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.

Non Story of the Week. TrigGate.

This one is percolating more on the wing nut blogosphere. And it's sorta a tag along to another Palin family story. But the rude bastids at Wonkette really dumped on Trig Palin. And some of these wing nuts are acting like the sky has cracked open and the demons from another dimension are pouring through. Or some other catastrophic imagery will do, if you prefer.

Here's a taste of it:


Papa Johns, Huggies Pull Ads from Wonkette After Despicable Trig Palin Post.


Ok. Let me break it down.

Ya, the piece was rude. I saw it the day it went up. But ya know? And when I say ya know, I mean if you know what kinda shit they routinely do over at Wonkette, you should not be surprised. They deal in not only bad taste there, they revel it it.

Oddly (or perhaps not) some GOPers really don't get what that site is about. (It must really suck to be that stupid.) It is not a serious thing. It's not trying for even the slightest bit of professional newsyness. It's like Mad Magazine, but it's a different flavor of rude. They are trying for funny and sometimes I think they nail it. Sometimes I think it's a swing anda miss for them. But that is what they are about.

But hey, if some people wanna throw a fit, have at it. I am reminded of a discussion I had with some pecker headed wing nuts on that message board I used to frequent. And I think it was over some allegedly rude joke about one of Mrs. Palin's other kids. In any case, I made the simple argument, based on the vile inside joke comedians love, "The Aristcrats," that in theory nothing is too rude, for comedy. Trick is in being rude and being funny at the same time, but not be offensive. It's the risk of comedy. That's why I am so much more critical about people who have day jobs who get caught telling a lame, dumb, or offensive joke. I have no problem putting the screws to amateurs. What's that old line from the commercials and such? "These are trained professionals. Don't try this at home."

Ya. And here is the difference between a trained professional, and an amateur. An amateur will get all defensive, and blat about not meaning to insult. That whole pathetic routine. But a professional will take that swing anda miss attitude. That joke bombed? Ok, I got another one for ya . . . So even if Wonkette loses some ads I don't think they are going to stop being rude, and trying to be rude and funny at the same time.

Let's see what they got going on today. Under the description: DUMB PEOPLE TAKEN SERIOUSLY, a piece "Ayn Rand Sucks." It links to this on going net comix that really has it out for Rand and her cult. It's not a home run but it might have promise.

Also, under the description KOCHSUCKERS, a piece about the Koch brothers' voter guides for their employees.

And further down the page under the description, ARGHH MATEY is a piece titled "Obama Is Actually a Somali Pirate Child."

Whether they are funny? Eh. But do they intend to be serious? Not in the least!


And before I head for the exit, I did mention that TrigGate is sort of a tag along to another story. And that's the Trig Birther Trig Truther "movement." That is, if you think a few nit wits who are still stuck on that shit counts as a movement. Personally, with all that is wrong with Mrs. Palin, whether or not she is the mother of the wee one is not really important. In an odd way, I think that was in the back of the minds, at least, of the Wonkette writers. Swing anda miss on that one, guys.


Edit to add:

It gets weirder. The writer has been "disciplined."

But hey, now that this particular non story is dying down, we can guess at the next non story. P. Obama and his fundraisers in Cali should give the wing nuts something to go batshit over.

Like I Said Earlier, Trust The Comics . . .

Headline of the week, courtesy of those snarky larks over at Wonkette:

"President Caught On ‘Hot Mic’ Saying Things He Should Just Say In Public."

Granted, I think the staff over at Wonkette are not true comics/comedians in the classic sense of the word. But their enterprise is more one of intended to be funny than intending to be serious political commenters. And sometimes I think their collective humor sensibilities are too . . . what's the word I am thinking . . . too much of an inside joke to have broad appeal. But I think they have been getting generally better. Or maybe I am getting their inside jokes better, from osmosis of continued and repeated exposure.

Anyway . . . . And as has long been the case in the wide world, the most funny stuff has not only a germ of truth to it, but has a lot of truth to it. But before I break that part down, and the President's statements as well, let's recap the lyin' liars of the GOP bullshit. Echoing the old line attributed to some Vietnam War Era commander, "We had to bomb the village to save it," the GOP, through Looks-Like-A-Meth-Head, Lyin' Ryan recently proposed to save the Medical Insurance Plan known as "Medicare" by converting it from a Medical Insurance Plan into a voucher plan. Lying assed scumbag weasels. Oh. And the irony in that plan is it closely resembles the dreaded "ObamaCare," as those shits call it. Save, that the one plan requires the younger (healthier) folk to have insurance, and gives them the voucher if they need it. As opposed to the GOP plan, which requires the needy of care elderly to bankrupt themselves. Remember Death Panels? This GOP plan is worse than Death Panels. It's a Death Scheme.

That's the premise. Then P. Obama, actually quite mildly, rebuked Lyin' Ryan's proposal during his speech, earlier this week. More irony. The collective wail out of the wing nuts was that P. Obama was (as Limbaugh said it) bitch slapping Ryan (with out mentioning his name once, mind you.) So I guess Lyin' Ryan is their "Anointed One." Criticize the holes and lies and inhuman policies in his plan and it's HERESY! Ya. These people are that sick.

But on to the Wonkette quote. In an allegedly closed donor meeting, P. Obama made some critical (yet again mildy so) statements about the GOP. The GOP freaked. And that not only is funny, considering the depth and volume of hate he has endured from those shits. But for peeps like me, for Yella Dog Dems, our reply to that was:

About fucking time!

And it proves one of my favorite tactical theories. Keep the pressure on those shit-headed, lying-assed, bully-bigots, and you win. I hope this means that if it is not yet time when Obama takes the gloves off, he at least now knows, it's a fight. And it's a street fight.

Go get 'em, Tiger.