The Althouse Files: When Anti-Intellectualism Becomes Just Plain Insulting

 

So much so that even those who really, really, really want to be onboard with the circus can no longer hold their tongue. I will admit that I was already tracking this before the good Professor brought it to worldwide attention in his own style:

They’re terrible people who would happily wreck the country so long as they wound up ruling over the wreckage.

That pretty much nails it…but that shouldn’t obscure the fact that Madam Althouse was on a roll:

[Biden] was forefronting the Charlottesville “fine people” hoax. On his first day of campaigning with his running mate, he led with that. I say “he,” but I don’t really believe it’s him. I think it’s more likely that he’s a foggy-minded figurehead, and other people have decided to frame the message like that. I consider these people — whoever they are — despicable. They have chosen quite deliberately to commit to a lie that is intended to make black people feel hated and they are doing it for political gain.

As my earlier post about the tweet says, I blogged in April 2019, “If Biden does not come forward and retract [a video relying on the Charlottesville hoax] and apologize and commit himself to making amends, I consider him disqualified. He does not have the character or brain power to be President.” Now, more than a year later, Biden has done the opposite. He’s doubled down on the lie and he’s making it the centerpiece of his campaign!

He has decided to run on — his people have decided to run him on — fomenting racial division, fear, and hatred. He could have run on just not being Trump — the simple dream to make America normal again. But he has chosen an eyes-closed nightmare.

[Emphasis added]

And the golden content continued into the comments. (To reduce confusion I will genericize the various twit commenters into a more friendly sounding but still clearly twitty “G-Rob”.):

G-Rob: “Althouse: are you claiming that donald did NOT say: “very fine people on both sides”? coz he DID say that”

Althouse: I know what he said. Do you? Don’t school me on this and I’m not doing remedial teaching. Get the facts. State them here in full form. The string of words “very fine people on both sides” is out of a context. YOU state the context why don’t you? I am completely irritated by this b***s***.

and more:

Althouse: More questions for Biden: Is it good for America to use the term “white supremacists” to refer to people who don’t want to tear down the old statues of Confederate heroes? Is it impossible for people who hold that viewpoint to be fine people? Do you realize that’s what Donald Trump was talking about, that some people who hold that viewpoint might be fine people? If you don’t realize it, how can you be running for President if you’re so woefully and dangerously uninformed? If you do realize it, and you’re saying the things you’re saying, are you a fine person?

[Emphasis added]

Now just rapid fire:

Althouse: I know they are lying, doubling down on the lie they’re so committed to they can’t back out. That’s why I won’t waste my time doing the explanation.

Althouse: Trump made his comment in response to pressing questions on a Sunday morning show. There was an effort to trap him into saying something that could be used against him. It’s not something he was going out of his way to say and repeat. But what Biden and his supporters are doing with it is a DELIBERATE and REPEATED lie and it it done for the purpose of getting political power. It is cynical and actively evil to manipulate people this way. There is a stirring up of racial feelings for political ends. That is evil.

G-Rob: “Does Althouse really not see how Trump’s “very fine people” comment was racially divisive and hurtful?”

Althouse: Yes, the use of it by the Democrats has been racially divisive and hurtful — quite deliberately and deceptively.

Althouse:  [G-Rob], quoting me, you wrote: “‘It is cynical and actively evil to manipulate people this way. There is a stirring up of racial feelings for political ends. That is evil.’ And yet you don’t see as problematic when Trump does the exact same thing.”

Then when bago quoted Trump to you — ““I’m not talking about the neo-Nazis and white nationalists because they should be condemned totally. “Racism is evil, and those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs, including the KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and other hate groups that are repugnant to everything we hold dear as Americans.” — you switched to saying : “I doubt that Trump really believes this. He often backtracks and contradicts himself.”

From “exact same thing” to… exactly the opposite but he probably didn’t mean it.

Absolute b***s*** from you. The definition of b***s***.

(I’m sure there is more in the comments of her other post and at the Instapundit link. Those will have to wait.)

Aside from the pure entertainment value, there is value in this righteous tantrum. There is little doubt that you will soon come across a familiar someone who will throw “the ‘Charlottesville Hoax’ Hoax” turd on the table yet again. Just remember the words and passion of your crazy Aunt Althouse and just how intellectually bankrupt the G-Rob in your world really is.

You are welcome.

Good day.

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  1. DrewInWisconsin, Unhelpful Communicator Member
    DrewInWisconsin, Unhelpful Communicator
    @DrewInWisconsin

    philo: There is little doubt that you will soon come across a familiar someone who will throw “the ‘Charlottesville Hoax’ Hoax” turd on the table yet again.

    Are we taking bets on who that familiar someone will be?

    • #31
  2. DrewInWisconsin, Unhelpful Communicator Member
    DrewInWisconsin, Unhelpful Communicator
    @DrewInWisconsin

    Fake John/Jane Galt (View Comment):
    Trump will go down as the most racist President in the history of the country

    Until the next Republican president, at which point there will be “sudden new respect™” for Trump.

    • #32
  3. Ontheleftcoast Inactive
    Ontheleftcoast
    @Ontheleftcoast

    Franco (View Comment):

    They are shamelessly trying to get the LIV vote. The dumb people vote. The uninformed, easily enraged vote. The herd vote. The tribal vote.

    I wish I understood this earlier.

    They don’t care what we think of them. This is a propaganda war plain and simple. The media is leading the attack. It is sword and shield.

    For ANYONE on ‘our’ side to act as though this is still a debate, or something that has anything to do with Trump, is idiocy, or worse, complicity.

    The public schools and the media have gone beyond failing to inform; the indoctrination has created Bad information voters. Appealing to the LIV is so yesterday. Countering this is not a matter of providing information, it’s deprogramming cult followers.

    • #33
  4. Fake John/Jane Galt Coolidge
    Fake John/Jane Galt
    @FakeJohnJaneGalt

    Rodin (View Comment):

    Hoyacon (View Comment):

    If we were rating the “big lies” from the left in order from biggest on down, would this be ahead of the Michael Brown hoax? I’d rank it a bit below, but that’s subjective. A “top ten” lies is worthy of a post. I guess Russian collusion would have to be #1.

     

    Scott Adam’s take (I am interpreting him now) on why the “Fine People” hoax is worse than the “hands up don’t shoot” hoax, is that the latter, bad as it is, attacks a law enforcement subset of the population, while the former paints everyone who supports President Trump as a neo-nazi. If you are believed to be a “for real” neo-nazi then violence against you may be justified by the Left. That puts 65,000,000 or so at risk of physical harm. Just the other day someone drove by Adams’ home and called out that Adams was a racist.

    That has really aggravated Adams.  Adams has taken the position as a B level celebrity he was mostly untouchable.  I think it scared him to understand how touchable he is.  In the end we all are touchable by anybody that is dedicated to touching.  Until our side stops hiding and start touching back things are going to go down hill.  

    • #34
  5. Fake John/Jane Galt Coolidge
    Fake John/Jane Galt
    @FakeJohnJaneGalt

    DrewInWisconsin, Unhelpful Com… (View Comment):

    Fake John/Jane Galt (View Comment):
    Trump will go down as the most racist President in the history of the country

    Until the next Republican president, at which point there will be “sudden new respect™” for Trump.

    If there is ever another Republican president.  I did not think Trump would be one, I now suspect he will be the last.  At least the last we will see in our lifetimes.  

    • #35
  6. CarolJoy, Above Top Secret Coolidge
    CarolJoy, Above Top Secret
    @CarolJoy

    Flicker (View Comment):

    Acook (View Comment):
    This is what happens when we elect a guy who just isn’t up for the job.

    How can she say this with a straight face, while encouraging the election of Biden?

    I doubt it is hard for Harris to lie to the public with a straight face. She had lied to the public in Calif where she served as Attorney General for the  Golden State, and then as our Senator.

    And I’m guessing she lied to Willie Brown for years before that.

    • #36
  7. MISTER BITCOIN Inactive
    MISTER BITCOIN
    @MISTERBITCOIN

    The Scarecrow (View Comment):

    tigerlily (View Comment):
    Another I think should rate pretty highly is the “Hydroxychloroquine will kill you” myth which has to have caused some number of deaths for no reason other than to score points against Trump.

    (A bit off topic for a second, but I keep wondering this:

    I know HCQ is cheap, but it must be owned and manufactured by somebody. If a news organization comes flat out and says this stuff will kill you, can’t the manufacturer sue them?

    Sorry, back to the OP.)

    It’s generic or over the counter so my guess is it is owned and manufactured by many companies.

    It’s very difficult to sue news organizations the way libel laws are written but I’m not a lawyer. I’m basing this on hearsay

     

    • #37
  8. MISTER BITCOIN Inactive
    MISTER BITCOIN
    @MISTERBITCOIN

    The Scarecrow (View Comment):

    Acook (View Comment):

    This is the clip from Harris’s speech that I heard that boggles my mind:

    “He inherited the longest economic expansion in history from Barack Obama and Joe Biden. And then, like everything else he inherited, he ran it straight into the ground. Because of Trump’s failures of leadership, our economy has taken one of the biggest hits out of all the major industrialized nations with an unemployment rate that has tripled as of today. This is what happens when we elect a guy who just isn’t up for the job. Our country ends up in tatters, and so does our reputation around the world.”

    What planet has she been living on the last 4 years?

    Exactly the question I asked when I read that. Does this kind of tactic work – balls-out lying?

    The planet is called California

     

    • #38
  9. Ontheleftcoast Inactive
    Ontheleftcoast
    @Ontheleftcoast

    CarolJoy, Above Top Secret (View Comment):

    Both before and after Harris, Brown expressed his appreciation to his series of . . . companions by various exercises of influence and power, often involving putting them in lucrative sinecures on state boards and commissions. No doubt a letter of recommendation from him would have improved a bright young woman’s chances of getting in to UC or Stanford and being awarded a scholarship.

    Did Harris lie to him? Only if in addition to her companionship Brown expected, and she knew he expected, favors to be named later. And whether he understood her statement that as DA she wouldn’t cut him slack on as much as a (parking ticket? jaywalking ticket?) as truthful or a politically expedient lie.

    • #39
  10. MISTER BITCOIN Inactive
    MISTER BITCOIN
    @MISTERBITCOIN

    Franco (View Comment):

    Arahant (View Comment):

    The Scarecrow (View Comment):
    Does this kind of tactic work – balls-out lying?

    With about 40% of the population, give or take a few.

    That’s what they think Trump is doing. And they think it’s very effective. They’ve been stymied despite all their efforts.

    Then again, this is another form of projection.

    It’s calculated projection:Claim your opponent is doing something you are planning to do.

    Classic Freudian projection is more akin to, someone who is inherently a thief, carefully locks up his valuables because he thinks everyone else is like him.

    Of course, politicians lie, but we used have this profession called “ journalism” to keep them from being too ridiculous.

     

    Collusion with Russia is best example of projection

     

    • #40
  11. MISTER BITCOIN Inactive
    MISTER BITCOIN
    @MISTERBITCOIN

    Ontheleftcoast (View Comment):

    CarolJoy, Above Top Secret (View Comment):

    Both before and after Harris, Brown expressed his appreciation to his series of . . . companions by various exercises of influence and power, often involving putting them in lucrative sinecures on state boards and commissions. No doubt a letter of recommendation from him would have improved a bright young woman’s chances of getting in to UC or Stanford and being awarded a scholarship.

    Did Harris lie to him? Only if in addition to her companionship Brown expected, and she knew he expected, favors to be named later. And whether he understood her statement that as DA she wouldn’t cut him slack on as much as a (parking ticket? jaywalking ticket?) as truthful or a politically expedient lie.

    Kamala has a large collection of knives for back stabbing

     

    • #41
  12. Ontheleftcoast Inactive
    Ontheleftcoast
    @Ontheleftcoast

    MISTER BITCOIN (View Comment):

    Ontheleftcoast (View Comment):

    CarolJoy, Above Top Secret (View Comment):

    Both before and after Harris, Brown expressed his appreciation to his series of . . . companions by various exercises of influence and power, often involving putting them in lucrative sinecures on state boards and commissions. No doubt a letter of recommendation from him would have improved a bright young woman’s chances of getting in to UC or Stanford and being awarded a scholarship.

    Did Harris lie to him? Only if in addition to her companionship Brown expected, and she knew he expected, favors to be named later. And whether he understood her statement that as DA she wouldn’t cut him slack on as much as a (parking ticket? jaywalking ticket?) as truthful or a politically expedient lie.

    Kamala has a large collection of knives for back stabbing

    The smyler with the knyf under the cloke

    • #42
  13. MichaelKennedy Inactive
    MichaelKennedy
    @MichaelKennedy

    Arahant (View Comment):

    The Scarecrow (View Comment):
    Does this kind of tactic work – balls-out lying?

    With about 40% of the population, give or take a few.

    There are a couple of examples at Althouse’s blog.  One commenter who is particularly slow posts successive comments that are contradictory.  One today was supporting Biden’s proposal that everyone must wear masks outdoors, then in the same comment, she says Biden didn’t mean that.

    Later she posts a comment accusing Trump of trying to frighten white suburbanites about blacks moving into suburbs in the AFFH controversy.  After it is pointed out to her that 35% of suburban residents are black, she changes the argument that it is the poor he is trying to frighten suburbanites with.

    That is the audience.

    • #43
  14. MichaelKennedy Inactive
    MichaelKennedy
    @MichaelKennedy

    Fake John/Jane Galt (View Comment):

    DrewInWisconsin, Unhelpful Com… (View Comment):

    Fake John/Jane Galt (View Comment):
    Trump will go down as the most racist President in the history of the country

    Until the next Republican president, at which point there will be “sudden new respect™” for Trump.

    If there is ever another Republican president. I did not think Trump would be one, I now suspect he will be the last. At least the last we will see in our lifetimes.

    I think he will be re-elected but I agree he will be the last.

    • #44
  15. namlliT noD Member
    namlliT noD
    @DonTillman

    Franco (View Comment):

    Then again, this is another form of projection.

    It’s calculated projection:Claim your opponent is doing something you are planning to do

    Goebbels: “Accuse the other side of that which you are guilty.”

    I call it Strategic Projection.

    Sisyphus (View Comment):
    It is a simple Maoist technique to neutralize criticism. If I accuse my opponent of what I am doing, their accusations of me will sound hollow and defensive even as I stand dripping in a pool of blood.

    And  it puts the opponent on the defensive.  

    And the media than go over the opponent’s past words and deeds in a context of looking for something that confirms the accusation. 

    It’s scary effective.

     

    • #45
  16. Randy Webster Inactive
    Randy Webster
    @RandyWebster

    DrewInWisconsin, Doormat (View Comment):
    Until the next Republican president, at which point there will be “sudden new respect™” for Trump.

    I think Trump has to die for there to be sudden new respect.

    • #46
  17. Sisyphus Member
    Sisyphus
    @Sisyphus

    Randy Webster (View Comment):

    DrewInWisconsin, Doormat (View Comment):
    Until the next Republican president, at which point there will be “sudden new respect™” for Trump.

    I think Trump has to die for there to be sudden new respect.

    Once he’s been eviscerated, his limbs cut off, beheaded, his mouth stuffed with garlic, his parts paraded through all corners of the republic, placed in the coffin face down with his head upside down in relation to his body, and buried in a rapid stream that never dries out until the sun becomes a red giant and the Earth is vaporized. After all of that, maybe. 

    But who cares what those corrupt ratings whores think?

    • #47
  18. Joshua Bissey Inactive
    Joshua Bissey
    @TheSockMonkey

    As Joe Biden enters the last of his twilight years, it is important to remember that he has long been a voice of hatred and a peddler of division, and remains so today.

    Yet we have to keep hearing from both sides that he’s so likeable, and they’d like to have a beer with him. Ugh.

    • #48
  19. Joshua Bissey Inactive
    Joshua Bissey
    @TheSockMonkey

    MISTER BITCOIN (View Comment):
    It’s generic or over the counter so my guess is it is owned and manufactured by many companies.

    If I’m not mistaken, hydroxychloroquine is a prescription drug.

    • #49
  20. Sisyphus Member
    Sisyphus
    @Sisyphus

    Joshua Bissey (View Comment):

    MISTER BITCOIN (View Comment):
    It’s generic or over the counter so my guess is it is owned and manufactured by many companies.

    If I’m not mistaken, hydroxychloroquine is a prescription drug.

    In countries where malaria is a problem it is over the counter. There are toxicity issues with chronic use, but they require years of continuous use to manifest.

    • #50
  21. The Scarecrow Thatcher
    The Scarecrow
    @TheScarecrow

    Joshua Bissey (View Comment):

    MISTER BITCOIN (View Comment):
    It’s generic or over the counter so my guess is it is owned and manufactured by many companies.

    If I’m not mistaken, hydroxychloroquine is a prescription drug.

    I don’t know either (obviously).  But if it were OTC, wouldn’t there be a run on it?   Who could stop you from taking it?

    For that matter, is it illegal or something to take it now, just because the left is excoriating it?  Can one ask a doctor for a prescription?  Does it hurt you with some side effect or other, is it danderous in some way?

    • #51
  22. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    Joshua Bissey (View Comment):

    MISTER BITCOIN (View Comment):
    It’s generic or over the counter so my guess is it is owned and manufactured by many companies.

    If I’m not mistaken, hydroxychloroquine is a prescription drug.

    In the US.

    • #52
  23. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    The Scarecrow (View Comment):
    For that matter, is it illegal or something to take it now, just because the left is excoriating it?

    Not exactly, no.

    The Scarecrow (View Comment):
    Can one ask a doctor for a prescription?

    Some of the state licensing boards have decided to restrict it, so a doctor who prescribes it can lose his license in those states.

    The Scarecrow (View Comment):
    Does it hurt you with some side effect or other, is it dangerous in some way?

    As was said above:

    Sisyphus (View Comment):
    There are toxicity issues with chronic use, but they require years of continuous use to manifest.

     

    • #53
  24. philo Member
    philo
    @philo

    Joshua Bissey (View Comment):

    As Joe Biden enters the last of his twilight years, it is important to remember that he has long been a voice of hatred and a peddler of division, and remains so today.

    Yet we have to keep hearing from both sides that he’s so likeable, and they’d like to have a beer with him. Ugh.

    It is also important to remember that the essence of Joe has been crystal clear for quite some time:

    “[Biden is a…] pure demogog—out to save Am. from the Reagan Doctrine.” – President Ronald Reagan (diary entry)

    • #54
  25. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    Joshua Bissey (View Comment):

    As Joe Biden enters the last of his twilight years, it is important to remember that he has long been a voice of hatred and a peddler of division, and remains so today.

    Yet we have to keep hearing from both sides that he’s so likeable, and they’d like to have a beer with him. Ugh.

    The other lie is that Joe has always been in the center of the Democratic Party. I keep hearing this. That’s odd. In 2008, the two most Progressive Senators were Barack Obama and Joe Biden. Since there were forty-some other Democrat Senators, does this mean they were all conservative Democrats? You know, like Dianne Feinstein? I mean, sure, she may have fallen a bit behind the times now, but was she a conservative Democrat in 2008?

    • #55
  26. MISTER BITCOIN Inactive
    MISTER BITCOIN
    @MISTERBITCOIN

    MichaelKennedy (View Comment):

    Fake John/Jane Galt (View Comment):

    DrewInWisconsin, Unhelpful Com… (View Comment):

    Fake John/Jane Galt (View Comment):
    Trump will go down as the most racist President in the history of the country

    Until the next Republican president, at which point there will be “sudden new respect™” for Trump.

    If there is ever another Republican president. I did not think Trump would be one, I now suspect he will be the last. At least the last we will see in our lifetimes.

    I think he will be re-elected but I agree he will be the last.

     

    The problem for the Democrats is they are heavily concentrated in cities, which are currently falling apart, and their septuagenarian leadership will not retire.

    The populist wing or the Bernie cult followers are too radical for at least 50% of the country.

    I know GOP leadership has been disappointing but don’t underestimate the stupidity and over-reach of Democrats

     

    • #56
  27. MISTER BITCOIN Inactive
    MISTER BITCOIN
    @MISTERBITCOIN

    Joshua Bissey (View Comment):

    MISTER BITCOIN (View Comment):
    It’s generic or over the counter so my guess is it is owned and manufactured by many companies.

    If I’m not mistaken, hydroxychloroquine is a prescription drug.

    India is one country where it is over the counter because malaria was or is still a problem there

     

    • #57
  28. MISTER BITCOIN Inactive
    MISTER BITCOIN
    @MISTERBITCOIN

    The Scarecrow (View Comment):

    Joshua Bissey (View Comment):

    MISTER BITCOIN (View Comment):
    It’s generic or over the counter so my guess is it is owned and manufactured by many companies.

    If I’m not mistaken, hydroxychloroquine is a prescription drug.

    I don’t know either (obviously). But if it were OTC, wouldn’t there be a run on it? Who could stop you from taking it?

    For that matter, is it illegal or something to take it now, just because the left is excoriating it? Can one ask a doctor for a prescription? Does it hurt you with some side effect or other, is it danderous in some way?

    In California doctors will prescribe it but pharmacies won’t give it to you unless it’s for lupus or you were an existing customer.

    I would try Canada or Costco.

    Blink Health is a pharmacy site/app that is cash only but their prices are comparable to or lower than insurance co-pay, depending on your deductible or plan

     

    • #58
  29. MISTER BITCOIN Inactive
    MISTER BITCOIN
    @MISTERBITCOIN

    MichaelKennedy (View Comment):

    Fake John/Jane Galt (View Comment):

    DrewInWisconsin, Unhelpful Com… (View Comment):

    Fake John/Jane Galt (View Comment):
    Trump will go down as the most racist President in the history of the country

    Until the next Republican president, at which point there will be “sudden new respect™” for Trump.

    If there is ever another Republican president. I did not think Trump would be one, I now suspect he will be the last. At least the last we will see in our lifetimes.

    I think he will be re-elected but I agree he will be the last.

     

    Obama won with record minority turnout and mostly likely ballot fraud ( illegal aliens/dead people).  It’s hard to imagine another candidate that will turn out the minority vote the way he did.

    In spite of that, he beat unimpressive Mitt Romney in 2012, 51-48 popular vote.   Romney almost won Florida which has been a bellwether state since 1996.  

    There is no more blue wall in the rust belt.  I think culturally and economically, the rust belt will favor GOP in future.

    GOP do well in local and state elections but for some reason can’t translate that success to the White House.

     

     

     

    • #59
  30. MISTER BITCOIN Inactive
    MISTER BITCOIN
    @MISTERBITCOIN

    The Scarecrow (View Comment):
    Small

    A friend of mine got hcq thru another friend who has lupus.

     

    • #60
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