Updated per the “physics police”: They say that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. That apparently doesn’t apply to actions which fall into the category of idiotic. What is notable is that idiots acting like idiots tend to trigger those reactions more swiftly. One such example is when a person’s id is triggered by an idiot and out of a desire to ‘send a message’ the response might be to “moon” the idiot.
“…the word idiot originates from the Greek word idiwtes (idiotes), which refers to a person disinterested in participating in democracy and public life. These people were viewed as selfish, contemptable and stupid as they were more concerned with their daily personal affairs than they were of the good of the society. Later in the Middle Ages the word took on additional connotations associated with being stupid, such as being mentally incapable.”
So here’s the rub. Mooning is an imbecilic, sophomoric action, i.e., idiotic. Therefore what we have with someone ‘mooning an idiot’ is idiot on idiot behavior. Sadly, everywhere we look lately, people are engaging in the equivalent of idiot mooning. This is especially true in the politisphere. Someone does something idiotic and another person responds with something equally or more idiotic, thus the analogy of “mooning an idiot.”
Take the Joe Wilson episode. Setting aside free speech arguments for the moment, Wilson’s breach of decorum was, in my opinion, idiotic. Personal attacks and/or name-calling in a public forum are nothing more than attention-getting devices that distract from real issues. Wilson had every opportunity to hold a press conference following the address and lay out his case for why he believed that the information being conveyed was not truthful; but instead, he chose to behave badly. What happened next however, was a classic example of “mooning an idiot.” In response to Wilson’s childish outburst, Congress spent precious hours issuing a “rebuke” of Mr. Wilson. This action was a useless and costly venture done purely for show and to allow the “mooners” an opportunity to display their backsides for the country’s viewing (dis)pleasure.
These types of exhortations that infer all criticism or protest relative to the president or his policies is racially motivated does nothing to advance the issues that are important to the majority of voters in our country. In fact, it does more damage by increasing the political and social divides of our country at this moment.
Even worse, mooning an idiot is not an action reserved for one political party or another; nor is it a single cycle of idiocy. Idiot mooning can be self-perpetuating when the ‘mooning’ is met with another idiot engaging in the same type of mental pants-dropping. For example, if another idiot like Glen Beck or Rush Limbaugh responds to Congress’s action to rebuke Joe Wilson with some idiotic call for protest, they too would be “mooning an idiot.”
Barney Frank’s comments in response to the townhall participant accusing the President Obama of “Hitleristic” tendencies was nothing more than an episode of “mooning an idiot.” There are certainly more mature ways of handling the so-called ‘angry mob’ participants such as demonstrated by Congressman Joe Sestak. Joe chose to keep his belt buckled and his cheeks appropriately covered despite being confronted by people unable to ask questions in a civilized and adult manner.
Idiot mooning is also occurring when a bunch of gagglers gather to protest Glen Beck’s appearance at a Chamber of Commerce dinner. I say alleged because their energies would be better spent protesting over substantive matters. Protesting Glen Beck will do nothing to further our country’s progress. (See how this idiot mooning thing works?)
Next time you see it happen, call out these idiot mooners. Everyone needs to pull up their pants and get to work.
Filed under: General |
It’s funny how that movie was made in 1976, yet the dialogue is relevant to this moment. The more things change the more they stay the same, no?
I think the Kanye backlash reached the point of mooning an idiot by the time it became so popular that Obama had to join in.
I actually had that included in my original draft but removed it so that it didn’t cause a detoured discussion about whether or not Kanye was acting like an idiot.
whether? 😯
exactly
Speaking of idiots – here’s Kanye West disrespecting THIS site!
http://kanyelicio.us/https://riverdaughter.wordpress.com/
With a little help from WaPo –
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/16/AR2009091602935.html?nav=hcmodule
I was wondering where that came from … frankly it made me laugh.
that’s funny!
At least that’s a joke, I’ve actually seen Failbots say that Kanye’s thing was payback for Wilson’s attack on Obama. In all seriousness.
ohferheavenssake! (( rolls eyes ))
That reminds me of the failbots who said Isaiah Washington getting fired was payback for Imus getting fired.
Seriously:
I actually heard someone say that today! I just looked at this, otherwise intelligent person, and wanted to shake the stupid out of him/her!
What’s next?
The Bot’s claiming Obama called Kanye a jackass to get back at Jesse Jackson for saying he wanting to “Castrate him??
Some people should have never left Sesame Street!
Yes, if you’re mad at someone just take it out on some random completely unrelated person and feel justified, because it’s all about you. Look for a kid, especially, they’re easier to get away with. This lesson is brought to you by the letter W.
Jamie Foxx takes a cheap shot at Miley Cyrus, Kanye West ruins Taylor Swift’s moment in the spotlight, Imus gets fired for making misogynistic and racist comments at the Rutgers women…
who are the target of all these attacks?
young women who have done nothing to these jerks
but the failbots want us to keep the focus on Joe “You lie” Wilson
Yeah, but to be fair, hearing someone called a liar is causing them to flashback to martial law and carnage in SF. (Son of Sam? Could she be talking about that?).
Physics police:
For every action there is an equal and OPPOSITE reaction. Same magnitude, not greater. That would be Newton’s 3rd Law.
Just makin’ sure the physics that gets into pop culture is right.
Loved your post.
fixed it. Sorry…I hated physics. So much work with all of those formulas. 🙂
SoD,
The situation you are describing is a form of positive feedback loop where idiocy stimulates more idiocy. You are advocating for a negative feedback approach to idiocy.
s
Actually I’m arguing that they need to stop acting out scenes from a Three Stooges movie.
SoD,
Three stooges abuse scenes ultimately oscillate or crash, like positive feedback loops.
😉
s
{{{{eyes spinning}}}}
So that’s it, the Dems are acting out the Three Stooges while Obama acts out the Pledge, the Turn, and the Prestige.
I like Barney, but he really can be an arrogant jerk, and he does think he’s smarter than everyone else. I’ve seen him get pissy and condescending at Democratic events with fervent supporters asking respectful questions. I understand he is Jewish and I’m sure the question upset him a great deal, but people would be more willing to cut him some slack if it were an aberration and he behaved better normally, instead of a ‘Barney being a jerk again, what else is new’ type thing.
(I believe the question that caused him to go off equated Obama and Hitler)
She had a picture of Obama as Hitler. She was a LaRouchie and they had made those pictures. She was not even a constituent. I think he had seen it before and was pretty fed up. I think you would have to be from another planet to think it was okay to show Hitler Obama to a Jewish Dem.
This is true, but mooning the idiot didn’t serve any purpose did it?
Yes, but again he has a history of going off on everyone. People would understand if he had A history of being polite and respectful to constituents but on this occasion just went too far. But since he doesn’t most people won’t even process what set him off and assume it’s just rudeness/intolerance of others as per usual.
Got pushed too far, I meant, and snapped
Oh, I agree that’s what made him upset.
I think huffpo and cnn DID play it like a distraction, but that is the MSM for you, remember the media doesn’t want real healthcare reform, it’s in their interest to distract. There are other things I’d fault Barnery Frank for, but calling out this LaRouche nut *perhaps* may not have been such a big deal in the context of the townhall itself.
Instead of mooning that idiot and giving her 5 minutes of fame on a continuous MSM TV loop, a simple “next” and moving on to a legitimate question would’ve served the issue better.
Also, the post isn’t about Barney Frank. It’s about responding to idiots. Most of what goes on anymore is unproductive theatre. Barney knew the cameras were rolling and the audio was being recorded.
I understand that… I was agreeing with you and your overall point, I was just adding to it –I think the MSM shares a lot of blame for the mooning factor.
Hillary responded to an idiotic question that was posed to her and the media played it nonstop and distorted it and made it seem like the only thing that happened at that Q&A. A lot of people put the fault on Hillary when really all she did is call the question out for being idiotic.
The media distorts things and can sometimes make the response seem much longer and more pronounced than it really is, is all I’m saying.
Definitely. Their pants are in perpetual ankle-ward motion
LOL!
Regarding the Hillary incident, she was responding appropriately to the question. In the converse, Frank issued an insult in response to an idiotic question/comment.
True, for me the bottom line is the media’s intentional distraction. So what if Barney asked the nut if she was from another planet? It’s funny, but highlighting that isn’t necessarily the problem imho–it’s that the media never highlighted anything ELSE, it never highlighted anything that didn’t serve its corporate agenda of showing townhall conflict, their media meme was all about Obama haters vs. the wimpy Dems, and so Barney scored a point against the haters and they played that up. Media loves to just pass this kind of distraction as being predisposed to conflict, but yet where were CNN and Huffpo and the rest when there was plenty of conflict and a good story–when we needed them to moon Barney and the rest of Congress at the time when they were enabling the housing mess instead of stopping it? Where are the cable media and their nonstop media loops when we need them to talk about Wall Street securitizing life insurance policies?
Barney* lol
I’ll have you know that cricket got my two Jack Russell terriers really upset. Now they think there’s a cricket in the house and they are determined to figure out where the little bugger is hiding….
Cannonfire:
There’s more over there.
Does anyone think Baucus gives a shit about these kinds of consequences? Of course not, the lobbyist’s are happy and that’s all he’s looking for.
Who’s gonna moon Baucus! 😉
If I were back in Montana, I would moon Bad Tax Max!
let me know, I’ll bring along my guitar and sing Moon over Helena
I think Rogers and Hammerstein wrote a song about this too…
How do you solve a problem like Baucus, how do you catch a cloud and pin it down, how do you find a word that means Baucus? A flibbertijibbet, a will-o’-the wisp, a clown!
Great post SOD. Gotta go moon someone now. 🙂
😯
I kinda thought that “B” looked suspiciously like a sideways moon.
OT: ACORN appears to be toast with both House and Senate defunding them by overwhelming margins. I think what those two young journalists undertook was pretty brave and about the only piece of investigative journalism seen on the planet in the last few years.
OT: #2—I think Obama has finally done something that I can approve. Canceling the missile defense plan in Eastern Europe. I always thought it was unnecessary and deliberately provocative. I have a feeling that Gates recommended it because he had no choice. I thought he appeared to be a man relieved of a bad choice when he spoke today that their revised plan was less expensive and more effective.
Agree with both points. Seeing more actions like this from Obama would be very nice indeed.
If you haven’t seen Jon Stewart’s report on ACORN, it’s a must see. You can find the video at Hillaryis44 and The Reclusive Leftist. It’s hilarious.
It may take two to tango, but it only takes one to end the dance.
Also, he was apparently booed today in MD when he tried to tout the Baucus bill. I’m trying to find the video
http://campaignsilo.firedoglake.com/2009/09/17/obama-gets-booed-when-he-mentioned-baucus-bill-at-rally/
Re: Wilson–he admitted he was wrong and called the WH immediately and apologized. Apology accepted.
Yes, he broke decorum, but, frankly, he spoke for me.
No. Wilson was FORCED by Repub House leaders to “apologize” to Obama.
But the fact is–he did.
http://www.usnews.com/blogs/washington-whispers/2009/09/16/howard-dean-blasts-baucus-healthcare-bill.html
Who knows what Howie means? Maybe he is just trying to make the Republicans THINK he hates the Baucus bill, so that they will “like it.”
I trust Howard Dean about a far as I can throw him these days.
SYD
From a comment on The Hill’s story about Baucus’s plan getting booed at Obama’s event.
Seem like very good questions to me.
sheesh, why couldn’t we get a real democratic president? Like one that one eliminated a faith-based anything?
We need more policies that are reality based.
bwahahahahahaahahahaha!!
yeah, yeah, i know, that’s why you and I and all our dear friends are over here at TC banging our heads against our keyboards, right?
Great post, SoD! You make a serious point with lovely humor.
“Everyone needs to pull up their pants and get to work….”
LOL, I’ll be sure to put that line in my next letter to congress.
😮
moon = ( ! )
Exactly, this is the legacy of the corrosive Two Party Political system sillyness; you are now either a Traitor or a Racist period.
And ahhhh Speaker Pelosi what the hell did you think you and your house Leadership would create when you called the other loons UN American Racist, mooning the idiots in the mirror, indeed.
And before anyone else points it out, I too have mooned an idiot
once or twiceseveral times.But we want to see the pics!!
😆
Wyden, Dean, Kucinich, Reid, among others have said the Baucus bill stinks.
TOTUS is focus grouping the comments?
UHC hasn’t sent him his talking points yet.
Obama Inc. is trying to figure out a way to call Harry Reid “the left of the left.” It will take awhile.
Very creative.
Sellout-for-Obama Michael Moore better watch out!
Bill O has come out for a public option? According to Huff-n-Puff.
I guess this is like his opposition to the death penalty.
I wonder if Glen Beck will call him a Socialist?
Heh! Although Bill O is for a public option that is dead…. so there is a difference.
Is that like threatening a dead man to a duel?
Hmm. Sounds like a clusterfuck. Kinda like this.
Bill O, Beck, and Jay Z:
Why I hate having my picture taken:
http://peopleofwalmart.com/?p=3596
the pants are divine
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2009/09/17/pelosi_chokes_up_warning_against_political_violence.html
O, Lord. What rhetoric is she even talking about and what violence? I don’t remember hearing about widespread violence and blood running in the streets of San Francisco in the late 70’s in history class. Does she mean Harvey Milk, or what?
That’s cuz in the 70’s Michael Douglas and Karl Malden were policing The Streets of San Francisco.
Not well enough to prevent V for Vendetta, apparently. I always knew Michael Douglas was untrustworthy but I expected better from Karl Malden.
http://blogs.suntimes.com/sweet/2008/06/house_speaker_nancy_pelosi_say.html
Pelosi is a deplorable hack of course, but what makes me sad is how much this “this is how it is, suck it up, b—-” has been internalized by young women. I was reading somewhere in the past few days (at Cinie’s? Not 100% sure) about trying to explain racism in terms of sexism to white women, because that’s something they can appreciate all the subtlties of and want to fight against. Except, from my experience, not so much. Not only do young women of all races not get upset about sexism because they’ve been so conditioned to believe it’s inevitable, not a big deal, just a part of life, nothing to get upset about, nothing to be done, even when they do get upset, it’s almost this furtive, guilty thing, as if they don’t have the right to be upset. Great for her to reenforce this message.
And I mean, I suppose that would be okay if everyone turned out to be speaker of the house, but part of the game is decreased expectations, that’s how it is, it will hold you back, you won’t get too far, but that’s okay, don’t fight it, it’s not injustice it’s just life.
This is the first time I have really “gotten” this meme. That being a women is so *fine* it’s acyually worth putting up with the discrimination.
Wow.
I learned something new tonight!
Pelosi is saying there is an upside to being a woman. And, yet Geraldine Ferraro’s comments were the stuff to make Keith Olbermann and the rest of the Obama media go nuts.
Yes–but I noticed she didn’t spell out this amazing upside that renders all the double standards, bad treatment and roadblocks so irrelevant.
shield your eyes everyone.
Girls ARE bad at math and science, you know.
“A girl solved a math problem. You know what that means. A witch!”
so says Larry Summers, the president’s BFF
From Taylor Branch (“The Clinton Tapes”) Q&A with GQ:
It’s so crazy, the media likes to push the story that Obama is some intellectual giant and idealist with great principles and pragmatism unlike Clinton who was the snake oil salesman who “sorta talked like an intellectual” but was really just pretending to be all things to all people.
Sorry, forgot the link–
http://men.style.com/gq/blogs/gqeditors/2009/09/secret-history.html
OT : but just a note to report at the last mintune the PA lawmakers got off their collective duffs and passed a freaking budget… about 80 days over due. So 24 hours before they were to go into infect, the massive Philly lay offs are , well off!
Now the benefit / contract fight begins
But for now the libraries, courts, health clinics, rec centers will stay open!
the Baucus bill is the for real bill that DC wants. The others bills are phonies meant to confuse and camouflage . That’s my guess, because the Baucus bill, awful as it is, is the only one people seem to have consistently worked on. Even a horror show bill has to be worked on .
This was on CNN tonight, Anderson asks Barney Frank about his response to the woman at the townhall :
That didn’t even make sense. LaRouche considers himself a Democrat and they always set up their tables outside our events, we don’t rush out and denounce them or beat them up, we just ignore them. I think Barney is reaching when he acts like conservatives are responsible for LaRouchies unless they somehow separate themselves from them. And SOD is dead on, every q+a known to humankind attracts bizarre questions, just professionally ignore/deflect it without compounding the idiocy and making it the story.
Barney thinks he’s “cute.”
Yeah, his back and forth with Rogers devolved into “I know you are but what am I” partisan buffoonery that really didn’t make sense or amount to anything.
I think the LaRouche loony toon saying “how can you support a Nazi policy” was a crazy charge rather than a crazy q and it was justifiable to call it out as flat out crazy. At the same time, Barney should stop mooning the loonies and start pulling down the pants of this Baucus crap and exposing it for the sick sad thing that it is already . But, I don’t expect Barney to do the right thing here. After what happened with Fannie and Freddie, I don’t expect much out of Barney at all.
I guess next to Odrama’s smoke and mirrors of “caving” to Sarah Palin’s facebook, Glenn Beck’s chalkboard, Joe Wilson’s lie-o-meter, etc., in light of all that, someone/anyone mooning a Larouchie takes on a certain sense of ‘at least he’s standing up to the crazies’ that it wouldn’t have taken on otherwise.
Anyhow thanks for the discussion guys and great post SOD!
http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/09/16/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry5315355.shtml?tag=stack
I thought the rebuke was appropriate as what Wilson did was a breach of the rules. I would only hope that they would do the same with one of their own.
The only purpose that “rebuke” served was to continue to wave the red herring in the public square.
Thanks for this post SOD. I’m sick of this stuff, because it serves the purpose of distracting people from the real problems.
I don’t really care what idiots like Glenn Beck and Joe Wilson say. I wasn’t aware of the fact that anyone took them seriously, and not only is mooning them counter productive, it doesn’t solve anything. It really grinds my nerves, to say the least.
Love ya SOD!
“Wilson “acted like a buffoon, and everybody criticized him — but then at the end of the day he sort of got his way,” said Brent A. Wilkes, national executive director of the League of United Latin American Citizens.”
I’m sorry but my experience has sadly taught me that logic/reasoned argument is not effective unless ur arguing before the Ct of Appeals. Not only did Wilson’s stunt focus attention on immigration, he maneuvered Obama’s base into defending his surrender to the ‘secure borders’ lobby, insisting Obama didn’t lie, illegals really are cut out. Ditto for abortion funding.
If that’s idiocy, do they sell it in a bottle?
Well, yeah, but he got his way because tptb were predisposed that way anyway, not because of the stunt per se. I guarantee that if I pay someone off to scream “No human being is illegal!” and “Health care for all!” it will not have any effect.
so true
what is the day that backtrack is supposed to fly the chinese flag over the white house? Is that why he is the first president to refuse to meet with the Deli Lama?
WOMEN WITH INTELLIGENCE AND EXPERIENCE,MEN WHO SUPPORT THEM AND COUNTRY BEFORE PARTY ALWAYS
PUMAS,BUBBAS,EQUALISTS AND THOSE PEOPLE RULE
Someone else may have posted this already, but just in case:
“Go Ahead And Die (Pirates Of The Health Care-ibbean)”
by the Austin Lounge Lizards
I say they be a disgrace to true pirates! What say we keelhaul the scurvy lot of ’em, ARRR!