsequent misuse of this word may incur a two-year or lifetime ban.
Http://ABCDunlimited.com/ideas
http://dummiefunnies.blogspot.com/
http://dummiefunnies.blogspot.com/
Awwww, he made fun of my age. My widdle feewings are hurt now.
Seriously though, good attempt at a smokescreen. I'm not sure what you meant in the way of 'irony' sir, since me seeing through this bit of drivel and happening to be young doesn't really fall into that category. If that is indeed what you meant, then I guess I paid better attention in that lesson than you.
Or it could be how, you know, the brain cells are the first things to go when you get old. So sad...
(see how the age thing goes both ways?)
http://mjwilsonblog.blogspot.com
Hint: There IS such a thing as UNDESIRABLE attention. Writing this piece is like going to the prom with the world's biggest zit. Yes, you WILL be noticed.
I haven't left the site yet, and I've forgotten this waste of time already.
Oh, and Bev Harris is only $10 away from overturning the 2004 election results.
http://alicublog.blogspot.com/
PJ: I've read your blog. It's not funny. As the gang at Sadly, No said, "the DUmmie FUnnies guy sounds like he’s yelling at the radio."
As a Bleat reader for oh, eight or nine years, I've not always agreed with Mr. Lileks on political matters, but I've always found it quite clear that while he is a bit more conservative than I, we both reside in that part of the country that so many conservatives and liberals alike persist in denying--the center. Center of the country, center of the socio-economic structure, and centrist in political belief--on both social and economic issues. Not everyone is a "wing-nut", you know.
Your decision to include it in your hit list is nearly as inexplicable as my decision to register for this site, just so I could comment here.
And, I have to include my pride that here in the Land Where Absolutely Nothing is Allowed, Liberal Minnesota, we have at least two of the "Conservative" blogs that seem to annoy you - Lilek's Bleat and Powerline (there may be more, but like other readers, I found the first page of your article tedious enough to forgo the pleasure of reading the rest).
There must be something that strengthens the Will here in Minnesota to Fight the Good Fight - perhaps it's because we all live under the Caliphate of Minneapolis?
(Oh My!....
http://dummiefunnies.blogspot.com/2008/04/wow-what-meltdown.html
Yes, it was all so "horrible" what we did that for over two years not a peep from the DUmmies on this. Manufactured outrage ONLY occured when we got into the Weblog Awards finals and the DUmmies just couldn't take the publicity given to a blog that makes them look like laughingstocks by copying and pasting their own words for all to see...and laugh at.
Oh, and what happened to that lawsuit threated by disgraced "journalist" William Rivers Pitt? Perhaps we need to wait for another 24 business hours for that to happen.
So, was your Flyover-State servant Dumb or Evil? Or had he adapted enough of the local cant that he could fake thinking in the correct (that is, your) way?
Links Hits To LGF from VilVo: 116
Link Hits attributable to LGF Readers: 25
Link hits minus LGF Readers: 91
Comments generated at VilVo by this post: 25 so far.
Comments generated at LGF by this post: 1,229 so far
Lot of evil in the world. Thank God.
BTW Roy, I din't realize this article was seven pages. I was winded after the first.
They paying you by the word now, Roy?Like the old pulps used to? Is that what we've come to? What's this world coming to?
You'll be back in front of an Underwood before you know it, LOL!
David, you didn't read the link about the Malkin/Frost incident. Go read it:
http://www.balloon-juice.com/?p=8823
She doesn't live in Baltimore. She drove over to this guy's place of work, asked another tenant about him, and spied on his house...because she disagreed with a policy espoused by a family member. That may not technically be "stalking," but it's creepy as hell. What's strangest of all is that she didn't seem to have the slightest bit of interest in talking to the family. Why didn't she just call them and ask them for an interview, to get their perspective?
I'm writing in support of the PJ-Comix guy. Sure, he's not in the Wingnut Major League, but if Roy or someone else ever wants to review the minor league folk [like they do routinely at Sadly, No! {Ref.1}], Mr. PJ-C deserves a decent score for evil, since he helped to deny a guy dying of pancreatic cancer {Ref.2} the financial contributions his friends and admirers tried to send him {Refs. 3-5}. Whattaguy! I'll betcha Glenn Reynolds never did a thing like that! Really, should such initiative go unrecognized? I think not!!
The links below (3-5) are but a few of many. You can Google ["DUmmie funnies" and "Andy Stephenson"], or ["DUmmie funnies" and "pancreatic cancer"], and treat yourself to some other accounts of the handiwork of this master wit. Truly a hard act to follow; maybe it's some of that thar performance art that so eludes the understanding of rubes like me. {Gosh golly, maybe the whole Iraq thing is performance art, and perhaps there is a little bit of Mr. PJ-Comix in all us Amurkins! }
[1.] http://sadlyno.com
[2.] http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4046336
[3.] http://www.sadlyno.com/archives/7762.html
[4.] http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x2200668#2203119
[5.] http://susiemadrak.com/2007/11/06/09/52/wingnut-blogs-will-stop-at-nothing/
Thanks also to populist Jeff, who asked, "What's the last time you urbs listened to anything someone from Nebraska had to say? " Well, it's been a while since Chuck Hagel was on Meet The Press, but I think I saw a fellow last week who hailed from one of those states out yonder, and listened attentively as he told us about the night's specials.
Finally, PJ-Comix, it's been too long. Last time I looked you were trying to spam your way into Weblog Award. It was wise of you to start aiming lower.
Oh yeah: I'm flattered to be compared with Bil Keane, and look forward to a similarly lengthy career. With material like this, how can I fail?
Wait... so, I've been educated on the workings of the electoral system and informed of the sort of company that a man who wants to run the country keeps.
And this is on your list of.... BAD things about blogging. Huh. So you'd prefer an ignorant populace that just votes how you want them to, dammit, and stops asking so many bloody inconvenient questions. Even worse, now we're getting answers!
Way to discredit yourself in the first two sentences of an article.
And for the record - I'm barely out of highschool and saw through your tripe. Maybe you should work on your own 'stupid rating'.
P.S.: If I'd ever tried in school to base a persuasive piece off of the concept of a 'stupid/evil rating', I'd have been failed and my teacher would have suggested I drop down a level. And rightly so.
Isn't this EXACTLY what the Village Voice is doing in this miserable hit piece? e.g., if you don't agree with me you must be EVIL or DUMB?
This is what happens when dialog only goes one way. Those of us in the sticks consume tons of media - news, movies, tv, magazines - all cranked out by the elites in Hollywood and Manhattan. We _know_ who you are and what you think of us. On the other hand, what's the last time you urbs listened to anything someone from Nebraska had to say? Probably never, since everyone there is either EVIL or DUMB.
Christ, it's like every lib enclave is surrounded by a one-way mirror - we can look inside and see you, but when you look out, all you see is... yourself.
Now you know why 70% of the American public doesn't trust 'old media' to report objectively on anything. Mr. Edroso could have done a great investigative piece on Righty blogs, but what does he do? Pulls a Dan Rather hit piece, complete with 'evil/stupid' ratings that are too juvenile and stupid to be evil. Like I couldn't find the same thing on any KOS or HuffPo blog. The liberal echo chamber is SO predictable. Borrr-ing. Snore.
BTW the 'curse' of modern technology, Roy? The same curse that resulted in Drudge publishing the Monica Lewinsky story Newsweek sat on and wanted to bury? The same 'curse' that tanked Dan Rather and his forged TANG documents?
The same 'curse' that's resulting in the sinking of the New York Times into the East River, and the loss of hundreds of jobs for biased hacks masquerading as journalists? That's a bad thing? Wouldn't be sweating yours, would ya, Roy?
ORIENTATION: Bemused
TONE: Hilarious
STUPID/EVIL RATIO: 0/100
HISTORY: Begun by PJ-Comix in 2004 to chronicle the flustered remarks by the DUmmies in the Democrat Underground in response to Dan Rather being exposed as using fake documents in his TANG story. This quickly evolved to copy and pasting the unintentionally hilarious remarks of the DUmmies and other leftwingers. The DUmmie FUnnies quickly grew to the most popular blog on the Free Republic (biggest PING List).
MODUS OPERANDI: Posting the crazed leftwing rants in Bolshevik Red followed by the commentary of your humble correspondent in the [brackets] ala Mystery Science Theater 3000 but with a political orientation.
FUN FACT: PJ-Comix used to be the American correspondent for Krokodil Magazine in Russia as well as syndicated his humor column throughout North America. Co-author Charles Henrickson is a Lutheran pastor and biblical scholar who speaks 6 languages: three dead languages and three living. Noted for his song parodies.
CANDIDATE: Waiting for the reincarnation of Ronald Reagan.
WHAT TO EXPECT: Lots of laughs by merely copy and pasting the crazed rantings of the leftwing loonies.
Perhaps the lure of cash will bring out someone willing to discuss an argument based on merit:
I've got $100 bucks here to whoever finds evidence of Malkin "stalking or hounding" the Frost family.
Ah yeah, that newfound respect for jackasses is really paying off for Mamet. "The Unit" pulls about the ratings as a Suzanne Somers marathon on HSN. He'd be better served if he buried himself under unsold copies of The Edge.
daryljfontaine -- have you actually visited Malkin's site to read her postings on the Graeme Lloyd incident? Find me one instance of her "stalking or hounding" the family. When you fail, as you will, you owe an apology for spreading slander.
http://www.villagevoice.com/people/0804,savage,78927,24.html
I found the responses to it.
http://www.villagevoice.com/people/0805,301533,79060,24.html
Here is the text I found elsewhere on the internet.
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I'm a 25-year-old male. I'm a zoophile and always have been. I'm a longtime reader (I'm sure you're thrilled), so I know my interests aren't on your approved list of sexual activities. Not trying to argue that point. However, it's clear what turns my head when I walk down the street, and it's never the person holding the leash. I know from your column and many other sources that once your brain is "wired" a certain way, "rewiring" it is unlikely (snowball's chance in hell), so this isn't going to go away. My question is, what do I do?
Currently, I don't date. I was married once, briefly, never had sex, marriage quickly annulled. I currently have no sexual attraction to any human, male or female, so I don't feel the need to date. Also, sharing this information with anyone I attempted to date would probably end in horror, tears, and my needing to move out of state. However, a lifetime without a relationship (two-legged or four-legged) seems unappealing. Here are the options I see:
1) Get a shrink (who I can talk to about this) and a girlfriend or boyfriend (who I can't talk to about it) and, in terms of the sex, master giving head, since my dick won't want to join the party.
2) Buy a house with a big yard and… well, you know.
I don't care if you print this. I'd just like another opinion. I mean, honestly, who else would answer this anonymously, for free, and I actually have some faith in his judgment?
Really Unsure For Future
In short… my advice… which is really going to annoy Mike "Man and Animal" Huckabee… is… um… to buy that big house, RUFF, one with a nice, big yard… and do what you gotta do. Inside, please, shades drawn.
Bestiality is wrong, wrong, wrong, because an animal cannot give its consent. But… uh… anyone who's ever actually owned a boy dog knows that most would be only too delighted to… um… well, you know.
I'm assuming that you want to be fucked by dogs, of course, as that's almost always the case with dudes into dogs. Man-on-dog is a whole lot wronger than dog-on-man, if I may use a certain former senator's formulation, most importantly for reasons of safety for the animal, so I don't smile on man-on-dog. (Actually, I don't smile on the dog-on-man, either—it's more like "grimace, cover eyes, look away," but, hey, that's the reaction I have to cunnilingus.) Take a torn-up girl dog to the vet, RUFF, and you're going to wind up talking with the police and having to cross a PETA picket line to get back into your house—and it'll serve you right.
For the record, I'm con bestiality (and very much pro cunnilingus). I think fucking dogs is wrong, wrong, wrong. But I had pork and beef and chicken at dinner last night—all 100 percent factory-farmed meat, derived from animals that were cruelly tortured every second of their brief and miserable existence—and my particular strain of Tourette's syndrome commands me to say this: If I were an animal, I'd much rather be screwed than stewed. We murder animals for their flesh, skins, fur, and just for the fuck of it. Those of us that eat meat; wear fur; run around in leather pants, jackets, shoes, restraints, etc.; and kill animals for sport don't have much moral authority when it comes time to lecture those of you who wanna smooch the pooch.
Finally, RUFF, build a nice, tall fence around that yard, okay? And seeing a shrink probably won't make you wanna screw humans, but hey, it couldn't hurt.
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http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1670210,00.html
This is the incident that drove a long-time Bush-supporting righty blogger out of the wingnut column once and for all -- Malkin and her reprobate Flying Monkey Brigade stalking and hounding the family of 12-year old Graeme Frost because he had the temerity to deliver a radio address for the Democratic Party in favor of S-CHIP.
http://www.balloon-juice.com/?p=8823
Serious evil, what the right as a whole, and Malkin and her steaming pile of commenters in particular, did to this family.
D
Oh, and one minor thing I noticed: Malkin supports assimilation, and her issue with Alba was that she'd rejected assimilation in favor of identity politics: tinyurl.com/26krn9 Maybe that could go into the update too.
You forgot Mark Alexander!
patriotpost.us
stupid/evil: 20/80