Posts
Smitty jabbed Allah on Tuesday, joining the general dogpile over Allah's ill-advised comment about the SEALs court-martial. And no wise man would argue with Uncle Jimbo:
I realize you get paid to say controversial shite all day long. Every once in a while you ought to take a gander at who gives you the freedom to flap your freakin' gums and think twice before you decide that zero-tolerance demands that your betters suffer for some bullshit like this.Anybody can be a blogospheric tough guy. Real-world tough guys play by different rules and, being personally acquainted with a few of those guys, I try to make a point of staying on their good side.
Nevertheless, let's not let the Allah beatdown go too far. There is hope for his redemption. One thing that must be understood is that Hot Air is a commercial enterprise. It generates revenue to pay the bills for Ed Morrissey and Allahpundit and, we hope, leaves a little profit for The Boss.
Several observers have suggested that Allah's bad tendencies -- his crush on Meghan McCain, his jabs at Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck -- actually make Hot Air a more interesting place. He knows where the buttons are, and knows how to push 'em. As a blogger, when I see one of Allah's hot threads go to 400+ comments, and at least 100 of those comments are some variation on "Allah sucks," it inspires a certain sort of admiration for someone who's willing to be the scapegoat.
Allahpundit is a guy of genuine ability and professional accomplishment outside the blogosphere, and the fact that he has only linked me once in the past eight months does not detract from that. (It's possible I'm exaggerating the persistent non-linkage, but not by much.) His sarcastic wit is a skill unto itself, and I've lost track of how much of my own blog-schtick was actually swiped from Allah.
So I'm pro-Allahpundit, even if Allahpundit is anti-me. "Turn the other cheek," "love your enemies," and all that hillbilly Bible-thumper creationist stuff.
Hating your enemy is arguably a waste of time. Even if you disagree with that, however, there is a point at which hatred of our enemies goes too far, when it becomes irrational, sadistic and unseemly. But enough about Andrew Sullivan and Sarah Palin's uterus . . .
During 2006, when Cynthia McKinney stumbled (further) into foolishness and all the conservative bloggers were hatin' on her, I felt a strange empathy for Georgia's most famous moonbat, even though I'd been hatin' on Cynthia since 1991. So I had a Ned Flanders moment, explaining how being the object of hate -- hey, I've been there -- had driven me to contemplate Psalm 69:
Amen. God has been merciful toward me, and it behooves me to urge mercy toward others. We fundamentalists would describe Allah as "lost," but let us not presume him lost beyond redemption. For who can be beyond the power of God?They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of mine head: they that would destroy me, being mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty . . . O God, thou knowest my foolishness; and my sins are not hid from thee. . . . But as for me, my prayer is unto thee, O Lord . . . O God, in the multitude of thy mercy hear me, in the truth of thy salvation. Deliver me . . . let me be delivered from them that hate me.
As long as AllahPundit can articulate his positions without sounding demonstrating idiocy or stupidity, he's fine in my book. So why can't I give the same courtesy to Conor Friedersdorf?
ReplyDeleteHear hear.
ReplyDeleteAnd besides, who do you really know for a fact is more deserving of damnation than yourself.
Chief among sinners am I.
Selah
Perhaps Allah is there to antagonize Conservatives but why is that necessary? I don't think that having 400 responses where half of them are ANGRY speaks to bringing more eyes to the site. I believe it eventually leaves some so angry that they go and find somewhere else to spend their time. There is such a thing as a breaking point and Allah is about there with Conservatives!
ReplyDeleteUncle jimbo was right to apologize to Allahpundit.
ReplyDeleteAP is one if, if not the, smartest bloggers on the internet. AP was right, and Jimbo was wrong on this issue, and that's why Jimbo apologized. I'm glad he has honor. All this beta talk makes him look like a douche, but I know he's a great person who made a mistake.
Another point: he continually conflates 'slap on the wrist' with career termination. Those terms are opposites, AP clearly meant them as opposites, and yes, the government has conflated the two, but that doesn't mean AP wanted to end anyone's career or was OK with that.
It is not a chickenshit move to discipline troops who disobey orders. Anyone in the military who doesn't agree needs to find a new line of work. These SEALs had the balls to demand court martial, probably because they are innocent, and I don't think there's enough evidence to prosecute, but some correction is obviously required if they really did break orders. Something like a slap on the wrist, defined, obviously as non career terminal.
Anyway, AP is moderate and he loves bringing up news that helps the right face ugly realities and deal with them. He's a big reason why Palin looks smarter and the left never pulls a fast one. He is clearly dedicated to getting great news out, and all the 'beta' talk is pathetic. AP won this roung, decidedly.
Any stick is good enough to beat a yellow dog with, and Allahpundit's smarmy behavior has certainly earned him a beating. We have enough Frums and Parkers on the Right already; we need no more of that class-conscious, sanctimonious breed.
ReplyDeleteI like Allah, even if I disagree with him on stuff.
ReplyDeleteWhat total bollocks. Haven't you heard of the Chicago Way? He puts one of yours in the Hospital, you put one of His in the Morgue.
ReplyDeleteBe a Sarah Palin Conservative: send Allah a fish wrapped in newspaper. He'll get the message.
Until then, Happy Thanksgiving. Now if you don't mind, I've got to go fit some liberals for cement galoshes.
R.S., I don't get the obsession with Allahpundit. Hot Air sucks. I enjoyed Captains Quarters but Ed Morrisey went down hill after he joined HA.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous wrote:
ReplyDeleteR.S., I don't get the obsession with Allahpundit.
As Michael Corleone would say, it's business --namely, traffic.
A Hot Air Headline link can be worth an extra 1,000 hits per day. directly, not to mention the extra traffic generated by other bloggers who link items headlined at Hot Air. There was a time in 2008 when I was getting the HA Headline link fairly regularly. Then the Allah-hate began, without explanation.
It was in June this year that I finally claimed the "Allah hates me" Google-bomb. Honesty is the best policy, and when you're frustrated about something, it is unwise to sit around stewing in your own juices. If you nurse a secret grudge, you'll end up driving yourself into Johnsonoid madness. (I'm convinced that CJ's basic problem is that he felt neglected in 2006-2007, became alienated and let it drive him over the edge.)
The person against whom you hold a grudge may not even realize that they're screwing you over -- it may simply be thoughtless negligence, a fault to which I am myself prone (just ask Mrs. Other McCain). But if somebody really is deliberately sabotaging you, it's unwise to let them think you're too stupid even to notice what they're doing.
As Fletcher said in The Outlaw Josey Wales, "Don't piss down my back and tell me it's raining."
Having heard various criticisms -- that I'm "whining," etc. -- I'm resolved to maintain my status as The Blogger Whom Allah Hateth until the hate is vanquished. It's a one-way hate. I've got nothing against Allah, except that he seems to have something against me. So if the Pilgrims and the Indians could sit down together on Turkey Day, this seemed to be an excellent occasion to make a gesture of peace, by playing the role of Allah's Chris Crocker.
Stacy I don't think you hate anyone. In the time I've been reading you, I have never gotten the feeling that you really, truly hate even the likes of David Chauncey Gardiner Brooks or Charles 'Very Small' Johnson or any of those who have hurled the raaaaacism libel against you.
ReplyDeleteI admire that in a way, but, you know, sometimes hate can be a good thing in small doses. Like, say, two minutes hate a day--just ask the Administration.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.
Yeah AP is the HA resident devil's-advocate.
ReplyDeleteBut, as anyone who has actually succeeded in the adult world will tell you, when someone says they are playing the D's-A they are NOT PLAYING.
AP deserves what he gets, and if there is nothing wrong with what he does then there is nothing wrong with him taking flak for what he does.
And you neglected to mention his brilliant 'argument' in favor of student loan forgiveness as one of his less than stellar moments of 'moderate conservatism.'
ThomasD
Hillybilly Bible Thumper stuff?!?!?
ReplyDeleteHey! Leave me outta this! ;-P
Couple years ago a story in the media how girls in Bayview-Hunter's Point were going into puberty at a progressively younger age, as young as age 7.
ReplyDeleteA very bad sign::::Early cut-off. It draws the boys attention and they subsequently make sexual mistakes, very similar to what typical people experience nearly a decade later.
When they "turn" people on and start telepathically talking to them with this technology is very similar::The end of their chance. They segment families, convince them "earning" is the way, etc.
I tell people to examine the change between when they were children and after they began to hear. It is the difference between good and evil.
I understand people's confusion:::They literally hear "God" in their head, as opposed to what was taught to them in some church's classroom. But this technology is one of the God's tools, and much like their other tools, clone hosts and prophets, they use them as temptation.
They didn't begin speaking to me until I began working for ownershit group. "You went to work for evil." "And you were punished."
They began talking to these kids long before puberty, long enough for first-born son to become corrupted and throw away his good looks when punished.
The Gods offered a clue about the Italians in the movie "The Matrix":::They casted an Italian as the traitor of the group, the one who betrays them all.
As they did humanity in the 20th century (see "clone hosting").
Allah does a great job at HotAir. Sure he teases the denizens but you have to remember that if he really does live in NYC, he is in the heart and soul of the enemy. That's serious injun country. Cut a little slack (not a lot).
ReplyDeleteBesides, all the snarkiness is real-life FREE training for those he offends, or preppin for 2010.
Anybody else gonna be watching MSNBC after the Dems cough up control of the House? with a garbage can of popcorn too? Does Rush still use that 'gloatometer'?
And besides, if we left HotAir, we'd never have crossed paths with the most devastating concern troll ever: AnninCA, who has put me and dozens into fetal positions sucking our thumbs with her incredible destructive power.
You don't get stronger playing weak teams.
I got drunk last night and the doorframe ran into my face.
ReplyDeleteWho in the military can I file charges against???
I don't always agree with Allahpundit but he's a good writer and seems to be a good guy. However, his weird crush on the astoundingly stupid junior high schooler, Meghan Meghan, takes him down a few notches in my book.
ReplyDelete