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You are here: Home / Fear and Self Loathing

Fear and Self Loathing

by John Cole|  August 3, 20189:20 pm| 48 Comments

This post is in: Our Failed Media Experiment

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First off, I have no idea why there is a Newseum. If there needs to be one, it should be completely online with maybe a small building to house what little can not be kept in virtual space. As it is, here is the ridiculous monstrosity:

And then you have this:

If you’re looking to stock up on the famous red hats that bear Donald Trump’s favorite slogan, look no further than the Newseum’s gift shop.

On its website, the interactive news museum in Washington, D.C., sells $14.99 “Make America Great Again” hats alongside American flag accessories and ties that bear the preamble to the Constitution. A T-shirt that says “You are very fake news” sells for $24.99, but it’s on sale for $19.97.

Idiots.

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Reader Interactions

48Comments

  1. 1.

    wasabi gasp

    August 3, 2018 at 9:23 pm

    maga mia, bro

  2. 2.

    Baud

    August 3, 2018 at 9:24 pm

    They should also sell a bound copy of Hillary’s emails.

  3. 3.

    p.a.

    August 3, 2018 at 9:29 pm

    Who’s paying to build the Fox wing?

  4. 4.

    Mary G

    August 3, 2018 at 9:37 pm

    WTF?

    For a palate cleanser, read this great story in the LA Times about one of the hostages at the Silver Lake Trader Joe’s that negotiated with the shooter and protected him from police.

  5. 5.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    August 3, 2018 at 9:39 pm

    @p.a.: looking at the founding partners, I’d say Fox.

    Is the Cox Foundation one of those hard rightwing outfits? I have a vague recollection of that name

  6. 6.

    schrodingers_cat

    August 3, 2018 at 9:39 pm

    Beltway media is our version of the Versailles court.

  7. 7.

    SiubhanDuinne

    August 3, 2018 at 9:39 pm

    @p.a.:

    Silly p.a. Foxes don’t have wings. Foxes have paws. Birds have wings.

  8. 8.

    schrodingers_cat

    August 3, 2018 at 9:39 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: Happy Birthday SD!

  9. 9.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 3, 2018 at 9:40 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: Flying foxes though…

  10. 10.

    Baud

    August 3, 2018 at 9:41 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    ?

  11. 11.

    eemom

    August 3, 2018 at 9:42 pm

    hat

  12. 12.

    Matt McIrvin

    August 3, 2018 at 9:43 pm

    I always wondered who goes there–there are a huge number of awe-inspiring museums in DC, most of them have absolutely free admission, and if I recall correctly this place charges a hefty admission fee while not having as inherently interesting a subject as any of those.

    (I did go to the Spy Museum once, which is also not free; that place is silly but at least you can indulge James Bond fantasies in there.)

  13. 13.

    Steeplejack

    August 3, 2018 at 9:46 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Happy birthday!

    Where’s that frat-boy lawyer Omnes?

  14. 14.

    eemom

    August 3, 2018 at 9:47 pm

    To be fair, pretty much every place in deecee that sells tourist shit — which is a shit ton of places — sells that stuff. On, uh, both sides.

  15. 15.

    Steeplejack

    August 3, 2018 at 9:48 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Oops, there you are! Happy birthday to you as well.

  16. 16.

    Olivia

    August 3, 2018 at 9:48 pm

    My 14 year old grandson was there a few months ago on a school trip. He said it was really a boring place and a waste of the short time that they had while they were there. I read that they are having a hard time keeping it going financially.

  17. 17.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 3, 2018 at 9:49 pm

    @Steeplejack: ‘Ta.

  18. 18.

    Baud

    August 3, 2018 at 9:49 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    ?

  19. 19.

    schrodingers_cat

    August 3, 2018 at 9:50 pm

    Saw 2 more episodes of Sacred Games. A- not quite an A.

  20. 20.

    Steeplejack

    August 3, 2018 at 9:51 pm

    As someone who has actually been to the Newseum, I have to say that I think it’s pretty cool. They do a lot of great events. It’s also pretty “meta,” so I think those MAGA hats are being sold “ironically,” if that can be considered to be a thing.

  21. 21.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    August 3, 2018 at 9:52 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: Happy b-day.

  22. 22.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    August 3, 2018 at 9:53 pm

    @Baud: They’d have to find the missing one’s first.

  23. 23.

    Mike in NC

    August 3, 2018 at 9:53 pm

    Never had any interest in seeing the Newseum when we lived in NoVA. Didn’t miss anything I guess.

  24. 24.

    Mike in NC

    August 3, 2018 at 9:58 pm

    @Matt McIrvin: Went to the Spy Museum shortly before moving to NC and it was fun. We have no kids so museum visits are few and far between. Free is good.

    Just read that admission to the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral is now $57 for “adults” (age 13 and up) and $47 for kids (12 and under). Why???

  25. 25.

    Steeplejack

    August 3, 2018 at 10:03 pm

    @Steeplejack:

    ETA: Also, what eemom said.

  26. 26.

    SWMBO

    August 3, 2018 at 10:04 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: Happy Birthday!

  27. 27.

    SWMBO

    August 3, 2018 at 10:05 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: Happy Birthday!

  28. 28.

    Major Major Major Major

    August 3, 2018 at 10:05 pm

    “First off, I have no idea why there is a Newseum. If there needs to be one, it should be completely online with maybe a small building to house what little can not be kept in virtual space.”

    You really don’t see why somebody might want to have a museum about journalism?

    As for “completely online,” most media has yet to be digitized (or done so with an intellectual property scheme that would allow free/nonprofit online distribution), so.

    That said, those are dumb gifts.

  29. 29.

    Original Lee

    August 3, 2018 at 10:06 pm

    @Steeplejack: I agree. I don’t find everything in it fascinating, but last summer (the last time I was there), most of the exhibits were very interesting. I took two teenage boys, neither of whom were history buffs but who had just finished taking AP European History, there and we spent a solid four hours going over it from top to bottom. The top floor is my favorite – it’s where they have front pages from all over the world of important historical events. The boys spent almost two hours just on the front pages. One would find an event and show it to the other one, and call me over, and tell me about it. They also loved the virtual Berlin Wall. Having been through Checkpoint Charlie back in the day, I was able to talk about it some. The sports video was also fascinating to them. So I guess it really depends on your attitude when you go.

  30. 30.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 3, 2018 at 10:12 pm

    @SWMBO: Thanks.

  31. 31.

    SWMBO

    August 3, 2018 at 10:13 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: just above yours.

  32. 32.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 3, 2018 at 10:15 pm

    @SWMBO: Why was I second asks the Leo? //

  33. 33.

    Gin & Tonic

    August 3, 2018 at 10:16 pm

    @Steeplejack: Ironic is 16-year-old skater boys in Kyiv wearing MAGA hats. Which is, actually, unfortunately, a thing.

  34. 34.

    Amir Khalid

    August 3, 2018 at 10:30 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne:
    Selamat harijadi to you and Omnes. Speaking of birthdays, it’s the fourth of August on this side of the globe, and the birthday of a still-popular former POTUS.

  35. 35.

    Steeplejack

    August 3, 2018 at 10:39 pm

    In other Balloon Juice demographic news, I believe Anne Laurie’s wedding anniversary was Wednesday.

  36. 36.

    debbie

    August 3, 2018 at 10:42 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Happy birthday!

  37. 37.

    Joshua Norton

    August 3, 2018 at 10:45 pm

    To add insult to injury, they tore down the historic National Hotel, where John Wilkes Booth stayed while planning the assassination of President Lincoln, to build that monstrosity.

  38. 38.

    satby

    August 3, 2018 at 11:01 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: @Omnes Omnibus: A very Happy Birthday ? ? to you both! Many, many happy returns of the day.

  39. 39.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 3, 2018 at 11:01 pm

    @satby: Thank you.

  40. 40.

    RandomMonster

    August 3, 2018 at 11:35 pm

    I’m going to say this is functionally equivalent to the nazi plans to build a museum to the exterminated races.

  41. 41.

    SectionH

    August 3, 2018 at 11:50 pm

    Finally home and can say Happy Birthday to Suibhan and Omnes!

    It’s our 34th anniversary today. We’re so married we finally just decided to log another “when we can figure out what to do with notional dinner money we didn’t spend” (Mr S’s birthday last month was the most recent). Yeah we’re big fans of Calvin Trillin, and I’m esp. fond of Mrs. Trillian’s way of accounting.

  42. 42.

    JCJ

    August 3, 2018 at 11:58 pm

    Happy birthday to SiubhanDuinne and Omnes Omnibus. Next year to make it shorter I will just say HBD to Subaru and Saab.

  43. 43.

    CaliMatt

    August 4, 2018 at 12:01 am

    I’ve seen a number of events broadcast from there on c-span and they are almost uniformly complete wank-fests. I love the dc museums and visit there frequently but hasn’t ever even occurred to me to go there. Now I definitely won’t.

  44. 44.

    Lavocat

    August 4, 2018 at 6:34 am

    “Gee, I wonder what this button labelled “self-destruct” does? Maybe I should push it.”

  45. 45.

    kingweasil

    August 4, 2018 at 7:28 am

    “we can’t say ‘Make America Great Again’, because I already did that”

    “So our new slogan, this is on the assumption it happens, you can never be 100 per cent sure, is going to be, ‘Keep America Great’ – exclamation point.” – Big Orange

  46. 46.

    Tarragon

    August 4, 2018 at 9:16 am

    @Major Major Major Major:

    You really don’t see why somebody might want to have a museum about journalism?

    But perhaps a museum dedicated to news should take a philosophical stand against a t-shirt that says “You are very fake news”

  47. 47.

    LAC

    August 4, 2018 at 9:23 am

    @Steeplejack: i have been there as well and enjoyed it. My daughter’s class had a field trip there a number of years ago and she came back excited by it ( she is an journalist now so her geeking out about it was expected) It aint cheap and surprise, museum shops sell all types of shit. Other than that, do not understand the bostility towards something that one never went to. God, the dynamic never changes here.

  48. 48.

    SWMBO

    August 4, 2018 at 8:09 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: Because I saw Steeplejack’s post after I saw the one for SD.

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