Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The National Guard is not Batman.

So very ready.

It’s pointless to bring up problems that can only be solved with a time machine.

In after Baud. Damn.

When I was faster i was always behind.

This is dead girl, live boy, a goat, two wetsuits and a dildo territory.  oh, and pink furry handcuffs.

He really is that stupid.

The world has changed, and neither one recognizes it.

After dobbs, women are no longer free.

You are either for trump or for democracy. Pick one.

Fight them, without becoming them!

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

You come for women, you’re gonna get your ass kicked.

Wait, what?

They don’t have outfits that big. nor codpieces that small.

Of course you can have champagne before noon. That’s why orange juice was invented.

Balloon Juice, where there is always someone who will say you’re doing it wrong.

Dear elected officials: Trump is temporary, dishonor is forever.

Roe is not about choice. It is about freedom.

If you thought you’d already seen people saying the stupidest things possible on the internet, prepare yourselves.

When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.

To the privileged, equality seems like oppression.

They spent the last eight months firing professionals and replacing them with ideologues.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Easy Target Open Thread: Ross Doubthat, Back on His BS

Easy Target Open Thread: Ross Doubthat, Back on His BS

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His extremely well-compensated, very dishonest-but-superficially-plausible-to-targeted-NYTimes readers, bullsh*t…

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78Comments

  2. 2.

    Baud

    @Gin & Tonic:

    Good idea.  Paid to be disingenuous.

    ETA: I will say this though. Imagine if the Dems after 9/11 had said that if Bush really believed in fighting terrorism, he would give Dems Medicare for All in exchange for supporting him. That’s the equivalent of what RD is telling the GOP to do.

  4. 4.

    Turgidson

    I shouldn’t be surprised anymore when I read a “respectable” conservative pundit blame Democrats for *his* party being a frothing mob of bigots and morons who only believe in democracy if Donald Trump (!!!) gets to be emperor for life.  But somehow to still happens.

    Even though I know better, I still think there is a line that will get crossed by Trump or his goons and wannabes where people like DoucheHat realize they just can’t fuck that “Dems made us do it and/or Dems must unilaterally surrender to show their sincerity” chicken again and retain any dignity or credibility at all.  And I keep being wrong.

  8. 8.

    Brachiator

    Ross Douthat
    Replying to @DouthatNYT
    … I do feel a certain personal frustration in watching Biden in particular, the churchgoing, once pro-life politician, the former abortion moderate, simply lean in to social-issues polarization, whether on post-Dobbs abortion rhetoric, on trans issues, what-have-you.

    This is the definition of disingenuous bullshit.

    I hate this clown and anyone who publishes  his crap.

  11. 11.

    Turgidson

    @Baud:

    I hope so, but the fact that these people are still claiming the media was grievously unfair to Willard Mitt “Mittens” Romney *a decade ago* makes me wonder.

  13. 13.

    waspuppet

    America: Why don’t you guys write about the fact that the Republican Party has descended into a fascist movement?

    The Highly Compensated Beltway Media: That’s the Democrats’ job. If a prominent Democrat said something about it, we’d report it, but we’re not going to do their jobs for them.

    The Democratic Actual President of the Actual Fcking United States: The Republican Party has descended into a fascist movement.

    The Highly Compensated Beltway Media: Wait see what we meant was

  25. 25.

    Brachiator

    @Turgidson:

    Even though I know better, I still think there is a line that will get crossed by Trump or his goons and wannabes where people like DoucheHat realize they just can’t fuck that “Dems made us do it and/or Dems must unilaterally surrender to show their sincerity” chicken again and retain any dignity or credibility at all.

    There is no line that Trump will not cross. Trump does not even have a concept of a line.

    I remember saying to some people that I didn’t just oppose Trump, but saw him as a monster when he let people die during the pandemic because of his own stupidity and ineptitude.

    His supporters, most pundits, many comfortable middle class to upper class people still believe that they will be okay no matter what Trump does. They cannot believe that American democracy could ever fall, or that at most, suffering will be limited to people who don’t really matter much.

    But Trump doesn’t care about America. He doesn’t care about you.

  26. 26.

    dm

    Oh, my.  If you click on Nicholas Grossman’s tweet at the top of Anne’s post, he put the headline to Douthat’s column in parallel to the Oct 2020 column “There will be no Trump coup”.

  29. 29.

    Suzanne

    I read this Douche piece and it made me so mad. Basically, “why do the Dems exercise power in their preferred direction when they win it?”. UHHHHMMMMM…. because our coalition does not include you, Ross? Because you made a choice about your preferred representation and you chose wrongly? And you find being reminded of that fact humiliating?

    These people exercise nothing but pure will-to-power, and just cannot accept it when others do the same.

  30. 30.

    James E Powell

    @brantl:

    The truth is that the MAGAts hate Romney as much as they hate the rest of us. This is just another example of the political press blaming Democrats for everything, accepting responsibility for nothing.

  31. 31.

    Baud

    @Suzanne: Exactly. It kills them that we have all these “lesser” people in our coalition but don’t include them because if their own choices. They are forever college dudes who think they are entitled to a date from whatever girl they want.

  32. 32.

    Tony G

    Ross Douthat is just another Catholic fascist, with a thin facade of respectability.  I grew up as a Catholic, before I abandoned that cult at age 17.  I know his type.

  34. 34.

    JPL

    @Baud: I do the puzzle, but also was paying $17.00 a month for my subscription.  I called to cancel, and they offered me $4.00 a month for cooking, wire, the paper and crosswords.   When that expires next summer, I’ll become crossword only.  Their science pages are still good.

  35. 35.

    azlib

    Ross is like a spouse in a terrible codependent relationship. He has never criticized Trump without blaming the Dems for being part of the problem.

  37. 37.

    Mike in NC

    Haven’t given a thought about Ross Douthat in several years. Now I can go back to forgetting he exists.

  38. 38.

    Matt McIrvin

    The only reason Democrats have relied increasingly on executive power is that Congressional Republicans have taken the position that nothing will get done in Congress unless it is by Republicans (and precious little will even be done by Republicans apart from obstruction), and have had the power to enforce this. The alternative to executive overreach is nothing, absolutely nothing.

  42. 42.

    M31

    isn’t Doughy Pantload Jonah Goldberg? Ross D is the one brought us the “Chunky Reese Witherspoon” story, I thought? (i.e., a woman taking initiative in sex made his wee wee wither)

    just eww

    of all the errors of the media, bringing people like this into my attention is one of the grosser crimes

  43. 43.

    Suzanne

    @Baud: What really, really kills them is that  we do not want them. I have zero desire to cater to the policy preferences or the social status desires of religious conservatives. They are not desirable. AFAIAC, 2016 was a hard line. Biden is willing to separate the “MAGA Republicans” from the rest, but i’m not.

  44. 44.

    zhena gogolia

    god my glasses really fogged up today in class. Then my cane fell on the floor and made a big clatter. It was a disaster. It’s so humid I literally had water running in streams down my glasses. This didn’t happen at all last year — I don’t get it.

  45. 45.

    Gin & Tonic

    We have gotten over 3.6” of rain in the last three hours. My daughter who lives about 50 miles away has gotten 0.

  46. 46.

    Dan B

    @Gin & Tonic: Seattle got 1/10th inch of rain between July 1st and August 30th.  Since then it’s been one light drizzle that did not wet the ground under trees.  It’s usually dry in summer but this was much less than 1 inch per month.

  47. 47.

    Suzanne

    @azlib: Ross also appears mildly inbred, and is still wrought with Catholic guilt. Just a steaming dumpling of pathologies. This “look what you made me do” shit coming out of the GOP apologists — who now are realizing that their reputations are shredded — is tiresome and I really DGAF about preserving their dignity.

  48. 48.

    Suzanne

    namely the sense that voters to the right of center are being asked to sacrifice various commitments or interests to defeat Trumpism, even as their would-be leaders or partners to the left give up none of their partisanship and indeed become ever-more ideologically purist.

    Well, yeah. There’s consequences for being fucking wrong. One of those is that everyone becomes aware that you’re fucking wrong.

  51. 51.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Suzanne:

    Even if they’re right about all that other stuff, they still have to decide what’s more important, those other assorted issues, or preservation of democracy itself.

    It’s a character test. Most of them will flunk it, of course.

  54. 54.

    Suzanne

    There’s another Douche tweet that annoys me in that thread:

    But the entire Trump phenomenon – throwing over major unpopular GOP commitments, Ryanism in domestic policy and Bushism in FP – should make us question whether those lines are so static after all.

    When will these dumbfucks absorb that Trump/Trumpism has nothing to do with policy positions?! Nothing. Nobody who supports Trump thinks that he has thoughtfully considered an issue and listened to experts and analyzed data and come to a conclusion. People love him for the aesthetics, specifically the aesthetics of relatively high social status for uneducated white men with no aspirations beyond consumer acquisition. That line is pretty fucken static. Stop pretending that Trumpism is about anything more than flexing on people who are smarter, more successful, and more attractive than you, Ross.

  55. 55.

    Gretchen

    Infuriating that Douthat thinks Biden should « compromise » on women’s healthcare to make reactionaries feel better.  His commenters say that since « only a few » women will die of tragic pregnancies, while thousands of imaginary babies will be « saved », and thousands is more than a few.  Enraging.  These guys seem to think that a 15 week ban is reasonable, and they’ll have 3 politicians with no medical training on tv to discuss the reasonableness of the compromise.  They never have a doctor on to explain to them why a 19 week abortion may be necessary.  We’ll have to be like Ireland and have a sympathetic, married, educated woman who has already chosen a name and decorated the nursery die of sepsis before these bozos can begin to understand.

  56. 56.

    JAFD

    @Baud:

     There was a column by Albert Hunt in December of 2001 (he was the liberal voice on the Wall Street Journal editorial page back then.) on how the Democratic response to 9/11 exemplified patriotism, and the GOP might take some lessons therefrom.
    IIRC, of course. Copied and printed out a copy once, but have lived in eleven places since … Oveovdezedaze will ask my friend who works for Dow Jones to borrow his WSJ account …

  57. 57.

    Suzanne

    @Pennsylvanian:

    So now they want a mulligan on “fuck you feelings”? 

    “Hahaha, no, I only meant ‘fuck your feelings’. My feelings, on the other hand, shall be stroked and swaddled and lovingly caressed as if they were a vintage sports car in mint condition.”

    GTFO, people. When y’all chose fascism, you made a choice.

  58. 58.

    lowtechcyclist

    Without reading the FTFNYT, I’m curious as to what Douthat thinks we ought to make concessions on.

    Voting rights and gerrymandering? Being able to vote, and having it count, is the essence of democracy.
    Climate change? Just the future of the world hanging in the balance.
    Abortion rights? Sorry, we’re not compromising on a woman’s right to be in charge of her own freakin’ body.
    Gay and trans rights, since he brings up the latter: good God, what earthly reason is there to give them anything less than the same rights all the rest of us have? Maybe his religion says otherwise, but the Constitution is very clear that there shall be no establishment of religion.
    Arming Ukraine? Speaking of defending democracy against fascism, they’re doing it and we’re gonna arm them.
    Working to get closer to universal affordable health care? I certainly hope his church is for that. Jesus healed the sick. What we’ve got instead is doctors and medicine. Would Jesus have us hold them back from people?
    The list could go on, but you get the idea. Why should we make concessions when we’re in the right, just because the other party is on the side of wrong? That makes no fucking sense whatsoever.

  60. 60.

    Suzanne

    @lowtechcyclist:

    Why should we make concessions when we’re in the right, just because the other party is on the side of wrong? 

    Because white social conservatives are used to having their desires and tastes reflected in the public sphere! That gave them a mistaken sense of their importance!

  61. 61.

    Princess

    Douthat is giving cover for Republicans who think of themselves as “moderate”, like him, to continue voting Republican. That’s it; that’s the whole point of the article.

  62. 62.

    Geminid

    @lowtechcyclist: I take Douthat’s column as a positive sign. If he still thought Republicans were taking back the House and Senate this fall he might not be pleading for concessions.

  65. 65.

    Felanius Kootea

    Did anyone read the NYT article by Tom Bonier on the sheer number of women who’ve registered to vote since Dobbs? Made me smile and the comments had me cheering. I think the Republicans are in big trouble and Douthat knows it.

    ETA: The Kansas vote shows that many women who pulled the lever for Trump weren’t on board with becoming second class citizens.

  67. 67.

    catclub

    @Felanius Kootea: The Kansas vote shows that many women who pulled the lever for Trump weren’t on board with becoming second class citizens.

     

    Our fellow citizens are amazingly slow learners.

  68. 68.

    billcinsd

    @M31:Ross D is the one brought us the “Chunky Reese Witherspoon” story, I thought? (i.e., a woman taking initiative in sex made his wee wee wither)

     

    I believe it was, specifically her using contraception that caused his wee wee to wither

  70. 70.

    catclub

    @Brachiator: ​

    but saw him as a monster when he let people die during the pandemic because of his own stupidity and ineptitude.

    The minimal things Trump needed to do to be re-elected after the pandemic was: 1)Don’t ignore it 2) Don’t make it worse.He could not manage either. We dodged a bullet that he is that incompetent. (of course lots of extra people died dodging that bullet.)
    If he does those two things and announces great progress on a vaccine – as though he is interested – he gets re-elected in a landslide.​

  72. 72.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Brachiator: I still say Trump should be convicted of crimes against humanity for stealing my state’s doctors’ PPE during the early COVID pandemic. That’s premeditated mass murder.

  73. 73.

    Matt McIrvin

    @catclub: That he wasn’t reelected anyway was a matter of a few narrow lucky breaks. And that’s before even considering the coup attempt.

  74. 74.

    NorthLeft

    Conservatives/Pundits; they never learn, they never go back and review their failed predictions, or bother to understand why they were wrong.

    I don’t understand how anyone can take them seriously anymore.

  76. 76.

    Anne Laurie

    @Tony G: Ross Douthat is just another Catholic fascist, with a thin facade of respectability. I grew up as a Catholic, before I abandoned that cult at age 17.

    Oh, it’s worse than that — Doubthat’s a ‘tradcath’ convert, who  freely chose, as an adult, to join the gang of revanchists trying to take the ‘Mother Church’ backwards, in defiance of both physics and the Pope.

    At least the community you & I chose to leave consisted of people who’d grown up inside it, who had ties more basic than cultural resentment to hold them together.

  77. 77.

    Searcher

    So Abraham Lincoln is running for President.  1860, 1960, 2024.  Whatever.

    What percent of currently-registered Republican voters vote for him:

    (a) If he’s in a Republican primary.

    (b) If he’s running on the Republican line in the general.

    (c) There is no C, because if he’s running on the Democratic line in the general the answer is 0%.

  78. 78.

    Turgidson

    @NorthLeft: as driftglass would say:

    1.  No fair remembering stuff; and
    2. It is essential to quote what David Brooks w(but this works with any NPR-approved conservative) wrote today, but it is strictly forbidden to quote what David Brooks said yesterday.

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