Only from the NY Times
Tim Groseclose ·
July 28, 2012 at 8:07pm
This from the New York Times, describing the opening ceremony of the Olympics:
Britain offered a display of humor and humbleness that can only stem from a deep-rooted sense of superiority.
It's as if the Times has been hiring reporters from ethnic studies departments. (Hat tip to Justin Wolfers for noting the above sentence.)
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May '10
Re: Only from the NY Times
Speaking of ethnic studies, one of the reporters covering the Britain-Cameroon "football" game on NBC referred to "the Africans" while I was watching today. They're all the same, right?
Next up, the Europeons versus the Asians!
Nov '11
Re: Only from the NY Times
I read that a little differently. Seemed to me like a back-handed--very backhanded--compliment. One might even call it "ironic."
Edited on July 28, 2012 at 8:44pmMay '11
Re: Only from the NY Times
Can someone revoke their literary license ?
Aug '11
Re: Only from the NY Times
"I am truly a 'umble man, Master Copperfield." - Uriah Heep
Jun '11
Re: Only from the NY Times
Can someone explain what it even means?
Humor and humbleness stem from a sense of superiority? Who knew?
Apr '12
Re: Only from the NY Times
Yes, it seems to me that humbleness (or humility) would be about the opposite of a sense of superiority. Shall we all argue who is the most humble among us?
Jun '10
Re: Only from the NY Times
Huh??
Oct '10
Re: Only from the NY Times
Aaron Miller: Speaking of ethnic studies, one of the reporters covering the Britain-Cameroon "football" game on NBC referred to "the Africans" while I was watching today. They're all the same, right?
Next up, the Europeons versus the Asians! · 2 hours ago
I watch a lot of soccer, and this is very common. Even during club matches you'll hear players like Didier Drogba, who's from the Ivory Coast, referred to as "the big African."
It sounds strange to our overly-sensitive American ears, but it really is just a geographical description. Players from Africa are Africans, and it's just easier than sorting through all the Ivorians, Senegalese, Ghanaians, etc.
For instance, you said it was Great Britain vs. Cameroon, but it was actually Senegal. See the occupational hazard? Africans is just easier, because they're all Africans.
As an aside, I just know someone is reading this comment saying: "There's something racist about this. I can't tell what exactly, but I'm sure there is."
Jan '11
Re: Only from the NY Times
And showing weakness to your enemies can only arise from a deep-seated conviction of your own strength.
See Munich, 1938.
May '10
Re: Only from the NY Times
Blake
For instance, you said it was Great Britain vs. Cameroon, but it was actually Senegal.
No, it was Cameroon. You were thinking of this game.
I suppose it makes a little sense if the players often play for nations other than their own. But do the reporters ever refer to a "European" player? That would be easier, too.
The whole basis of the Olympics is that it's one nation versus another nation, so to bypass nationality for a more general term seems inappropriate.
Jul '10
Re: Only from the NY Times
Never mind, the opening ceremony was hilarious on so many levels, including the monstrous baby that I'm sure gave nightmares to the little kids being wheeled around by waltzing nurses from the NHS to promote socialized medicine. Have you ever seen the Queen look more grimly disapproving? Someone must have tipped her off to just how awful things were going to be.
Jun '11
Re: Only from the NY Times
I always hated the flying monkeys scene in the Wizard of Oz. Scared the crap out of me as a kid.
And I'll be damned if they weren't there in all their luminescent glory last night. In Central London. Oh the nightmares....
Jul '12
Re: Only from the NY Times
I hate the NYT.
Now to defend them. To be humble and able to laugh at yourself does require a certain sense of self-confidence or, as they put it, superiority. But perhaps I'm reading the quote wrong.
Edited on July 29, 2012 at 1:10amSep '10
Re: Only from the NY Times
Well, someone has to hire them!
I'm here all night, folks.
Aug '11
Re: Only from the NY Times
Eric Voegelin: I hate the NYT.
Now to defend them. To be humble and able to laugh at yourself does require a certain sense of self-confidence or, as they put it, superiority. But perhaps I'm reading the quote wrong. · 41 minutes ago
Edited 40 minutes ago
I don't hate the NYT, but I don't really like a lot of their op-ed stuff (some of their "articles" are op-eds!) but I'm of the school that believes they should be ignored rather than watched like hawks for every hint of liberal bias.
You are right though-- it does take self-confidence to laugh at yourself and let others have their time to shine.
For the far left though-- isn't confidence in ones own cultural upbringing-- especially if it's Western-- a bad thing? Shouldn't everyone in the West feel bad for "oppression?"
Jul '12
Re: Only from the NY Times
@Goldgeller: I just said that to innoculate myself. I don't hate anyone. But I would say that the world would be much better off without the NYT as it exists today.
That quote probably was intended to devalue Western culture and I was being foolishly generous.
Have nice weekend.
Dec '11
Re: Only from the NY Times
Many of you have wondered how 10 cents can be humble and humorous. Many of you have tried to guess where these qualities come from. Of course my humility forbids me from telling the answer but if you look at the following quote you might be able to get the answer.
Isn't it obvious that it can only stem from one source. :)
Oct '10
Re: Only from the NY Times
I think the subtext here is: The left don't need no stinkin' stuck-up Anglo-Saxon heritage.
Nov '11
Re: Only from the NY Times
This is why I liked our uniforms (besides having a preppy attitude toward style myself- it's so easy and you only need a few pieces to make it work).
Aug '11
Re: Only from the NY Times
Eric Voegelin: @Goldgeller: I just said that to innoculate myself. I don't hate anyone. But I would say that the world would be much better off without the NYT as it exists today.
That quote probably was intended to devalue Western culture and I was being foolishly generous.
Have nice weekend. · 12 hours ago
I hear what you are saying though. Don't get me wrong. I totally understand the reflexive stomach lurch when someone sends an article by some of the more infamous Times Columnists. I used to get that. I could just smell the snark and self-righteousness even before I started to read the thing. And then one day I realized that I don't have to read the Times. I can still get out of my "right wing bubble" without reading the Times. And then I stopped really caring.