I’m sorry Helen. I was going to write a great big gushy hugs-and-kisses post about your unrepentent genius but I guess that’s not what you look for in a blogger. And then, how could I have raced past your (Best Ever) blog wearing my “OMG HELEN RITTELMEYER MARRY ME!” t-shirt?
If the League is too huggy, or this “corner” of the blogosphere in which we reside is too huggy, well…how? I mean, some of it is, but a lot of what gets written is just conversational rather than overtly confrontational. I don’t see people lavishing one another with unadulterated praise. I see people disagreeing with one another but doing it politely. Is that the problem? Would you like some more bar-room brawls? Is all this gentlemanly behavior just too fucking boring? Cause I can arrange for Freddie and John Schwenkler to start taking shots at each other again.
What I want to know is who exactly is calling who “genius”? Where is this “gushing” you speak of? I mean, some commenters can be rather nice this way sometimes, and we appreciate the feedback (good and bad) but others can be downright brutal. Be specific, because the way I see it it’s not so much about “gushing” around here, it’s about tone. And there’s a difference. I remember when Stacy McCain was pining over you on his blog a while back and I think Freddie referred to him, in very gushing terms, as a “tedious nothing.” (That was genius, Freddie. Man you are a frickin’ genius.)
Maybe we should all just be more like Richard Spencer. He’s a genius, too.
(Note: I actually really enjoy Richard Spencer’s stuff. But he’s not very huggy. He’s almost as cantankerous as Helen. He’s also not prone to the shouty inanities you see come out of the neocon blogosphere. Maybe there is a balance to be struck.)
I realize this is just your way of pointing out what you consider to be mediocrity. Okay. But I’d also say that combativeness does not in and of itself breed quality. And it’s way, way easier to just go combat-mode and attack everything you see without offering anything substantive as an alternative.
Mediocrity takes many shapes.
I really liked your post by the way. It was dreamy.
I’d like to consider myself an adult, but I’m still a big fan of beer pong.Report
Wow, she discovered there is hyperbole on the internet. Has she ever watched Faux News?
The world is better off with a bit less name calling and hyper-partisan poo flinging and bit more polite ( well mostly) attempts at communication.
I’ve never read her before is, contrarian cranky rants her shtick?Report
It’s obvious Helen does not know me.Report
Fuck all of you.Report
Chicks read this site? Had I known, I would have been engaging in more alpha male behaviors!Report
“Chicks read this site?”
Well, yeah.Report
other than Katherine and Matoko (and apparently Helen R.) I doubt it.Report
If that’s it, I’ll go back to being nice to y’all.
That’s a lot easier than trying to impress chicks, I tell you what.Report
It’s much easier to disagree respectfully or with humor. I’m tired of all the blustering. This is a little different, but one tactic I’ve noticed from paritsans on both sides is to aggressively bombard every disagreement with every ideological cliche they’ve ever heard, enforced with non sequitors, assumptions, generalizations and prejudiced accusations, so that in order to respond you’d have to write 2000 word rebuttal. When you address one or two cliches, they ignore the answer and throw out 4 more. It gets to the point where “whatever” is the only response that saves you from exhaustion.Report
Oh, the 2000 word rebuttal! That’s the best way to deal with that sort of thing.
The one *I* hate, more than any other, is “you’re just spewing talking points”.
What irritates me is when I have this thrown at me when I’m talking about some really oblique shit and they throw that out there.
At that point, you pretty much *HAVE* to write the 2000 word essay.
Of course, then you get to listen to them complain that you’re trying to bury them in verbiage.Report
You libertarians WOULD say that.Report
I’m impressed by people being nice.
The amount of civil discussion is one of the best things about this site.Report
Freddie — Ha!
A typical liberal generalization.Report
E.D.,
Can I get my shirt back?Report
Helen is the worst blogger on the internet.
There, I hope she’s happy.Report
I did my best. Sorry, guys. I’ll up the ferocity in future, see if that helps make things a bit more tumultuous & dramatic. Maybe call Rousseau a dickweed or something.Report
The term fuckwit is more entertaining.Report
I kinda like dickweed… it’s less common and more giggle-inducing.Report
Start a poll.Report
You know, what I find far more disturbing that no one seems to have picked up on (or perhaps simply care about) is that with one wave her magic keyboard, Helen has cast us all as part of the “hipster set”.
To quote The Champ,
I says pardon? Well… I looose it! I Snap! Flurry of punches to the solar plexus… listen to the audio via the link above, you’ll get the idea.
Hipster my eye, I’ve never been so insulted.Report
Scott, that was the icing on the cake. The only reason I responded. As I said to Will the other day, regarding being called “bro” – I’m no hipster. I’m a gentleman.Report
It’s insult to injury given how much anti-hipsterism I’ve lent to our hallowed pages.
I don’t believe in hipsters, I only believe in me.Report
I asked my beloved wife to confirm for me that I wasn’t a hipster and certainly wasn’t a walking example of the “Stuff White People Like” website and she confirmed for me that I was not.
So I got that going for me.Report