![]() CREEPING DOWDISM AND KEITHO! Its hard to run a gang of rubes more briskly than Olbermann did: // link // print // previous // next //
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2009 Up with Milloy: We were pleased to see Courtland Milloys column in todays Post. For ourselves, we havent seen any of Tyler Perrys films. But we thought Milloy asked the right questions. To be honest, we were mainly surprised that Milloy was surprised:
Is this worse in the African-American context? It may well be. But for ourselves, we wouldnt write Mrs. Doubtfire off quite this quickly. Many men love mocking women. (As weve often said: Some men go into stand-up comedy just so they can stand on a stage and mock womens comical voices.) For our money, Some Like It Hot is one film of this type which packs a sly, intended surprise. Something very unusual happens; racing toward Florida on that train, we soon see that Sugar (Marilyn Monroe) is the films good, decent, sincere and generous person. (Sweet Sue has plenty of moxie too.) The gentlemen sneak inside the hareemand a better class of people is there. But then, Billy Wilder was like that. You have to admire the guy who made Mad Men in real time (The Apartment). Although he had to wriggle a bit to deal with Miss Kubeliks conduct. You rarely see journalists talk about this. Three cheers to Milloy, who did. CREEPING DOWDISM AND KEITHO: This morning, we learn the latest fact from the gong-showMaureen Dowd doesnt seem to like Sheryl Crow either. This new possibility isnt surprisingCrow is alive, after all, and Dowd isnt. But the reason for Antoinette Number Ones pique is just as silly and stupid as ever. You see, Crow accepted a gig at a private eventand the sponsor has become controversial:
Never mind what those lyrics were; this is Dowd at her twice-weekly dumbest. According to Dowd, Crow was part of an ignoble tradition; she warbled (when we werent looking) for a group of sketchy people. But how was Crow supposed to know that these people were sketchy (in Dowds opinion)? Why is Crow in Dowds headline, no one else? Dowd forgets to say. (For sheer fun, note the way Dowds readers might get the idea that Chicago gets paid more than Crow. In fact, that fifty grand was the price of the hall. Meow! Hiss-spit!! Meee-ow!!!) Of course, Dowd is dumb, and personal, beyond all compare. If you give your cat to a friend, it shows that youre callous and ruthless (see THE DAILY HOWLER, 2/24/09); lady doctors will get beat up for their frumpy clothes. And darlings! That hair! (See THE DAILY HOWLER, 5/21/07.) But the upper-end press corps insists that shes brilliant; For that reason, her creeping inanity has virtually defined mainstream press culture in the past twenty years, ever since she got discovered making that dumb observation about poor confused Mondale/Ferraro. (See THE DAILY HOWLER, 5/14/99. Hiss! Hiss-spit!! Meow!!!). Theres only one problem with this silly trend; modern societies dont run on dumb. Take a look around at your world to see where this process has led. And now, the leading stars of the liberal web are adopting this dumb persons standards. Just consider this rube-running post by Josh Marshall, who has managed to dumb himself down. Its hard to believe that a guy has to stretch to find a way to trash Sean Hannity. But Marshall devoted fifteen seconds to this post, which is Dowdian dumb:
We know, we know, its hard to believe, but Marshalls post was actually dumber than Dowds Hannity read a paid radio adand Marshall ran to tell the rubes that this made him a big pal of someone who now stands accused as a crook. And of course, anything as dumb as that had to come from Olbermann first. In the world of this big dope, the fact that Hannity accepted that ad made him the world;s qworst person:
To his credit, Olbermann was willing to identify this story as pure number two. But truly, you cant treat viewers like bigger fools than Olbermann did in that segment, and in his trio of teases. Did you follow the reasoning there? Sean Hannity accepted paid radio ads from someone who wasnt in any trouble at the time. On Countdown, we rubestongues hanging out from a very brisk runwere told that this makes him worst person. Its very hard to get dumber than that. But Olbermann tries, every night. As we said, its hard to believe that a guy has to stretch to conjure complaints about Hannity. But this is the way the dumbing-down spreads when liberal leaders decide to share the joys of Creeping Dowdism. Countdown is more and more the work of a hack, surrounded by a gang of script-readers. Tomorrow, well show you what Richard Wolfe said. But then, Wolfe shows up to play the trained seal pretty much every night now. A modern society cant run on dumbbut liberal leaders are getting much dumber. We humans seem to love running rubes; as with Dowd, so now with these liberals. Everyone gets to trash his or her favorites, without doing the least bit of work. Sheryl Crows vile for taking a gig. So is Hannity, for reading an ad. A modern nation cant run on dumbbut dumb is what youre getting handed. Tomorrow, that Times editorial. And what Professor Carter has said. We didnt call these people fundamentalists. Carter does, in todays Times. Tomorrow: A note on bad politics. Darn that Obama: Josh Marshall just knew that Bobby Jindal was faking about that unemployment provision (more tomorrow). He had to be grandstanding, Marshall surmised; he then proceeded to tell the rubes exactly what Jindal was thinking And sure enough! It was political posturing, all the way down to the ground! (See THE DAILY HOWLER, 2/24/09.) But then, if you read that dopey Times editorial, youll see the same fundamentalist thinking. If Jindal expresses a view we dont share, it must be pure political posture! But darn it! Darn that dad-burned Obama! Heres what he said at Mondays summit, concerning that very same issue:
Darn that Obama! Darn, darn, darn! Why did he have to use the word honest? Why cant he just keep dumbing the rubes, the way pseudo-libs like to do?
Tomorrow, more on this topic. Extra reading? Check the fundamentalist train of thought in that Times editorial. The first two grafs should suffice.
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