The latest Kaplan atrocity (via one of MY’s stand-ins):
Make it stop
by DougJ| 171 Comments
This post is in: We Are All Mayans Now
by DougJ| 171 Comments
This post is in: We Are All Mayans Now
The latest Kaplan atrocity (via one of MY’s stand-ins):
Comments are closed.
Alex S.
What. The. Fuck…..?!
Next up: Does she sit while she pees?
Emma
They haven’t met me, I guess. I have very heavy thighs. If wearing a skirt there is no way to cross my legs and be decent at the same time! (edit) And they’re galloping arses over at the Post… but of course, we all knew that.
dmsilev
Wouldn’t it be nice if we had a press corps that had graduated from junior high school?
dms
arguingwithsignposts
This is almost ages old. We will be coordinating a “dont-cross-our-legs” day soon. on the national lawn. you can expect no national media coverage.
head/desk
ETA: you shouldn’t give a via to another site, because this has been bubbling in the comments since last night. And, fwiw, whether a woman crosses her legs or not has nothing *whatsoever* to do with whether I want her to be on the SCOTUS bench or on the bench in my apt.
I want whoever wrote this POS article fired. period. full stop.
Mothra
This is unreal. How can they stand themselves?
Jules
Well, there ya go she’s a lesbian because everyone knows that only lesbos sit with their legs apart like that….
/
El Cid
That’s because Kagan carries two pistols strapped to the inside of her thighs.
blueintheface
Actually next they are going to be demanding to check her hair whorl and finger sizes.
Ruckus
@dmsilev:
Yes. And wasn’t for the most part eligible for Medicare at the same time.
DFS
If I didn’t, unfortunately, know better, I would be certain that they’re just having a laugh at this point.
aimai
Agog, magog, and holy shit.
that is all I have to say.
aimai
dmsilev
@arguingwithsignposts:
If you don’t cross your legs, the terrorists will win.
dms
licensed to kill time
Wasn’t there some similar photo interpretation about how Obama crosses his legs when he sits, no real man etc? Jeebus, the tea leaves won’t read themselves!
TuiMel
I understand that this is the kind of sh!t that Robin Givhan is paid to think about. But, don’t her editors have some responsibility to decide that some of her thought hair balls do not need to be published?
Zuzu's Petals
As posted in an earlier thread.
Not only is this writer superficial and stupid, she is lazy. A two-second Google search pulled up at least seven pictures of Kagan on her Senate tour … crossing her legs.
Ash Can
Maybe Kagan knows that it’s better for your legs not to cross them — better circulation, less chance of developing varicose veins, etc. Or maybe she’s just more comfortable sitting that way.
Or maybe the worthless dipshits at the Kaplan Rag Formerly Known As A Newspaper just need to be thrown off Key Bridge into the Potomac.
Boudica
A lady properly sits with her knees together, legs not crossed (except perhaps at the ankles).
arguingwithsignposts
@TuiMel:
I don’t understand this at all. WaPo is laying off *actual* journalists* and yet …
color me unimpressed.
Cat Lady
Margaret Carlson admitted she hadn’t had the time to watch Rachel’s 20 minute Rand Paul interview before she opined about it on Howie Kurtz’s shitty show this morning, but she crosses her legs in the acceptable Villager style, while Rachel probably doesn’t cross her legs either being a lez too and all.
asiangrrlMN
Plus she’s dowdy and frumpy. Don’t forget those very important pieces of information. As I said in an earlier thread, I prefer to not cross than cross (though I do the latter sometimes, too, which, I guess, makes me bi–oh, wait…), but more to the point, I will write this shit for half of whatever that writer is currently making. Plus, I will throw in gratuitous fuck bombs and phrases from the Balloon Juice Lexicon. As I also said earlier, I will even cross my legs in the interview if it gets me hired.
P.S. Sometimes, I do the ultra-manly ankle on knee motion as I sit as well. The horrors!
arguingwithsignposts
@asiangrrlMN:
Frumpy people of the world untie! with rusty farm implements(tm)!
licensed to kill time
Next they will be talking about Kagan’s wide stance, and we all know what that means.
asiangrrlMN
@arguingwithsignposts: I will gladly give her my trusty rusty pitchfork if she would like to respond to these dastardly allegations.
@licensed to kill time: She’s a rightwing hypocrite?
TuiMel
@arguingwithsignposts:
I don’t disagree with your assessment of the value of Robin Givhan vs. that of actual journalists (although many actual journalists seem to like to save their reporting for books that they hope will make them wealthy). But, I do have to acknowledge that she probably has a following. Some people actually are interested in what she has to say – even at times just for the snark value against someone whose politics they do not like. I myself thought she was bang on with her criticism of Cheney’s attire at a WWII / Holocaust rememberance ceremony (first and last time – up to today – that I read her). Just as many more of my friends read People than read, say the New York Review of Books, Ms. Givhan has her audience and many of them don’t care about what it “costs” actual journalism to keep her employed.
trollhattan
Dear God.
Wait until Malthouse weighs in. She’s…qualified ‘n stuff to have an o’pinyon here.
Citizen_X
Hey, she’s a Supreme Court nominee. Don’t nobody know what goes on underneath those robes.
Brachiator
@TuiMel:
What, his SS officer uniform was out of place?
Jules
Has Peggy “serious face” Nonan weighed in yet on Kagan’s lack of ladylike deportment?
I’m sure she will be very concerned….
asiangrrlMN
@TuiMel: Then I’m going to be terribly elitist and say that I hope they don’t actually participate in the political process if their first concern is what someone is wearing. I have a friend in Boston who said all his female friends voted for Brown because he’s cute. Again, if that is the criteria for voting, then please stay home in the future (not talking to you, obviously. That was a general you).
Citizen Alan
What I find most astonishing about this is that initially I didn’t care for Kagan and was disappointed that she was the nominee. Now, after the sheer inanity of criticisms leveled at her by our useless whore media, I’ve come around to being a strong supporter. Anyone who pisses off that vapid witch Robin Givhan is alright with me.
arguingwithsignposts
@TuiMel:
I’d like to see some stats to back that argument up (i.e., traffic/viewership stats).
I am not hating on you, but just considering whether this bullshit is needed, or even “journalism.” Whether she has an “audience” doesn’t even seem an issue, unless your whole purpose is to kiss ass to a bunch of “fashionistas.” If that’s so, then I cede your point.
But that article was bullshit, pure and simple. I don’t care what section of the WaPo you were writing for.
ETA: I would also note that the originally posted WaPo story byline was “Washington Post Staff Writer.” Now, it’s Robin Givhan. She. Should. Be. Fired.
Because she’s an idiot if that’s all she’s looking at.
bkny
the comments are much more interesting. i’m thinking robin’s spending her sunday hiding under the covers.
Lysana
@Boudica:
This.
Also, the fact it’s even a topic of discussion is reason #7895 for Why I Am A Feminist.
TuiMel
@Brachiator:
Good one.
FWIW:
Block quote fail
Corner Stone
@arguingwithsignposts:
Hmmm…I think I’d prefer knot.
asiangrrlMN
@Boudica: Well, then I ain’t no lady because I sometimes sit with my legs apart. The horrors!
arguingwithsignposts
@asiangrrlMN:
Hmmm. newsletter? subscribe? :)
TomG
I’m starting to think that this is some elaborate plot by the regular newspapers to drive the serious bloggers insane. We’ve all heard that the print papers feel threatened by blogs that actually do proper journalism, maybe this is just one way of them fighting back ?
Corner Stone
All I know is this blog has gone too far. I could take the cleavage from the blond Evony models but the sweaty brunette…shit.
Brachiator
@TuiMel:
At least he didn’t shoot anybody in the face.
This seems typically Cheney, hard headed pragmatism totally oblivious to any sense of decorum or ceremony.
licensed to kill time
@Brachiator:
Most recently exemplified by the wheelchair and the black Stetson at Obama’s inaugural.
TuiMel
@arguingwithsignposts:
I hope you do not think that my “understanding” that RG is paid to contemplate and write about “style” crap is an endorsement in any way of that editorial decision. I place no value on what she does or writes. But, I do not place a value on much of what is published and followed by enough people to keep it coming and invite imitators. I wish we had serious reporting about so many things, but alas we do not. The degraded quality of what passes for mass public discourse is what keeps me coming here.
Corner Stone
@TuiMel:
I’m doing my best.
Quiddity
Somebody’s been reading too much Mark Twain. From Huckleberry Finn:
Setting:
The farmer’s wife speaking to Huck:
asiangrrlMN
@arguingwithsignposts: Sure! And if you subscribe right now, I will send you a rusty hoe absolutely free! I will use an extra-special, extra-secret preparation ritual just for you.
TuiMel
@Corner Stone:
Yeah. Thanks for that.
Zuzu's Petals
@arguingwithsignposts:
Givhan won a Pulitzer in 2006, if you can believe it.
Bill E Pilgrim
Edit: Never mind. The whole thing is absurd.
asiangrrlMN
@Zuzu’s Petals: Sadly, I can.
@Bill E Pilgrim: Ha! I read it before you edited it.
kommrade reproductive vigor
I feel moved to heap abuse on the Ombudsman for this one. I’ve got two younger sisters and a LOT of nieces and I’m seriously irked by the thought that if they were to find a cure for cancer or be the first person to set foot on mars or whatever some vapid twit will immediately write 1,500 words about their fashion sense.
October 5 2025 –
“UNUSUAL: Most women are wearing 5″ spike heels this season. Dr. Tyler Smith – who last month discovered a cheap renewable energy source that actually purifies the air – is wearing a 3″ rounded heel.”
The fact that there aren’t daily incidents of some woman snapping out and shooting everything that moves is a constant source of wonder to me.
Ya’ll aren’t working on testicle-seeking nukes or something, are you?
cat48
If your really outraged, send the washpost a copy of the above pics with an outraged email. Good time to do so since Alexander has a column this wkend entitled: “Is the Washington Post alienating women?” Keep him on defense. That would be [email protected].
Brachiator
@licensed to kill time:
Yeah, but it was the tricked out wheelchair, with the low rider frame, spinning rims and headlights.
I don’t even remember the Cheney clothing story, and in the absence of context (did something happen to his more formal clothes, did anybody ask what the deal was), the story is as trivial as this leg crossed BS about Kagan.
Or this recent story about the Japanese Prime Minister (Shirts worn by Japan PM Yukio Hatoyama draw derision)
Journalistic stoopidity gone global.
tim
Hello? This article appears in the fashion/style section. It may be kind of stupid, but there’s really nothing in it, observation or implication wise–and we all take cues from everyone around us, every day, based on what they are wearing–that I’d disagree with.
Every commenter on this thread picks out what to wear based on SOMETHING, and our fellow humans make assumptions based on those choices, and on body language.
Deal with it.
My extremely accurate gaydar says Kagan is as gay as I am. And that is pretty damn gay.
PeakVT
This is good news for conservatives. Not the legs thing. It’s good news for conservatives that the Test Prep Daily continues to debase itself.
licensed to kill time
@Brachiator:
Ooh! Nice visual – all it lacks are the Ben-Hur spinning blades on the wheel hubs.
gnomedad
Kagan seems to be leaning forward in an “attentive listening” posture, which you can’t do with your legs crossed. ZOMG, empathy! Also, what does Sen. Klobluchar do when she gets out of her chair? Hope there aren’t cameras around.
Anya
Wow, whoever wrote that article needs to get fired.
fasteddie9318
@Zuzu’s Petals:
Good grief, for what? “Nancy Pelosi’s hemlines: will they be enough to win a Democratic majority in November, or have the terrorists already won?
kommrade reproductive vigor
@Anya: It’s strange. Last night it was a Washington Post Staff Writer. This morning R. Givan’s name is up there. I’ve seen some of her stuff before and thought it kind of fluffy. But when I read this article my reaction was 90% “What the hell is the writer trying to say?” and 10% “Bloody hell, I can’t believe I just read that.”
Brachiator
@tim:
I mostly based my selection on what’s left that’s clean, and once for a shirt – “well, that stain won’t show.”
@licensed to kill time:
That’s on the formal, bullet proof wheelchair.
maus
@tim:
Except that the photo was cherry-picked to prove something that isn’t true, with greater and more sleazy implications. It’s subtle, but loathsome nonetheless.
Redshift
@licensed to kill time: Yeah, that was very practical. Everyone who was there knew full well that the reason Cheney did the Blofeld routine in the wheelchair was to make everyone wait for him — one last chance to screw with all of us Democrat-supporting DFHippies before he left town.
JL
#1 Who cares. How one sits means zip, zero, zilch
#2 As a short woman, I know that it is often difficult and/or uncomfortable to cross your legs while sitting.
#3 The WaPo sucks.
licensed to kill time
@Redshift:
I was going for this part:
Totally agree with you on the ‘one last chance to screw with us’ part.
You Don't Say
I cannot believe this.
I am going to send a letter to the editor. Please consider doing the same. The more the better.
PeakVT
And another thing: it simply looks like Kagan is in the middle of shifting her position. She’s leaning forward and her upper body is turned. Nobody stays that way for long. It’s not like she’s doing an Al-Bundy-on-the-couch imitation.
sukabi
DougJ, you shouldn’t have posted the last pic with link… the photos on that page show about a 50-50 split between Kagan sitting with legs crossed and not crossed… this will surely start up a new meme… that she swings both ways, and the “Is she a lesbian” thing had just about run it’s course. :-(
eemom
@tim:
No, I’m sorry, but that is not an excuse. Not this time. I have actually defended Robin Givhan’s tripe before on that ground……but this time it’s not about fashion. This is just an ugly, sexist, cliche-laden smear job.
The most charitable explanation is that the existence of a woman with enough character and self-confidence to not obsess over her appearance on camera was just too much for GIvhan’s 15-watt brain to fathom.
Citizen_X
OT: Ohio wingnut tax protestor/gold bug/call-in to Beck’s radio show and his 16-yr-old-son shot and killed by Arkansas police after murdering two officers.
Nellcote
At least she didn’t compare Kagan to Sharon Stone’s infamous uncrossed legs scene.
ktward
So, then it must follow that when a man crosses his legs, it means …
I’m confused.
I guess my current reference book, ‘On Inconsequential Social Cues & Bullshit Body Language,’ is outdated.
Tim, does Amazon have the latest version?
Fencedude
@Citizen_X:
Guy was nutso.
WTF!?
eemom
and, without so much as a whisper of irony, today’s Kraplan also features this:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/20/AR2010052002298.html
kommrade reproductive vigor
@PeakVT: Apparently women are supposed to keep their legs crossed AT ALL TIMES. Sitting, standing, running a marathon, doesn’t matter. If her legs are not crossed there is something WRONG.
I wonder if Kagan weighs more or less than a duck?
jl
This may be off topic, or not, depending on whether you think the story below is about discrimination based on physical appearance.
Chicken Costumes Banned at Nev. Polling Places
Chicken costumes banned at Nevada polling places after Lowden’s chicken quip
MARTIN GRIFFITH
AP News
May 23, 2010 11:43 EDT
Via TPM blog
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/news/2010/05/chicken_costumes_banned_at_nev_polling_places.php?ref=fpblg
Edit: I will be pursuing the important Kagan style controversy by looking for stories on whether Kagan rides horses sidesaddle, and should she wear a corset, and if so, steel stays or whalebone, and what is wrong with whatever she does. Developing…
Stooleo
Cue Sully, here is the raison d’etre, proving shes a lesbian.
MikeJ
@jl: Physical appearance would be a silly way to read it. Wearing campaign materials is usually illegal already, and a chicken suit obviously would be with chicken lady running.
Still funny as hell.
Mentis Fugit
@arguingwithsignposts:
I want them stalked and humiliated for their own personal foibles, but then I always was a tit-for-tat kinda guy.
Cacti
I’m really distraught over this.
I bet she probably wears white shoes before Memorial Day too.
Someone might get a Pulitzer if they can produce the photos.
Sandi_B
Maybe she was just raised according to etiquette that says crossing one’s legs at the knees is un-ladylike. I was taught that & it is very common, especially when wearing a shorter skirt.
For instance: http://www.essortment.com/articles/women-sitting_4626.htm
So, by that thinking, she would be *more* feminine, not less. (Ironic, eh?)
Linda Featheringill
@arguingwithsignposts: Let’s hear it for the frumpy folks!
FRUMP, FRUMP, FRUMP, FRUMP!
R. Porrofatto
Hard to believe newspapers are dying. Wonder what’s behind it.
Michael
OT – but this one caused me a spit take.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100523/ts_alt_afp/usoilpollutionenvironmentpalinobama
AxelFoley
Soon as I saw this was the Washington Post, I knew it was by Robin Givahn.
Like I said elsewhere, we should put Mike Tyson on her. Different Robin, but close enough.
Citizen Alan
@Brachiator:
I feel confident that if Cheney had had any remotely plausible excuse for wearing a parka, tobaggan and boots to a Holocaust memorial, someone on the Right would have loudly announced it at the time. Cheney’s attire was offensive because it indicated that he cared nothing about the solemnity of the occasion.
From all the pics I’ve seen, Kagan favors clothing that is age-appropriate and dignified. The only knock is that her clothes are not stylish enough to suit vapid Heathers like Robin Givhan. If Kagan had shown up to meet with Senators while wearing a green parka and snow boots or perhaps (in light of the current warmer climate) board shorts and a Fuddpucker’s t-shirt, I’d have a few questions about whether she belongs on the Supreme Court as well, but that ain’t what happened.
licensed to kill time
@Michael:
Well, Sarey, that would be one a them thar gotcha questions you are so scared of!
It is to snicker. Dive in there, Obama wan Kenobi!
ETA:not to make light of the situation in the Gulf, just the Unbearable Lightness of Palin.
dmsilev
@Michael: And that is the subject that she’s supposed to be an expert on. Being that she can see an oil rig from her house and all.
dms
Mr Furious
@Michael: Yeah, I brought that up in the Katrina and the Wave thread. Let the he said / she said begin.
Normally anyone who punctuates their ferocious accusations with words like “doggone” would get laughed out of the room, but she was talking to Chris Wallace.
The rest of the press will do her the favor of paraphrasing that out for her when they start repeating it ad nauseum.
Observer
Lovely – another dog whistle for Andrew Sullivan.
I finally had to take him off my reader again. All the spiritual / med-pot posts in the world can’t make up for the Defending Rand Paul / Kagan-the-Palin nonsense he’s currently spewing.
Mr Furious
@trollhattan: Althouse weighed in. And posted a poll: Does the position of Kagan’s legs matter? 12% of her respondents think “Yes, as a clue to how she thinks and feels and thus to how she will decide cases.”
eemom
yes, that piece on Cheney at the Holocaust event was very good and the one worthwhile thing Givhan ever wrote in her vapid life, which is why I have previously agreed with the “it’s what she does” school of tolerance. But it doesn’t make up for this.
Observer
@Sandi_B: In a Sharon Stone kind of way? Sorry, had to be asked.
maus
@Sandi_B:
hahahahahahah nuance.
@Observer: So, are all Log Cabiners this retarded?
Anne Laurie
@TuiMel:
Should we be blaming Robin? Last night the article was attributed to “Staff Writers”, which IIRC means nobody wanted their name attached, for good reason. Reads much more like Sally Quinn (Queen of the Media Village Idiot Hive) to me…
And to reiterate from last night: Sitting with legs agape is considered a “manly male” stance — the implication being that one’s testicles are so large as to force one’s thighs apart. This stance is suitable only for those at the very height of the socioeconomic pyramid (Donald Trump, George Bush) and the very bottom (truck drivers & bikers). Up until the 1980s, women were advised never to sit like this during job interviews, seriously. Since then, the stance has been de-gendered for “power people”, but there’s been a “feminizing” subtext added that failing to cross stigmatizes the subject as a horrible grotesque obese non-powerful fattie. What’s important is not how Kagan is sitting, it’s how The Right People (want us to) interpret how Kagan sits. Everything Is Advertising.
Citizen Alan
@Observer:
I’m convinced Sullivan’s hostility to Kagan is because she’s a successful and intelligent woman. To my knowledge, he has never acknowledged any woman ever as being worthy of consideration for any position of importance. He’s hysterical over Kagan, and before that he was hysterical over a single misspoken sentence by Napolitano over the Undie-bomber, and before that he he was hysterical over Hillary Clinton. I hate Palin as much as anyone but even I think his 40+ part series on “The Odd Lies of Sarah Palin” is becoming farcical.
Basically, the only women Sully has ever had any kind words for were Maggie Thatcher and Neda Agha-Soltan. The former has not been politically relevant in nearly twenty years. The latter had the good decency to die before he ever knew anything about her, thereby allowing him to use her as a blank slate for all his hopes and aspirations for a free Iran.
Observer
@maus: By definition yes I think they’d have to be. I’m afraid I have to lump in the NBRA.
Comrade Tank Hueco
Here comes another 47,000-word post from Sully…
Observer
@Anne Laurie: “(…) the implication being (…)”
Not to be, um, direct, but there is actually something to that. Exceptions? Guys with particularly spindly legs. I suspect Dolly Parton could make a similar Observer-ation from the other side of the gender divide.
No ums on the last bit innuendo. My ellipses quota ran out.
cat48
OT Sweet mother of God, I think the Mooslems are coming from Abu Dabai to help with the oil spill (unless it is a terrorist plot), this being reported on CNN. Bringing what they use along. It certainly can’t hurt anything, but can wingnuts behave while they are here & not continuosly scream, Islamic Jihadists!!? I hope so!
Mark S.
@Anne Laurie:
What about these titans of the conservative movement?
To tell the truth, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a picture of Buckley where he didn’t have his legs crossed.
Bill E Pilgrim
This guy is just getting funnier, I swear.
Will
I tried posting a comment on her WaPo article lambasting this atrocity, but it was rejected because I included the word “$hit” (with the “$”). I removed the word “$hit” and tried again to post, but they said I couldn’t because I had just posted.
Clever…very clever!
rootless_e
OT: unified theory of anti-Obama “progressives”
The BP spill has really brought them out and I note some characteristics:
1) Emphasis on org-chart and theory that firing people will solve problems (e.g. “fire Salazar”)
2) Emphasis on can-do language and showing “leadership” and other such management bullshit.
3) Inability to understand that there are hard technical problems
4) Disrespect for technical expertise
5) Belief that one can command faster solutions to technical problems
These lead to the conclusion that “whiny progressives have MBAs”.
I will await the call from the Nobel Committee.
Lysana
@tim:
So? It’s still bullshit.
Time for it’s 50,000-mile checkup, then, as she’s on record as being heterosexual. Or do you always insist on labeling people in a way that’s inconsistent with their identity?
jl
A column inch that may be in our future:
“She came in here and she frumped the place,” says frumpy prissy old bore, Washington Post columnist David Broder, “and it’s not her place.”
At least for life time Supremes appointments, no one will bother writing such nonsense after she is sworn in.
edit: I am frumpy and I have very accurate frumpdar, and I say that she is not as frumpy as I am. Even without high def, I can tell her clothing is not rumpled enough to be truly frumpy. And no food stains. WTF? That is not frumpy.
But what about cankles? That is the next frontier.
Lysana
(and FYWP for not letting me edit in Chrome… random apostrophe is random)
Observer
Femme bollocks aside, let’s go back to what’s really important, fisking anything to do with Israel.
http://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2010/05/israel-offered-to-sell-nukes-to-south-africa
Anya
@kommrade reproductive vigor: she is the same pearl clutcher who fainted at the sight of Michele Obama’s shorts. This article is a close second to the column that got Sally Quinn demoted.
licensed to kill time
@jl:
“Cankles, the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Emmessem. It’s continuing mission: to explore strange new memes, to seek out new rumors and new braindead observations, to boldly go where no sentient being has gone before.”
TuiMel
@Anne Laurie:
The point of my comment was that this piece made it past editors. I don’t care who wrote it or what section it is published in. I think some restraint and judgement somewhere along the line should have 86’d it, so no one would have had to read it, think about it, or ponder WTF is meant by how a woman (Ms. Kagan) sits in a chair in one photo op.
eemom
@jl:
same here. I take pride in my frumpdom.
jl
@rootless_e:
In fairness to ‘anti-Obama progressives’, the corporations involved in the spill also seem to have problems with
4) Disrespect for technical expertise.
And with a small change in wording, they have a problem with 1) as well:
1) Emphasis on org-chart and theory that blaming other corporations will solve problems
However I do agree that it is silly to blame Obama for not doing enough. Even as the WH said they may take control from BP earlier today, they had to admit that they did not have the technical expertise to do any better than BP.
And now that Vitter has suddenly found enough faith in government to damn Obama for not ‘doing more’, I think the best strategy is to leave saying stupid things to the teabaggers and GOP.
Seems clear to me now that gross negligence on the part of BP in the cause of penny pinching led to this disaster. That point should be the focus of the political and regulatory battles to come.
Citizen_X
@Bill E Pilgrim: Holy shit, that’s funny.
RedKitten
The whole damn thing is just ridiculous. When sitting while crossing one’s legs, it’s not unusual to have to shift positions and switch legs once in awhile. So it’s very possible that she WAS crossing her legs, but was taking a break from it.
And more importantly, WHO THE FUCK CARES?
Kobie
“Who the fuck cares?” should be the tag for any and all of this Kagan’s clothing and/or seating position nonsense.
cleek
links logged.
hits accumulating.
mission accomplished.
Anya
@rootless_e: Another OT: Though not a progressive by any stretch of the imagination but I am I the only one irked by James Carville’s criticism of Obama’s handling of the oil spill? If the screaming headlines at HuffPo are any indication he called it “lackadaisical” and called Obama “naive” for expecting BP to handle the massive clean-up effort. Aside from the unfair attack, I do not remember Carville attacking Bush for his mishandeling of the response to hurricane Katrina.
rootless_e
@Anya: Yes, one thing that nobody can accuse little Jimmy of is forgetting who writes his checks.
Meek as a mouse during katrina.
Martin
@rootless_e: I would add another component:
I get the sense that a lot of these people actually feel that Obama is far and away the most competent person in any room. As such, they assume that any problem is best solved, and is the responsibility of Obama. As a result, every shortcoming in their eyes is the fault of Obama. They don’t argue that Obama is incompetent, instead they argue that he’s constantly underperforming and is doing so intentionally.
Kobie
@Citizen_X: I lol’d.
Martin
@Anya: Yeah, that irked me as well.
The bottom line is that we as a society have decided to cede a great deal of responsibility to these corporations. They’re responsible for figuring out how to get our oil, get it to us, and to clean up after their messes. We have varying degrees of regulation over different industries, but government has very limited authority, particularly with respect to prevention.
I know a number of Democrats would like that to be different, but the public at large doesn’t. That’s not Obama’s fault. That’s just where we are. As a society we’ve decided that Wall Street implosions and giant oil spills are the cost of doing business. And rather than take the effort to look at the root source of this, which I’m going to put on the shoulders of the ‘drill baby drill’ voters who are unwilling to vote to curtail corporate power, they blame Obama. That’s really pissing me off.
arguingwithsignposts
@TuiMel:
late reply, but I didn’t take that you were siding with the WaPo’s position.
Dan
Oh, good lord. Shoot me.
“You see, Kagan isn’t crossing her legs. Lesbians don’t cross their legs. i.e. Kagan is a LESBIAN!!!! She loves vagina!!!! NOM NOM NOM NOM!!!!!!!
This has been a special report from The Washington Post.
Now for a candid interview with John McCain. That’s right, John McCain opens up to our own David Broder, next!”
arguingwithsignposts
@Zuzu’s Petals:
If ever there was a waste of a Pulitzer, that was it. My eyes! My eyes!
kommrade reproductive vigor
After analyzing each pixel of both photos and reproducing each photo using barbie dolls, some cut up egg cartons a few plastic sporks and a sand tray, I can definitely state that Kagan looks 53% less comfortable and at ease in the legs crossed photo.
HOW UNUSUAL!
Brachiator
@Citizen Alan:
Who, exactly, did Cheney offend? The dead?
Did anyone lodge a formal complaint? Did anyone dare?
Again, while Cheney was tacky and clothing inappropriate, the story lacks any context and is ultimately trivial. I really tried hard to take umbrage about it, but my neighbor borrowed my umbrage last week and hasn’t returned it.
God, this is so stupid. Ninety percent of the time, the only time we’ll see her, she will be wearing a robe. And even then, she might be going commando underneath.
I care a lot more about the content of her mind than I do about the content of her wardrobe.
Had she been wearing a parka and snow boots, some would no doubt take this as confirmation that Kagan was a stealth lesbian, which seems to be what’s behind the odd scrutiny of her posing and clothing, not whether she is stylish enough SCOTUS material.
rootless_e
@jl: DKOS is packed with progressive arguments that this is “Obama’s katrina”. I wonder what they would have to say if the GOP stopped generating spin points for them to echo.
Dan
@rootless_e:
Ahhh, this looks like a job for….”THE BULLY PULPIT!”
Yes, the Bully Pulpit. Able to pass legislation without the help of sufficient numbers in congress!
BULLY PULPIT! Able to leap Co-Equal branches of government.
Disguised as the mild mannered 44th President of the United States, the Bully Pulpit can do things never before imagined by any Chief Executive!
Thanks “real” liberals who’ve studied every episode of “The West Wing” and watched “The American President” 100 times, we know that a strong speech and the kind of stuff you see in movies can cure real world problems.
All hail! Bully Pulpit!
Ash
I wish someone would just shank Robin Givhan already. She’s writes some of the stupidest shit I’ve ever had the displeasure of reading.
rootless_e
@Dan: at least he could [drumroll] show leadership!
thank you thank you.
Elena Kagan will be up next, she just has to cross her legs.
Lyrebird
@Dan:
How can I nominate this (Comment 123) for this year’s Best Satirical Use of lolcat-ese award?
And, THANK YOU!!!!
Tried to find a way to leave a comment there but failed… That article, style section or no, definitely tops my 2010 list of Good Reasons Not To Subscribe to the WaPo.
kay
@rootless_e:
I know I’m alone in thinking this, but I’d replace Robert Gibbs, or stop sending him out on defense. They need a serious spokesperson, not an attack dog. He has one trick, and it’s sneering sarcasm, one tool, and it’s a hammer.
Can someone explain to me why he feels the need to respond to every single one of Sarah Palin’s statements? The Gulf is filling with oil and the President’s spokesperson is going to indulge in his 50 thousandth pissing match with Sarah Palin? Can we lock these two in a room somewhere and let them beat each other to death?
IGNORE Palin’s comment, turn the question back on the interviewer, and state strongly and clearly what the administration are doing and prove they’re in charge.
This isn’t a campaign. They need credibility, not Mr. Smirky-Wise Ass.
Anya
@Martin: Maybe some but I don’t think Sirota, Hamsher, Tavis Smiley, et al portray Obama as competent.
PeakVT
… to boldly go where no sentient
being has gone beforewould dare be seen.Improved.
arguingwithsignposts
@kay:
Let’s turn that around and ask why the fuck anyone in the press corps is reading anything sarah palin says about anything? If they were acting like adults, maybe Gibbs would be seen in a different light.
Joseph Nobles
Obviously Kagan doesn’t cross her legs on the days she forgets to take off her strap-on.
arguingwithsignposts
@Joseph Nobles:
you had to go there. you owe me a keyboard!
kay
@arguingwithsignposts:
No. I don’t agree with that. Robert Gibbs needs to learn to deal with what is.
When this knee-jerk defensive posture he relies on got confused with “tough” or “in control” I don’t know, but when your opponent is driving your response, you’re losing.
Sarah Palin runs his interviews. He needs to get control of his ego and act as a spokesperson. It’s consistent with him. Everyone and everything gets under his skin. It’s not good.
arguingwithsignposts
@kay:
Well, to be honest, the WH press corps would get under the skin of the calmest of potential spokespeople. And Gibbs is no different than Fleischer, Perino or McClelland in that respect.
arguingwithsignposts
@kay:
By the way, why not fight back? Sarah Palin and Rush Limbaugh are – last I checked – not accountable to anyone. If he gets those questions, I’d rather he smack them down than play some other role (one I can’t picture at the moment). I’d rather Jon Stewart as press secretary (or Lewis Black) than some “serious” journo from PBS.
BettyPageisaBlonde
In a world where teh stupid and ignorant gets posted for all to see, this really, really ranks in the top 10. Really? Leg crossing? Really?
Corner Stone
@Ash: Dayum.
Corner Stone
@jl:
Good God.
Cat Lady
I sent the ombudsman a complaint about this story, and I got a response (it appears to be actually human generated) that Andy Alexander is not on the staff of the WaPo (??), and in order to complain you have to contact Robin Givhan directly, or write a Letter to the Editor. I wrote to Ms. Givhan:
Feel free to let her know she’s an idjit too. This shit has to stop.
ETA: [email protected]
Mike Kay
what’s the difference between this article and the populist-edwards-whiners who blog she’s an elitist because she attended and worked at Harvard?
I ask, because that superficial line of criticism hasn’t received any pushback.
Brachiator
@Anya:
Include Greenwald and you have the core of the progressive lunatic fringe.
Anya
@kay: This a thousand times.
I don’t know why they (the administration) don’t anticipate that the villagers will bring up Palin’s latest moronic utterance and respond with reality and ignore her. Why does Gibbs have to give her any attention. It really annoys me. He is no better than the villagers.
Zuzu's Petals
@Emma:
It’s true. If you’re short like me and have less-than-slim legs, it’s not that easy to cross ’em at all, much less in a comfortable way.
FWIW, I suspect Kagan also realizes that in such a case it’s much more flattering to be photographed with your legs uncrossed than crossed, with the heaviest part of your calf bulging out towards the camera. Wouldn’t surprised me if she was coached on this.
The Claw
You can almost see her SCROTUS!
Anne Laurie
@Citizen Alan:
Seconded, with emphasis. I’m old enough to have read Sullivan’s stuff during the Thatcher regime, and she left the same unfortunate imprint on his personality that Reagan left on his American compatriots. In Andrew’s eyes, no mere mortal female will ever be able to measure up to the Glory that was Thatcher, and any vagina-bearer who attempts to be intelligent and/or forceful in the political realm is sullying the legacy of St. Maggie.
Mr Furious
@kay: Word. I’m not a Gibbs fan. Never have been.
I’m not a fan of him in the Briefing Room, and I like him even less out on tour.
You Don't Say
[email protected]
tim
@Lysana:
um, lying about their sexual orientation is what closet cases DO.
Do you always believe everything you’re told?
kay
@Mr Furious:
I honestly don’t get it. Obama complains constantly that the media are obsessed with horse race and trivia, and he has these incredibly talented people working for him, with substantive knowledge, yet they send out Gibbs?
If they want to beef up the content, add some. If media sucks (and they do) stop playing this game by their rules.
It’s as if they’re trapped in this horrible loop, and helpless before it. Why not try something else?
If they get crappy questions, don’t answer that question. That’s a pissing match. Answer another better question, even if they have to provide one.
They used the same tactic during the health care debate, and I don’t think anyone would argue they got the better of that debate. I don’t think this Gibbs v Palin approach works. I think Gibbs relies on it because he can’t provide a real in-depth answer, and he only has one trick. So send someone who can. Just drop the rhetorical game-playing (he’s not even that good at it) and give a straight answer. What’s the worst that could happen?
kay
@arguingwithsignposts:
Because he’s not fighting. He’s responding, and defending. He lets her push him, and then he pushes back. He gets one or another “zinger” in, to great cheers from his fan club, but he loses the war. He’s not moving forward. He’s locked in this battle of stupid with an idiot.
He doesn’t have to let her push him. They bring her up because he’s like a freaking Pavlovian dog. Each and every time, he bites, and always with the same level of ferocity. The general public doesn’t want to be in the middle of this. Every time she goes away, he helps to bring her back.
SectarianSofa
@RedKitten:
Yeah, no kidding. Same with the manly sitting, WFBuckley sitting, etc..
Feels like high school, the stupid part. I’m amazed these people are still somehow allowed to verbalize their opinions.
SectarianSofa
@The Claw:
Sad, but this made me laugh more than any of the preceding comments.
SectarianSofa
@tim:
Dude(?), who cares?
TenguPhule
And the WH Media Corp are just a bunch of nails with different wigs on.
HAMMER TIME!
DougJ
@Mike Kay:
I mocked the “anti-elitist” stuff ad nauseam.
kay
@TenguPhule:
I can deal with him at the briefings. The whole point is to posture and spar, as far as I can tell, and he’s quick, and he can do that.
But, he’s the absolute worst spokesperson in the world on anything serious or substantive, IMO, yet, he’s the only person I see, besides Valerie Jarrett, who is also terrible, and speaks in some horrible business-platitude-language.
fucen tarmal
wait, does she sit side-saddle on her harley?
maybe she is rockin some all-world beef-curtains and she is understandably proud of them, and doesn’t want to risk any sort of infirmity to them…
before a reporter can write this sort of story, she needs to offer full disclosure to settle in the mind of the reader, any concerns about conflict of interest/ personal bias. the writer should have told of her own greasy kid spitter and how she regards it with eternal shame.
btw yes, for the record, my sheep dagger would not be up for either challenge.
asiangrrlMN
@TenguPhule: Agreed. I like Gibbs. He’s refreshing to me. I would take him over bland and serious any day.
@eemom: Completely agree with you. I only read one paragraph about being drab and dull to be acceptable, and I had to stop. Seriously, she’s going to be on the Supreme Court. Who gives a flying fuck shit what she wears or if she crosses/uncrosses her legs? Sotomayor was too warm and feisty (and there were hints she was a lesbian, too); Kagan is too frumpy and dowdy; blah the fuck blah.
@Brachiator: And I agree with you, too. Maybe the man was cold. Whatever. On the list of heinous things Cheney has done, this wouldn’t break the top 100.
Q
If you look at the bottom of the page of the article, you can find the original title for the article under “Most Viewed”:
“Elena Kagan’s artful plumage: D.C. frump”
That would be insulting if it made any sense. Artful plumage = Frump. Really, WTF?
roshan
Oh so now they are going after her leg(al) philosophy.
TenguPhule
And the last time anything serious or substantive was brought up by the WH Press Corp was sometime around Nixon….
AxelFoley
@Dan:
Win, this post is full of.
AxelFoley
@The Claw:
*spits out drink*
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
Remember November
Kaplan- where we prep you to fail for non verbal part of the GMAT.
Chinn Romney
I wish the Media would stop badgering the poor guy. If Kevin James wants to dress in drag then more power to him. Beats making those really bad movies.
Nutella
@Anne Laurie:
Agreed. Andrew sullies anything he writes about. And he obviously really enjoys sullying women.