Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

People identifying as christian while ignoring christ and his teachings is a strange thing indeed.

This isn’t Democrats spending madly. This is government catching up.

My right to basic bodily autonomy is not on the table. that’s the new deal.

Sometimes the world just tells you your cat is here.

Welcome to day five of every-bit-as-bad-as-you-thought-it-would-be.

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

Republicans: The threats are dire, but my tickets are non-refundable!

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

The arc of the moral universe does not bend itself. it is up to us to bend it.

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

People are complicated. Love is not.

Weird. Rome has an American Pope and America has a Russian President.

“When somebody takes the time to draw up a playbook, they’re gonna use it.”

Their boy Ron is an empty plastic cup that will never know pudding.

Oh FFS you might as well trust a 6-year-old with a flamethrower.

They traffic in fear. it is their only currency. if we are fearful, they are winning.

I like political parties that aren’t owned by foreign adversaries.

The unpunished coup was a training exercise.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.

Not all heroes wear capes.

They think we are photo bombing their nice little lives.

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

You are here: Home / Fallows is Moved to Profanity

Fallows is Moved to Profanity

by | 72 Comments

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I haven’t seen this before:

This alone disproves Donald Trump’s crock-of-shit assertions that Obama was an affirmative action or charity admittee to the Ivy Leagues who couldn’t really cut it on his own IQ or test scores, as if there weren’t already evidence enough: It is his use at time 0:50 of the word “bemusement” in its proper sense (puzzlement, confusion) rather than what most people think it means (mild amusement). I would like to have someone ask Trump what he thinks the word means. Maybe some variant on “easement”?

The whole thing is worth a read, because he aims his kick towards the ass where it really belongs: the DC press carnival barkers.

This is not a great day for the press. For anybody, really — but maybe a tie for worstness between Trump himself and those who have been barkers for his sideshow.

Reader Interactions

72Comments

  1. 1.

    eemom

    I don’t think these guys are who Neil Young had in mind when he sang about “the barkers and the colored balloons.”

  2. 2.

    SiubhanDuinne

    I was also pleased to hear the President use “bemusement” properly and appropriately. Nice that Fallows picked up on that!

    Now, as to one of my own minor peeves (title of this thread): I like to keep a clear distinction between profanity (contempt or irreverance toward sacred things) and terms such as “crock-of-shit” that would fall under vulgarity, obscenity or scatology. I do realize that these are all used more or less as synonyms for each other in informal conversation, but each has a specific meaning.

    /pedant

  4. 4.

    Superluminar

    Well I don’t see why you’re singling us white folks out for this, when The Bell Curve conclusively proves it’s the blacks with their non-birth-curtificates who are the real problem…

  5. 5.

    Loneoak

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    I have the same pedantic complaints about a lot of misuses, but I hadn’t considered that one before. I’m curious how you would categorize this statement:

    Fucking Christ, Donald Trump’s toupee looks like a merkin worn by Mother Theresa.

  6. 6.

    Brian R.

    Nah, Trump’s been to plenty of bemusement parks. He’s a smart guy. Classy as hell, too.

  7. 7.

    Svensker

    Just watched O’s speech for the first time. Felt like the principal was talking to a bunch of unruly 4th graders. I hope some of them, anyway, feel chastened.

  8. 8.

    srv

    Fallows is like Sully’s jr sometimes, you start liking him, and then he does dickesh stuff. e.g. his post title last week about how the Sierra Clubs president using “Boiling Frog in a Pot” phrase was liberals equivalent to birtherism. His editor might have made the title choice, but Fallows didn’t have a problem with it.

  9. 9.

    Scott

    @Svensker: I’d bet on more than a few of them getting pissed off about it. “How dare that uppity Kenyan scold me! Doesn’t he realize I’m a Very Important Member of the Fourth Estate! That does it, I’m putting Trump and Breitbart back on the front page!”

  10. 10.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Loneoak:

    Stop being an ass ;)

    I have NO IDEA how to go about doing that. Maybe I just need a new username. Will check with M_C and get back to you.

    @Zam:

    Fucking Christ, Donald Trump’s toupee looks like a merkin worn by Mother Theresa.

    That’s either a profane vulgarity, a scatological profanity, or a vulgar obscenity with profanity sauce on the side.

  12. 12.

    SiubhanDuinne

    FYWP edit function.

    Fucking Christ, Donald Trump’s toupee looks like a merkin worn by Mother Theresa.

    Edit: That’s not a figure of speech at all. It’s the simple truth.

  14. 14.

    Suffern ACE

    Back to “real” work. For more from The Atlantic, see Josh Green, Garance Franke-Ruta, Chris Good, and Adam Martin.

    Let me know when everyone and their foreign-born uncles back in the homecountry has weighed in and we can get back to important things.

    Until then, I hope we never have to spend time reading about this after today again. Ever. Even if some nut in Texas brings it up.

  15. 15.

    kay

    how long will the press keep acting as the megaphone for this carnival barker? Why aren’t they jumping all over him now, for the patent idiocy of his “birther” claim, rather than acting as if somehow he has scored a point by making Obama react? In reality, he’ll be on the stage with the press’ megaphone until people get bored with him — which gradually but undeniably has happened to Palin.

    This is too generous to the media. What they do has no connection, whatever, with “people” anymore. If it did they would have stopped the relentless promotion of Palin when it became clear that she is not at all popular or well-liked, which was months before they stopped promoting her.

    They didn’t. They’re a closed circle. What they do has nothing to do whatever with “us”. It’s about them.

  18. 18.

    Mnemosyne

    @dmsilev:

    I can’t wait for Jake Tapper to show up here again so we can slam him with that. Maybe we can get him to defend his “sister network” again.

  19. 19.

    Studly Pantload

    OT, but “breaking,” as the newsters say: Per TPM: Harry Reid to Senate Republicans on Ryan/House budget: “Vote, bitchez.”

  20. 20.

    one two seven

    I wish this had all happened before baseball season so I could name my fantasy team Carnival Barkers.

  21. 21.

    Comrade Mary

    Fallows has walked back the crude language. His choice (and good on him for showing the crossout and explaining his reasoning), but the fact that he was moved to type it and hit Publish says a lot.

  22. 22.

    Basilisc

    Hey, does anyone have an opinion about the fact that we have a new Secretary of Defense and a new CIA director? Just wondering.

  23. 23.

    Amir_Khalid

    @Svensker:
    No, they won’t feel chastened. Not at all. In fact, they are exploding with petulance: “How dare you call me out for my childishness!” As has already been pointed out on this thread.

    Not, of course, that this surprises anyone here at all.

  26. 26.

    Parallel 5ths (Jewish Steel)

    In an update:

    OK, it’s a sign of defeat to resort to profanity.

    So much for this site’s raison d’fucking etre.

  27. 27.

    ThatLeftTurnInABQ

    ..”not a great day for the press” LOLwhut? I hope this is a case of massive understatement performed in the service of dry humor, otherwise what reality is Fallows living in? Every day is “not a great day for the press”. This has been the case at least since the Iran-Contra scandal.

  30. 30.

    montana

    It is somewhat comforting to see someone with Fallow’s mainstream media profile clearly say that he has had it with these fucking idiots…his peers in that same mainstream media.

    Also, despite his walking it back, “crock-of-shit” is a very proper description of his peers work, which will no doubt cause high-pitched sounds to flow forth from Tapper and all the disgraces to the legacy of the few great news men and women we have had.

  31. 31.

    Nellcote

    @dmsilev:

    Apparently, the press corps(e) is upset that Obama said mean things about them.

    The WH Corespondents Dinner should be interesting this year. I wonder if they hired Trump to be the featured comedian.

  32. 32.

    Rhoda

    Ever since Trump went full birther on Today; the birther issue has come roaring to life and it re-entered mainstream cable conversation. Hell, it was an acceptable “tactic” and looked on as such by folks like Halperin who instead of clearly saying this disqualified Trump he and parts of the Morning Joe crew talked about how Trump got in Obama’s face and the Republican field should take note.

    Mika tried to point out how stupid and disqualifying it was; but no one noticed and I guess she took a vodka cookie and went to the little kids table to eat.

    So Tapper can fuck himself; this has been big on cable and yesterday a new front was entered with the school scores bullshit. Apparently, this was a real, long-ass conversation on Hardball between Matthews and BuKKKhannan. (ETA: This will probably become a real meme and likely coupled with the he doesn’t do press conferences/teleprompter jokes that the press will justify by talking about how everyone called Bush stupid. They’re going to be real pissed about the swipe Obama took at them and not forgive that any time soon.)

  33. 33.

    Shoemaker-Levy 9

    @dmsilev:

    Yikes, that’s pretty bad coming from Tapper, who is usually one of the less odious of the mainstream reporters. Yes, the President exaggerated, as one is wont to do when angry. It was not the “dominant” story, just one covered vastly out of proportion to its actual importance. But the fact that Tapper went to such ridiculous lengths to document this “untruth” says that the remarks hit their target.

  35. 35.

    Nellcote

    @Shoemaker-Levy 9:

    But the fact that Tapper went to such ridiculous lengths to document this “untruth” says that the remarks hit their target.

    Jake Tapper is a notoriosly thin skinned Village Defender. He defended Fox as a “sister network” when Gibbs took a shot at their bs.

  36. 36.

    daverave

    @dmsilev:

    From the article:
    “These questions made up much of the coverage that focused on the Obama administration, a topic that accounted for another 4% of the newshole.”

    Can’t say I’ve ever seen that word before although I can imagine lots of vulgar variations on it in this context.

  38. 38.

    dmsilev

    @daverave: Tapper probably meant news-whole. Though given the quality of the product, reasonable people could argue that newshole is far more appropriate.

  39. 39.

    Tuttle

    OK, it’s a sign of defeat to resort to profanity.

    What second rate milquetoast dildo fuck came up with this moronic line of shit?

  43. 43.

    Valdivia

    @daverave:

    I used to work in a company where we needed to account for the newshole content of each paper–ie how much its news vs ads,etc. It is a word. :)

    Tapper is still an ass.

  44. 44.

    skippy

    i am watching (actually listening to as i do household chores) martin bashir on cnn. he just said to michael isakoff “when the president talked about carnival barkers, it’s likely he was referring to donald trump.”

    and i said out loud to the tv, “no, martin, he was talking about you and isakoff and all your pindit pals.”

  45. 45.

    David Brooks (not that one)

    You noticed that the longest pause, and stare at the press, was after the phrase “carnival barkers”. He took exactly enough time for everyone to realize he was talking about someone specific.

    I also like how Fallows made “crock of shit” do double duty, by bringing it up again, and re-asserting it, in the walk-back update.

  46. 46.

    Martin

    Not surprised. I have it on good authority that Fallows was personally responsible for all of Carter’s most profanity-laced speeches.

  47. 47.

    AnderJ

    Here we have a wonderful real-world test: if “actual knowledge” mattered, the number of people who thought Obama was foreign-born would approach zero by next week — with exceptions for illiterates, the mentally disabled, paranoid schizophrenics, etc. My guess is that the figures will barely change.

    I expect the number to sink to 27% of the total electorate…

  48. 48.

    Shoemaker-Levy 9

    @Nellcote:

    He defended Fox as a “sister network”

    I keep reading complaints about this and I don’t understand them. It was a factual statement. FOX is a sister to ABC. It’s different in degree, not in kind. If FOX is not a sister to ABC then why does the President keep calling on them at press conferences and having sit-down interviews with them? Anyway, there’s plenty to fault Tapper for today, this non-issue aside.

  49. 49.

    kay

    @Valdivia:

    Tapper is still an ass.

    I knew that was going to be the tactic. After spending two weeks talking about something ridiculous, they’re not going to talk about themselves for the next week.

    They talk about themselves too much. They should stop doing that.

    Do we have to listen to media analyze media, again?

    Can’t they do this on their own time? Among themselves? No one else gives a shit.

  50. 50.

    kay

    @Valdivia:

    Remember this?

    During Tuesday night’s Press Conference, President Obama teased a member of the press corps who tried to follow up on a colleague’s unanswered question. Obama asked Jake Tapper of ABC News: “Are you the ombudsman for the White House press corps?”

    He is! That’s his real job :)

  52. 52.

    Citizen Alan

    @Studly Pantload:

    I think it would be the most hilarious thing I’ve seen in my entire life if the Senate GOP filibusters the House GOP budget bill to avoid having to vote on it.

  53. 53.

    NonyNony

    @Mike in NC:

    Is that anything like being the purest whore in a brothel?

    Well, except that one actually does a job with some value and the other is the Washington Press Corpse.

  54. 54.

    Flugelhorn

    First of all, who thinks bemusement has anything to do with being amused? How is that a litmus test for genius? I certainly do not think Obama is a moron, but understanding English seems a fairly low bar for MENSA admittance.

  55. 55.

    scav

    @David Brooks (not that one):

    I also like how Fallows made “crock of shit” do double duty, by bringing it up again, and re-asserting it, in the walk-back update.

    I’m trying to work out the subtle geography there. Not quite a walk-back, little bit of a side-step, shuffle and a dance step and then WHAM a solid kick.

  56. 56.

    Studly Pantload

    @Citizen Alan:

    Yeah, I wasn’t considering the filibuster option, but, yep, that would be every bit as damning to the usual monolithic appearance the GOP likes to present as if they voted against the budget outright.

    Nevermind the Beltway enablers – Senate Republicans can plainly see how unpopular this vote has gone over in House district town halls, so now they either gotta subject themselves to the same abuse from constituents or turn tail, which sho’ nuff a filibuster would demonstrate.

  58. 58.

    geg6

    @Studly Pantload:

    In general, Harry Reid drives me to distraction. But every now and then, the boxer that he used to be peeks out from behind the mild-mannered, Mormon old guy curtain and lets loose with a fuckin’ roundhouse that would knock out a rhinoceros.

  60. 60.

    geg6

    @daverave:

    newshole

    Next time Tapper comes sniffing around BJ, trying to defend himself and his buddies from the MSM, this is what I’m calling him. It’s an awesome word, but not in the way that Tapper probably thinks it is.

  61. 61.

    The Other Chuck

    Frankly, I did read “bemusement” with the connotation of “amusement”, and it still works. As in “you dumbass nirthers cracked me up at first, but the joke’s over because you’re drowning out real news.”

  62. 62.

    catclub

    @JPL: “The repubs will not allow a vote on the bill, imo.”

    So instead they will FILIBUSTER the Ryan budget? How will
    that work with their teatard masters?

    The whole point is heads I win / tails you lose.

  63. 63.

    catclub

    Reid to GOP: Just Try Voting Against Ending Subsidies For Oil Giants

    Neat, now the House will be where good ideas go to die!
    Change!

  64. 64.

    Bulworth

    This alone disproves Donald Trump’s crock-of-shit assertions

    Aahhhhhh. Breakdown in civility! Super-partisan! Why can’t Fallows have Trump over for lunch or a beer?

  65. 65.

    Ash Can

    I was wondering who would be the first media type to get it express butthurt over the president being mean to the stenographer pool. I guess Tapper really is the ombudsman for the pressies. Or maybe the den mother.

  69. 69.

    NonyNony

    @JPL:

    The repubs will not allow a vote on the bill, imo.

    Not allow equals filibuster

    Filibuster equals voting against

    If they filibuster the bill then they have to explain to the House and the Tea Party why, exactly, they filibustered the bill.

    And if they go out and say “it was all a setup – Obama would have vetoed it anyway” then how does that help them?

    There’s no lose here – the only way this loses is if a couple of Democratic Senators are stupid enough to vote for it (Joe Manchin I’m looking at you). Even THAT’S not a loss because at least the folks in their home states will know exactly where they stand on Medicare and can get ready to vote their asses out next time they come up for an election.

    ETA: Apparently wordpress doesn’t like the “double equals”. I’ll keep that in mind.

  70. 70.

    Ruckus

    @Tuttle:
    What second rate milquetoast dildo fuck came up with this moronic line of shit?

    OK I’ll probably get in trouble for this…
    Don’t know but he was probably wearing an ankle length skirt, hair in bun that could be used in place of a brillo pad, a bible in one hand, and a temperance league hatchet in the other.

  71. 71.

    Kilkee

    After the press conference I happened to be in the car for a 2-hour drive, during which I got to listen to various RW call-in shows. All, of course, blame Obama for having caused this problem. Many assume the new form is a fake. Many lauded Trump for his “success” in “forcing the President’s hand.” Not a single caller or host pointed out that, as it turns out, Trump was utterly full of shit not only with his “questions” and “doubts,” but with his now-obvious lies about the “very interesting” things his crack team of investigators was finding in Hawaii, stuff they “couldn’t believe.” I suppose it’s possible that the latter statement can stand alone: they couldn’t believe that they were finding that the President wasborn in Oahu.

  72. 72.

    Ija

    @srv:

    It was a freaking joke. The boiling frog metaphor has been Fallow’s pet peeve for a very long time. If that makes Fallow Sully Jr, then you obviously haven’t been reading him all that often.

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