This Non Story Ain't Dead Yet.

Cult of Trig, indeed. And for those of you not familiar with that phrase, I believe the editor at Wonkette used it, in some back and forth with an editor over at Mediaite. Such editor (I won't call him a journalist. None of them at Mediaite seem to meet that definition) seems to have crossed the line into advocacy. And that's ok. But it's not really anything close to journalism if you get too deep into the story yourself (never mind the fiction that there is this thing called gonzo journalism. Even Hunter S. Thompson shied away from that label, eventually. Hunter was just his own crazy-assed, fucked up self. Actually.)

Anyway, the latest update is that the folk at Wonkette have actually pulled down the rude and offensive post. And I think that's a shame. Sorta. Not that I am a fan of making fun of babies, even political babies. And I do get the point, that Palin exploits her family. Shit. I was calling the Palin family a reality TV show before the Mrs. got her own paid gig, or Bristol got on DWTS. But here are the reasons I think it's sorta a shame. I really dislike Palin. And I dislike Republicans. And I particularly dislike Palin supporters. And I particularly dislike bullshit. And even if I am sure that some of the complainers really are upset, I would bet that only a small percentage of those complaining about how this one special needs child was used as the vehicle for a tasteless joke against his mother (I did call it a swing anda miss, in my first post re the story) likely has any real track record advocating for special needs children, for real.

What's going on here for the most part, is a cult of personality, bullshit hissy fit. Palin has her loyal base. They tend to go all batshit for all sorts of irrational reasons. Is this incident more worthy? Eh. It was a rude shot. There is nothing new about people attacking Palin through her kids. Ask Dave Letterman. He was the last to get "The Full Treatment," far as I know.

There is a pattern here. And that is that GOPers are all into "Free Speech" but for the shit they don't like. (I am not a free speech advocate. I call bullshit on people who sing that song, or preach that gospel, how ever described.) So I say that's basically hypocritical. Speaking of hypocrites, I checked out the commentariat over at Althouse's blog. There were several of the right wing loons endorsing violence against the writer of the botched joke. I guess the irony was lost on those wing nuts, who really don't believe that the answer to bad speech is more speech, unless that speech is to incite violence.

Makes me wonder though. And remember, I think all that free speech ideology is a bunch of shit, but still I wonder. What really is the orthodox Free Speech Ideology Extremist response to the rude Trig Palin joke? Is condoning the tasteless joke as just another person's speech required? Or is it pointing out the rudeness, the lack of civility in a critical way, but leaving it at that, permissable under free speech orthodoxy and ideology? And what about hosting a blog full of violent comments against the rude jokester? What is the Free Speecher's Ideological Imperative there? Do you stand in solidarity with those shitheads crying out for baseball bat-driven remedies against those who tell bad, rude jokes about Trig Palin, or do you sensibly (since all that shit is public and triple backed up on multiple servers) delete the comments and expel the offenders?

Again, I don't buy that childish free speech nonsense. I'm all about the edit button. Or other edit function. Make that I am all about the editing process, not only in art, but in my personal life (but I should edit my own posts here better, but hey, sorta stream of sorta consciousness is my default setting for blogging.) Point is I have no ideological bar to deleting a shity comment, or deleting a shithead commenter, with out so much as a "By your leave." I don't pretend to be fair, and then re write the rules. I'll tell you up front, I hate what you said there, shut the fuck up. And that's how (human) nature intends it.

One last thing re this non story. Of all people, Greg Gutfeld got on the, "Horror, Horror," bandwagon. He allegedly went after the joke writer, but not in violent words, but instead attacked the writer's looks, and taste in beer. Accusing someone of being a PBR drinker?

I won't over do the mock mockery, like the one editor at Mediaite did. In parts of the East Village, PBR tallboy night is a favored special. Personally, I have stayed away from that shit since college days. It's as low end as it gets, and the gas? Mon dieu!

There I go, digressing again. Point in mentioning Gutfeld is that his batting average is so low for successful jokes that he doesn't even rate membership in the club. And just like a typical wing nut, his reaction to rudeness in others is to be frat boy rude himself. Keep up the . . . . work, Greg.