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You are here: Home / Economics / C.R.E.A.M. / Friday Evening Softballs Open Thread: Point! Mock!

Friday Evening Softballs Open Thread: Point! Mock!

by Anne Laurie|  September 23, 20227:15 pm| 75 Comments

This post is in: C.R.E.A.M., Open Threads, Trumpery, Our Failed Media Experiment

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Axios employees instructed to use Axios funds to buy six copies each of Axios founders’ dumb book: https://t.co/jiKg6BxyuO

— Defector (@DefectorMedia) September 23, 2022


Win the morning!

… “Here’s how you can spread the word and help make this a huge success,” the memo read, before suggesting that employees post a photo of the book on social media with the hashtag #axiossmartbrevity, write (presumably positive) reviews of the book on Amazon and Goodreads, and buy six copies, each, of the book. The memo stressed that employees could expense the cost of those six copies to the company itself. With around 500 employees, and books at $24.30 a piece, this puts the company on the hook for about $72,500 if every employee decides to follow the memo’s instructions…

Sweaty attempts to juice book sales and get on bestseller lists are nothing new in publishing… Politics writers-cum-media barons attempting to astroturf support for their book by turning their own workers into an army of lightly coerced marketers, however, is a neat twist on the theme. Axios said in its post launching the book that all proceeds from sales will go to the Axios fellowship program. Of course, writing a bestseller doesn’t just mean making more money in sales; it also affords authors more opportunities, prestige, and influence. It’s clear that the better the Axios book sells, the better things are for the people who wrote it. Less clear is what exactly Axios employees have to gain from the book doing well.

In response to Defector’s questions about the employee-centered marketing push and the amount of money the company set aside to buy copies of books for itself, Axios spokesperson Yolanda Brignoni said the book was a “team effort” and emphasized the fellowship program for journalists from underrepresented groups. “We, of course, wanted the team to have books for themselves and family,” she added. Defector followed up to ask how the company decided on six (6) books per employee, and if the amount of money the company set aside to buy these books was greater than what it expected to earn from book sales (and then put towards the fellowship program). Brignoni said: “We are extremely invested in equipping this next generation of journalists with the skills and expertise to take their careers to the next level. So, we hope to sell a lot of books this week and moving forward.”…

Defector also excerpts some reviews of Smart Brevity, which are — like Defector — not kind!

Meanwhile: At a rally far, far (not far enough) away: Wrestlemania!

At the Trump rally, Trump lawyer Christina Bobb was caught off guard after a Trump supporter told her that he “would love to” see Trump run in 2024 “but at the same time, I would love to see DeSantis run as well.”

— Zachary Petrizzo (@ZTPetrizzo) September 23, 2022

"Smart People for Trump" pic.twitter.com/dpET5Cu2wf

— Zachary Petrizzo (@ZTPetrizzo) September 23, 2022

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Reader Interactions

75Comments

  1. 1.

    Cameron

    September 23, 2022 at 7:26 pm

    “Smart Brevity: How to Talk Shit without Saying Anything.”

  2. 2.

    cain

    September 23, 2022 at 7:30 pm

    Someone who self identifies as smart and wears a Trump supporting t-shirt are just called trolls where I come from.

    ETA – MFs you know what I got right here? #2 Heading into the weekend, yo!

  3. 3.

    hells littlest angel

    September 23, 2022 at 7:32 pm

    Less clear is what exactly Axios employees have to gain from the book doing well.

     

    After going through a wood chipper, books are a terrific mulch.

  4. 4.

    bbleh

    September 23, 2022 at 7:37 pm

    Okay, this is good, but I want an entire aerobics routine.  “And point, and mock, and hands on hips and laugh, hahaha!  And toss head and turn dismissively. Turn back, arms up, and shame, shame shame! Hands down and forward and shake that head no no no! And point, and mock …”

  5. 5.

    Steeplejack

    September 23, 2022 at 7:38 pm

    @cain:

    “My T-shirt raising a lot of questions I thought were answered by my T-shirt.”

  6. 6.

    dmsilev

    September 23, 2022 at 7:39 pm

    It ain’t the way I wanted it! I can handle things! I’m smart! Not like everybody says… like dumb… I’m smart and I want respect!

  7. 7.

    bbleh

    September 23, 2022 at 7:40 pm

    @hells littlest angel: I call dibs on “Terrific Mulch” for the title of my “written with” Washington memoir doorstop tome.

  8. 8.

    hells littlest angel

    September 23, 2022 at 7:42 pm

    So this clever move could pump up sales by as much as … [calculate, calculate] … 3000 copies!

  9. 9.

    Matt McIrvin

    September 23, 2022 at 7:42 pm

    Church of Scientology tactics!

  10. 10.

    Cameron

    September 23, 2022 at 7:42 pm

    Maybe he means Maxwell Smart.

  11. 11.

    WaterGirl

    September 23, 2022 at 7:45 pm

    @bbleh: I might just sign up for that class.

  12. 12.

    bbleh

    September 23, 2022 at 7:45 pm

    @hells littlest angel: this clever move could pump up sales by as much as … 3000 copies!

    Why it’s important: these 3000 buyers are the most informed people in Washington.  Not only do they think it’s a smart buy, but they think it’s a smarter buy than everything else on the shelves.

  13. 13.

    HumboldtBlue

    September 23, 2022 at 7:47 pm

    Oh, and GOP competency continues to be in short supply, this time, concerning the rollout of their new political platform and website.

    Kevin McCarthy and his team had 15 months to prepare for the rollout of their “Commitment to America.” It has not gone smoothly: – pulled the plan from the website on Wednesday – fake Lincoln quote – stock footage from Russia

  14. 14.

    Eolirin

    September 23, 2022 at 7:47 pm

    @Cameron: Missed it by that much

  15. 15.

    Baud

    September 23, 2022 at 7:53 pm

    Now I wish I had a t-shirt that said Hygienic People for Biden.

  16. 16.

    Spanky

    September 23, 2022 at 7:57 pm

    And the smart guy’s shirt is blue! So suck it libs! We own all the colors!

  17. 17.

    RSA

    September 23, 2022 at 7:57 pm

    @cain:  If someone says, “I’m smart and I’m for Trump,” that means they can’t blame stupidity; some kind of obvious moral failing is the next most likely explanation.

  18. 18.

    bbleh

    September 23, 2022 at 8:00 pm

    @RSA: well, but WE can blame stupidity.  (In addition to moral failing.)

  19. 19.

    Baud

    September 23, 2022 at 8:01 pm

    @RSA:

    some kind of obvious moral failing is always the next most likely explanation.

  20. 20.

    Spanky

    September 23, 2022 at 8:03 pm

    If he’s so smart, how come he’s stuck in Wilmington, NC?

  21. 21.

    Omnes Omnibus

    September 23, 2022 at 8:03 pm

    @bbleh: Dunning-Kruger.  Just because he identifies as smart….  If you know what I mean.

  22. 22.

    Geoduck

    September 23, 2022 at 8:03 pm

    @bbleh: “Now comes the part we throw our heads back and laugh!”

  23. 23.

    SpaceUnit

    September 23, 2022 at 8:04 pm

    I’m guessing it took that dude about a dozen tries to pull his shirt on over the MAGA hat.

  24. 24.

    Ruckus

    September 23, 2022 at 8:05 pm

    @Matt McIrvin:

    I have a relative that is how shall I say it, emersed in scientology. Buried would be another word. Stupefied could apply. Dumbfounded works. But anyway you say it, it is an idiotolgy. Yeah I made up a new word, sue me. I have, in the past had to visit this person at scientology. They like books. Big ones with an oversized price tag and a lot of made up big words seems to be the norm. And the deeper you are emersed in this whatever the hell it is, the more you have to dig to find a higher level of stupid so that you can make less sense of the bullshit.

  25. 25.

    Gin & Tonic

    September 23, 2022 at 8:05 pm

    The smart people I know don’t see any need to advertise that they are smart.

  26. 26.

    dm

    September 23, 2022 at 8:06 pm

    “I identify as smart” is a Cretan paradox (“All Cretans are liars”, according to Epimenides the Cretan).

    Presumably, this whole “I identify as…” on the right is sarcasm to mock the phrase’s use in gender-identity contexts.  So, for the wearer, “I identify as smart” is an assertion that the wearer only pretends to think they’re smart.

    Well, okay.  If you say so….

  27. 27.

    scav

    September 23, 2022 at 8:06 pm

    Well looky that! It is possible to update the

    I’m with Stupid 🔼

    tee-shirt!

  28. 28.

    Ruckus

    September 23, 2022 at 8:07 pm

    @SpaceUnit:

    OK that is priceless. Comment of the year. At least.

  29. 29.

    Baud

    September 23, 2022 at 8:07 pm

    @Ruckus:

    And the deeper you are emersed in this whatever the hell it is, the more you have to dig to find a higher level of stupid so that you can make less sense of the bullshit.

     

    Probably too long for a rotating tag.

  30. 30.

    Frankensteinbeck

    September 23, 2022 at 8:08 pm

    @hells littlest angel:

    as much as … [calculate, calculate] … 3000 copies!

    That’s a lot.  Especially if you can squeeze that all into the first 24-48 hours.  You can dominate some Amazon categories with 50 sales in a day.

  31. 31.

    Tom Levenson

    September 23, 2022 at 8:09 pm

    @hells littlest angel: insulation. Let’s get some smart energy use going.

  32. 32.

    Ruckus

    September 23, 2022 at 8:10 pm

    @Gin & Tonic:

    Idiots can not tell you are smart unless you tell them so anyone that hangs with him would need to be told……

  33. 33.

    Jeffro

    September 23, 2022 at 8:12 pm

    The trumpies are SOOO aching for someone to give them that same white supremacist thrill and validation without all the cognitive dissonance of having to get behind such obvious corruption, stupidity,   incompetence, and constant blaring in their ears.

    Well, most of them are, anyway.

    I can’t imagine being a Republican and feeling like my choices going forward are trump, DeSantis, Cruz, Pompeo, Cotton, Hawley, or any of the others.  No wonder they’re so cranky and hateful!

  34. 34.

    Sister Golden Bear

    September 23, 2022 at 8:12 pm

    This is what happens when Christofascists take over public schools.

    2100 Louisiana public school students were told they were going to a career fair, but were instead taken to a church service where girls were told to forgive rapists and reject transgender identities and boys competed in push-up contests for money. It gets worst….

    “They talked about rape (and) forgiving the offender, suicide, prayer leadership, and many more dark controversial topics. We had females in the bathrooms crying due to the topics of discussion,” Bryant wrote.

    Her transgender child, who identifies as “he,” tried to walk out as the “girl talk” started and was initially barred from leaving, the mother said. Bryant said she also heard that other transgender students were bullied Tuesday.

    “Other students poured water on top of transgender students’ heads without any repercussions by any of the adults present,” Bryant wrote….

    “It kind of felt more like a spiritual event than a career and college fair,” Holiday said.

    And he said he too was struck by the difference in what he heard later from the female students who attended.

    “We boys all we did was do push-ups, we played games, we got money for the games we played,” he said. “It was a bunch of things that were very different, very sexist (compared to what the girls experienced).”

    More reporting here.

  35. 35.

    Ruckus

    September 23, 2022 at 8:12 pm

    @Baud:

    Well yeah. But say to someone, You are an idiot, and it likely just goes over their head……

  36. 36.

    Jeffro

    September 23, 2022 at 8:14 pm

    @SpaceUnit: somewhere, there HAS to be a MAGAt who super-glued his trump hat to his head years ago and it’s still there.

    Like, where are the medical professionals?  Where’s the human interest story about the dangers of super-gluing a cheap hat to your head for years?  Has anyone thought to ask THAT question in various midwestern diners?

    Y’all know I’m right, too.  =)

  37. 37.

    Citizen Alan

    September 23, 2022 at 8:16 pm

    If I ever heard someone suggest in my presence that a woman should forgive her rapist, I would immediately ask that person how many people hes raped. Because I would be certain it had been at least a few.

  38. 38.

    HumboldtBlue

    September 23, 2022 at 8:18 pm

    @Sister Golden Bear:

    That was the subject of a family text thread yesterday. There are gonna be some pissed off parents.

    Elsewhere:

    NOW: A federal judge has ordered Arizona Republican Party Chairwoman Kelli Ward to turn over her phone to the Jan. 6 Committee.

  39. 39.

    eclare

    September 23, 2022 at 8:19 pm

    @Sister Golden Bear:   That is horrific.

  40. 40.

    Eric S.

    September 23, 2022 at 8:21 pm

    @bbleh: Brilliant!

  41. 41.

    SpaceUnit

    September 23, 2022 at 8:22 pm

    @Jeffro:

    They probably use a staple gun.

  42. 42.

    Sister Golden Bear

    September 23, 2022 at 8:23 pm

    @Citizen Alan: Not for nothing does “forgive you rapist” get pushed in authoritarian churches where clergy, youth ministers, etc. get regularly arrested for sexual abuse of minors.

  43. 43.

    HumboldtBlue

    September 23, 2022 at 8:24 pm

    60 Minutes will be worth a watch on Sunday.

    The White House switchboard connected a call to a rioter while the Capitol was under siege on January 6, 2021, according to former January 6 committee staffer Denver Riggleman. “I only know one end of that call,” Riggleman said.

  44. 44.

    Cameron

    September 23, 2022 at 8:25 pm

    @Sister Golden Bear: I guess I could see forgiveness, once they’re convicted and sentenced to prison.

  45. 45.

    Villago Delenda Est

    September 23, 2022 at 8:27 pm

    These two assholes are on the tumbrel manifest.  Villager scum.

  46. 46.

    Sister Golden Bear

    September 23, 2022 at 8:28 pm

    @Cameron: Unfortunately the point is coercing victims into “forgiving their rapists” so that they don’t report it to the police.

  47. 47.

    zhena gogolia

    September 23, 2022 at 8:31 pm

    @Sister Golden Bear: vomit 🤮

  48. 48.

    prostratedragon

    September 23, 2022 at 8:31 pm

    Be the 18th or 19th viewer of Donovan and Otto playing “Equinox,” John Coltrane. They’re pretty good!

  49. 49.

    Cameron

    September 23, 2022 at 8:34 pm

    @Sister Golden Bear: Yeah, I kinda figured that.  Nasty, evil people.

  50. 50.

    prostratedragon

    September 23, 2022 at 8:36 pm

    @bbleh:  Roaring LOL!

  51. 51.

    raven

    September 23, 2022 at 8:38 pm

    @Spanky: Wilmington is a great place.

  52. 52.

    C Stars

    September 23, 2022 at 8:41 pm

    @raven: Yeah, Wilmington is a nice city. Not such a great history, but presently not so bad. A Trump rally in Wilmington, though, maybe not so much.

  53. 53.

    MazeDancer

    September 23, 2022 at 8:45 pm

    Elton John is performing live at the White House right now.

    whitehouse.gov

  54. 54.

    prostratedragon

    September 23, 2022 at 8:47 pm

    @MazeDancer:
    Youtube link

  55. 55.

    MazeDancer

    September 23, 2022 at 8:58 pm

    Full Elton John at White House:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7u9_xTaMQzU

    Tiny Dancer was pretty darn great.

  56. 56.

    Starfish

    September 23, 2022 at 8:59 pm

    People on the streets in #Iran are shouting Marg Ba Setamgar, Che Shah Bashe Che Rahbar“Death to the Dictator, Be it Shah or Ayatollah” https://t.co/p40fUGjQDr— Reza Aslan (@rezaaslan) September 24, 2022

  57. 57.

    The Lodger

    September 23, 2022 at 8:59 pm

    @C Stars: Yeah, but it’ll never be the REAL Wilmington.

  58. 58.

    Anoniminous

    September 23, 2022 at 9:03 pm

    @Jeffro: ​
     

    Real Trumpies nail their MAGA hat to their head.

  59. 59.

    HumboldtBlue

    September 23, 2022 at 9:03 pm

    @prostratedragon:

    Nice, friends of yours?

  60. 60.

    MinuteMan

    September 23, 2022 at 9:08 pm

    @cain: Someone who self identifies as smart and wears a Trump supporting t-shirt are just called trolls where I come from.

    I would call them oxy-Morons.

  61. 61.

    Ruckus

    September 23, 2022 at 9:14 pm

    @Sister Golden Bear:

    I hope that backfires so badly on them that they spontaneously combust.

  62. 62.

    Chetan Murthy

    September 23, 2022 at 9:15 pm

    @Ruckus: Maybe “agnosis”?  https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/agnosis#:~:text=agnosis%20(countable%20and%20uncountable%2C%20plural,shunning%20of%20knowledge%3B%20defective%20knowledge.

  63. 63.

    prostratedragon

    September 23, 2022 at 9:17 pm

    @HumboldtBlue:  No, just found them rambling around the search “Equinox John Coltrane.” A way to get an idea of how far music has spread, there are covers from all over the world, lesson plans, playalongs, …

  64. 64.

    HumboldtBlue

    September 23, 2022 at 9:20 pm

    @prostratedragon: ​ 

    Gotcha.

  65. 65.

    Mike in NC

    September 23, 2022 at 9:23 pm

    Was hoping the Wilmington rally resembles the Tulsa fiasco.

  66. 66.

    tokyocali (formerly tokyo ex-pat)

    September 23, 2022 at 9:30 pm

    @bbleh: This would be hilarious put to video! Now I’ve got visions of 80s aerobics classes and music in my head.

    @Sister Golden Bear: This is horrific. Can parents sue? I’d certainly be looking at that option. Regardless of the gender of my child, I would be livid that sending my kid off to school for an event purported to be about jobs resulted in this kind of religious indoctrination. At what point will the line between church and state get reinforced?

  67. 67.

    Chacal Charles Calthrop

    September 23, 2022 at 9:36 pm

    @MazeDancer:

    @prostratedragon:

    thanks everyone for the links.

    I get the sense that Biden has lived long enough to understand that what people remember about an era are its musicians and artists, not its politics — and, he also wants to have fun being President.  So part of being President is inviting BTS, Elton John, and Olivia Rodrigo to the White House.  Everyone’s clever enough to pay tribute to some pressing political issue, and everything is very public. but they’re also all enjoying themselves, which is just as it should be.

  68. 68.

    topclimber

    September 23, 2022 at 9:44 pm

    @Sister Golden Bear: To be fair, they also urge rapists to forgive their victims.

  69. 69.

    David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch

    September 23, 2022 at 9:49 pm

    MSNBC has a former federal prosecutor on saying indicting Dump for stealing nuclear secrets would be seen as “political”.  This is what we’re up against.

  70. 70.

    SixStringFanatic

    September 23, 2022 at 9:51 pm

    Any man who must say “I am smart” is no truly smart man.

    I think I heard that somewhere in Westeros.

  71. 71.

    David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch

    September 23, 2022 at 9:52 pm

    @Starfish: I’m not sure that would fit on a bumper sticker

  72. 72.

    Ken

    September 23, 2022 at 10:02 pm

    @HumboldtBlue:  stock footage from Russia

    That happens way too often to be an accident.

  73. 73.

    James E Powell

    September 24, 2022 at 12:07 am

    @MazeDancer:

    Tiny Dancer was pretty darn great.

    You aren’t kidding. He’s 75 and still on it. Thanks for the link.

  74. 74.

    Calouste

    September 24, 2022 at 12:57 am

    Talking about “point and mock”, the pound plunged against the dollar, which led the Guardian to the headline “markets have lost confidence in government”. Keep in mind that Liz Truss has been PM for less than three weeks, with two of those taken up by the death and funeral of the Queen, and as a Conservative, she’s already lost the confidence of the markets

  75. 75.

    RaflW

    September 24, 2022 at 12:06 pm

    @Chacal Charles Calthrop: Stale thread, but I gotta say: Can anyone remember any sort of culture or music performance at the Turnip White House?

    He had some fireworks and probably the Marine Band. But no stars, because stars can outshine a dimly polished turd.

    So glad to see a return to the WH being a venue for music, as well as recognizing Sir Elton’s long work on HIV.

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