Looks like Breitbart’s little anti-Occupy Wall Street rant has more people than just me questioning his use of illicit substances – though I just wondered if he had a drinking problem.
Seems the Big Hollywood blogger-in-chief is on the defensive, if his Twitter feed says anything about it:
Notice the deflection here – as though David Brock just screamed at a bunch of protesters and had to be dragged off by security. It’s pretty much par for the course when it comes to Breitbart.
Two thoughts: First, it’s easy to beat a drug test, especially if you’re doing something like cocaine or speed – the sort of drugs that might make someone lose their head at an OWS protest. Stimulants leave the bloodstream quickly, and with a little preparation you could easily beat the test. If it’s booze, of course, this is all a moot point.
Second, who cares if he was high when he flipped out on the protesters? It’s almost more understandable if he was. If he has a substance abuse problem, I might sympathize with him a little bit. Addicts need help, not scorn.
But if this was the angry rant of a sober man? That’s much more troubling. That says something about Breitbart as a human being, deep down – about his anger and instability as a person without the use of drugs.
shortstop
Untreated alcoholism.
beltane
It would actually be worse for Breitbart if he wasn’t under the influence of something during that rant. Because that would mean he is mentally ill, not just stoned or drunk.
chopper
he could just be addicted to rageahol.
El Tiburon
I thought he was a recovering addict of one sort or another.
E.D. Kain
@beltane: right – that’s basically what I said.
Steeplejack
Yeah, he could’ve just been drunk. Especially since he’s so quick to suggest the drug test. Or, now that I think about it, he could just be a colossal asshole. That seems to fit all the circumstances.
E.D. Kain
@Steeplejack: Is there a test for that?
jl
Bbart’s brain chemistry seems so altered, at least from my casual inspection of video clips, question for me is whether a standard drug test would tell you anything.
‘course, if he is on something all the time, that would explain it.
Can system saturation with high octane bile screw up drug tests?
jl
@Steeplejack: You got there first, danggit. Probably need to ask for special ‘bile’ and ‘ahole’ blood panels for the tests.
beltane
There was another video up of CPAC rapper Chris Loesch also screaming at protesters. Sadly, his bellowing was as weak as his rapping so the LOLZ were nowhere near as good as with the Breitbart video.
Brachiator
So, it ain’t drugs. He’s just batshit crazy. Good to know.
Bruce S
Frankly, if I was caught on the Internets screaming maniacally like Brietbart, I’d laugh it off claiming I’d had a liquid lunch even if I hadn’t.
Yutsano
@Brachiator: And repression of his true sexual feelings. I’ve seen that turn into anger into many a supposed straight male.
Maus
@beltane: I tend to have slightly less sympathy for those with personality disorders than most mentally ill, though. They ensure that all around them suffer more than they do and are INCREDIBLY resistant to treatment.
Steeplejack
@E.D. Kain, @jl:
I think the symptoms are discernible with trained observation.
Violet
Exactly. Either he was under the influence of something, in which case he’s irresponsible for not seeking treatment for what seems to be an obvious problem. Or he wasn’t, in which case he’s an asshole who is incapable of controlling his own behavior.
Either way he’s irresponsible. Pretty typical for the party that likes to bray about personal responsibility.
Cat Lady
Conservatism is a mental illness, and the test for that is to ask if you’re a Republican.
Mark S.
@Yutsano:
I think you’re on to something with that.
Steeplejack
@Maus:
True that. A friend’s husband is like that, and, damn, there is a fine line sometimes between mental illness and just being a dick. You try to make allowances, but sometimes you just want to paste him one.
Steve
That’s a fairly mellow reaction by Breitbart standards. The Breitbart I knew would have threatened to sue everyone who mentioned drugs.
Aaron Baker
Put me in the “angry rant of a sober man”-is-worse column. If his best defense is “I wasn’t on something when I did it,” he truly has no defense.
The Moar You Know
He has a long history of doing this kind of shit. I think you really don’t need to look any farther than the undisputed fact that he’s a gigantic asshole.
Villago Delenda Est
Objection, your honor! Assumption of facts not in evidence!
pragmatism
no speculation on dana loesch and her up and coming hip hop star husband? they were doing some braying (not talking about the knickers performance).
my guess is a conservative folie a deux (with an emphasis on tu quoque).
jl
Seriously, I do wonder sometimes whether Breitbart has some kind of emotional or mental problem.
No shame in admitting it, if you are not so far down the rabbit hole you think you are totally fine.
Cole admitted he had a boss (which was really shocking to me, and a serious potentially fatal disorder, and unfortunately, one that I share).
And anxiety attacks. I had to struggle with a serious bout of depression some years ago.
I seriously wonder whether Breitbart has some problem. He always looks like about to melt down from smoldering rage. I usually figure that kind of thing is an act, but not so sure with Breitbart.
Rawk Chawk
Speaking as a sober person myself, I can confirm that a little or a lot of SCORN can go a long way toward helping an addict or alkie make their way toward getting clean.
Sure we need help, but we need motivation to make that choice. Public humiliation would actually be good for this clown.
And yeah, I’ve thought for several years that Breitfart is a drunk. All I have to do is see him to know. It’s a specific look. Christopher Hitchens had it in spades.
jibeaux
It was tricky, but I managed to catch it!
pragmatism
@jl: that’s what i thought too. depression is rage turned inward.
scav
I’m left slightly wondering what sort of quirk has him kicking the viral can along for another spin? Really the action or someone who wants all the attention behind him? Addicts Addicts Addicts, so much to be addicted to . . .
Brachiator
@Yutsano:
This also explains Ann Coulter, another supposed straight male whose sexual repression results in odd outbursts of erratic behavior.
The Moar You Know
I knew he’d done something like this before. Apologies, the only good link is to the Washington Times.
Citizen_X
Oh yeah, pot’ll make you do that [eye roll].
harlana
does he really believe people are that fucking stupid?
RossinDetroit
The attention he got from his grandstand play petered out. He’s just trying to keep the spotlight on himself.
That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
Poopyman
@harlana: Is that a rhetorical question? Consider his presumed target audience.
Villago Delenda Est
@harlana:
He thinks they’re like him.
So, yes.
pseudonymous in nc
The MMPI will do, Blartblart.
dmsilev
OT, but far too hilarious to let pass. Erick Erickovich is getting ready to stick a sword in his belly:
Would it be so so wrong of us to club together to buy Erickovich a Ginsu knife?
Rafer Janders
For one thing, it’s pretty clear from having read profiles of him, as well as from his own writing, that he has a pretty severe case of ADD.
BonnyAnne
@Maus:
how right you are. In the world of psych nursing, personality disorders are the worst kind of psychological illnesses, because the people who suffer from them don’t know that they have a problem and don’t want to be treated. Therapists don’t want to work with them, doctors don’t want them as patients, and from personal experience, there’s nothing quite like being called “the least competent XYZ I’ve ever met” in front of your coworkers to really sour you on the whole ‘personality disorder’ experience.
I can tell myself all day long that it’s a defense mechanism stemming from fear and insecurity, which is true, but that doesn’t make me want to stick around and help them through their rough patch, either.
Maus
@Brachiator:
There are a zillion ways you can point out how worthless she is without the transphobic slurs. Seriously, this isn’t RedState or Freep.
Johannes
Bee-HAVE yourself! Bee-HAVE Yourself!
He’s just a jackass. Jackasses bray. It’s what they do.
aimai
This is just another example of Breitbart and the Right’s “Always Be Closing” style of doing business. I see from Kilgore’s blog that the Right has started a smear attack of some kind on David Brock so this is nothing more than a cheap form of advertising for whatever toxic sludge they are peddling. Breitbart presumably would have gone with the same offensive tweet as this even without his video going viral because he’s following Cokie Roberts’ rule “If its out there, its out there.” He’s just putting the Brock smear out there and using his video to do it.
aimai
Rob L
If he was on drugs(which I doubt) then he taking the wrong ones. His kind of rant is typically of a person with a serious mental illness which Cat_Lady mentioned usually affects Republicans. When I saw him give that rant I pictured him in a straight jacket.
Also it was SO brave of him to engage with those protestors behind a police barricade.
harlana
so Breitbart looks like a spluttering idiot, then can’t resist making himself look further idiotic by offering to take a drug test, after which he will now cry and scream about being laughed at for continuing to make an ass of himself in public.
Brachiator
@Maus: RE: This also explains Ann Coulter, another supposed straight male whose sexual repression results in odd outbursts of erratic behavior.
I am only slurring Ann Coulter, not transgendered persons. My preferred slur is to compare her to an extraterrestrial lizard being who wears a human skin.
Or is that too reptile phobic?
Rawk Chawk
@Maus:
Please explain how that is “transphobic,” hall monitor person.
Thanks.
Ivan Ivanovich Renko
@dmsilev: I got ten bucks toward it right here.
SRW1
I think you’re wrong on cocaine, because cocaine abuse can be detected in hair samples months after the fact. Pee is a different matter.
There was a famous case in Germany about ten years back in which the candidate to become coach of the national soccer team, which in Germany is like being elected pope, was accused of doing coke. The guy was delusional enough to offer a test when denying the charge. That offer was taken up and a sample from his hair unambiguously showed him to be a liar.
jwest
@aimai:
A smear on David Brock?
I thought Breitbart was trying to draw attention to all the right-wing sniper teams out to shoot Brock on his office rooftop.
Chyron HR
@jwest:
Ha ha, it’s funny because the openly stated goal of the GOP is to use their “second amendment solutions” to “water the tree of liberty” with the blood of the “Democrat Party”.
Bubblegum Tate
He’s never struck me as anything other than an angry drunk, though I suppose there is a case to be made that he enjoys Colombian fishscale. A hair test might be appropriate, especially given that no matter what the test result is, he ends up losing.
harlana
let’s not forget, he promised to do this at the CPAC conference so he was putting on a little show for the peeps, acting all badass and stuff – but that was the best he could pull off, which is really quite sad.
Poopyman
@harlana: Shorter Harlana: “So it’s a win-win!”
J.A.F. Rusty Shackleford
@SRW1:
Christopher Daum was the coach who failed the voluntary drug test in 2000.
Cat Lady
@Cat Lady:
Fixeteth after further consideration. That’s the first cause, all other factors being secondary or tertiary.
Joel
@beltane: If you were married to Dana Loesch, you’d lose your shit, too.
harlana
@Poopyman: like i said in another thread, i kinda expected a little more from him after his speech. i was expecting something a little more original or venomous than “Behave yourselves!” and the old chestnut, “you are filthy, disgusting freaks” ripped right out of the Nixon-era playbooks.
Maus
@Brachiator:
I’m sure the Ickeian reptiloids would find offense, but I care far less about their feelings :p
@Rawk Chawk:
“Ha ha Ann Coulter is so physically ugly she must be a man and unable to pass!” is a nasty joke at the expense of transpersons.
I really don’t see why you’re so stuck to that conservative-leaning vein of humor, seeing as she’s a pretty loathsome creature through personality alone. Really, if you need to make bigoted jokes without “THE PC POLICE” saying that they’re probably not something caring lefties should take up, maybe you should reexamine what you’re trying to say.
Whiny The Elder
@shortstop:
Untreated assholism.
C Nelson Reilly
I was expecting a tazer or at least some pepper spray in that video
scav
@Maus:
Silurians can be quite tetchy though, when roused.
Rawk Chawk
If Brightfart had been around in late 18th century America, he would have shrieked at the founding fathers to “behaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaave yourselves.”
jwest
@Chyron HR:
Judging from the article on Brock, it appears it’s no picnic working at Media Matters. Sounds like its just as bad when he’s on his meds as when he’s off.
When his colleagues describe Brock’s “volatile and erratic behavior and struggles with mental illness” and how he keeps more armed security than Third World dictators for imagined threats, it explains some of the things that come out of Media Matters.
Personally, I had no idea he was such a disturbed individual.
Rawk Chawk
@Maus:
hmmm…I didn’t see that written anywhere in this thread. Must be in your head.
And pay attention: I didn’t write it in the first place. Just so over hall monitors in threads policing how other people express themselves. Strikes me as a passive aggressive attempt at controlling speech. Relax.
Also, a sense of humor is your friend.
hells littlest angel
Shorter Breitbart: I’m no junkie, I’m a jerkoff!
cmorenc
@Steeplejack:
I go with “colossal asshole” as the main underlying factor driving Breitbart’s behavior. Cold sober, a great many colossal assholes are able to successfully cover it much of the time with a superficial veneer of civilized demeanor and speech, but it doesn’t take much alcohol or other intoxicant to dissolve this veneer and leave the raging colossal asshole at the core of their personality naked for all the world to see.
Jennifer
@jwest: Uh, unless David Brock suggested that the video proves Breitbart is on drugs, WTF is Breitbart trying to drag him into Breitbart’s mess of Breitbart’s own making? David Brock has exactly jack shit to do with Breitbart melting down in public (again) and making a complete ass of himself (again). I’d say that if anything, Breitbart’s suggestion that he’ll take a drug test only if someone who hasn’t publicly shown his ass and has zero to do with the reason others have suggested that Breitbart should take a drug test is so clearly unmoored from reality and logic that it serves as yet one more example of why Breitbart should take a drug test.
pk
I never thought for one minute that he was drunk or high. He just seems like a regular right wing jackass. They all rant like raving lunatics most of the time, whether verbally or in their writings.
The Moar You Know
@Rawk Chawk: I fail to see what’s so “passive” about it. It marks someone as a dues-paying member of the “Little Hitler” asshole brigade far as I’m concerned.
gelfling545
@E.D. Kain: No but there are definitive symptoms.
Steve
@Rawk Chawk: Calling Ann Coulter a man isn’t any funnier than Coulter trying to feminize John Edwards for a laugh. It’s not a brand of humor any liberal should be proud to get behind.
It’s remarkable how liberals are so good at policing racism, sexism, etc. when it comes from the other team, but when they themselves want to dip their toes in the pool, all of a sudden anyone who objects is playing hall monitor. It’s one thing for the person who made the joke to get a little defensive, but you don’t even have that excuse.
Villago Delenda Est
@Jennifer:
Well, David Brock is a guy who left the cryptofascist reservation in a huge way.
So, naturally, it must be that accursed apostate who was asking for a drug test. Remember, facts are not necessary for wingtard smears. Just ask Vince Foster, Hillary’s lesbian lover.
SRW1
@J.A.F. Rusty Shackleford:
Yep.
quannlace
“should’ be winning? Where the heck does he get that assumption?
********
The Other Chuck
Coulter is ugly enough on the inside without needing to make fun of her man hands and adams apple.
DanielX
@Steeplejack:
I’d say that covers it. Been my experience that there are those capable of foolish and disgusting behavior while under the influence of one substance or another, but then once sober they’re embarrassed and/or horrified. Breitbart seems to be an asshole of cosmic proportions 24/7/365. Consider that he was a champion and employer of James O’Keefe, at least until O’Keefe got caught. Anyone who would hire that little skeeve for anything is an asshole by definition.
“Put Neidermeyer on it. He’s a sneaky little shit, just like you, right?”
Raenelle
Whether his behavior is the result of mental illness or addiction or just some kind of congenital incapacity for joy, it’s almost impossible not to pity him. Breitbart isn’t some creepy perv like Rove or Santorum or Romney. He’s an incredibly damaged human being, more akin to a circus geek than a threatening monster.
Maus
@Rawk Chawk:
I was discussing this with Brachiator, I have no clue what you’re babbling about and why you seem to think that I was discussing anything with you.
And seriously, fuck off with your retarded South Park Conservative rhetoric. “FREE SPEECH. TAKE A JOKE. GET A SENSE OF HUMOR.”
How about you just not make gays/trans/blacks or whoever else you dislike the butt of your jokes?
Brachiator responded with consciousness, your dim wit is unable to respond to anything without being juvenile and prickish. How is that any different than Beck, Limbaugh, Breitbart and all the other hateful tools?
J.D. Rhoades
Hey, remember when it was unfashionable to be angry in politics? Back when the biggest rap against Howard Dean was that he was so very angry?
Now, not just anger, but shrieking rage is a feature, not a bug.
Villago Delenda Est
@The Other Chuck:
The ugly on the inside is manifested in the man hands and adam’s apple. Not to mention every word she utters.
jwest
@Steve: @Steve:
I’m glad to see responsible liberals calling out insensitive people for their attacks against people’s appearance.
You didn’t see conservatives attacking Clinton’s cabinet for resembling a carnival sideshow, even with the obvious similarities with various midgets and the bearded lady – Janet Reno. And even today, no one is publicly saying that Michelle Obama looks like a Wookie.
It’s up to us to denounce any reference to a person’s looks and stick to arguing policy.
Maus
@Steve: @72: “It’s remarkable how liberals are so good at policing racism, sexism, etc. when it comes from the other team, but when they themselves want to dip their toes in the pool, all of a sudden anyone who objects is playing hall monitor.”
I’m voting New Atheist/MRA, a Bill Mahr-ish “liberal”, if you can call it that.
jibeaux
I’m sure that if they had any candidates that weren’t deeply unpopular and a platform that a majority of voters identified with and a track record of having accomplished anything except Excellence in Obstruction, they’d totally be winning!
Shinobi
It’s not Breitbart’s fault that he’s been driven to the edge of sanity by filthy hippies that refuse to fall in line with social dictates. Seeing people living their own lives independently is just too much for his authoritarian brain to handle. It’s their own fault that he had to yell at them to behave, if they would just move to the suburbs have 2.5 kids they can’t afford and stop raping everyone all the time everything would be great.
Jamie
well, If Breitbart’s sociopathic behavior was caused by substance abuse, his liver would gone by now. I’m thinking he’s just an A-hole
pragmatism
@quannlace: with the economy in the shape it has been (regardless of who caused it), the incumbent should lose. that’s what they’re going with.
Another Halocene Human
@The Other Chuck: Too true. Plus, I got over sniggering at “Man Coulter” jokes somewhere around 1997. I grew up, too.
Steve
@jwest: Every so often when I’m not quite sure whether you’re a spoof, comments like this one help to remind me.
jl
@jwest:
” You didn’t see conservatives attacking Clinton’s cabinet for resembling a carnival sideshow, even with the obvious similarities with various midgets and the bearded lady – Janet Reno. And even today, no one is publicly saying that Michelle Obama looks like a Wookie. ”
We didn’t see those things? Not so sure about that.
And, you specifically mention Janet Reno, who came for a lot of flack about her looks.
And nice you snuck in a few personal attacks in your, in my memory, false history.
Edit: comment immediately above makes me think jwest is either a troll, or snarkist, and hard to tell which.
Edit edit: forgot that DougJ’s spoofs, feeling swell from his Moore award nomination, may be on the prowl again.
Another Halocene Human
Man Coulter jokes are like algore jokes–they weren’t terribly funny the first time and now they’re just irritating. 15 years, people. The world has moved on. D. Forest Kelley died and they made a new Star Trek movie with different actors.
slag
Yay! I’m so thrilled to have no idea what you’re talking about.
pragmatism
@jwest: could you work on policing the nonlibs? kthanxbai.
jibeaux
DNFTT
shortstop
@Whiny The Elder: Nothing contradictory about him having both.
Shinobi
@Another Halocene Human: I feel like calling Ann Coulter a man is really an insult to transsexuals everywhere, plus, men. She’s a rabid conservative with no sense of empathy, and a strong desire to be accepted by men even if that means selling her entire gender down the river. I feel bad for her, she must really hate herself.
Jamie
@jwest:
You must have been out of the country during the 90s. The abuse of all things Clinton by the Right was record setting at the time. the attacks of Obama are coming from these same people.
Another Halocene Human
I agree with the Breitbart = nasty drunk hypothesis, and even he isn’t trying to argue he was sober (no doubt he worked up some “Dutch courage” before braving the mob of angry hippies–oops, Netherlander libel) but regarding his possible mental instability, I am reminded of this dude I know who is bipolar and, rather than take meds, treats it with “Jesus”. He has been known to get WAY too intense at work. Jumping up and down and getting in people’s faces over miniscule shit or shit he hopped up.
So, just saying. I wouldn’t entirely rule out brain imbalance. Hitch may have been a big drunk and foul-tempered but I’ve never seen video of him flipping his shit like Brightfart this weekend.
jibeaux
Ann Coulter kind of invites the unkindness when she talks about how all hot women are conservative, and her bodyguard can back her up on that.
To each their own and all that, but I don’t think she’s exactly Exhibit A for that thesis.
HeartlandLiberal
I did not think for a moment he was drunk or under the influence of drugs.
I assumed we were just seeing him as he really is.
A loud mouthed, obnoxious, right wing sociopath, full of hatred, angry, bigotry, and probably sexual insecurity and self-loathing to boot, raging in public for once, rather than in his usual setting at his computer in the basement of his mother’s home, communicating with all his fellow online Keyboard Kommandos.
MikeJ
@jibeaux:
Were you referring to the locals or Breitbart? Good advice either way.
pragmatism
@Jamie: ahhhh the good old 90’s. the only things that happened then were 1) clinton running up the deficit; 2) Community Reinvestment Act–scary!!!; 3) clinton causing 9/11.
heady times.
Jamie
Has anyone asked the staunch conservative like Coulter why she doesn’t have any children?
kc
I’m not accepting anything less than a hair strand test from Drunkbart. And the samples need to be taken today.
Maus
@jibeaux: She invites unkindness, sure. The manner in which it’s expressed is unnecessary. I’m sure there are plenty of hateful gays/transpeople in the GOP. If they’re bad people, it’s because of what they believe, not because of who they are.
Yutsano
@MikeJ: Yes.
@Jamie: Hell she’s never been married. She did enjoy some of the sexy time with Bill Maher at one point though.
Jamie
@pragmatism:
and peace, prosperity and L’affaire Lewinsky.
trollhattan
@dmsilev:
Only if it’s dulled first. Oh wait, you said Ginsu, carry on!
kc
Does anyone else remember when Wonkette said it was getting some footage of Breitbart behaving badly at a party … but then, sadly, that fizzled. Wonder what happened there.
It would be irresponsible not to speculate.
Maus
@Jamie: She’s a paid, cynical troll. She really doesn’t believe anything that comes out of her mouth, and sees no issue dating Dems. She’s more like Mary Matalin in that regard.
Another Halocene Human
@Shinobi: I disagree. Coulter is a classic bully, doesn’t hate herself at all. She’s best buds with that inane douchebag Bill Maher… hell, it’s like there’s an entire coterie of rich, narcissistic entertainers. Coulter has a circle of GOPAC gays. I wouldn’t be surprised if she secretly pals around with that other douchebag, Dan Savage, you know, the guy who used to be “edgy” but really just turned out to be a giant tool. (Savage and Maher certainly admire each other.)
In Maher’s defense, he’s occasionally very funny, but that might just be his writers. Unbaptizing Mitt’s FIL: genius. Unironically declaring that atheists could be wrong about things outside their area of expertise but not emitting a peep about his own vaccine problem: cringe-worthy. All in a day’s work.
Coulter’s shelf life seems to have expired, however. Does Obama just not generate the bile for her that the Clintons did, or do Orly Taitz and Sarah Palin suck up all the oxygen in the media today? Remember when her books were best-sellers?
Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)
@E.D. Kain:
Yeaqh, it’s called the Smell Test.
pragmatism
@Jamie: in the echo chamber, only the lewinskying happened. plus some whitewater coverup, etc. peace and prosperity? those MAY have happened but it was only because of St. Ronnie of the jelly belly.
Villago Delenda Est
@Jamie:
Acid uterus that destroys ovum walls, then eats the interior.
trollhattan
Also, too, am I supposed to know who David Brock is? Andy has more than a few screws loose and at this point, I can’t tell what the screws are even supposed to be holding together.
But at least he’s got Jimmy O’Keefe in his corner.
jwest
@Jamie:
“Has anyone asked the staunch conservative like Coulter why she doesn’t have any children?”
I assume it’s because she isn’t married.
(I hope that’s doesn’t make me sound racist by saying that)
Jamie
@Maus:
She was in my Class at Cornell. She claims to have been dead head at the time, but I never met her (and I would have, it’s a small town. If so she didn’t get it. she’s very embarrassing to the school that way.
Cat Lady
@HeartlandLiberal:
Everyone’s overthinking this. Republicans are tribal racist misogynists who’ve been lulled into dropping the filters by right wing media. I’ve known many nice drunks and sweet addicts. This guy’s a hater who is pimping for his tribe and may have seen a glimmer of self reflection through Twitter. It won’t last. He’s a fucktard who forgot about the power of social media and got caught. Fuck him.
Donut
@Yutsano:
I hate to dwell on the topic of repression, because sometimes it’s too easy to reach for that – but yeah, he sets off the ol’ Gaydar, big time. So many of the most outspoken/rage-filled ones do. It’s gotta be miserable for some of those people, knowing that you are gay, but also identifying as conservative, and never resolving the differences. I always say I would or could feel some empathy for them, if it were not for the fact that they are so screwed up that they are out to make everyone feel as shitty about their sexuality as they feel all the time. What a mess those people are. Sad, hateful messes.
Another Halocene Human
@Jamie:
Oh, but that’s for the little people. She has a higher calling, after all, fighting the Islamists on the teevee so they stay out of your precious bodily fluids at home.
Ever read the “No Longer Quivering” blog? Vicky reveals that one of the biggest proponents of the stay pregnant–dangerous home births plan only had a couple of children and explained that her “calling” was different.
Jamie
@jwest:
She’s 48, why didn’t she get married? A staunch her should have a had an army of offspring by now. It couldn’t be that she doesn’t like men, could it?
Another Halocene Human
@Cat Lady: His mistake was not practicing his “scream at the DFH” routine in front of a mirror. Like the CPAC Rappers (the C’rappers?), the camera always adds ten pounds of awkward.
Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)
@Maus:
It’s worse than that, imo. It simply assumes that there’s supposed to be some shame attached to being ts.
I’ve got a former co-worker- a friend- who’s had to deal with the shaming part of being ts. That’s the last thing she’s got got be ashamed of- the Bircherism, the Latin Mass Catholicism, the fast food diet, that’s the shameful shit.
Another Halocene Human
@jwest: No, it sounds like you think you live on Middle Earth, but carry on.
jwest
“…am I supposed to know who David Brock is?”
You should learn who this is. If you read blogs, read newspapers or watch MSNBC or some of the networks, you’re being fed stories by this person.
It would seem that a caring group of people would write to Media Matters and try to convince him to seek the help he needs, so that he doesn’t end up hurting himself or others.
Maus
@Jamie: There are plenty of asshole libs that make an easy transition to asshole cons. She just chose a group of people who are incredibly loyal as long as you find a new way to sell the same thing over and over again. She doesn’t mean most things that come out of her mouth, but that doesn’t really make any of it better. How many Republican bloviators seriously mean the terrible things that come out of their mouths? I doubt most all of them are sincere. “It’s a living.”
Donut
@Cat Lady:
Amen. This.
Villago Delenda Est
@Another Halocene Human:
I confronted some male of military age protesters at a John Edwards appearance in 2004 about why they were at the University of Oregon and not fighting in Mesopotamia at the time (since they were protesting in favor of the deserting coward’s excellent adventure), and got an answer similar to this.
Maus
@Jamie: She’s been spotted with men in public plenty of times. She doesn’t use her personal life as fodder for her “family values” speeches for the obvious reasons.
Another Halocene Human
Ann Coulter should be ashamed of what she does for money. Sex workers fake it too but at least they made somebody happy that day.
It’s sad that long ago she did a calculation and decided that she couldn’t make as much money on her own talents in her chosen field as she could by giving voice to wingnut projection. Affable Eva Braun indeed.
The Other Chuck
@jwest:
“Fed Stories”, eh? Yep, back in the troll filter you go.
Jamie
@Maus:
Maybe so, but that would not be acceptable excuse for victims of Ms. Coulter’s acid pen, so I think she should be held to the same standard. And BTW she’s not unattractive, just somewhat mannish. again this is a trait Ms. Coulter would find unappealing in her foes.
trollhattan
@jwest:
Okay, got it. American’s second-favorite news source has the skinny.
http://tbogg.firedoglake.com/2012/02/12/tucker-carlsons-adventures-in-deep-throating/
WereBear (itouch)
Coulter didn’t have children because she hates all living things. At least in this level she is honest enough not to pretend; because I shudder to think.
Jamie
@Maus:
I dunno Maus, after all the S— she sais about Cliinton and the Clenis, she needs to be held to a higher standard. what’s good for the goose is good for the gander I’ve heard
Josie
@Rawk Chawk: My late husband used to call it “the look of the king’s winetaster.” He was fairly familiar with it, too.
jwest
There seems to be a number of people here who would fit right in with David Brock of Media Matters.
From the article:
One staffer recalls Brock saying he would like to fire a researcher for being physically repugnant. “David definitely does not like ugly people.”
When will liberals learn not to judge people by their appearance?
pragmatism
@jwest: dammit, i knew when we elected david brock to stand for all libruls everywhere it would come back and bite us. shame on us.
fucking logical fallices, how do they work?
GregB
@Jennifer:
It’s part of the Look Over There response that 99% of rightwingers have to any issue in which they are called on to account for.
Newt’s adultery doesn’t matter because Bill Clinton did it.
They never apologize or defend, they always attack.
So Breitbart now makes the question of his lunacy secondary to the personal habits of David Brock.
Never apologize, always attack.
Also too, with the supercharged lunacy of today’s GOP Ann Coulter seems almost quaint and dignified in her vulgar horribleness.
Robert Green
only because i wrote it and my wife directed it, but here is my contribution to the meme that andrew breitbart is a goat fucker.
http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/4ce276af14/andrew-breitbart-has-sex-with-goats
jwest
@pragmatism:
David Brock, as the leader of Media Matters, is at the very vanguard of all liberal politics. Although unelected, he is the person setting the standard for everything the traditional media puts out. His organization trains candidates, speakers and writers for their work in the party.
Apparently, the young woman who so disgusted him suffered from a weight problem due to a thyroid condition. He could bring her to tears simply by the look of hate for her unfortunate appearance from across the room.
I can’t imagine a more despicable person.
Brachiator
@Steve:
My joke, and as I noted, the point was not that Coulter is a man, but that she is not human and comes across as unstable. Among non InterTubes buddies, we trade some truly outrageous stuff about the bodily fluids of the Alien Coulter Lizard that are offensive precisely because they are meant to be. Different jibes for different crowds.
I got no problem with anyone taking offense, and am not so bonded to any japes that I have to defend them to the death.
I intensely hate people like Breitbart and Coulter. If people get distracted because of things that I did not intend, then I just explain, apologize where appropriate, and move on.
@Maus:
Thanks for this. As you note, I did not intend to insult transgendered people, nor to berate anyone for their supposed lack of a sense of humor.
pragmatism
@jwest: i can imagine more despicable people. i appreciate your opinion regarding the status and role of media matters. but its just
opinionprojection.humbert dinglepencker
I seem to recall that all these references to David Brock come from Tucker ‘Bow Tie’ Carlson’s fact-free Daily Bellower and are all un-sourced hearsay ‘quotes.’ Better trolls, plz.
Djur
I don’t care if David Brock likes to dress up cornish game hens in onesies and then fantasize he’s eating a baby. If he’s a shitty boss, then he’s a shitty boss, and if anything he’s done is actionable then go for it.
Now if I start noticing a distinct bias for baby-eating in MMFA’s research, that might be a matter for concern. But even that sham of an investigative report admits that Brock is and was a Hillary stalwart, and yet MMFA has been very diligent in defending Barack Obama — even during the primary. I’m convinced that Brock’s opinions or personality have little or nothing to do with the daily work MMFA does.
PurpleGirl
@pragmatism:
The Community Reinvestment Act was originally passed in 1977 with legislative changes in 1989, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1999, 2005, 2007, and 2008; there are also proposals to reform it again.
Re the transgender jokes about Ann Coulter: I don’t find the jokes to be funny at all. It is possible that she has a non-fatal genetic abnormality for which there is no treatment. She can’t help her height or the length of her bones or the size of the Adam’s Apple. (BTW, I find her political performance art act to be reprehensible.)
RossinDetroit
To hell with buying Erik Von Erik a blade to do himself in. Let’s kick in and hire a decent troll or two. These unpaid volunteers are worthless.
pragmatism
@PurpleGirl: i hear you purple girl. the winger meme is that 1993 is the key year. clinton set the whole financial collapse in motion with his reforms. that’s the date they care about.
PurpleGirl
@Jamie: She could still not like men and still have a babies… there’s adoption and other ways she could be pregnant. (Isn’t one of right-wing claims about the evilness of science is that it has taken the need for a man out of the reproductive equation?)
Maus
@Brachiator: Yeah, it was more a “we can do better than this…” ribbing.
@Jamie:
Eh, it just seems like a waste to reduce ourselves to her level of rhetoric. If she’s nasty to be nasty and delight her audience, do we really need to match their pettiness? She’s a huckster, and they don’t care. She bothers me less than the sincere, (or the psychotic hucksters like Beck.) Her fans are easily sated with smugness. Plus, she’s mostly out of the spotlight and not a huge influence on the Media anymore.
xian
@quannlace: same kind of reasoning that led Sunnis to think they were the majority in Iraq. He’s in a bubble and thinks it’s self-evident that Obama is “in over his head” and is a lefty muslim kenyan usurper, etc.
Maus
@PurpleGirl:
Yeah, that wouldn’t surprise me either. Wouldn’t that also have the possibility of making her sterile?
gelfling545
@Bruce S: So true. I wouldn’t want anyone to think I could do something like that in what passes for my right mind.
Robert
I’m tempting fate here, but I’m surprised a certain Muhammad-fellating, Asperger’s-infected mongrel imp hasn’t polluted this comment thread.
Brachiator
@Maus: RE: It is possible that she has a non-fatal genetic abnormality for which there is no treatment.
One can only hope.
Couldn’t resist this one. Too easy.
Shana
As the adult child of a depressive alcoholic, I can assure you that random eruptions of rage are definitely a symptom. Just ask anyone who was at back to school night in my elementary school gym when I was 9.
cokane
meh. I saw the video. I think you guys are making too big of a deal of his “rage” or whatever. He looked stupid in the video and useless. But his rage was pretty contained. Let’s not make this into a bigger deal than it is.
PurpleGirl
@Maus: Yes, that is possible. But I’m not a doctor or a geneticist, just a watcher of medical-type reality shows and there have been several shows about very-tall people and my brain can be a steel-trap of odd information.
Lyrebird
@Robert Green: Bravo! Brava! (Bravi??)
Robert
@Maus: I must say that I genuinely resent your South Park-phobic commentary. You can make your point without slandering the most consistently ironic and trenchant satire on television in the last decade. Just because it doesn’t perfectly align with your political sensibilities (egads — hit the fainting couch!) doesn’t mean you can’t recognize its genius. What Trey Parker and Matt Stone have done with that show is more creative by several orders of magnitude than what someone like Bill Hicks achieved (or even attempted to achieve).
Rawk Chawk
@Maus:
Oh my. Guess you told ME.
In a hall monitorish sort of way of course.
muddy
Why was Breitbart shouting about stopping raping people? Does he think the Occupy people are raping CPAC with their free speech?
I loved the girl at the very end of the clip saying to her friend, “That was awesome!” Somehow I don’t think that’s what he was going for.
Chuck Butcher
Hmmm, since EDK is back around maybe he could inform us as to what combination of drugs or mental defect would lead to seeing Ron Paul as reasonable in regard to any damn thing.
Nah, not filling in for whatshername…
Jay in Oregon
@muddy:
I seem to remember some of the right-wing blowhards were trying to push the idea that the Occupy sites were dangerous for “normal” folks; women getting raped, people being mugged, etc.
There was a report of a fatal shooting near the Occupy Oakland site but it was actually a non-protestor who shot another non-protestor, who then died in or near the Occupy site.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57322819/man-fatally-shot-near-occupy-oakland-camp/
Chuck Butcher
@Chuck Butcher:
After Paul is disposed of we could move on to the chimera Free Market thing, composed of whatever myths currently benefits which favored sector of the FYIGM crowd.(other than the plutocrats who are of course the darlings)
BethanyAnne
@Brachiator: FWIW, I’m trans and I took it as an insult to trans folk. Not that I speak for any others, YMMV… ect. Every time I hear her come up in blog chatter I brace for that particular insult. Haven’t been let down in a thread yet. Mostly I ignore it, and try to fire at the enemies, but since there was a bit of back and forth, I figured I’d chime in.
And, thanks, Maus!
BethanyAnne
@Jay in Oregon: There was a rape at an OWS camp in Philadelphia fairly early on. Looks like the googlemaschine shows a couple of other hits. A permanent-ish camp is going to reflect society’s ills pretty quickly.
Brachiator
@BethanyAnne:
Actually, it’s just an insult to Coulter, and didn’t even say or even imply that she was transgendered. But clearly you took it that way, and clearly there are and have been jibes that have described Coulter in that way.
And it doesn’t matter to me whether you do, or can, speak for other trans folk. It does matter that you can and do speak for yourself.
Baron Jrod of Keeblershire
Haha, she looks like a man! Women who look like men are disgusting, ain’t they? Let’s all crack jokes about how gross it is when women look like men!
What, I’m not insulting mannish women! Only some uber-PC hall monitor type could possibly take my disparaging remarks about women who look like men as an insult toward women who look like men! Stop being so fuckin’ sensitive, crybaby.
P.S. Trey Stone and Matt Parker are the greatest philosophers of our time. They truly show how us white cis males have to be brave enough to slur those who are different from us without fear that we’ll insult our allies, because fuck them. Fag fag queer! LOLZ
Ruckus
@BonnyAnne:
I can tell myself all day long that it’s a defense mechanism stemming from fear and insecurity, which is true, but that doesn’t make me want to stick around and help them through their rough patch, either.
He seems to have had a pretty long rough patch.
As just another armchair shrink I think it’s possible that there are more than one thing going on here. Alcohol, personality disorder, just generally being a gigantic asshole. None of these are mutually exclusive, in fact I’d bet that these 3 are there, at the minimum.
Alex
@Baron Jrod of Keeblershire: At a certain point, snark is the last refuge of cowards. You evidently use it to distract from your humorless core. I pity you.
Baron Jrod of Keeblershire
@Alex: You’re right, of course. Spewing hatred toward people who are different is funny as hell!
Oh, sorry, was that too cowardly and passive-aggressive for you? How about I just say fuck you? How about I tell you assholes who think mocking transsexuals is the height of humor to go back to the Republican party where your hateful kind are welcomed?
Just for the record, I love South Park. It’s one of the most consistently funny shows to ever appear on American TV. I’m just not stupid enough to take any of its creators’ horseshit messages to heart. Whenever I hear my fellow white men talking about how right Stone and Parker are about how cool it is to call people faggots cuz by golly it don’t mean “gay man” anymore, I know I’m dealing with an over-privileged imbecile.
maus
@Robert:
And moved Hicks’ ideas far to the right by trying to instill a false equivalency. Obviously the entire right-wing agenda is just a huge silly joke and not a real concern because lol al gore is fat.
@Alex: Oh get bent, snark is just fine when you use it, but you turn all weepy when people don’t find your smugness amusing?
@Baron Jrod of Keeblershire:
<3 Reminds me of http://freethoughtblogs.com/blaghag/2012/02/the-justifications-for-saying-cunt-bingo-card/ Penn Jilette's “cunt”fest and MRA apologism.
It’s just dumb and nasty, not funny.
stratplayer
@Rawk Chawk: Sorry, Rawk Chawk, but you really aren’t getting it. Think about it for awhile. I mean really think about it.
Robert
@Baron Jrod of Keeblershire: @maus: I congratulate you both on a truly unparalleled ability to erect strawmen. For the record, I wasn’t attempting to defend Brachiator’s comments on Ann Coulter, which I also found tasteless. Maus, I’m not even sure you understand what false equivalency means. Everything that I need to know about your artistic tastes can be discovered by your seeming assumption that South Park ever made a joke about Al Gore’s weight.
AA+ Bonds
In case you missed it, “sources say David Brock does drugs” is Ailes’s new line of attack on Media Matters.
And let me tell you, Fox News hit pieces on Media Matters are worse than pieces on Obama, Pelosi, Ayres, whatever. They’re pretty much as bad as Fox gets on their own.
Someone over there takes Media Matters very, very personally.
Some Loser
@Robert: You’re a condescending asshole. Or am I being humorless, too?