July 4, 2017

That was the first time I ever wrote the word "genteel."

In the post about the NYT explaining Trump and wrestling: "[Trump's] tweeting of the wrestling-with-CNN video has caused the NYT to explain the context, which may be alien to its genteel readers."

I had to look up the spelling. You have to be careful not to write "gentile." "Genteel" actually looks wrong, like crudely phonetic spelling. Meade says it looks wrong "because it has an eel in it."

Ah, yes. "The Genteel Eel," that's the title of a children's book I want to write.

Here's the etymology of "genteel" from the (unlinkable) OED:
A re-adoption, at the end of the 16th cent., of French gentil , which had been previously adopted in the 13th cent., and had assumed the form gentle adj. and n. The re-adoption first appears in the form gentile, distinguished < gentile adj. and n. (= non-Jewish) by retaining the French pronunciation of the i and the stress on the last syllable. It is probable that it was originally fashionable to retain the French nasal sound in the first syllable; hence the vulgar pronunciation represented by the spelling ‘jonteel’, which occurs in comic literature of the early 19th cent. The fully anglicized spelling genteel came in at the end of the 17th cent.... Another attempt to render the French sound is jaunty n.

A few years before the middle of the 19th cent. the word was much ridiculed as being characteristic of those who are possessed with a dread of being taken for ‘common people’, or who attach exaggerated importance to supposed marks of social superiority. In seriously laudatory use it may now be said to be a vulgarism; in educated language it has always a sarcastic or at least playful colouring.
Wow. Did you know that gentle, gentile, genteel, and jaunty were all basically the same, all based on the French word gentil?

ADDED: How does the idea of not being Jewish get connected to those other words? The French word "gentil" comes from the Latin noun "gens," meaning nation. In Latin, the adjective, gentīlis, meant belonging to the same people or race. In French, the adjective, gentil, took on the meaning of belonging to a good family. The oldest meaning of the English word "gentle" was "Well-born, belonging to a family of position; originally used synonymously with noble." The word "gentile," meaning not Jewish, seems (as I read the OED) to be more directly connected to the Latin meaning, though I find that confusing, since many different peoples are not Jewish. I guess it makes sense if the word caught on in the plural form.

ALSO: I felt as though it was the first time I'd written the word "genteel," but a search of this blog's archive shows I'd written it twice before. (Not counting the times it appeared within quotes.)

The first time was in an October 2008 post in which I paraphrase what Dana Milbank is really saying about Sarah Palin: "Yes, dammit, why can't Palin simply resign herself to the fate of the campaign?... ... Palin responds with 'rage.' Anger is stage 1. Get with it, lady. You belong at stage 5, resignation, where the nice, genteel Mr. McCain is."

The second time was in November 2013, when Alec Baldwin got suspended from his MSNBC show after he got caught on camera calling a paparazzo a "cocksucking faggot." That presented a problem not because it's sexual, but because it's anti-gay. I said: "[S]hould he have a political talk show on MSNBC? That's for MSNBC to decide, and obviously they have. MSNBC has chosen to be more genteel and respectful toward the cultural elite. It doesn't seem to know how to foster vibrant discourse about politics, and the gambit of putting on the over-passionate Baldwin was always lame, even before he embarrassed them."

These days Baldwin is know for his impression of Donald Trump. We don't have any old video of Trump uttering anti-gay slurs, but, interestingly enough, we do have photographs of Alec Baldwin using wrestling moves on a media opponent.

157 comments:

Rusty said...

"A few years before the middle of the 19th cent. the word was much ridiculed as being characteristic of those who are possessed with a dread of being taken for ‘common people’, or who attach exaggerated importance to supposed marks of social superiority."
Ohhhh. You mean democrats?

Meade said...

Listen to me: Soygent Green is eels. It's EELS!

rhhardin said...

[A]t a reception following Polk's inaugural, someone said to Mrs. Polk, "Madam, you have a very genteel assemblage tonight," to which Mrs. Polk replied, "Sir, I have never seen it otherwise."

Thurber, "Something about Polk"

tim in vermont said...

Ohhhh. You mean democrats?

The funny part is the Democrats are oblivious to the whole phenomenon of class snobbery as a major reason that they despise Trump and especially his supporters. I don't think he has many "followers," except on Twitter.

traditionalguy said...

Gentil means soft and not harsh. It is the opposite of hard and aggressive. They are Petite Ladies who do not compete with men.

And no sex change can turn a man into a gentil lady. The sex obsessed English aristocrats were making fun of that concept. They wanted aggressive whores.

Tim said...

"...Those are the Shrieking Eels! They always make that sound when they are about to feast on human flesh! -Vizzini

Only the males can be called genteel.

Unknown said...

Wow. Did you know that gentle, gentile, genteel, and jaunty were all basically the same, all based on the French word gentil?

Of course.


Tim said...

I may be wrong (often am) but I had heard as a youth that the term "Gentlemen" was a diminution of "Gentile-men" that was a term used to distinguish them from "The Jew" who was not allowed to assemble with the Christians in polite society.
So golf courses were safe for the assembled in the 10th century. What a relief!

traditionalguy said...

There was nothing gentle about th European Monarchs. They killed all domestic opponents, and when they ran out, they tried to kill the other Kings. And then there was the Papacy.

Gentil in French is an inner circle adjective for the sweet and innocent girls. See, La Liaisons Dangerous about corrupting one of them.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Looks correct to me. Emphasis on the eeeeeel. You have to raise your pinky when you say it.

TerriW said...

The Genteel Eel would be a great book. I loved learning new, weird, powerful words from books when I was little (well, still do), and one of my favorites was Charles Schulz's Snoopy and the Red Baron.

Sopwith Camel! Aerodrome! Fokker Triplane! And all the French was so magical.

Chuck said...

There is another back-story on the Trump wrestling video that I find interesting.

It is obviously a weird, amateurish video production. And naturally, people began scouring the 'net for where it might have come from, before Trump Tweeted/re-Tweeted it.

Turns out that some Reddit user named "HanAssholeSolo" had posted it, a long time ago. That user has posted a lot of other questionable-taste stuff in the past.

So when Sean Spicer was asked by press if Trump had re-Tweeted it from the Reddit source, Spicer's answer was really interesting. "It did not come from Reddit," he said.

NPR reports on the story:
http://www.npr.org/2017/07/03/535351893/reddit-user-taking-credit-for-trump-tweet-video-has-history-of-bigoted-posts?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=20170703

What a weird White House. So where did the video come from, if not from Reddit? And why lie about something as mundane as this?

MikeR said...

Huh? "Gentiles", what's that - non-Jews? Goyim I always heard. Or shegetz and shiktza for one you don't like if you're feeling nasty. Used to be akum, but I hear you-all gave that stuff up.
Must be you guys' word. Gentiles. Hmm. Gentles. Like we're real rough and tough. I like it.
You know, we Jews are about 2% of the population of the US, and around 0.2% of the population of world. Are you trying to tell me that you-all made a special word for the other 99.8% of youse? Like "heathen", but you use it on yourselves. Heh. "Whoa, you're not Jewish? Glad to meet you, neither am I." "Shh, not so loud!"
Kind of like Muggles.
Maybe just, The UnChosen?

traditionalguy said...

Europe's culture is Roman and that includes the Rome in Byzantium that
Asked a 1000 years longer civilizing/converting all the way to Moscow.

Rome based its rule on military submission to the Legions, but apart from a monopoly on taxes that the Legions collected, the Romans tolerated all existing local gods and local law. They honored the Law of the Gens. ( Jus Gentium). And accepted crony kings of the ruled territory that submitted to Ceasar.



MikeR said...

"And naturally, people began scouring the 'net for where it might have come from, before Trump Tweeted/re-Tweeted it." He lives rent-free in their heads.
"reddit-user-taking-credit-for-trump-tweet-video-has-history-of-bigoted-posts" Now we've got him! Impeach!

tim in vermont said...

What a weird White House. So where did the video come from, if not from Reddit? And why lie about something as mundane as this?

You've got him now Chuck! And with "geometric logic," between this and. the time he took more than his share of the strawberry ice cream, our long national nightmare is finally over!

tcrosse said...

Genteel Mormons can call the rest of us Gentiles.

Lucien said...

Can someone come up with a "doctored" video of Trump in a NASCAR race putting a CNN car into the wall? Please?

Meade said...

"The funny part is the Democrats are oblivious to the whole phenomenon of class snobbery as a major reason that they despise Trump and especially his supporters."

A work that is very popular right now with Dems, as a way of explaining to themselves why their authority has been in decline since 2010, is Katherine J. Cramer's The Politics of Resentment. Cramer's inquiry is a sort of what's-the-matter-with-Kansas question although she "turn[s] this question slightly to [dwell not] on 'Why are people getting it wrong?' but instead on, 'How are they getting it?' How do people perceive their economic interests and how do they connect these to policy and candidate preferences?"

What Cramer and the political class can't seem to get out of their own way to see is the politics of contempt — their own contempt — for working class middle America. And yet, their — the highly educated political class (Dem and Repub) contempt for "blue collar" America has been as plain as the tilted-up nose on their face since at least 1992 when the candidate's wife, Hillary Clinton explained:

“You know, I’m not sitting here, some little woman standing by my man like Tammy Wynette,” she said, wearing gold earrings and a black headband, perched next to him on a couch in a hotel suite in Boston and waving her clenched right hand. “I’m sitting here because I love him, and I respect him, and I honor what he’s been through and what we’ve been through together. And you know, if that’s not enough for people, then heck—don’t vote for him.”

The Politics of Contempt. Some political scientist ought to write a book and try to help them understand: how do the elites perceive their economic interests in a democracy that includes people they find resentful and deplorable?

Ralph L said...

Don't forget "gentry."

I thought gentil had some connection to niceness and niceties.

Michael K said...

" characteristic of those who are possessed with a dread of being taken for ‘common people’, "

New York Times readers defined nicely.

If anybody read chuck's usual Trump hating comment and there was anything worth reading, let me know, please.

Mary Beth said...

Turns out that some Reddit user named "HanAssholeSolo" had posted it, a long time ago. That user has posted a lot of other questionable-taste stuff in the past.

Yeah, I made a comment about the name of the redditor on the first thread here about it. The only people who needed to scour the net to find it were ones that aren't familiar with the internet (like the ones who refer to the "hacker known as 4chan". Also, he posted it on June 20 of this year. How's that a "long time ago"?

Ralph L said...

Here's a new book review at Commentary about Democrats and deplorables.

Robert said...

Off the internet, everybody thinks you're an eel.

Meade said...

@Ralph L, That's the book I'm looking for — "Deplorables For Dummies." Thanks!

Laslo Spatula said...

Diary of a Conservative Trump Hater (excerpt)...

I CAN'T STOP. God, how I HATE myself. HATE.

NO. I don't hate myself. That is wrong. I hate the SICKNESS.

The Sickness. I MASTURBATED TO GAY PORN AGAIN. And -- of course -- then came the SHAME. ANGER. SELF-LOATHING.

So I did what I always do after masturbating to Gay Porn: I went on the Internet and took out my SELF-LOATHING on TRUMP.

TRUMP is VILE. AWFUL. DEBASED.

TRUMP is like watching a man suck another man's enormous cock, while simultaneously getting FUCKED IN THE ASS.

BY ANOTHER ENORMOUS COCK.

THAT IS TRUMP. How can people NOT SEE THIS?

HOW CAN PEOPLE NOT SEE THAT TRUMP IS FUCKING US IN THE ASS?

And I bet the ASS-CLOWNS who LOVE Trump WANT me to masturbate to Gay Porn. They WANT to see me give in to my WEAKNESS.

Oh God, how I miss George Herbert Walker Bush! GEORGE HERBERT WALKER BUSH WOULD NOT WANT ME TO MASTURBATE TO GAY PORN. I KNOW THIS.

I am Laslo.

Drago said...

Diary of a Life Long Republican (excerpt)...

(And not to be confused with the "Diary of a Conservative Trump Hater" which is a completely different Diary written by that pathetic little "eel" who masturbates to gay porn...besides this Diary is kept in a completely different room of the house and I don't even let that "other guy" read it)....

Drago said...

I might set the table for Laslo but I recognize that I am not possessed of the human character insight necessary to sit at the table.....

Drago said...

The First Rule of "Conservative Trump Hater"/"Life Long Republican" Fight Club never to speak of "Conservative Trump Hater"/"Life Long Republican" Fight Club.

Michael K said...

A nice use of the word "genteel" is in "My Fair Lady."

I want to be a lady in a flower shop, instead of selling flowers at the corner of Tottenham Court Road, but they won’t tike me lessen I can speak more genteel. He said he could teach me. Well, here I am. Ready to pay, not askin’ for any favor, and he treats me like I was dirt.

Tommy Duncan said...

Examples of genteel language from today's news:

“[If he] things that I am going to give him (Ben Carson) a pass, I am going to take his ass apart,” Waters said." - Maxine Waters

Then it continued, "we are killing off the entire evil white race by making them addicted to cocaine, crack, spiked marijuana, spice, meth, heroin, hash, and other poisons, to kill them." - la Raza pamphlet

Either someone at The New York Times doesn't like Mayor Rahm Emanuel very much, or the Gray Lady needs to brush up on her history. How else to account for the unfortunate evocation of murderous Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini in the headline NYT editors put on Emanuel's op-ed column about his work to improve the CTA in Monday's Times? - Chicago Tribune

Mary Beth said...

NPR reports on the story

"There was backlash to the CNN video, because it was interpreted by some as sending a message of support for violence against journalists.

"Around the world, journalists are murdered with impunity on a regular basis," said Ben Mullin, an editor with the journalism nonprofit Poynter Institute. "This isn't funny.""

1. Pro Wrestling isn't real.
2. Remember how CNN interviewed Thomas DiMassimo, the guy who rushed at Trump in Ohio? I bet it was because they hate violence.

The whole article is so out-of-touch, I can't tell if the author of it is ignorant(and/or stupid) or he thinks his readers are.

Rusty said...

Chuck @ 7:30
I think I speak for the rest of us here at Meadlabs. Thank god you're concentrating on the real important subjects of the day. Why without your tireless, never ending concentration on the minutia of this administration we would never have found out just how dull and uninteresting a person you really are.
Keep up the good work!

Deb said...

"Must be you guys' word. Gentiles. Hmm. Gentles. Like we're real rough and tough. I like it."

Yeah me too. WE'd have to be tough, wouldn't we, since others have been trying to kill us off for centuries. And yet, here we are.

Laslo Spatula said...

Diary of a Conservative Trump Hater (excerpt)...

I remember when REPUBLICANS took the HIGH GROUND. We did not dirty ourselves with the COMMON PEOPLE: there was an ORDER TO THINGS. The COMMON PEOPLE understood this, and knew their place.

Now, TRUMP has DESTROYED that ORDER. Without ORDER people return to their BASE IMPULSES, and -- Dear God -- I am no different.

Yes, I MASTURBATED TO GAY PORN AGAIN. And -- of course -- then came the SHAME. ANGER. SELF-LOATHING.

So I did what I always do after masturbating to Gay Porn: I went on the Internet and took out my SELF-LOATHING on TRUMP.

Do people not see how TRUMP causes us to give in to our WEAKNESSES? It fills me with DESPAIR, and when I am filled with DESPAIR I MASTURBATE. To GAY PORN.

I am viciously TORMENTED by visions of TRUMP and YOUNG MALE COCKS vigorously fucking YOUNG MALE ASSHOLES. DEAR GOD, SOME OF THOSE YOUNG MALE COCKS ARE EVEN BLACK.

Yes: I have masturbated to a BLACK MAN FUCKING A WHITE MAN IN THE ASS. DAMN YOU, TRUMP!

Oh God, how I miss George Herbert Walker Bush! GEORGE HERBERT WALKER BUSH WOULD NOT WANT ME TO MASTURBATE TO GAY PORN. I KNOW THIS.

I am Laslo.

tcrosse said...

Alouette, gentille alouette.

Fernandinande said...

So I guess Esquimaux are Gentiles.

n.n said...

Baldwin, anti-gay?

He hasn't been joyful for a long time, but why suspend him for his misery?

I guess it harshes the genteel's mellow, where storks dance at the twilight's fringe.

mockturtle said...

The NYT has genteel readers? Who knew?

Big Mike said...

They aren't gentiles; they're goyim.

walter said...

"Alec Baldwin got suspended from his MSNBC show after he got caught on camera calling a paparazzo a "cocksucking faggot." That presented a problem not because it's sexual, but because it's anti-gay."
--
Ah.."Fucking breeder" is more genteel..or maybe couch it a bit, point out small hand size.

walter said...

The always genteel Maxine Waters is going with "I am going to take his ass apart".
Sounds painful.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Gentile in modern French simply means "nice."

Apparently the etymology was "well-born" for today's "genteel."

It appears these ultimately both stretch back to the Latin root gens, cognate with English "kind" (ironic, huh? given that it's the sort of "kind" we associate with "kin.")

Interesting how language changes... and then becomes the same once again.

"Gentile" in the non-Jewish sense of the word also has roots in the same meaning - kin or kind.

narciso said...

The gentility came from McCain willing to take a fall, and throw the huntress under the bus, hence the Jones memo.

n.n said...

walter:

That's not bad. Here's another Waters quote that will forever live in infamy:

Mr. Chairman, we do not have a crisis at Freddie Mac, and in particular at Fannie Mae [2003]

A progressive ball of yarns.

Unknown said...

I have a hard time believing the readership of the NYT really needs to be brought up to speed on the nature of TV wrestling. Their presumed gentility is a dandyish affectation.

Big Mike said...

Now Chuck, how would you know all sorts of obscure factoids such as what you posted at 7:30 unless you are a paid troll (or moby, in your case) interjecting yourself into certain blog comment streams on behalf of some shadow organization funded by Tom Steyer or George Soros or someone filthy like them. I'm retired and I do not have the time to go researching stuff like that. Meade's retired, and he doesn't either. But the organization that funds you pays for plenty of dedicated researchers who have the time and high-powered technology to do so.

narciso said...

And yet he is rewarded with commercial spots for capitol one and the like.

Big Mike said...

In his prime Ben Carson was one of the finest neurosurgeons who ever lived. If an alien landed a flying saucer on the Mall and met Maxine Waters, the alien would conclude that the KKK was right about colored people all along.

D 2 said...

For whatever reason, "gentil" leads me to thinking of a near-sounding word associated with Happy Days americana:
"Chantilly lace & a pretty face, & a pony tail, a hangin' down....."
Happy fourth to my american cousins. Keep swinging for the fences, it aint over yet!

Seeing Red said...

The NYT considers its reader genteel?

Major disconnect.

IgnatzEsq said...

Speaking of things that are Genteel, here is Frank Zappa's Strictly Genteel off of his Orchestral Favorites album: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbb4efrzy2g

Drago said...

TTR: "Gentile in modern French simply means "nice."


"I surrender" in modern French means "nice" as well!

Mark said...

Goyim I always heard. . . . Must be you guys' word. Gentiles.

Well, since Western Civilization is largely traced back to ancient Rome, where Latin was the common language, with Greek being the international language, it is hardly surprising that the Hebrew word Gôyîm would be translated into one of those other languages, such as the Latin Gentes or Gentiles. In fact, the Torah, Prophets and history books were all translated from the original Hebrew to Greek -- by Jews themselves!

It is hardly an anti-Semitic plot here. So lighten up Francis.

grackle said...

What a weird White House. So where did the video come from, if not from Reddit? And why lie about something as mundane as this?

Where in the world did Prez Trump obtain this .gif.? Well, it could have been from someone who downloaded it from Reddit, then reTweeted it to a cousin, who then reTweeted it to someone they know in the Trump administration.

- or -

Trump has 33.3 million followers on Twitter. Perhaps Trump simply copied it from one of them? That’s just a couple of simple, credible scenarios I can think of without any effort at all.

The proper question has nothing to do with where the .gif was first posted by its creator. If it’s downloadable it gets shared, especially something as funny as this .gif. I’m sure it went viral among Trump supporters within hours after the creator posted it on Reddit. Obviously Spicer was asked who Trump got the gif. from – which was not Reddit.

I read the NPR article. Depending on NPR for news about Trump is not advisable. The NPR article offered no link to back up the Spicer quote. No link = deception. Spicer would have had to have said this on Monday. I can find no transcript or video with such a statement, perhaps the commentor can succeed where I failed …

However, I believe the NPR Spicer quote comes from somewhere so I’m thinking probably Spicer was asked if Trump(and/or Spicer) were aware that the .gif creator had posted bad, non-PC stuff on Reddit. Such would be typical of a gotcha question from the NPR newswhores under these circumstances. Hence Spicer’s entirely truthful reply.

Chuck said...

lol.

The intenstity and the personal nature of the attacks on me are directly proportional to the degree to which there can be no factual rebuttal from the Trump camp.

Nobody has any basis to say I'm wrong; so the very next avenue is that I am paid by a leftist political organization.

Which then gives me the basis to say that no, I am not. You can't, and won't prove the contrary because you can't. Which really ought to leave you ashamed that you made the allegation in the first place but it is in fact something that Trumpism has in common with the far left; no shame. Donald Trump must be the most shameless person in modern American public life. Who else could come close?

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

"Goy" (גוי) meant "nation."

"Gens" (gentile) meant “clan; tribe; people, family."

Seems like a pretty close translation.

Molly said...

There are videos all over the place of The Donald, VincowMcMahon, and their WWE doings. Only idiots (CNN) would think Trump's tweet (a) was a threat and (b) was downloaded from some Nazi.

WWE is great American humor (think Mark Twin).

But the Times, CNN, etc. are too out of touch with the American masses, as it were, to know any of this stuff.

Here's a link to a Rolling Stone article about Stone Cold Steve Austin giving Trump a "stunner" as part of the same WWE series--and the video is in the Rolling Stone article, of Trump getting kicked in the gut by Austin. Must watching, etc., in order to enjoy the irreverence of WWE, and to understand all the ways in which Trump's tweet was a joke.

http://www.rollingstone.com/sports/news/stone-cold-still-cant-believe-donald-trump-took-a-stunner-20160331

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Nobody has any basis to say I'm wrong..

They don't care if they're right. Everything they do here (for the most part), all of their politics - everything they feel is important nationally - it's all a form of emotional support. It's an outlet through which they can vent things that they know are wrong, but that feel satisfying and emotionally cathartic nonetheless.

Years ago the left were criticized for a phrase the personal is political.

Echoing the left nowadays, as the right is always condemned to doing, their slogan is essentially, "the emotional is the political."

It will keep up until it collapses under the weight of its inherent self-contradiction.

Chuck said...

Well at least one place that Spicer said that the video did not come from Reddit, was in an email to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency:

https://www.jta.org/2017/07/03/news-opinion/politics/reddit-user-claiming-credit-for-trump-cnn-wrestling-video-has-anti-semitic-background-adl-says

And, uh, yeah; the video may indeed have been created and placed on Reddit, and thereafter shared through all of the fever swamps of the far-right internet. And that Trump saw it when he found it there, or one of his fever-swamp-dwelling companions forwarded to him. And without checking the provenance as any competent chief executive would, and without doing any backup work on where it came from originally as a functioning White House communications office would, Trump just put it out on his Twitter account.

Leaving Sean Spicer alone, to cover and lie for Trump.

Lucien said...

Come to think of it, Vince McMahon would be a great VP for Trump. Maybe next term.

walter said...

"Donald Trump must be the most shameless person in modern American public life. Who else could come close?"
Perhaps Hil' (or Bill), the candidate you supposedly voted Trump to stop.

walter said...

Gotta love CNN and other MSM claiming a stupid GIF will incite violence.
Well..maybe a crazed Lefty.
How's Scalise doing?

Etienne said...

I think even in Latin times, the use of "Gentile or Jewish" was common. Gentile Christians, and Jews. It must obviously be associated with the "people" or "clans" part of Gens.

The "Gens Heureux" are people who use "tu" when talking to God, and do not need a Title or Grade.

Where'as Genteel seems to be the opposite. A Noble, a Land Owner, or just a Dandy.

Josephbleau said...

"Be he ner'e so vile, this day shall gentle his condition."

walter said...

Drago said...Have you purhased your tickets to the Trump assassination play yet? I hear they are going like hotcakes.
-
Hey..next commercial with Baldwin purchasing assassination play tix with his Capital One card? Priceless.
What's in your wallet?

Fen said...

My bad - on 10 sites other than Reddit, pre-Trump posting. Not 12, I double counted 2 links going to same site.

10 other sites, creepy pedo poser.

Drago said...

Noted "referencer" of Rachel Maddow wants everyone to avoid disreputable sources of information.

LOL

Chuck said...

The question is, was this the video that was created and posted on Reddit by HanAssholeSolo?

The entire sentient world is now rapidly coming to the conclusion that the answer is, "Yes."

Sean Spicer has been asked that question, and he says, "No."

Now, I just want to know three things: (A) Is Spicer lying? I think he is. (B) How the hell did that video wind up on Trump's Twitter account; if Trump posted it, how the hell did it come to his attention? (C) Who are the adults assigned to watch out for such postings on Trump's Twitter account?

Rusty said...

"Nobody has any basis to say I'm wrong;:\"

Even if you're right, nobody gives a shit about your personal obsession. In fact, and I think I speak for most of the people here. You're boring. Factual or not.
Why do we find your latest ejaculatta uninteresting?
Once again. Because Trump isn't Hillary. And as such we hold no expectations about anything concerning Trump.
The good news? He has pleasantly surprised us with his agenda.
Do you do anything else besides imitating a lawyer?

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

I still remember the first time I ever wrote "garner". Good times!

Mark said...

From the Jewish Virtual Library --

GENTILE, non-Jew. It was only during the later Second Temple period that a sharp distinction and a barrier of separation was erected between the Jew and the gentile. The prohibition of marriage, which in the Bible was limited to the seven Canaanite nations (Deut. 7:1–4), was extended, following the reforms of Ezra, to include all non-Jews; the acceptance of monotheism was made the distinguishing mark of the Jew (Meg. 13a, Esth. R. 6:2); the Jews were regarded as having completely discarded *idolatry which was, however, uniformly characteristic of the non-Jew. In addition to that the low moral, social, and ethical standards of the surrounding gentiles were continuously emphasized, and social contact with them was regarded as being a pernicious social and moral influence. As a result, during this period the world was regarded as divided, insofar as peoples were concerned, into the Jewish people and the "nations of the world," and insofar as individuals were concerned, into "the Jew" and the idolater ("oved kokhavim u-mazzalot," usually abbreviated to "akkum," literally "a worshiper of stars and planets" but applied to all idolaters). Only considerations of humanity, such as relief of their poor, visiting their sick, affording them last rites (Git. 61a), and discretion ("one greets a gentile on their festivals for the sake of peace" – Tosef. Av. Zar. 1:3) were reasons for breaking the otherwise impenetrable barrier. As a result, the conception of and the attitude toward the non-Jew from the Talmudic period onward are strikingly different from that during the biblical period. . . .

(see more at website)

Chuck said...

I didn't "defend" Senator Blumenthal. I merely pointed out that when Trump attacked Blumenthal's characterization of comments made by Justice Gorsuch, Blumenthal turned out to be exactly right. And Trump was wrong.

D 2 said...

A great post about gentil and many words associated with it and an identified tangent about the differences in treatment re Palin vs McCain, and despite gallant Lazlo efforts to deride the Usual Suspect, it still goes sideways into Truminutaie.

Kudos to Josephbleaus reference in Henry V.

Anne in Rockwall, TX said...

Sorry LLR, that video was all over my facebook feed back last Wednesday. I shared it, others shared it. He didnt need to get it directly from Reddit, so Spicer was probably right.

wholelottasplainin said...

When I hear the word "genteel", I think of Eustace Tilley, the foppish Eloi who appears every now and then on the cover of "The New Yorker" magazine.

I think it's an accurate representation of how its readers regard themselves. SO much more classy and sophisticated than the brutish Morlocks, now aka Deplorables.

Mark said...

I didn't start the personal attacks today. I don't start the personal attacks on any days. I point out something critical of Trump. . . . These comments threads used to be so much better.

Yes, they were better because they didn't have someone who constantly interjects Trump into discussions that having NOTHING to do with Trump, like this one. What people object to is your pathological obsession and fixation that invariably craps all over everything and everyone.

Do you have something -- anything -- to say about the subject matter at hand?? Do you have anything genteel to say??

Chuck said...

Annie C said...
Sorry LLR, that video was all over my facebook feed back last Wednesday. I shared it, others shared it. He didnt need to get it directly from Reddit, so Spicer was probably right.


Do you understand why none of that matters? I think not, given your post.

What matters is whether the Trump-Tweet video was a re-post of the Anti-Semite "HanAssholeSolo's" video. It is becoming clear to everyone that it was. And that Trump essentially re-Tweeted what had been circulating in the fever swamps for a few days.

Did Trump get it by scanning Reddit himself? Probably not. I presume Trump got it from Bannon, or Stephen Miller, or (this would be ironic) Michael Cohen. Or that Trump found it himself wherever Trump finds such shit. I sure wanna know where that is.

I'll just laugh my fucking ass off now, if Spicey says that, "Well, yes it was the video that originated on Reddit, but Mr. Trump did not get it from Reddit; Mr. Trump got it from _______." And oh my fucking God I cannot wait for that blank to get filled in.

MayBee said...

What matters is whether the Trump-Tweet video was a re-post of the Anti-Semite "HanAssholeSolo's" video.

Why does this matter?

Chuck said...

MayBee said...
"What matters is whether the Trump-Tweet video was a re-post of the Anti-Semite 'HanAssholeSolo's' video."

Why does this matter?


Now, at least one reason that it matters is because Sean Spicer apparently lied about it.

MayBee said...

Now, at least one reason that it matters is because Sean Spicer apparently lied about it

But you don't think Spicer was actually being asked- or knew- where the meme originated, right? Just where Trump got it.

Nobody is responsible for tracking down a meme's originations before they re-tweet it. There would be no such thing as memes!

Etienne said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Drago said...

"I'll just laugh my fucking ass off now,"

Institutions are full of people doing just that.

Fen said...

Chuck: "What matters is if it was a repost of a bigot's video"

No, it doesn't matter. The video stands on its own and there is no bigotry in it. What you are pulling is a despicable and dishonest tactic.

Your shoes were made by a racist, Chuck. Take them off.
Your coat was made by an anti-Semite, Chuck, ditch it.
Your house was built by sexists, Chuck. Move.
Your car was painted by bigots, Chuck. Scrap it.

Do these things or be branded as an enabler of racism sexism and bigotry Chuck. Does that sound stupid to you? Let me know and I'll stop holding this mirror up to you.

BTW, if we weren't allowed to quote bigots, most of the Democrat Party would be in the dock.


Viejo Loco said...

How fitting; Chuck rhymes with schmuck. You "claim" you voted for Trump, then spend all your time her denigrating him. I know in your vast ignorance, like those fools in D.C., the word comes from N-----, yes?
Go back to your exchanging BJ's with your buddy Toothless Revolutionary; you two area a matched pair. Oh, yes, 6-2-2.

Chuck said...

MayBee said...
Now, at least one reason that it matters is because Sean Spicer apparently lied about it

But you don't think Spicer was actually being asked- or knew- where the meme originated, right? Just where Trump got it.

I think that was precisely the question being posed to Spicer; was this that Reddit .gif posted by that notorious anti-Semite? I think that Spicer understood the question as it was posed. And Spicer simply did not want to acknowledge the obvious.

It's okay, really. I think we can straighten all of this out. Spicer can explain exactly where Trump got it, and why Trump thought it would be funny to post it. We can ask Trump himself if he knew where it had come from, and if Trump has ever seen any of HanAssholeSolo's other work. I presume Trump will say, "I had no idea." And then the question(s) can turn back to whether it is a good idea for the President's personal social media accounts to be used for casually-sourced junk like this.

Fen said...

Why is Meadehouse deleting responses to Chuck's bullshit but leaving Chuck's bullshit up?

You really want to troll your commenters again? Have you forgotten what happened last time you did that?

No one is going to respect your attempts to moderate the forum if you are seen as deliberately trolling them.

You don't like the counter-trolling, then delete the troll.

If instead, you decide to allow Chuck to hijack every thread with his anti-Trump bullshit, while deleting responses to it, you are going to have another revolt. Close the comments. Go to blog war with parody sites, lose Amazon, etc. Just like last time. Was that fun for you?

Either allow the troll / counter-troll or delete them BOTH. But don't play favorites.

FullMoon said...

Some Reddit users are interesting. Unlike prankster who self identifies as an asshole,
This woman exposed Hillarys IT guy asking Reddit for help to delete her email in an untracxeable way.

A “non-techie” Twitter sleuth with 3,000 followers has just caused Hillary Clinton’s campaign a new headache: According to screenshots she published Sunday — which are now reportedly under review in the House Oversight Committee — the IT specialist who deleted Clinton’s emails may first have turned to Reddit for advice on the technology.

The Reddit posts in question come from a user named stonetear, and were made in July and December 2014. @GOPPollAnalyst, the woman who unearthed the posts, claims stonetear is Paul Combetta, a computer specialist with Platte River Networks who worked with Clinton’s staff during her time as secretary of state.


https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2016/09/20/hillary-clintons-it-guy-asked-reddit-for-help-altering-emails-a-twitter-sleuth-claims/?utm_term=.12886df4056e

Fen said...

Chuck: Spicer can explain where he got it.

Why does Spicer need to do that? The only people who care where he got it are butthurt Democrats.

MayBee said...

Out: Obama learns what his executive agencies and cabinet secretaries are doing by watching the news
In : Trump must know the commenting history of internet randos posting humorous memes

Anne in Rockwall, TX said...

Chuck, I'm not quite sure what world you live in, but in a normal social media world people see soemthing finny on their twitter feed or facebook page and retweet or share it. Nobody gives two shits where something funny came from.

I saw the gif last week, laughed my ass off and shared it.

News reports are different, you check the sources before ypu share those, but humor? Get over your prissy self and lighten up.

Drago said...

In : Trump must know the commenting history of internet randos posting humorous memes

Out: Trump should cease immediately any and all activities that are not considered appropriate by those whose entire raison d'etre is the destruction of his Presidency.
In: Trump must assign a team of crack IT personnel to research each and every retweet or reposting of any internet item anywhere.

Meanwhile, dems are free to continue having actual convicted terrorists as honored guests at parades, in academia and on TV.

Anne in Rockwall, TX said...

Sorry about my typos. New fingers.

Chuck said...

Annie C said...
...

I saw the gif last week, laughed my ass off and shared it.

Then why was Spicer so cocksure about where it came from?

I began my comments on this subject today by presuming that this was undoubtedly an amateur video that had been simmering in the fever-swamps of the right for days. You seem to be saying that I was right.

Why didn't Spicer say, "Gee, I don't know where it came from, but it was something that a lot of us saw on FB, Twitter, Instagram, whatever..." Why didn't Spicer say, "I was unaware of its origins on Reddit, and so was the Presdent." Nope; Spicer said it didn't come from Reddit. And that is a lie, it seems pretty clear now.

Drago said...

I began my comments on this subject today by presuming that this was undoubtedly an amateur video that had been simmering in the fever-swamps of the right for days.

Ah, the genesis of all the incorrect assumptions and conclusions.

Fantastic.

FullMoon said...

Fen said...

Why is Meadehouse deleting responses to Chuck's bullshit but leaving Chuck's bullshit up?

You really want to troll your commenters again? Have you forgotten what happened last time you did that?

No one is going to respect your attempts to moderate the forum if you are seen as deliberately trolling them.

You don't like the counter-trolling, then delete the troll.

If instead, you decide to allow Chuck to hijack every thread with his anti-Trump bullshit, while deleting responses to it, you are going to have another revolt. Close the comments. Go to blog war with parody sites, lose Amazon, etc. Just like last time. Was that fun for you?

Either allow the troll / counter-troll or delete them BOTH. But don't play favorites.

7/4/17, 1:44 PM


Chuck special. Communicates directly with AA. Even had his own tag, back in the day.

Bad Lieutenant said...

Fen said...
Why is Meadehouse deleting responses to Chuck's bullshit but leaving Chuck's bullshit up?

Why do you think?

And you're playing with him.

Silence is our only choice in response.

Etienne said...

tcrosse said...Alouette, gentille alouette.

Studebaker used to sell those.

FullMoon said...

And, Chuck cannot hijack if nobody takes the bait. Not easy to resist, fer shure!

Titty twister Chuck does get under my skin sometimes, with his threats to women and his constant repetition of disproven rumors

Drago said...

I like the Althouse Posts that Chuck allows her to make.

I'm hoping Althouse carves out enough time to break away from Chuckblogspot to start her own site.

Drago said...

FullMoon: "And, Chuck cannot hijack if nobody takes the bait. Not easy to resist, fer shure!"

Demonstrably false as even deleting the responses to Chuck slows him down not in the slightest in his regurgitation of lefty talking points.

Anne in Rockwall, TX said...

Sorry moon, I'll stop.

FullMoon said...


Blogger Annie C said...

Sorry moon, I'll stop.


No need, I was just saying that no response would be ideal, while recognizing it is easier said than done. What really chapped my hide was when he threatened several times to give Greta a titty twist and then denied it.

7/4/17, 2:15 PM

walter said...

Can't believe your still going on about this, Chuck.
Take a chill pill and contend with your own fever.

Michael Fitzgerald said...

I hate that a couple of anti-American progressive pricks like Baldwin and Mankewiecz are the hosts of TCM. I never watch Baldwin, but Manky is always good for some snide aside about McCarthy or republicans or HUAC or something, and is always sure to add a good word for "labor unions" or "revolutionaries" like Che Guevara or Sacco and Vanzetti. Disgraceful that these assholes are given a forum to spew from and no one thinks twice about it.

Howard said...

The troglodyte wing of the alt right trolled again by a 95-pound retiree... be sure to Exit Through the Gift Shop.

Bad Lieutenant said...

And, Chuck cannot hijack if nobody takes the bait. Not easy to resist, fer shure!

Titty twister Chuck does get under my skin

That's his sole aim. Deny him.

You don't understand the power of the Interdict. Neither does he. Let's show him.

If you absolutely MUST respond in a direct point of honor, which is ridiculous itself because how can Chuck threaten anyone's honor, I recommend pig-Latin.

Ikelay histay:

Huckcay uckssay onkeyday icksday.

Keep it short.


Michael K said...

"Blogger Howard said...
The troglodyte wing of the alt right trolled again "

When is that DD 214 coming Howard ?

Michael Fitzgerald said...

Lucien said...
Come to think of it, Vince McMahon would be a great VP for Trump. Maybe next term.

7/4/17, 11:54 AM

Linda McMahon would have been a great VP! She is in the Trump administration now. Her debate against Blumenthal was must-see TV. She asks him: "How are jobs created?". Blumenthal blanks. Looks into the camera...Deer in the headlights... He starts babbling politics-speak for a few minutes. She rebuts him: "Here's what your answer was- 'Government, government, government, government...' Government doesn't create jobs, Senator, people create jobs. Then she goes on to explain how jobs are created, while Blumenthal listened like a chastened schoolboy who didn't know his lessons... Then Connecticut selected Blumenthal, because democrat party.

Anonymous said...

Two points our self-pitying troll doesn't seem to have considered:
1. Just because some bigot with 'asshole' right in his Twitter handle claims he created a popular GIF doesn't prove he did. He may just have jumped on the bandwagon after it got rolling, knowing that it would be very difficult to disprove his claim.
2. Amusing tweets can easily go through a dozen or more retweets before getting to you. Do you really think no one should be allowed to retweet an amusing and totally non-racist tweet without investigating it all the way back to its source - if that can even be found - to make sure none of the links in the chain are personae non gratae? That would totally cripple Twitter, if it were applied to everyone. If it only applies to the President, then it would only cripple his ability to tweet, which is of course exactly what so many life-long Republicans and the vast majority of Democrats want, even if many of them pretend the opposite.

Fen said...

BREAKING: Trump Quotes Racist Propaganda.

Today, President Trump tweeted the words of a racist bigot:

"In the course of human events... it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bonds....life liberty and the pursuit of happiness"

Life-long Republicans (tm) were distraught. In faux anguish, they demanded President Trump disavow the Library of Congress which sourced this rant from a racist. And called for impeachment hearings: "We demand to know if Trump was aware he was spreading the hateful words of a racist bigot. The man owned African-Americans as SLAVES!"

Life-long Republicans (tm) are marching towards the Library of Congress with torches to "burn the hate down!". Park police that several statues of Thomas Jefferson have been toppled.

Fen said...

"No response would be ideal"

Doesn't work in practice. Even if (and thats a big if) everyone had the discipline to ignore trolls, all it takes is one newbie rolling in the joint and responding and the whole pact calls apart. I've seen it happen time and again.

Many of us are also tired of useless tactics. Bush took the high ground and ignored it, and now "Bush Lied Troops Died" has become the conventional wisdom. Consider, the only reason Trump won is because people got tired of turning the other cheek. If MeadeHouse thinks we will return to the old days of just letting the Left take cheap shots, they are in for a rude awakening.

Many can't stand the stench of troll, most can't stand the stench of fried troll. But we want the same thing.

You have a customer camped out at the bar stinking up the place. And you have 30 customers taking their drinks outside on the patio, even in the rain, just to avoid one guy's stench.

How about instead of asking everyone to tiptoe around the bum, you just throw his ass out onto the street?

Or at the very least, delete his posts when he hijacks a post. If you are deleting others and not deleting the offending source of the stench, your customers will stop having respect for your House Rules.

I mean hell, you have people who now simply abandon thread whenever Chuck of Ritmo start stinking up the place.

Marc in Eugene said...

ADDED: How does the idea of not being Jewish get connected to those other words?

The Latin gens had several meanings, literal and figurative, and it is reasonable to suppose that at least some of this wide range of meanings survived in various ways in the Romance languages. While it means clan or tribe or race or nation it can also be used to refer to a single person (in the Aeniad, vigilasne, deum gens, Aenea?); in Christian Latin gentes, gentiles are those not the Church or the Jews, i.e. the heathens, pagans, but the words are also used by the Romans to refer to foreign nations i.e. 'them', not 'us'.

In other words, I suspect that the dual meanings in French (gentil, gentile, substantive and adjective, a non-Jewish [but in its more ancient sense, someone not Christian or Jewish] person, and gentil, gentile, an adjective meaning gracious, urbane, generous, therefore characteristic of nobility-- which derives of course from the obvious fact that noble families by definition possess these characteristics, and so do even those plebeians with pretensions to the noble order) are two distinct meanings that have survived from the first centuries of the Christian era, the late classical period of the Latin language.

Fen said...

Bad Lt: Why do you think?

Honestly? I think Althouse allows Meade to run sockpuppets here to ammuse himself. Too many instances of some critters being more equal than other critters.

And that would be fine - her blog, her house. But just don't disrespect your guests like that and expect them to respect you or your House Rules.

If I decided to act in bad faith, I could make Chuck and Ritmo look like angels in comparison. As could a few others here. I would prefer not to go there, but I'm prepared to.

Good.Goose.Gander.

Marc in Eugene said...

I like reading Fen and Chuck and Inga and Dr K., indeed everyone who makes the effort and comments regularly or at least often enough that I begin to recognise the names-- but sometimes too much sameness is wearisome and in those cases I simply skip the offensive comments.

Unless someone declares upfront that he is simply trying to needle people-- in which case the god ought to descend from his machine and remove his unpleasantnesses (I would, anyway, were it my blog)-- I try not to make a judgment about his motives. I see, over and over again, on a daily basis, that people believe the most stupid nonsense with what are evidently the sincerest of good intentions, God bless their hearts-- don't know why it should be any different on the Internets.

Daniel Jackson said...

Madame wrote, "How does the idea of not being Jewish get connected to those other words? The French word "gentil" comes from the Latin noun "gens," meaning nation. In Latin, the adjective, gentīlis, meant belonging to the same people or race. In French, the adjective, gentil, took on the meaning of belonging to a good family."

As Toothless suggested, the Hebrew word GOY means the same thing--race, or "nation," or people. The nations of the world are referred to repeatedly as the GOYIM, one of which is the Jewish nation.

One might suggest that in the ancient world, a person's tribe or ethnicity was also a person's race. This term was used in the 1900 US Census to refer to ethnicity, as in the Russian Race or the English Race.

The word also carries with it the sense of Breeding, which in earlier less enlightened eras referred to the intricate process of mating children based on family characteristics. Breeding carries with it the force of Breeds with people as well as animals. The old order thought that some people were bred to be esclaves, others members of the trades, while others were best suited for the more genteel professions of raping and pillaging in the name of Harry, England, and Saint George.

Tally Ho

grackle said...

… yeah; the video may indeed have been created and placed on Reddit, and thereafter shared through all of the fever swamps of the far-right internet. And that Trump saw it when he found it there, or one of his fever-swamp-dwelling companions forwarded to him.

My thanks to the commentor for his reluctant validation of my version of events.

The commentor quotes an article by the JTA that quotes an email. We would have to read the email exchange to know if the Spicer quote was accurate but the contents of those emails are not provided by the JTA. I get suspicious when the source of a quote is kept hidden. Thus the commentor’s reply and reference is useless. He needs to try again.

Leaving Sean Spicer alone, to cover and lie for Trump.

The commentor hasn’t proven anything, except that he has a habit of calling people he doesn’t like liars without proof to back up his impulsive accusations.

Readers, why do you suppose that the full Spicer exchange that the “quote” was taken from is so deucedly difficult to find? What are they hiding?

Jesus, here he goes again …

What matters is whether the Trump-Tweet video was a re-post of the Anti-Semite "HanAssholeSolo's" video.

Spicer never denied the .gif was created by HanAssholeSolo. He denied that Trump got it from Reddit. And this is what they are left with:

Trump reTweeted a viral .gif that was originally created by some talented fellow who also has some unattractive viewpoints on social issues. The commentor deludes himself that this factoid means anything.

Now, at least one reason that it matters is because Sean Spicer apparently lied about it.

Notice, readers, that the commentor has changed from Spicer lied to apparently Spicer lied. That’s progress of a sort.

But now he needs to explain why he believes Spicer “apparently” lied when there is no evidence to back up the accusation.

I think that was precisely the question being posed to Spicer …

We are ALL very interested to read that question. What the commentor may “think” before we all get to read the actual question is irrelevant. I think the commentor’s duty to the readers now is to track that question down and report back to us with a link to it. Perhaps he can succeed where others have failed …

Then why was Spicer so cocksure about where it came from?

Spicer never said he knew where it came from. He merely said Trump didn’t get it from Reddit. I strongly advise the commentor to read his news more carefully and critically. Lawyers, I have heard, must have excellent reading comprehension. The commentor seems to be the exception. Sad!

And, Chuck cannot hijack if nobody takes the bait. Not easy to resist, fer shure!

I disagree. Trump’s lesson to all of us is that lies must be fought against. When the commentor throws around obvious ad hominem I ignore him. But when he attempts to pervert the facts the record must be corrected.

tim in vermont said...

They don't care if they're right. Everything they do here (for the most part), all of their politics - everything they feel is important nationally - it's all a form of emotional support. It's an outlet through which they can vent things that they know are wrong, but that feel satisfying and emotionally cathartic nonetheless.

You're getting close, Toothless, that is the next thing to introspection, except you tripped into the well-known trap of projection.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

I mean hell, you have people who now simply abandon thread whenever Chuck of Ritmo start stinking up the place.

How "confident" of you to imply that no one abandons them because of you and that stench.

I mean, hell. I'm sure lots of people are wowed by all the personal attacks and ignorant resentment you throw up and down the thread - like a meth addict to the middle man. And I'm sure many more find it to be boring.

Howard said...

Hi Mike K. Keep eye-fucking me all you want, I don't mind.

Michael K said...

My translation of "gens" is "people."

That is where "Gens d'arme" comes from. People under arms.

Also, I was about to comment how nice the blog was today, maybe for Independence Day.

Then I realized we were mostly free of lefty trolls.

Then I clicked once too often and guess who ?

Michael K said...

" Keep eye-fucking me all you want, I don't mind."

And Mr chickenhawk shows up, too.

Why not just acknowledge it wasn't a smart thing to post ?

Howard said...

Who cares, Trump is a trolling douche-bag and his conspiracy theory loving fans eat it up when the ben wah ball clutching left has a hissy fit. The basic 'go to' argument on both sides is "they did it first" wash, rinse, repeat. Please hit the Amazon porthole with both barrels as the door hits you on the ass.

Howard said...

Pro-war chest thumpers who failed to enlist when the country was at war are chickenhawks. Lee Greenwood even hid behind his kids, Nugent and John Wayne faked knee injuries and Rush has an anal wart problem.

tim in vermont said...

Pro-war chest thumpers who failed to enlist when the country was at war are chickenhawks.

Hey! The 2000s called and they want their talking points back!

Chuck said...

Ripped from the headlines of the Drudge Report:
"Redditor Behind Trump vs CNN Wrestling Meme Apologizes: ‘I Am in No Way This Kind of Person’"

http://www.thewrap.com/redditor-trump-vs-cnn-meme-apologizes/

Drago said...

Pro-war chest thumpers who failed to enlist when the country was at war are chickenhawks.

What an interesting formulation.

Technically speaking there are always conflicts going on around the globe affecting Americas interests.

Where did you serve Howard? Did you offer up that particular formulation as a "get out of jail free" card?

Drago said...

LLR Chuck would have served himself. In fact, according to his own statements, he was going to sign up. But there was no draft, so "no dice".

Or something.

Michael K said...

Howard,

"Who cares,"

"Pro-war chest thumpers who failed to enlist when the country was at war are chickenhawks."

No DD 214 from Howard.

Gee, I wonder if that makes Howard a chicken hawk ?

I guess he preferred the North Vietnamese and al Qeada.

Well they are communist and hate America.

MayBee said...

So wait? The guy's life needed to be ruined because President Trump retweeted a harmless clip he made?
That's awful. CNN should be ashamed.

MayBee said...

This is terrible. On CNN right now:

CNN is not publishing "HanA**holeSolo's" name because he is a private citizen who has issued an extensive statement of apology, showed his remorse by saying he has taken down all his offending posts, and because he said he is not going to repeat this ugly behavior on social media again. In addition, he said his statement could serve as an example to others not to do the same.
CNN reserves the right to publish his identity should any of that change.


http://www.cnn.com/2017/07/04/politics/kfile-reddit-user-trump-tweet/index.html

So creepy. CNN is threatening to out a private citizen for making a harmless video.

MayBee said...

CNN doesn't give us information about it's own anonymous sources who break laws giving out classified information. But make a video about them, and by golly they are going to hold your identity against you if you dare to step out of line again.

Horrifying!! Will Jake Tapper speak out against this? Will anyone at CNN?

Michael K said...

Communist news Network does as Communist News Network wants.

Bad Lieutenant said...

Little creepy, CNN. He's probably already outed on lefter places, which may be embargoed or such, and wonders what amount of bullet can be called back if any.

His making the gif was, if as described, pure art and no crime. He is the new Thomas Nast. This is the new elephant and donkey.

His past is?...whatever it is, probably no better or worse, depending on your measures, than Shepard Fairey's who did the HOPE poster for Candidate Obama. Or Celine's or whoever. No worse than Dali's surely. If any president since FDR had had the cojones to put Salvador Dali's art on display at the White House, well, "I got nothing," but he wouldn't have been assailed on grounds of taste.

Unknown said...

Hahahaha Hahahaha!!!!1111!!!!

After Trump tweeted the video on Sunday, "HanA**holeSolo" took to Reddit to say he was "honored," writing "Holy s—!! I wake up and have my morning coffee and who retweets my s—post but the MAGA EMPORER himself!!! I am honored!!" MAGA is an acronym for the President's campaign slogan: Make America great again."
In the phone interview on Tuesday, "HanA**holeSolo" said the White House did not ask his permission to use the GIF, and said he probably would have said no if they had.
"I didn't realize that post would be picked up the way it was, he said. "I should have never even said anything."

Bad Lieutenant said...

Blogger Chuck said...
Ripped from the headlines of the Drudge Report:...meme-apologizes/
7/4/17, 7:46 PM

Yes, we understand, this is what you crave, very literally like the jack-booted fascist you are, and the plastic fantastic sort that Ritmo sees in every right-winger to boot. Ritmo, funny how you and Chuck never bring sparks. Brothers from another mother? :)

Michael K said...

"Hahahaha Hahahaha!!!!1111!!!!"

Yes those little people must be destroyed.

walter said...

Chuck!
You are SOOOOO..vindicated.
Rejoice! Unclench your sphincter!

walter said...

(With N. Korea lobbing more missiles, you are oh so relevant)

walter said...

"But..(360 degree spin)..
Trump!!"

Bad Lieutenant said...

Stand up with me Ritmo. I'm begging you, well, I'm asking you to Side with Freedom, Liberty and Independence, and above all, with all the Nameless Internet Assholes out There! What should the guy be sorry for, exactly? Thinking it or doing it?

Whose side are you on, boy?

walter said...

"But...Truuuummpp!"

Fen said...

CNN is playing with fire.

If 4chan gets involved - "weaponized autism" is their battle cry - they can hack CNN into oblivion. Think of the fallout from the Wikileaks release of DNC emails. Now multiply that tenfold. A 4chan hack revealing the Behind The Scenes corruption would destroy CNN. And probably quite a few Democrat operatives as well. Those guys can find out the lipstick shade of Anderson Cooper's Dominatrix.

Go ahead CNN. Play hardball. I dare you.

Fen said...

Howard: "Pro war chest thumpers who failed to enlist are chickenhawks"

No. They are not. And as a United States Marine, I have the authority to declare they are not. You OTH, have NO right to slime anyone as a chicken hawk - you are a poser who never served in combat. By your own standard, you cannot be for or against war unless you have served in combat. So sit down, shut up and listen to your betters:

1) I appreciate the support of those that did not enlist. I have met them all across America, and they are kind decent honorable patriots, of character and integrity. I would trade 100 of you for 1 of them. So stop speaking for us.

2) The United States has a principle of CIVILLIAN control of the military. By extension, that promotes the RIGHT of civillians to support or oppose military action.

3) You better thank your fricken stars that people like me feel a duty and obligation to respect civillian control of the military. It's one of the primary reasons STA Team hasn't lit you and your kind on fire.

4) If those who never served are not allowed to voice their support of war, then those who never served are not allowed to express their opposition to war. Try to process what a Starship Trooper's culture would mean for people like you - you would be second class non-citizens.

And damn if Noonan didn't nail it: We are being patronized by our inferiors.

So go away from me little man. And never speak of "chickenhawks" again.

Fen said...

Fricken brilliant post Grackle. Hat tip.

Fen said...

Ritmo: "how confident of you to say they abandon thread because - "

I am confident commenters are ditching the thread because of Ritmo and Chuck because they say:

"Aaaand Ritmo is back to his usual bs, time for me to abandon this thread"

Or they say:

"Ah hell Chuck hijacks another good thread, I'm outta here"

Achilles said...

Good people don't do what CNN does. Good people don't act like Chuck.

I just had a nice day at the park with the kids. Looking around the internet it is clear the left is defeated. They have given up on the Russia bullshit story and are the target of mockery.

People used to be afraid of the media and the various violent and abusive shitheads on the left. That power is obviously broken when you are the butt of as many jokes as they are now.

Fen said...

Yup. CNN is making him an object lesson: "mock us and we will dox you and destroy your life".

Dumb move. CNN has opened themselves up to retaliation that polite people don't consider. They are playing out of bounds. There are creatures that live out of bounds. I think CNN is about to meet them.

tim in vermont said...

So creepy. CNN is threatening to out a private citizen for making a harmless video.

Remember when Obama and Hillary put a guy in jail for making a video? Remember when the FCC took Citizens' United all the way to the Supreme Court before getting slapped down for making a video critical of Hillary? This is how they roll.

tim in vermont said...

Sorry FEC, where Lois Lerner worked before she took her partisan politics to the IRS.

tim in vermont said...

Remember when Lois Lerner said her dream was to retire and work at the Clinton Foundation? What a fucking nasty nest of corruption the Democratics have become.

tim in vermont said...

Guy apologizes under threat of having his IRL life ruined by CNN and Chuck cheers. That's because he is a "life-long Republican"

At first I thought Chuck was authentic, if somewhat misinformed due to his narrow mindedness, but now I am pretty sure that MSNBC addict, and CNN partisan Chuck is a Moby.

tim in vermont said...

This is what the media have become:

But Trump’s allies on the right believe the president’s claims that the mainstream media is “fake news” have been bolstered by recent missteps. They point to recent admissions from top news outlets — including CNN, the New York Times and the Associated Press — that bombshell stories were either overcooked or included incorrect details.

Adding insult to injury: Breitbart News, the pro-Trump media outlet that is scorned by many in the mainstream press, has been fact-checking their mainstream counterparts with some success.

Breitbart’s Washington political editor Matthew Boyle was first to call into question a CNN story on alleged ties between a Trump associate and Russia that was later retracted.
. - The Hill

Anonymous said...

Maybee: This is terrible. On CNN right now:

"CNN is not publishing "HanA**holeSolo's" name because he is a private citizen who has issued an extensive statement of apology, showed his remorse by saying he has taken down all his offending posts, and because he said he is not going to repeat this ugly behavior on social media again. In addition, he said his statement could serve as an example to others not to do the same.

CNN reserves the right to publish his identity should any of that change."

http://www.cnn.com/2017/07/04/politics/kfile-reddit-user-trump-tweet/index.html


Good God. Maybee, I seriously thought you were making a sarcastic paraphrase of what that CNN article actually said. But it's direct verbatim quote. Un-fucking-believable.

Etienne said...

Michael K said...My translation of "gens" is "people."

True. But not all people. It is not inclusive of all people. It usually has an adjective associated with it. Gens [this], Gens [that]. In some cases a pronoun: Gens qui, that is, "people who [have some characteristic]".

Wiktionary has it: "a set of people". I like that. "ces gens-là ..." Those people.


Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

And, uh, yeah; the video may indeed have been created and placed on Reddit, and thereafter shared through all of the fever swamps of the far-right internet. And that Trump saw it when he found it there, or one of his fever-swamp-dwelling companions forwarded to him.

Or, pulling out my handy pocket Occam's Razor, Trump saw it on Twitter, the same damn place he used to re-tweet it. This ain't rocket science, and I don't buy into the same far leftist fever-hive mindset you have about being responsible for everything some other guy has to say just because I like one piece of art he created. How fascist are you anyway? I love Michael Ramirez's cartoons, but if I found out he once called his wife a bitch in public and urinated on a poodle I wouldn't care. It doesn't make the essential TRUTH of the cartoon or video null and void because the author might have had badthink in another venue.

That's the same fascist PC bullshit thinking non-Republican and non-libertarian idiots wallow in. That's not the kind of thing I want infecting the feckless party I belong to. "Lifelong Republican," my ass. You sound more and more like a lifelong progressive chameleon smear merchant.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

MayBee said...
Now, at least one reason that it matters is because Sean Spicer apparently lied about it

But you don't think Spicer was actually being asked- or knew- where the meme originated, right? Just where Trump got it.

Nobody is responsible for tracking down a meme's originations before they re-tweet it. There would be no such thing as memes!


WHISTLE! [Throws flag.]

C'mon Maybee, you can't use logic on a moby!