So good to see The Editors giving the book the sort of eminently fair and gracious and typically thoughtful review that teh Pantload so richly deserves.
Let me join the liberally totalitarian chorus of “welcome back”!
The editors have it exactly right, and it’s a lesson I wish more bloggers would take to heart. You don’t argue with Jonah, you don’t reason with him or try to make him see the light. You just gasp and go “Eeewww” and “Oh my God!” and laugh hysterically while Jonah performs a trick absolutely no one asked him to do.
Other things not seen because the video cut short: after peeing in its own mouth, the monkey went into a room with 99 other monkeys and 100 typewriters, and over the course of the next 12 hours, the group produced the collected works of Ayn Rand.
And also, smeared lots of monkey poo on the walls. If you want to count that as a different kind of activity, though I think the point could be argued that it’s not.
If I were to go back in time and steal Jonah’s opus before it got a chance to be published, I would leave a ransom note that would be something like this.
<i.And also, smeared lots of monkey poo on the walls. If you want to count that as a different kind of activity, though I think the point could be argued that it’s not.
Or as Mark Twain would have had it:
And also, smeared lots of monkey poo on the walls. But I repeat myself.
Pithier and funnier! But you, Jennifer, are no Mark Twain. (Unlike the Editors, who totally is/are.)
The editors have it exactly right, and it’s a lesson I wish more bloggers would take to heart. You don’t argue with Jonah, you don’t reason with him or try to make him see the light.
No one’s arguing with Jonah. It’s not about him or this particular book. He’s just one more tool in the right wing shed, and a pretty rusty, dull one at that. The point of all those tools, however, is to keep hacking away at anything resembling truth or objectivity or plain old fucking meaning so that words mean whatever the fuck you want them to mean, ideas have no power anymore, and there’s no way to call bullshit on anything. Then all that’s left is brute force and power, which just so happens to be the tool of choice for genuine fascists.* Neat how that works, huh? Doughboy just happens to be the latest and most egregious example of this up-is-down, black-is-white inverted logic.
Sure, we all know better, but for the much larger group of people who don’t, who get their news about politics from church or Rush Limbaugh, how are they supposed to know better if no one ever bothers to tell them why this or that right wing trope is bullshit? Don’t you have relatives like that? I sure the fuck do. I argue with them all the time rather than just rolling my eyes at their stupidity, because it’s worth the effort to try and at least cause some cracks in that cement-headed worldview.
But sure, let’s just keep smirking and waiting for people to figure out all on their own how the noise machine works without ever bothering to counter it because that would, like, cut into our porn-surfing time, man.
*Sorry to whichever blogger said this the other day; I didn’t save the link and forgot where I read it.
lemuel – well, I don’t recall saying that I am Mark Twain, so I don’t see the issue there. Apparently you found the idea expressed noteworthy or amusing enough to comment on it anyway, so it’s all good.
I was making a pointless not-all-that-funny joke at your expense because that’s how we do in the blogosphere. And because I’m reading this at work so can’t comment on the substance of the video, if any. Also, cause your comment reminded me of that famous joke and there’s not enough Mark Twain around here. I think he would have made a great blogger, don’t you?
Are you the same Jennifer who comments at Yglesias’ place?
lemuel – oh, no offense taken, the tenor of the joke was understood – my point being that the Editors, as you note, are Mark Twain, so no need for me to be too. And yes, I do sometimes comment at Yglesias’ place, though not often, so there may be more than one of us Jennifers popping in over there from time to time.
But do be sure to watch the video after work – well worth your time and a very succinct review of the book.
[...] their rationale for voting Republican. Stolen and modified shamelessly from the thankfully undead comedy wizards at The Poor Man Institute. [...]
But sure, let’s just keep smirking and waiting for people to figure out all on their own how the noise machine works without ever bothering to counter it because that would, like, cut into our porn-surfing time, man.
I don’t think the point is that nobody should try to actually refute what Goldberg says (Check out Dave Neiwert’s writings for an excellentexample of that). I think theeditors are just pointing out how astoundingly stupid Goldberg’s argument truly is.
This is entirely to serious a criticism to make in such a profoundly sophomoric temple, but reading Goldberg’s responses to Neiwert reminds me of the common thread I find in most so-called conservative ideologues:
“It should be clear by now that Jonah is an intellectual masochist who takes perverse pleasure in getting sand kicked in his face by infinitely more intelligent left-wing jocks. Any effort to seriously critique Jonah’s work is a futile exercise, as he’ll just shrug off your concerns, crack open another can of Red Bull, and churn out yet another 750-worder attacking the left for being objectively pro-murder. If you spend more than two sentences debunking one of Jonah’s columns, you are literally wasting precious minutes that could be used for more productive activities, such as TIVO-ing The Price is Right and hitting “pause” every time the camera zooms in on one of the Barker girls’ cleavage.” — Sadly, No in 2006.
I tried, but reading Jonah’s joke of a book is like standing in front of a monkey enclosure only to find no Plexiglas protecting me from whet Lucianne’s misbegotten spawn is flinging.
[...] ample pants. Conservatives turned away in disgrace, liberals pointed and laughed, monkeys peed in their mouths, and Jonah defended himself from this abuse with hilarious self-abuse. [...]
January 20, 2008 at 8:08 pm
No one, but no one, can work a crowd like that orangutan.
January 20, 2008 at 8:54 pm
…aside from Jonah…
January 20, 2008 at 9:02 pm
Yeah, the Comedy Central censors were probably right to trim this out last week.
January 20, 2008 at 9:34 pm
I hereby (temporarily) forgive you for all the boring sports nonsense you keep posting. Until the next time you do it.
January 20, 2008 at 10:27 pm
entirely too respectful to Jonah.
January 20, 2008 at 10:49 pm
http://anothergreenworld.blogspot.com/2007/12/im-not-going-to-lie-to-you.html
stupid monkey.
January 20, 2008 at 11:20 pm
It’s good to have you back.
January 20, 2008 at 11:57 pm
Wait, I thought that was how one was supposed to review Jet’s second album.
January 21, 2008 at 3:37 am
So good to see The Editors giving the book the sort of eminently fair and gracious and typically thoughtful review that teh Pantload so richly deserves.
Let me join the liberally totalitarian chorus of “welcome back”!
January 21, 2008 at 4:08 am
Now that’s more like it!
January 21, 2008 at 10:58 am
I refuse to believe (a) Jonah’s favorable reviewers have that flexibility even if (b) they could get their depends down in time if they wanted to.
January 21, 2008 at 11:17 am
And I realize you weren’t referencing Goldberg’s favorable reviewers.
January 21, 2008 at 12:17 pm
You cut off the video before the greatest spit-take in comedy history!
January 21, 2008 at 12:20 pm
That video stops just before the greatest spit-take in comedy history.
January 21, 2008 at 12:21 pm
Please excuse the re-mumbling.
January 21, 2008 at 12:56 pm
The editors have it exactly right, and it’s a lesson I wish more bloggers would take to heart. You don’t argue with Jonah, you don’t reason with him or try to make him see the light. You just gasp and go “Eeewww” and “Oh my God!” and laugh hysterically while Jonah performs a trick absolutely no one asked him to do.
January 21, 2008 at 1:50 pm
it’s too bad you cut the video short, because shortly afterwards that monkey embarked upon an epic project of mixing the various dirts.
January 21, 2008 at 4:00 pm
Other things not seen because the video cut short: after peeing in its own mouth, the monkey went into a room with 99 other monkeys and 100 typewriters, and over the course of the next 12 hours, the group produced the collected works of Ayn Rand.
And also, smeared lots of monkey poo on the walls. If you want to count that as a different kind of activity, though I think the point could be argued that it’s not.
January 21, 2008 at 5:00 pm
Masterful! Never before has a book review been made with such detail or with such care.
PS Welcome back, theeds. Yes, I just noticed. The series of tubes we know as the internets were a colder place in your absence. Missed you, too, SFTF.
January 21, 2008 at 11:01 pm
Normally I’m against behavior like this, but Cheney looks so happy.
January 22, 2008 at 1:14 am
If I were to go back in time and steal Jonah’s opus before it got a chance to be published, I would leave a ransom note that would be something like this.
January 22, 2008 at 1:15 am
Sorry, there’s an ad before the actual thingy starts. Buy your SUV’s from Fox Kia!
Weiner poopie.
January 22, 2008 at 8:46 am
What about the write 3 times as many words about it as the book contains itself approach favored by Sadly, No?
January 22, 2008 at 10:03 am
Amazing! How did Jonah fit in the orangutan suit?
It gives a whole new meaning to the phrase “drinking the kool-aide”.
January 22, 2008 at 11:27 am
No one will ever top Ambrose Bierce’s famous one-line book review:
“The covers of this book are too far apart.”
January 22, 2008 at 12:22 pm
<i.And also, smeared lots of monkey poo on the walls. If you want to count that as a different kind of activity, though I think the point could be argued that it’s not.
Or as Mark Twain would have had it:
And also, smeared lots of monkey poo on the walls. But I repeat myself.
Pithier and funnier! But you, Jennifer, are no Mark Twain. (Unlike the Editors, who totally is/are.)
January 22, 2008 at 2:25 pm
No one will ever top Ambrose Bierce’s famous one-line book review:
“The covers of this book are too far apart.”
Dunno who deserves credit, but I like”
“This book fills a much-needed void.”
January 22, 2008 at 3:03 pm
The editors have it exactly right, and it’s a lesson I wish more bloggers would take to heart. You don’t argue with Jonah, you don’t reason with him or try to make him see the light.
No one’s arguing with Jonah. It’s not about him or this particular book. He’s just one more tool in the right wing shed, and a pretty rusty, dull one at that. The point of all those tools, however, is to keep hacking away at anything resembling truth or objectivity or plain old fucking meaning so that words mean whatever the fuck you want them to mean, ideas have no power anymore, and there’s no way to call bullshit on anything. Then all that’s left is brute force and power, which just so happens to be the tool of choice for genuine fascists.* Neat how that works, huh? Doughboy just happens to be the latest and most egregious example of this up-is-down, black-is-white inverted logic.
Sure, we all know better, but for the much larger group of people who don’t, who get their news about politics from church or Rush Limbaugh, how are they supposed to know better if no one ever bothers to tell them why this or that right wing trope is bullshit? Don’t you have relatives like that? I sure the fuck do. I argue with them all the time rather than just rolling my eyes at their stupidity, because it’s worth the effort to try and at least cause some cracks in that cement-headed worldview.
But sure, let’s just keep smirking and waiting for people to figure out all on their own how the noise machine works without ever bothering to counter it because that would, like, cut into our porn-surfing time, man.
*Sorry to whichever blogger said this the other day; I didn’t save the link and forgot where I read it.
January 22, 2008 at 4:04 pm
lemuel – well, I don’t recall saying that I am Mark Twain, so I don’t see the issue there. Apparently you found the idea expressed noteworthy or amusing enough to comment on it anyway, so it’s all good.
January 22, 2008 at 4:15 pm
Sadly, no had a nice discussion of the future companion piece to this book— “Conservative Communism: From the Long March to the Wide Stance.”
January 22, 2008 at 4:25 pm
Jennifer-
I was making a pointless not-all-that-funny joke at your expense because that’s how we do in the blogosphere. And because I’m reading this at work so can’t comment on the substance of the video, if any. Also, cause your comment reminded me of that famous joke and there’s not enough Mark Twain around here. I think he would have made a great blogger, don’t you?
Are you the same Jennifer who comments at Yglesias’ place?
January 22, 2008 at 5:36 pm
lemuel – oh, no offense taken, the tenor of the joke was understood – my point being that the Editors, as you note, are Mark Twain, so no need for me to be too. And yes, I do sometimes comment at Yglesias’ place, though not often, so there may be more than one of us Jennifers popping in over there from time to time.
But do be sure to watch the video after work – well worth your time and a very succinct review of the book.
January 22, 2008 at 7:01 pm
[...] their rationale for voting Republican. Stolen and modified shamelessly from the thankfully undead comedy wizards at The Poor Man Institute. [...]
January 22, 2008 at 9:03 pm
But sure, let’s just keep smirking and waiting for people to figure out all on their own how the noise machine works without ever bothering to counter it because that would, like, cut into our porn-surfing time, man.
I don’t think the point is that nobody should try to actually refute what Goldberg says (Check out Dave Neiwert’s writings for an excellent example of that). I think theeditors are just pointing out how astoundingly stupid Goldberg’s argument truly is.
January 23, 2008 at 11:53 am
An Orangutan is an ape like you, not a monkey.
And while I am at it, “Heighth”, is not a word, stop using it.
January 23, 2008 at 6:51 pm
Notice the upright-upside-down symmetry of the orangutan’s unusually wide stance, and the perfectly straight-downward fall of its amber oracleisms.
Now that’s what I call moderate centrism.
Spill the wine!
January 23, 2008 at 6:56 pm
Behold, thou famous:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Jonah+Goldberg+fascism+review&btnG=Search
And so very apt a followup.
January 23, 2008 at 7:01 pm
[...] the editors shows us how to read jonah’s new book… [...]
January 23, 2008 at 7:28 pm
This is entirely to serious a criticism to make in such a profoundly sophomoric temple, but reading Goldberg’s responses to Neiwert reminds me of the common thread I find in most so-called conservative ideologues:
tit-for-tat, or, you do it too!
January 24, 2008 at 6:44 am
“It should be clear by now that Jonah is an intellectual masochist who takes perverse pleasure in getting sand kicked in his face by infinitely more intelligent left-wing jocks. Any effort to seriously critique Jonah’s work is a futile exercise, as he’ll just shrug off your concerns, crack open another can of Red Bull, and churn out yet another 750-worder attacking the left for being objectively pro-murder. If you spend more than two sentences debunking one of Jonah’s columns, you are literally wasting precious minutes that could be used for more productive activities, such as TIVO-ing The Price is Right and hitting “pause” every time the camera zooms in on one of the Barker girls’ cleavage.” — Sadly, No in 2006.
January 25, 2008 at 4:51 pm
I tried, but reading Jonah’s joke of a book is like standing in front of a monkey enclosure only to find no Plexiglas protecting me from whet Lucianne’s misbegotten spawn is flinging.
December 26, 2008 at 10:38 am
[...] ample pants. Conservatives turned away in disgrace, liberals pointed and laughed, monkeys peed in their mouths, and Jonah defended himself from this abuse with hilarious self-abuse. [...]