Endless Possibilities
The great political divide – Guardian-style:
Yes, an “always Labour” politics teacher clashes with a GP who votes “Labour every general election.” No crockery was thrown, you’ll be astounded to hear. To spare you the unbearable suspense, both dislike Mr Trump. That’s pretty much it. Both ordered cocktails and had “a really positive experience” chatting to the other. Or, in effect, to themselves.
Really getting to the bottom of things.
Previously in the world of vastly different people with vastly different views:
The Guardian series Dining Across The Divide, in which supposedly contrasting characters thrash out their differences, should any materialise at some point, is credited to Zoe Williams, whose mouthings have proved so inadvertently entertaining to regulars of this parish.
Consider this an open thread. Share ye links and bicker.
That. And once again no comments allowed over at the Guardian…
But they can’t permit reader feedback to disrupt the mutual admiration. Or, again, self-admiration.
That wouldn’t do at all.
And hey, how else is a “debate” to be “a really positive experience,” if it’s not with someone whose assumptions and opinions on almost every subject are practically identical to your own?
Now pass that mirror. I want to check how gorgeous I am.
Joe –
Drove Melbourne to Adelaide – 450 whole miles. Wow, Joe and his “partner” are veritably nigh unto Magellan.
Stuart –
Teaches history, doesn’t study it.
Nothing says downtrodden like dropping around 30 Imperial Dollars* each for lunch on the mean streets of Soho.
*(lunch special and umbrella drink)
Just when did Comment is Free cease to be free?
About the same time you could be thrown into the calabaloose for a spicy meme.
Her children are neurodivergent.
Laughter upsetting the luvvies again?
Any wonder?
New butterfly species named after murdered refugee Irena Zarutska.
(via Data Republican)
Oh, it’s still free.
It’s just not allowed.
Surely you see the difference.
Only way to get the stains out of the upholstery?
Sufficient grounds for deportation.
Mr Humza Yousaf, lest we forget, is speaking in a country, Scotland, the population of which is 93% white. Which would, one might assume, account for all of those white people who seemingly offend him.
Her children are neurodivergent: once upon a time, parents were proud their kids were on the honor roll. Ah, the good old days…
No matter where he goes, he will be offended when he sees people who don’t look like him and don’t worship like him.
THAT is why Islam has bloody borders.
Let’s make that 99.9%!
Never would have thought, years ago, that I’d be saying that.
‘I think Trump is Hitler.’
‘I think Trump is Hitler but in a slightly different way.’
THE DIVIDE!
Is it they’re not providing, despite best effort, sufficiently Third World standards of governance?
To quote New Yorker film critic Pauline Kael, in 1972: “I only know one person who voted for Nixon. Where they are I don’t know.“
Nixon won the 1972 election 520-17, winning 48 out of 50 states, including New York.
Her quote has, or perhaps had, been used for 50+ years as a cautionary tale in reporting circles to warn specifically about the dangers of reporters becoming too insulated from the general population, specifically of cultivating a readership that is a bubble that is not representative of the general public the reporters are supposedly supposed to serve and represent.
Instead, many reporters have used it instead to highlight that they are right, and better than the “bovine citizenry”. It’s the “I’m right, the world is wrong” mindset, institutionalized.
It’s then followed by considerable head scratching as reporters wonder why on earth the news media is neither trusted nor held in high regard as it used to be.
Poking through the series, of the three Conservative voters I could find, two were very soft Conservative, in the sense of actually voting for Labour, and the token Reform voter was oddly steeped in the Guardian tongue, showing great enthusiasm for “wealth taxes,” and disliking Mrs Thatcher.
This seems to be a common pattern – lefties and, well, almost lefties bonding over their dislike of Reform or Mr Trump. There’s very little substance to be had. It’s chiefly leftist boilerplate with some occasional and oddly flaccid pushback.
Woolly stuff. And not exactly representative of rebuttals one might offer.
Can’t say it captures the tensions of our time.
Oh my. She’s transformed herself into a demon? Hey lady, maybe they’re not neurodivergent. Maybe they’re traumatized by being raised by a Cluster B mother with scary eyes.
I remember those heady days, almost 20 years ago, when you could read the Guardian‘s godawful opinion pieces then hurry to the comments to see them being torn apart, sometimes line by line and often with gleeful flair, by visitors whose reading of the paper was entirely ironic.
Good times.
Wasn’t Jonathan Swift satirizing this Guardian column when he wrote about Big-Endians and Little-Endians.
I recall how often and how vividly the comments section of Comment Is Free revealed the gulf between the Guardian‘s columnists and, well, normal people. It was often very funny. I remember several people taking delight in correcting Polly Toynbee’s deranged attempts at simple arithmetic.
What do they think they’re guarding?
And yet when I point out that the epidemic of autism is being driven largely by a lack of any test that can distinguish between “your child has shit social skills because of a neurological disorder” and “your child has shit social skills because he’s growing up in a broken home and being shuttled back and forth every seven days from the age of two means he lacks the stable physical environment to develop emotional security”, everyone loses their minds.
2016, or thereabouts.
Speaking of Comment Is Free, and vanishing comments sections more generally, this, from Samizdata, came to mind.
Look for the union label . . .
‘I left my shoes in San Francisco‘ just doesn’t have quite the same ring.
Staying on message.
thanks to “the first female editor”:
On a small boat, headed for your shores . . .
And so we have this:
Very much a pattern we’ve seen elsewhere. And so, we waved goodbye to a lively place where unhinged leftism could be aired and mocked and challenged – often in ways that were genuinely informative. To make way for a much drearier place where unhinged leftism can be aired free from rebuttal, or mockery, or factual correction.
Lest feelings be hurt.
Heh.
Also, terrorise.
If I had better Google-fu I’d link the photo (seen here before I am sure) of the great hulking trans-“woman” with lantern jaw, receding hairline, and linebacker build towering aggressively over an actual woman with her shorter, slimmer, female build and shape, face and body posture signaling meekness and submission. If the guy hadn’t been wearing a dress, that image would have been used by feminists as an example of Toxic Masculinity and The Patriarchy(tm) Oppressing Women.
Real woman are not “terrorizing” trans-“women” in any meaningful way. But if you re-define the word to mean “hurt my feelings by not celebrating and playing along with my delusions”, well then I guess there’s some terrorizing going on, but it’s a small minority. There’s more real women supporting the madness, as the photo of Mr. Sasha Yates and his feminist teacher cohort illustrates so perfectly, so why are they whining about the few brave souls who don’t play along?
For those who missed it.
Seriously!
Wood chippers are cheaper than air fare. Just a thought.
So David, after their first date, will Joe and Stuart keep seeing each other? Perhaps dinner and a movie next? 😏
What the hell do truck drivers have to do with the American Federation of Teachers? Johnny can’t read but we they can spend members’ dues on lawfare?
Bookmark.
I recently photographed Proposal Numbers 180 and 181 in the Smokies. As a lagniappe for my clients, I am taking one of their images and “Christmas-izing it” to commemorate their trip. So here we have Daniel and Destiny at the bridge found at the popular Alum Cave trailhead.
She’s walking in snow in those shoes? Hardy lass.
She’s walking in snow in those shoes? Hardy lass.
I am ashamed to say I have done it back in my youth. Anything to impress a date.
Notre-Dame de Paris
Dispossessd or deposed?
[ Checks drawer of thick winter socks. ]
Accidents will happen . . .
we only hit and run . . .
He used to be your victim . . .
now you’re not the only one . . .
climate change: well, polar bears are increasing, there is a downward trend in hurricanes hitting the US, vegetation is greening, there is no trend in US floods except that caused by urbanization (paved areas shed water), and so on. And Hayhoe is not much of a scientist, FYI.