This may deserve to become a sort of recurring category: Pundits affecting surprise or bemusement at some putatively contradictory or inconsistent behavior which, given ten seconds thought, isn’t all that surprising or bemuse-worthy at all. Today’s case-in-point: John Podhoretz is just tickled that erstwhile Wonkette Ana Marie Cox, who thinks it’s fine to make frequent assfucking jokes, also takes issue with radio hosts who describe black female athletes as “nappy headed hos.” Because, you know, since some people find both offensive, you have to adopt the same attitude toward both.
Shocked by the Obvious
April 12th, 2007 · 5 Comments
Tags: Shocked by the Obvious
5 responses so far ↓
1 Jim Treacher // Apr 12, 2007 at 8:08 am
Or maybe because she didn’t have a problem with it when he was helping her career, but only now that everybody else is piling on.
2 Timon // Apr 12, 2007 at 5:43 pm
This is like the internet version of the diseases that briefly existed in the 60’s Haight Ashbury – since bathing was bourgeois they started picking up diseases that didn’t even have Latin names. (The itch, the dark stuff, etc.) We could call this one argumentum ad alteri themae — arguments about other subjects. One says, “shame on Castro for banning political speech”, the other says “What about the Sandinistas?” “They murdered Allende” v. “They murdered the Romanovs.” A certain event or point is just a rhetorical opportunity to mention something that’s on your mind, like “jokes about assfucking are vulgar.” He might as well be saying, “you should talk, you Palm Treo user, everyone knows that The Comedy of Errors is funnier than Talladega Nights!”
3 Neil the Ethical Werewolf // Apr 14, 2007 at 3:25 pm
I’m quite happy to live in a world where sexist and racist slurs are becoming less socially acceptable, while ass-fucking jokes are becoming more socially acceptable.
4 FinFangFoom // Apr 14, 2007 at 9:03 pm
I’m happy to live in a world in which assfucking is becoming more acceptable!
5 Timon // Apr 14, 2007 at 9:44 pm
“She didnt have a problem with it when he was helping her career, but does now that everyone else is piling on.”