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You are here: Home / Elections / Election 2012 / Open Thread: Why People Hate Hipsters, pt. 3,207,841

Open Thread: Why People Hate Hipsters, pt. 3,207,841

by Anne Laurie|  October 1, 20129:15 pm| 137 Comments

This post is in: Election 2012, Open Threads, Assholes

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From the NYTimes:

TORONTO — During the Jan. 3 broadcast of ABC’s “World News Tonight” Diane Sawyer introduced a heartbreaking segment from the Iowa caucus, featuring a distraught voter being consoled by Mitt Romney. “Save the small families of America,” she begged through tears, as Mr. Romney hugged her and promised he would.

As audiences at the Toronto International Film Festival recently discovered, that was no conservative Christian in Mr. Romney’s arms. It was the actress Jane Edith Wilson, star of “Janeane From Des Moines,” which might be called a mockumentary but which features a rather prestigious lineup of supporting players, including Mr. Romney, Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum. They were running in this year’s Republican primaries as “Janeane” went shopping for a candidate to support.

ABC was certainly not the only news organization taken in by Ms. Wilson’s performance, nor Mr. Romney the only politician. As Juana Summers of Politico reported during a campaign stop by Mrs. Bachmann, “Janeane Wilson, 47, who drove from near Waukee, Iowa, to see Bachmann got more than 10 minutes with the presidential candidate but finished still unsure.” Kathie Obradovich, a political columnist for The Des Moines Register, blogged about Janeane and her indecision about whether to vote for Mr. Santorum, Mrs. Bachmann or Mr. Perry…

[Wilson] never abandoned the masquerade, not in Iowa. Which was occasionally frustrating. “When I was at a Santorum event, a woman told me this harrowing story about all these emergency room visits she’d been through and how she owed $20,000 and how she’s going to pay it off on an installment plan,” Ms. Wilson said. “And then she immediately says how much she hates Obamacare and how much she loves Santorum and hopes he wins. And there’s a part of me that wanted to say, ‘Are you crazy?’ ”

On the other side was an Iowa woman who responded to Janeane’s litany of woes by pressing her phone number on Ms. Wilson and briefing her on health care options. “She said, ‘Call me, and I’ll walk you through it,’ ” Ms. Wilson said….

Two women, proving you don’t need a penis to be a giant dick. Dressing up as a ‘confused’ Midwesterner for purposes of mockery says to me that the only difference between Grace Lee and James O’Keefe is that Wilson (hopefully) didn’t break any laws with her attempt to cash in on her fellow tribalists’ worst fears about Those People.

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Reader Interactions

137Comments

  1. 1.

    Baud

    October 1, 2012 at 9:18 pm

    People seemed to enjoy it when Sasha Baron Cohen did it.

  2. 2.

    Frankensteinbeck

    October 1, 2012 at 9:23 pm

    @Baud:
    I’ll be honest. I thought he was being a giant word-I-suspect-is-in-the-spam-filter.

  3. 3.

    Another Halocene Human

    October 1, 2012 at 9:28 pm

    Obama lurves him some banks so much the finance bigwigs are butthurt and giving all their money to Romney…

  4. 4.

    MikeJ

    October 1, 2012 at 9:29 pm

    @Frankensteinbeck: The original Ali G show on Channel 4 where his pranks were all done on the powerful and the main joke was “this person is out of touch with youth culture” was ok. It’s when he starts making fun of the idiot on the street for not being as sophisticated as he that it got annoying.

  5. 5.

    Tyro

    October 1, 2012 at 9:30 pm

    Can you really call a 47-year-old woman a “hipster”? Granted, she does seem to wear a tacky-looking hat, but I think that middleagedom and being known for appearing in Tide commercials disqualifies you from being a hipster, even if you do live in LA.

  6. 6.

    Anya

    October 1, 2012 at 9:31 pm

    Since this is an open thread — everyone should read about hedge fund billionaire Leon Cooperman and his hatred of the president. This hatred started because the President and his ungrateful family failed to appreciate the self published poetry of Mr. Cooperman’s fourteen-year-old granddaughter. You really need to read the whole article.

    From New Yorker: SUPER-RICH IRONY: Why do billionaires feel victimized by Obama?
    Via Gawker

  7. 7.

    NotMax

    October 1, 2012 at 9:32 pm

    I shall never grok the entertainment value supposed by someone whose idea of performance is an extended impersonation of a shallow stereotype.

  8. 8.

    PsiFighter37

    October 1, 2012 at 9:33 pm

    I’m coming home from a GOS meetup in NYC.

    If there are enough NYC juicers, I declare a NyC meetup is in order.

    PF 37 + 5, shuffling around a Trader Joe’s buying shit that’s not beer

  9. 9.

    Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism

    October 1, 2012 at 9:34 pm

    Ah, open thread, good.

    Michelle Bachmann attends Yom Kippur celebration, uptick in donations to her opponent follows.

  10. 10.

    Hill Dweller

    October 1, 2012 at 9:34 pm

    Nancy Pelosi’s daughter did a couple of video pieces(one in Mississippi and one in NY) for Maher’s show, and I had nothing but contempt for her after watching them.

  11. 11.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    October 1, 2012 at 9:35 pm

    any Massachussites have a take on the 2nd Warren-Scottie debate?

  12. 12.

    PsiFighter37

    October 1, 2012 at 9:36 pm

    @Hill Dweller: good, because Alexandra Pelosi is a tool.

    ETA: that is, if he did ‘travels with George’ cause that was sucktastic

  13. 13.

    Spaghetti Lee

    October 1, 2012 at 9:36 pm

    From what I’ve read about the movie, it’s very observational and unassuming, not Borat-like at all.

    Is it a jerk thing to do? Maybe. The ‘47%’ video was filmed without consent, and I don’t think anyone here wishes that never came out. Sometimes you have to play a little dirty when it comes to politics-isn’t that one of this blog’s guiding pricniples?

  14. 14.

    Anya

    October 1, 2012 at 9:37 pm

    @Hill Dweller: Yeah. She was truly despicable. I hate it when people exploit the poor and the dimwitted. Why don’t they pick on the rich.

  15. 15.

    wasabi gasp

    October 1, 2012 at 9:37 pm

    This is very bothersome.

  16. 16.

    JPL

    October 1, 2012 at 9:39 pm

    @Anya: You know after reading that article I went in search of tissues. How could the pres be so cruel to those who have so much.
    Cry me a river… lol

  17. 17.

    MikeJ

    October 1, 2012 at 9:40 pm

    @Spaghetti Lee: Without having seen the movie, or even knowing the tone, I don’t know if it’s good or not. My question is are they there to poke fun at the media circus and the shallowness of “one on one” campaigning in a country of 300 million or are they there to say, “you’ve got to remember that these are just simple farmers. These are people of the land. The common clay of the new West. You know… morons. “

  18. 18.

    Downpuppy

    October 1, 2012 at 9:42 pm

    Meanwhile, the AP still tries to milk Social Security panic. For Shame!

  19. 19.

    PsiFighter37

    October 1, 2012 at 9:42 pm

    @PsiFighter37: that should say ‘she’. Damn my iPhone. It can’t be good to be hi drank on a mondayyyyyhy

  20. 20.

    PeakVT

    October 1, 2012 at 9:45 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Anne Laurie blogged about it here.

  21. 21.

    Mike S.

    October 1, 2012 at 9:47 pm

    neither the video nor the article have anything to do with hipsters

  22. 22.

    Linda Featheringill

    October 1, 2012 at 9:48 pm

    That video is soooo cute!

  23. 23.

    Anya

    October 1, 2012 at 9:49 pm

    @JPL: These rich jerks are all mad because the president didn’t kiss their ass. They’re narcissists who believe that everyone exists to suck up to them.

    My favorite was the asshole who said this: “You know, the largest and greatest country in the free world put a forty-seven-year-old guy that never worked a day in his life and made him in charge of the free world.”

    According to this douchenozzle being an attorney, university lecturer, state senator, a US senator and a director of a project who supervises 10 people are not considered jobs.

  24. 24.

    kay

    October 1, 2012 at 9:54 pm

    @Anya:

    “The 40 to 50% of people who are on the dole”

    There it is again. The 47%.

    Incredibly rich people who work in finance are convinced, based on absolutely nothing, that HALF the country are “on the dole”.

  25. 25.

    Todd

    October 1, 2012 at 9:54 pm

    OT, but I have something to taunt neat freaks with.

    http://imgur.com/a/9fJLP

    Yeah, curse me now. My better half is having a fit, because she’s an order freak…

  26. 26.

    Hill Dweller

    October 1, 2012 at 9:55 pm

    @Anya: All black people are lazy. Amirite?

  27. 27.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    October 1, 2012 at 9:55 pm

    @Hill Dweller: now now, I’m sure all the people who showed up at that welfare office really were shiftless cheats, not one unmemployed person or unlucky sick person did the Lady Alexandra, who I’m sure pays her Manhattan rent with what she earns, not a penny from Mummy and Daddy, meet that day.

    And I like Nancy Pelosi. A lot.

  28. 28.

    kc

    October 1, 2012 at 9:57 pm

    Maybe ALL “undecided” voters are just parody trolls!

  29. 29.

    PeakVT

    October 1, 2012 at 9:57 pm

    @Anya: I think this is a useful addendum:

    Which brings me to the final third of the answer to the question of why America’s billionaires are feeling so victimized: I think that in fact most of them simply don’t. Most billionaires are not financiers — and you don’t see Mark Zuckerberg or Mike Bloomberg or Larry Page kvetching about how Obama hates them. Neither do you see a lot of old money (the Waltons, the Mars family) pouring money into Super PACs. They might be conservative; they’ll almost certainly vote for Romney. But they’re not airing grievances in the way that Chrystia’s financiers are doing.

  30. 30.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    October 1, 2012 at 9:58 pm

    @PeakVT: Yikes, how did I miss that? Thanks

  31. 31.

    Bostondreams

    October 1, 2012 at 9:59 pm

    @Anya:

    Wow. I don’t know why, but that piece made me really angry. The sense of victimhood from these people. And the demand that the retirement age be raised and entitlements cut and..argh.

  32. 32.

    PsiFighter37

    October 1, 2012 at 9:59 pm

    Woooooohoooooooooo

    Elton John got it wrong. Monday night’s alright for a fightin’.

    PF37 +home, I’m coming home

  33. 33.

    wasabi gasp

    October 1, 2012 at 10:03 pm

    @Linda Featheringill: It kills me when he giggles.

  34. 34.

    David

    October 1, 2012 at 10:04 pm

    Sort of related to comments above, what strikes me is that no one comments on the fact that Mitt Romney, for a Master of the Universe, is really surprisingly incompetent. He’s been running for office pretty much non-stop for over a decade and this is the best he can do? And what does this say about the rest of the MOUs?

  35. 35.

    Bostondreams

    October 1, 2012 at 10:04 pm

    @PeakVT:

    Also, the idea that 10 million in savings and 400,000 a year in income isn’t rich just boggles the mind.

  36. 36.

    Redshift

    October 1, 2012 at 10:05 pm

    @kay: Remember, the “spontaneous” rant that launched the teabaggers was a finance guy bitching about the idea that “his” money should go to help other people with their mortgages.

  37. 37.

    arguingwithsignposts

    October 1, 2012 at 10:05 pm

    Yeah, I don’t get the hipster bashing on this particular piece.

  38. 38.

    Baud

    October 1, 2012 at 10:06 pm

    @kay:

    Didn’t they complain about FDR the same way? I think it’s a good sign.

  39. 39.

    El Cid

    October 1, 2012 at 10:09 pm

    @David: The first rule of Incompetence at the MOU Club is that we must never, ever, ever talk about Incompetence at the MOU Club. Or for that matter, Incontinence at the MOU Club, either.

  40. 40.

    BGinCHI

    October 1, 2012 at 10:10 pm

    A hipster rides a fixed gear bike, drinks PBR, and dresses ironically.

    I’m not seeing the connection.

  41. 41.

    kay

    October 1, 2012 at 10:10 pm

    @Redshift:

    It’s just pretty amazing that they’re feeling sad because people don’t worship them quite as much as before, yet they have complete contempt for half the country.

    40 to 50%

  42. 42.

    Belafon (formerly anonevent)

    October 1, 2012 at 10:16 pm

    I know we’ve talked about this before, but I still find it hilarious that the Romney campaign is pushing the “Obama is one of the best speakers of our time” theme considering all we hear is “Obama can’t give a speech without a teleprompter.”

  43. 43.

    Downpuppy

    October 1, 2012 at 10:17 pm

    @BGinCHI: Do you have hipsters mixed up with proto-Jersy Shore?

  44. 44.

    SatanicPanic

    October 1, 2012 at 10:19 pm

    @Spaghetti Lee:

    it’s very observational and unassuming, not Borat-like at all

    Man I hated Borat. People were like “but it shows how people really are, like racist rednecks.” Yeah, thanks I knew that racist rednecks exist. Not news. Doesn’t make it any less dickish to try to put people in their worst possible light and then film them.

  45. 45.

    arguingwithsignposts

    October 1, 2012 at 10:21 pm

    @BGinCHI:

    dresses ironically

    Just for the record, how does one dress ironically?

  46. 46.

    Higgs Boson's Mate

    October 1, 2012 at 10:23 pm

    @Hill Dweller:
    I stopped watching Maher after the second one. Both of Ms. Pelosi’s efforts struck me as the worst sort of snide assholery.

  47. 47.

    MikeJ

    October 1, 2012 at 10:24 pm

    @arguingwithsignposts: Sugar smacks sugar bear t-shirt.

  48. 48.

    wasabi gasp

    October 1, 2012 at 10:25 pm

    @arguingwithsignposts: Wingtips, running pants, pajama top, welding mask.

  49. 49.

    eclecticbrotha

    October 1, 2012 at 10:26 pm

    @arguingwithsignposts: Neither do I. I also don’t understand why the “99 Problems” parody is attached instead of a trailer from the movie being criticized.

  50. 50.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    October 1, 2012 at 10:27 pm

    @Higgs Boson’s Mate: and she followed up her snotty little movies with a ‘both sides need to learn…” sermon, delivered with a smugness that would have made David Broder nod in solemn approval, and I suspect made Mama Pelosi rethink Alexandra’s allowance

  51. 51.

    Marci Kiser

    October 1, 2012 at 10:28 pm

    I don’t even know what the heck she’s saying. Save the “small families”? As opposed to what? The Duggar clan?

  52. 52.

    lamh35

    October 1, 2012 at 10:28 pm

    Romney Losing Donors to GOP House, Senate Candidates

    The Romney campaign is experiencing what some officials believe could be the beginning of a mass exodus of big money donors diverting their cash away from the Republican presidential hopeful and toward Republican candidates for the House and Senate races more likely to win in November, the FOX Business Network has learned…

  53. 53.

    Bruce S

    October 1, 2012 at 10:29 pm

    What the fuck does this have to do with “hipsters”? And has anyone actually seen the movie?

    Sorry but this is a bullshit post…an unfortunate possibility it could exemplify why “people hate bloggers.” Because…uh…you know…I heard somewhere “people” do!

  54. 54.

    Chris

    October 1, 2012 at 10:30 pm

    @David:

    That our MOTU suck big hairy testicles when it comes to running shit, every bit as much as their communist sworn enemies/alter egos? That they’re not geniuses and prodigies but perfectly mortal men getting by on superficial charm, other people’s work, being born on third base, and endless bailouts and pork from their pet politicians? That they don’t deserve a fraction of the exorbitant pay their companies give them, let alone the aura society puts on them, and we really worship the wrong people?

  55. 55.

    Shawn in ShowMe

    October 1, 2012 at 10:32 pm

    @arguingwithsignposts:

    American Apparel t-shirt with a scarf. Dirty Converse sneakers.

  56. 56.

    dexwood

    October 1, 2012 at 10:32 pm

    @arguingwithsignposts:
    Faux Fedoras made in China.

  57. 57.

    Ben Franklin

    October 1, 2012 at 10:33 pm

    @Bruce S:

    Open season on fire-baggers…huzzzahhhh !

  58. 58.

    ericblair

    October 1, 2012 at 10:35 pm

    @SatanicPanic:

    Man I hated Borat.

    Same with me. I loved Ali G, especially with the DEA agent: “We bought all these drugs here, right outside the White House, for $1000. (Ali G) Oh man, you got ripped off, I could have got you a way better price!”

    Borat was an exercise in mostly semi-normal people trying to humor somebody who was acting kind of nuts. As MikeJ said, it wasn’t the same pranks against the powerful.

  59. 59.

    Bruce S

    October 1, 2012 at 10:35 pm

    @Ben Franklin:

    Huh? What the fuck does what I said have to do with “Firebaggers?”

    Incidentally, comparing whatever the fuck this is to James O’Keefe is asinine, at best. If you want to play that shit, make a fucking argument base on some substantive evidence, have a coherent point, or post a fucking recipe…

  60. 60.

    Higgs Boson's Mate

    October 1, 2012 at 10:36 pm

    @lamh35:

    If that money helps Republicans in down-ticket races to keep or even add seats in Congress then Obama’s next two years may well look very much like the last two.

  61. 61.

    lamh35

    October 1, 2012 at 10:37 pm

    GOP Focus Group: Undecided Voters Give Obama Benefit Of The Doubt

    For Republican strategists wondering why “You didn’t build that” wasn’t enough to push Mitt Romney into a lead while “47 percent” is breaking through, Haley Barbour may have answer for you.

    Barbour’s firm Resurgent Republic conducted focus groups of blue collar voters in Ohio and suburban women in Virginia who supported Obama in 2008 but are now undecided. Both are swing demographics that Romney is working to win over in order to flip each state from blue to red.

    Their findings? Voters are a lot more willing to believe attacks based around Romney quotes than they are on Obama quotes.
    “Whenever we showed direct quotes from President Obama over the last few years, voters consistently say that this is probably taken out of context and they don’t seem to hold that same standard with Governor Romney,” pollster Linda DiVall, who conducted the Virginia focus groups, said in a conference call announcing the findings Monday.

  62. 62.

    NotMax

    October 1, 2012 at 10:38 pm

    @a href=”https://balloon-juice.com/2012/10/01/open-thread-why-people-hate-hipsters-pt-3207841/#comment-3788635″> arguingwithsignposts

    An “I built this” T-shirt and Depends?

  63. 63.

    Shawn in ShowMe

    October 1, 2012 at 10:38 pm

    @dexwood:

    Oversized non-prescription eyeglasses.

  64. 64.

    Ben Franklin

    October 1, 2012 at 10:39 pm

    @Bruce S:

    Well, shucks. It sure seemed pertinent.

  65. 65.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    October 1, 2012 at 10:40 pm

    @lamh35: I love it, and I love DiVall’s response to the voters not buying her bullshit

    She added that while their reaction struck her as “a little bit unfair,” it was nonetheless “American voters’ right to do that.”

    that’s the marketplace! The more ‘context’ you show of Romney’s remarks, the worse he looks.

  66. 66.

    dexwood

    October 1, 2012 at 10:41 pm

    @Shawn in ShowMe:

    I’ve seen that dude. Skinny jeans, right.

  67. 67.

    Bruce S

    October 1, 2012 at 10:42 pm

    @Ben Franklin:

    Really? WTF? You just sound like an asshole.

  68. 68.

    Anton Sirius

    October 1, 2012 at 10:42 pm

    @Bruce S:

    And has anyone actually seen the movie?

    Yes, I have. And Anne has no clue what she’s talking about. The film isn’t the least bit exploitative of Midwesterners – Wilson plays her character completely straight, and the scene with Romney is actually the emotional playoff of the film. The only thing that gets parodied is Republican politics. The director and actress aren’t being dicks at all – there’s even a moment in the film that slightly humanizes Michelle Bachmann, which is a hell of a feat.

    I absolutely fucking hate it when people make assumptions about movies they haven’t even seen. It’s lazy and stupid.

  69. 69.

    lamh35

    October 1, 2012 at 10:43 pm

    Aww sweet lil video. Ian’s Letter: “Dear Mr. President” I’m a bit sappy at times I guess…lol

  70. 70.

    Paddy

    October 1, 2012 at 10:43 pm

    Been waiting for an open thread. I need a site that I can download the new Downton Abbey from, my old site got shut down. I got some great sites from ppl here, but they’re all closed. Cannot DEAL with the fact that two episodes have aired in the U.K. and I can’t see them!

  71. 71.

    jl

    October 1, 2012 at 10:45 pm

    Part 3,207,841?

    Are there that many hipsters/ I guess some are multiple offenders.

  72. 72.

    Bruce S

    October 1, 2012 at 10:45 pm

    @Anton Sirius:

    Uh, oh! “Open season on Firebaggers!”

    Oh, wait a minute. You actually know what the fuck you’re talking about. I’m sure no good deed will go unpunished in this comments thread…because…you know…”FIREBAGGERS!!!!”

  73. 73.

    Calouste

    October 1, 2012 at 10:47 pm

    @Anya:

    I couldn’t make it all the way through the article, but the feeling I left with was: “Where is the Rote Armee Faktion when you need them?”

  74. 74.

    Ben Franklin

    October 1, 2012 at 10:48 pm

    @Bruce S:

    Hmmmm. You sound like an angry asshole. Scratching is not good for hemmorhoids

  75. 75.

    Violet

    October 1, 2012 at 10:49 pm

    @lamh35: Ha. People not only don’t like Romney, they don’t trust him.

  76. 76.

    Bruce S

    October 1, 2012 at 10:50 pm

    @Ben Franklin:

    Read the comment by the guy who actually saw the movie.

    And then please STFU!

  77. 77.

    karen marie

    October 1, 2012 at 10:50 pm

    @Anya:

    the conference concluded in the Bellagio’s grand ballroom, with the most billionaire-friendly speaker of all: Sarah Palin. She strode onto the stage and opened her talk with a rousing greeting, “Hello, one per cent! How y’all doing!”

    Kill me now.

  78. 78.

    El Cid

    October 1, 2012 at 10:56 pm

    No honor among thieves.

    Bashar al-Assad ‘betrayed Col Gaddafi to save his Syrian regime’
    __
    The Assad regime in Syria brought about Muammar Gaddafi’s death by providing France with the key intelligence which led to the operation that killed him, sources in Libya have claimed.
    __
    French spies operating in Sirte, Gaddafi’s last refuge, were able to set a trap for the Libyan dictator after obtaining his satellite telephone number from the Syrian government, they said.
    __
    In what would amount to an extraordinary betrayal of one Middle East strongman by another, President Bashar al-Assad sold out his fellow tyrant in an act of self-preservation, a former senior intelligence official in Tripoli told the Daily Telegraph.
    __
    With international attention switching from Libya to the mounting horrors in Syria, Mr Assad offered Paris the telephone number in exchange for an easing of French pressure on Damascus, according to Rami El Obeidi.
    __
    “In exchange for this information, Assad had obtained a promise of a grace period from the French and less political pressure on the regime – which is what happened…”

    This is not going to solidify Assad’s reputation as an independent Arab nationalist. I’m assuming that’s part of the reason the Libyan insiders are publicizing it.

    Of course, maybe Murdoch had already hacked Qaddafi’s phone anyway.

  79. 79.

    nastybrutishntall

    October 1, 2012 at 10:57 pm

    I guess we’re not allowed on Anne’s lawn anymore.

  80. 80.

    Chris

    October 1, 2012 at 11:00 pm

    @karen marie:

    Playing out the 1%ers’ fantasy of a world in which the plebes greet them with the appropriate friendly/folksy combo. Give the bitch her due, she knows her marks.

  81. 81.

    BGinCHI

    October 1, 2012 at 11:02 pm

    @arguingwithsignposts: You have money but you wear clothes that are shitty-looking. You are trying to attract others but you dress in such a way that does not make you look attractive.

    You wear white tennis shoes with jeans.

    Relatedly, you spend a lot of time trying to look like you didn’t spend any time looking the way you do.

  82. 82.

    RareSanity

    October 1, 2012 at 11:02 pm

    @karen marie:

    the conference concluded in the Bellagio’s grand ballroom, with the most billionaire-friendly speaker of all: Sarah Palin. She strode onto the stage and opened her talk with a rousing greeting, “Hello, one per cent! How y’all doing!”

    In the age of smartphones, YouTube and Twitter…can you imagine how pissed off these rich assholes are, that they now have to pay attention to what “the help” is doing?

    It used to be that a rich douchebag could rent out a private ballroom, say all the shit they really feel, and it remained private. Damn help had no access to means of production and distribution. Those days are over now…no wonder they complain so much about poor people having cellphones…”those people” are the ones that catch assholes telling the truth behind closed doors, and don’t know their “place”.

  83. 83.

    Violet

    October 1, 2012 at 11:04 pm

    @Anya: If a bomb went off at one of these billionaire get-togethers, killing all of them but not any of the help, the economy wouldn’t even notice. If they run hedge funds or companies, those funds or companies would find someone else to do their job, and just keep going.

    Those billionaires are rich and think it means their needs and thoughts, and even those of their families, matter more than anyone else’s. They’re wrong. They don’t matter. They wouldn’t even be missed in the place that made them so rich.

    They’re nobodies who everyone treats like somebodies. I’m glad President Obama has figured out he doesn’t have to treat them that way.

  84. 84.

    shortstop

    October 1, 2012 at 11:04 pm

    The consensus appears to be that you need to update and correctly define your list of people to hate, Anne Laurie. The fact that you thought this was a hipster thing is unfortunate irony.

  85. 85.

    BGinCHI

    October 1, 2012 at 11:06 pm

    @shortstop: Wicker Park weeps.

  86. 86.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    October 1, 2012 at 11:09 pm

    So Sarah Palin, anti-elitist maverick and darling of the Tea Parties who as we all know were formed as a reaction not to our negro presdinent but to TARP, to the fiscally irresponsible bail-out of the Wall Streeters who wrecked our economy, that Sarah Palin is now doing unwitting stand-up for the hedge fund, tax-subsidized bonus crowd.

  87. 87.

    MikeJ

    October 1, 2012 at 11:11 pm

    @Violet:

    If they run hedge funds or companies, those funds or companies would find someone else to do their job, and just keep going.

    Even if they didn’t, would it make any difference in the real economy? They don’t produce anything. They don’t really even allocate capital more efficiently. They dream of not buying until they already have a seller, driving up costs and adding no value.

  88. 88.

    BGinCHI

    October 1, 2012 at 11:11 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Hey, those dollars aren’t going to grift themselves. Plus you know Todd’s stripper habit has gotta be expensive.

  89. 89.

    BGinCHI

    October 1, 2012 at 11:12 pm

    @MikeJ: Will no one think of the limo drivers and cigar store owners?

  90. 90.

    karen marie

    October 1, 2012 at 11:12 pm

    I’m dreading “all drones all the time” drowning out every other conversation, but this is not going to end well but I just don’t see how it can be stopped:

    It’s only a matter of time, however, before the defense industry starts arguing that autonomous drones should be given the “right” to use deadly force without human intervention.

  91. 91.

    shortstop

    October 1, 2012 at 11:13 pm

    @BGinCHI: That’s also out of date. Ha!

  92. 92.

    Chris

    October 1, 2012 at 11:14 pm

    @Violet:

    Elites everywhere, in every time period, stay in power by feeding the proles the same lie: You Need Us. We’re special, we’re the chosen few, and without us the world stops spinning.

    Progress happens when the people see the lie for what it is. Unfortunately that lesson has to be learned again and again and again.

  93. 93.

    Mark S.

    October 1, 2012 at 11:14 pm

    Why the GOP will be extinct in ten years:

    Poll: Obama Has 52 Point Lead Over Romney Among Latinos

  94. 94.

    Violet

    October 1, 2012 at 11:14 pm

    @MikeJ: No, it wouldn’t in the case of hedge fund managers. For business owners, things might be a bit uncertain for a bit until they found another person to run things. But most companies bounce back from a CEO change.

  95. 95.

    BGinCHI

    October 1, 2012 at 11:16 pm

    @shortstop: No soup for you.

  96. 96.

    Another Bob

    October 1, 2012 at 11:18 pm

    Republicans are such f*cking phonies and liars. That’s why I’ve grown more and more to despise their politics and their crappy party. If Obama wins, almost the sweetest thing will be to watch those assholes choke on it for the next four years.

  97. 97.

    BGinCHI

    October 1, 2012 at 11:18 pm

    @Chris: It’s like the Emperor has no, no….shit I can’t remember.

  98. 98.

    shortstop

    October 1, 2012 at 11:18 pm

    @Mark S.: I commented about this in another thread, but check out the “unskewed polls” guy’s latest. He has Romney running away with 60-some percent of Latinos and 49 percent of the black vote. I blew coffee out of my nose.

  99. 99.

    Hill Dweller

    October 1, 2012 at 11:19 pm

    Broder wannabe Jon Stewart is trying to be funny while parroting wingnut talking points about Benghazi, but failing miserably.

  100. 100.

    patrick II

    October 1, 2012 at 11:20 pm

    I would rather listen to Mitt Romney talk about his sleeping apparel than listen to John Gruden talk about football.

  101. 101.

    General Stuck

    October 1, 2012 at 11:21 pm

    @karen marie:

    Drones are actually small potatoes to the coming ethical and moral dilemma when full sized unmanned fighter and bomber combat aircraft come on line. They are being developed as we speak. It is something the world is going to have to address head on, the almost certain loosening of healthy apprehension of going to war with flesh and bone on the line, versus a chunk of flying metal.

  102. 102.

    El Cid

    October 1, 2012 at 11:21 pm

    But if you taxed just 25 of those billionaires, assuming a theoretical average annual money-takin’ (let’s not say “earned”) of $200,000,000, at 39% of all they moneyz above $250,000, then the gubmit gets another roughly $2 billion in revenue a year. ($1,947,562,500.)

    Yup. Just 25 people, and estimates of top hedge fund managers getting a billion a year aren’t rare at all.

    So just 2 dozen people makin’ a couple hundred million a year pays for about 17% of an entire year’s worth of the National School Lunch Program. Pshaw. Hardly worth collecting.

    Oh, oh, but wait, according to our very math-literate conservatives, ‘e’en if you taxes the rich more, you ain’t gonna get much more money!’

  103. 103.

    BGinCHI

    October 1, 2012 at 11:21 pm

    @shortstop: Come on, you know Axelrod is running that site. I’m with him right now in the new room at Hopleaf and he’s laughing his ass off.

  104. 104.

    El Cid

    October 1, 2012 at 11:23 pm

    @General Stuck: I dunno; I think that it’s also going to get pretty weird when drones are actually the size of small potatoes, because really tiny drones can yield lethal force as well.

  105. 105.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    October 1, 2012 at 11:24 pm

    @Another Bob: I was thinking today, and I posted, that if Hillary does go for it, she and Bill will be the two most popular politicians in the country, maybe the most popular living politicians since… Eisenhower?… criss-crossing the country building up chips in the 2014 midterms. Obama could have a bizarrely productive lame duck term.

    I guess this is assuming Europe doesn’t turn into a sucking vortex, and few other things don’t happen.

  106. 106.

    shortstop

    October 1, 2012 at 11:26 pm

    @BGinCHI: Is this a new new room, or the old new room? I remember when the only food you could get at that place was microwaved empanadas from a bodega in Uptown. Anyway, I’m in my nightgown reading Robert Dallek and I disapprove of what all you hippinators and trendifers are getting up to at this late hour on a school night.

  107. 107.

    MikeJ

    October 1, 2012 at 11:26 pm

    @General Stuck:

    almost certain loosening of healthy apprehension of going to war with flesh and bone on the line, versus a chunk of flying metal.

    The tomahawk missile went into service in 1983. Remember when the republicans were so upset about Clinton firing “a million dollar missile at a tent?” A tent that had bin Laden in it, that is.

  108. 108.

    arguingwithsignposts

    October 1, 2012 at 11:28 pm

    The firebagger thread is Soonergrunt’s thread. This is the hipster-punching thread. Full-service blog.

    Thanks to those who addressed my question above. Dressing ironically sounds … odd, but whatever floats your boat.

  109. 109.

    Higgs Boson's Mate

    October 1, 2012 at 11:28 pm

    @shortstop:
    Sweet Buddha under the Bo tree! That guy had a good thing going for a while. I guess that as long as he was dealing in bullshit he decided to go all the way.

  110. 110.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    October 1, 2012 at 11:29 pm

    @Hill Dweller: thanks for the warning, that’ll be one to skip. If he’s really interested in being funny fake news guy, as he keeps saying, does he not notice that his attempts to make anti-Obama stuff funny never seems to work? Also, too, I can’t work up even a schadenfreude interest in Arnold Schwarzenegger. I simply do not give a fuck. I did watch one of his movies once. One of the predators, I think. Taken for what it was, it didn’t suck

  111. 111.

    The Other Chuck

    October 1, 2012 at 11:30 pm

    Just watched that video on my newly jellybean-ified Asus tablet without flash. Holy cow is it ever smooth and sharp. Flash is dead, gone for good everywhere within three years, I guarantee it. And I sure as hell won’t miss it.

  112. 112.

    arguingwithsignposts

    October 1, 2012 at 11:32 pm

    @The Other Chuck: From your lips to FSM’s noodly appendage. Never particularly liked Flash, and like most things, adobe fucked it up even more along the way.

  113. 113.

    BGinCHI

    October 1, 2012 at 11:33 pm

    @shortstop: You know that the reason you don’t go to the Hopleaf is that you get your soup and run home to eat it.

    And yes, they bought the Italian place next door and expanded and it’s really, really nice. Mike is a damn fine bar owner.

  114. 114.

    Hill Dweller

    October 1, 2012 at 11:36 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: It was a bit about the various administration people supposedly saying contradictory things about Benghazi. Of course, Stewart omitted Obama’s Rose Garden remarks the day after the attacks, where he said the country wouldn’t cower from terrorists.

  115. 115.

    General Stuck

    October 1, 2012 at 11:37 pm

    @El Cid:

    Well, they are about ready to use midget bombs on drones to take out a terrorist taking his morning shit, and leave the wife and kids in tact to finish eating breakfast.

    Then there is the

    Seeking to reduce civilian casualties and collateral damage, the Pentagon will soon deploy a new generation of drones the size of model planes, packing tiny explosive warheads that can be delivered with pinpoint accuracy.

    And you just know, every wingnut is going to want one of these for their liberal commie neighbor.

  116. 116.

    Narcissus

    October 1, 2012 at 11:39 pm

    A hipster is something nobody likes but nobody can define.

  117. 117.

    PurpleGirl

    October 1, 2012 at 11:40 pm

    @Todd: Interesting bunch of photos. You like chaos, don’t you?

  118. 118.

    Ash Can

    October 1, 2012 at 11:40 pm

    @BGinCHI: Good for you! Do they have anything special on tap there this week?

  119. 119.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    October 1, 2012 at 11:43 pm

    @Hill Dweller: I heard the remarks that Susan Rice should be impeached for. What I heard was “we don’t know the facts yet, the FBI is investigating” I really don’t see the scandal here.

    Just saw Artur Davis’s commercial for Romney. They don’t even mention, that I saw, that he was a congressman. I think they just think that a black guy endorsing Romney will sway millions. I do not find it threatening.

  120. 120.

    PurpleGirl

    October 1, 2012 at 11:43 pm

    @PsiFighter37: There have been two NYC meet-ups. There are definitely enough BJers to have meet-ups. I think it might be time for another one. How about it BJers?

  121. 121.

    Spaghetti Lee

    October 1, 2012 at 11:45 pm

    @General Stuck:

    This is part of why I think the argument that drones are somehow different than human-manned weapons has a little merit. Once you take human agency and action out of the equation, things get weird, in my opinion. And to compare it to ancient man moving from stone to bronze weaponry is just ludicrous.

  122. 122.

    RareSanity

    October 1, 2012 at 11:46 pm

    @Narcissus

    I can’t define it, but I know it when I see it…

  123. 123.

    Bruce S

    October 1, 2012 at 11:49 pm

    @Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism:

    Nancy Pelosi’s daughter is one of the laziest, most painfully obvious “documentarians” on the planet. Nothing there.

  124. 124.

    The Other Chuck

    October 1, 2012 at 11:50 pm

    @arguingwithsignposts: I should probably say flash for _video_ is doomed. Still a lot of flash apps out there that will linger on — our HR system just switched to a flex app (it’s not terrible — kind of cumbersome but that’s not flash’s fault). And VMWare decided to make vCloud Director a flash app, and good god is that thing awful.

    But as Jellybean hits more and more devices, youtube is going to make flash the second-class citizen, and then the writing’s on the wall. Good riddance. Now to take out java applets and the web will start feeling sane again.

  125. 125.

    BGinCHI

    October 1, 2012 at 11:53 pm

    @Ash Can: The tears of the Tea Party faithful come in Thursday.

    Rare and delicious.

  126. 126.

    arguingwithsignposts

    October 1, 2012 at 11:56 pm

    @BGinCHI: Actually, while they are sweet, they are not that rare. They are perpetually teary-eyed and butthurt about something “Obambi” has done to them.

  127. 127.

    Hill Dweller

    October 2, 2012 at 12:00 am

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: I’m not surprised the wingnuts are desperately jumping on the Benghazi stuff, but they’re getting a lot of help from the media.

    Gregory just makes Obama quotes up. The NYT wrote a ridiculous op-ed. CNN and Fox are still covering it non-stop. Stewart does an unfunny bit that makes little sense, but he repeats wingnut claims in the process.

    I have yet to figure out the supposed crime. They covered it up for a week?

  128. 128.

    DanR2

    October 2, 2012 at 12:04 am

    I guess Anne’s misguided definition of hipster is “shit I don’t get.”

    Even the NYT quote is barely understandable. I read that 4th paragraph five times then decided, why TF bother with this crap.

  129. 129.

    Joel

    October 2, 2012 at 12:08 am

    @MikeJ: the Ali G character was amazing. He revealed deeper truths about guys like C Everett Koop and Andy Rooney – or rather, those guys exposed themselves. The Bruno character was awesome when he roasted NY fashion week and Alabama football, and Borat was great when skewering anti semitism in places like Arizona and Texas.

  130. 130.

    karen marie

    October 2, 2012 at 12:30 am

    @El Cid: Yeah, that’s why instead we have to raise taxes on the moocher class because that would totally pay for 1.7% of the school lunch program for a year, further justifying cutting the shit out of it.

  131. 131.

    Auguste

    October 2, 2012 at 12:32 am

    @arguingwithsignposts:

    Just for the record, how does one dress ironically?

    Like a hipster does, duh.

  132. 132.

    The Other Chuck

    October 2, 2012 at 12:32 am

    I define hipsters as the people who flaunt the rather standardized uniform of their “indie cred”. Skinny jeans, thick rims, always always always a mac Typically add tribal tattoos and/or overly large piercings. It’s a peacock-like showy display of their supposedly detached irony, and that display is what defines hipsterism.

  133. 133.

    Another Halocene Human

    October 2, 2012 at 1:20 am

    @lamh35: oh sweet, sweet Schadenfreude

  134. 134.

    Drew

    October 2, 2012 at 10:05 am

    I read on Wonkette that Michele Bachmann’s lead against her democratic challenger is slipping. Best news I’ve heard in a long time. I encourage you to donate to her competitor. I don’t know anything about him, but he is not Michele Bachmann, so there’s that.

  135. 135.

    Tone In DC

    October 2, 2012 at 11:04 am

    @RareSanity:

    Oh AYUH.

  136. 136.

    Doug Danger

    October 2, 2012 at 11:11 am

    @The Other Chuck: You can thank Apple and Google. Flash is a disaster for mobile. Better off dead.

  137. 137.

    MNPundit

    October 2, 2012 at 4:04 pm

    I hate Sascha Cohen’s stuff.
    I was born and raised in MN, lived in Iowa for 4 years and currently live in North Dakota.

    I thought it was funny. More power to her.

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